HPS/JTS Napoleon series, where to start?

[mfriedman421]

Well I had always interest in John Tiller games and as the 200 years Battle of the Nations now stirs up my Napoleon interest I really would like to try one title of the Napoleon series.
Anyone able to suggest a part?
Or a part I should avoid?

I think about Austerlitz as that is the earliest title in the timeline or are any battle before 1805 covered in any title?

Also I wonder if any "supporting" software is used by the community for this series.
AFAIK the battles can be linked to a campaign but there is no real movement between the battles that the player can influence, also casualties aren't carried over, so is there anything that resolves this lacks?
Already looked at some boardgames that can work with the VASSAL engine, not sure if it really could work but I guess worth a try.

Cheers

Casualties are carried over in the campaign games. Depending on how closely two battles occur between one another, fatigue can carry over as well.

As for the "campaign in one battle" games, some of the titles where the majority of the campaign happened within a few days have one big scenario covering the entire thing with all of the major forces on a giant map. Think Waterloo, Jena-Auesterdedt, and Eckmuhl. They'll have a big 350-500 turn scenario where you can micromanage the whole campaign.

For recommendations, I would probably start with one where you have a personal interest or fascination in the main battle, a few of the main battles that took place, or the campaign as a whole.

Waterloo is probably the most popular one, so there is no shortage of opponents there.

Leipzig and Bautzen seem to be popular choices lately. They offer a lot of variety in the scope of their scenarios. Everything from major battles to small rear guard actions. They are also two of the newer titles, so probably have not been played to death by all of the veterans of the series yet.

Honestly, all the games are great, so I would initially pick the campaign that holds the most interest to you.