Napoleon Returns 1815
by
Worthington Publishing
The Waterloo Campaign, Gettysburg, and the Bulge are the trifecta of wargaming. If we grognards only had games on these three campaigns/battles, we would have enough to fill our shelves and play for a very long time. Of the three campaigns, in my mind Waterloo is the one that is the most of a toss-up. There are so many 'what-ifs' to the campaign. Napoleon who always, up to then, was conscious of time ( Napoleon's quote "I may lose a battle but I will never lose a minute), was an incredibly large part of making war successfully. He seemed to completely forget it in the Waterloo Campaign. He and his army were definitely affected by the 'slows' during the campaign. You can ascribe this to ill health, or any number of other things. At Ligny, the French had a chance to crush Blucher. After Ligny, the next day the French Army sauntered after the Prussian Army instead of herding it like cattle. The rainstorm the night before Waterloo, and Grouchy not 'marching to the guns' are more examples of 'what-ifs'. Enough of the history. Let's see what Worthington Publishing has put in the box:
Mounted Map
18 French, British, and Prussian Corps Cubes
25 Small Yellow Wooden Markers
1 Six-Sided Die
2 Full Color Player Aid Sheets
2 Full Color RuleBooks
68 Battle Cards
5 French Objective Cards
The map is meant to look like an old parchment map. It succeeds at this very well. It is a mounted map, and looks and feels to be able to live through as many games as you want to play on it. Movement on it is from point-to-point. Infantry Corps normally move one point, and Cavalry normally move two. The Corps wooden cubes that I received were uniform in size, except for the French Cavalry block, which was slightly larger. Friendly gamers playing the game would have no problem with this. If you are playing with someone who uses this to deduce where that block is, get yourself another gaming partner. They would also mark their cards. The Player Aid sheets are of strong stock, and slightly laminated. One side shows the setup for the pieces on the map. The other side gives the Sequence of Play etc. The back of the Combat Cards show a weary dejected Napoleon who is obviously suffering from piles. The front of the cards show a small painting from the different parts of the campaign. The Rulebook is eight pages long. It is made of paper with a bit of lamination on it, like a well done magazine. It is in full color and has examples of play included. All in all, the components are first rate.
The game is based on each corps' Cohesion Points. These can be deducted for Combat Losses, Extra Movement by Infantry (Forced March), and Retreat. So Cohesion in this game represents morale, combat losses, and fatigue of each of the Corps. Combat in the game is totally reliant on the Combat Cards. Each corps is worth 'X' amount of combat cards. Here is what it says in the Rulebook about Army Commanders and Corps:
"Below the army commander is a list of the corps in the
army. Each corps is listed by the corps name and its
leader name. Shown for each corps is the number of
combat cards that corps adds to combat if present, which
may be reduced based on its current cohesion point
number. Each corps has a tactical rating that determines
its ability to reinforce combat at an adjacent location and
its ability to counterattack during combat if no army
commander is present and if its Tactical Rating is used."
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"Each corps has a set amount of cohesion points showing
how many cohesion reductions that corps can take in
movement, combat, and retreat before it is eliminated
from game play. Track cohesion by placing one of the
yellow cubes at the highest cohesion level for that corps
to begin the game. When a corps takes cohesion point
reductions, move the yellow cube the appropriate
number of spaces down the corps cohesion point track.
If a corps reaches cohesion point below 1, it is eliminated
and remove the corps unit from the game board. Shown
at the approximate halfway point on the cohesion track
for each corps is a mark that shows when the corps
reaches this level, any combat that it participates in, will
draw that reduced number of combat cards."
Is the game a detailed simulation of Napoleonic warfare? Of course not. It is a game, very delightful and easy to play, but hard to master game. Does it give the player tons of choices on an operational level? You bet. You can play a few full games of it on gaming night. The components are simple, yet well done. The game mechanics can be described the same way. Thank you, Worthington Publishing for allowing me to review this game. My normal hex and counter obsession would have never let me really look at the game.
Robert
Worthington Publishing:
Worthington (worthingtonpublishing.com)
Napoleon Returns 1815:
Napoleon Returns 1815 — Worthington (worthingtonpublishing.com)
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