I, Napoleon
by
GMT Games
Designed by
Ted Raicer
This review is one that feels a bit strange to me. The reason being is that I have placed myself in the Emperor's shoes on many different battlefields. I have never had the chance to place myself in his bed or anything more than just in charge of his troops. I also have a small hurdle to overcome. That hurdle is the fact that this is really an RPG about Napoleon. The problem arises in the fact that when I play RPGs my characters are always long on muscle and agility and very light on gray matter. I always put as much points as I can in the beginning and throughout the games into strength. I cannot remember the last time that I tried to add any brain power to my characters whatsoever. My characters can barely hold a conversation in the games let alone read a book. To play an RPG with someone who consistently is listed as one of the highest IQs ever is quite a leap for me. Make no mistake about it, even though you are playing with crowns, political matters, and high diplomacy this is an RPG of Napoleon. The only unfortunate thing about the game is that you cannot reroll a die to become part of another family. In this case you are stuck with these people no matter how inept or voracious for money and power they are. I think Madame Mère rapped the wrong offspring on the knuckles. She should have taken a paddle to the whole lot of them. Lucien is the only sibling that gets a pass. His success as a politician, and his help to his brother, is always overlooked when it comes to Napoleon taking power. So, there we have it. You are Napoleon in this game. You not only want to be a success yourself, but you also want to leave a dynasty behind you firmly on the French Imperial throne. Oh, and I forgot, it would be really helpful to stick a shiv into Talleyrand and Fouche as quickly as possible, as soon as their usefulness is over.
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| The back of the box |
This is what GMT Games has to say:
"I, Napoleon is a solitaire historical role-playing card game in which you step into the boots of Captain Buonoparte (as he still was) in the year 1793. Louis XVI has just gone to the guillotine, the brothers Robespierre control the destiny of France, and all Europe has joined French Royalists to take down France, end the Revolution, and restore peace and safety for the hereditary principles that have underlain society for 1,000 years.
As an ambitious but unknown young artillery officer, who speaks French with a Corsican accent, you would seem to be an unlikely agent of destiny. Can you harness a brilliant mind, titanic energies, and a sometimes-terrifying charisma to leave your mark on history? Or will you die a minor footnote in the story of France?
Gameplay
In I, Napoleon, your fate lies in 220 beautifully illustrated cards, divided into three decks: Commander, First Consul, and Emperor. Overlaying a map of early 19th Century Europe are a series of Card Boxes, where you play out the events of your life and career, along with various tracks and tables to record the yearly passage of time and the events affecting yourself and France. The choices you make with the cards you are dealt will determine success or failure. You will have to manage politics, military campaigns, diplomacy, and the domestic well-being of the French while pursuing the Glory that lures you on. You will also have to manage your family, your wives, your mistresses, and your children, legitimate and otherwise.
Your path may lead you from the Americas to the Near East, from Spain to Russia, from a throne to exile. You will be the target of assassins, coups, and coalitions. You will deal with bad harvests and plague, face Wellington and Nelson, Kutuzov and Blucher. You will rely on—and perhaps be betrayed by—the slippery Talleyrand and unleash the secret policemen Fouche on your opponents. As you progress, your options will increase, along with the stakes.
Lead your men into battle and risk an early end to your life? Sail to Egypt or Ireland? Sell Louisiana or send an army to hold it? Marry a Habsburg or a Romanov? Create the Duchy of Warsaw or revive the Kingdom of Poland? Invade Russia or try to pacify the Tsar? Every choice will affect your legacy.
But there is not one version of a life here, but many. Every game will provide a different narrative, based on both luck of the draw and the decisions you make. In addition, you can start the game as a Commander, as First Consul, or as Emperor, each with its own starting situation and challenges. The story is yours to discover, and the decisions you make may just change the course of history."
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| The game map |
This is what comes with the game:
222 Poker-sized Playing Cards
One Half Countersheet
One 22” x 34” Mounted Map Board
One 10-sided Die
One Rulebook
One Playbook
Two Player Aid Cards
The Mounted Map is really more of a placeholder for all of the different cards and the decks they make up. It does have a period style map of parts of Europe in its background. The card placement areas are indicative of Napoleon's choice in color. The biggest fault I have found in Napoleon is his love for the color green. So, the card placeholders are about 70% green with the rest being red. There are numerous other placeholder parts of the map. These include the turn record track, and the General Records Track etc. The counters are nice and large at 3/4" and very easy to see and read what they are used for. There is one 8 1/2" X 11" card stock sheet that deals with the campaigns that can be played in the game. One side has the 'Potential Campaign Selection Table' and the other side is the 'Campaign Battle Mat'. Both sides have all of the instructions you need to use the cards different uses.
Next, we have the 24-page Rules of Play. This is your standard GMT rulebook with double column printing and in full color. There are examples of play etc. and all of what you need to know to play the game. Then we have a 32-page Playbook with the same full color and double column printing. It starts with a quick start guide and then moves into an example of play. This is followed by the complete 222 card manifest. Then we have a six-page history of Napoleon followed by design notes. It even comes with a suggested reading list from the designer along with his own take on the man.
The game is a completely card driven game. So, I would be remiss if I didn't mention them. Of course, with the number of cards that come in the box it is slightly like the elephant in the room. Most of the backs of the cards are that green color again that he loved so much. There are also some cards to keep the different years separate etc. and they are, (gratefully) beige in color. The side of the cards that are used for playing each have either a portrait of the person in question, (Marshals, enemies, and events) or a picture of the important event etc. The cards are sturdy enough for a good amount of play. However, if you do plan to play a lot of the game, and you should, I suggest sleeving them.
As usual the components of a GMT game pass with flying colors.
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| Some of the counters |
The game comes with a few scenarios. These are:
Full Campaign Scenario 1793 - 1821
Commander Scenario - 1793 to Napoleon becoming First Consul or 1802
First Consul Scenario - 1800 to 1804 or Napoleon becomes Emperor
Emperor Scenario - 1805 until 1817-1821
Napoleon can be killed on the battlefield, executed, or overthrown.
He can also face the treason of the Marshals, as in 1814.
The following are also reasons for the game to end:
If Napoleon is overthrown as First Consul or Emperor,
because Glory reaches 0 during those eras or because of a
Defeat in Austria (Italy) (67), end the game immediately.
Resolving certain cards, such as Louis XVIII Writes (97),
Natural Frontiers (156), or Peace of Europe (209) end the
game immediately.
The game will always end, one way or another, during the
Abdication Segment (13.1).
The game always ends at the conclusion of the final Year
(1817-21).
As soon as a game ending event occurs, proceed to the Game
End and Outcomes (13.0).
The sequence of play is not long at all, especially if Napoleon is still a commander and not First Consul or Emperor. The higher you go, the more cards there are to play. This is the sequence of play:
Year Setup Phase [6.0]
(Skipped in the first Year of any Scenario)
Year & Card Draw Marker Segment
Resource Income Segment
Card Deck Phase [7.0]
(Skipped in the first Year of any Scenario)
Remove Cards Segment
Add Cards Segment
Shuffle Draw Deck Segment
Card Action Phase [8.0]
New Card Draw Segment
Existing Card Play Segment
Phase Advancement Segment
Campaign Resolution Phase [9.0]
(If the CAMPAIGN Box is empty, Discard all cards in the
CAMPAIGN MODIFIERS Box, and skip the rest of 9.0)
Assign Commanders Segment
Spanish Ulcer Expeditions Segment (EMD Only)
Resolving the Campaign Segment
Commander Casualties Segment
Other Campaign Events Segment
Additional Resolution Segment
Clean-up Segment
Diplomatic Phase [10.0]
(First Consul and Emperor Decks only)
Foreign Diplomacy Segment
Treaties and Conquest Segment
Potential Campaigns Segment
Domestic Politics Phase [11.0]
(First Consul and Emperor Decks only)
Clean-Up Phase [12.0]
Reset Cards and Markers Segment
Game End Check
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| Some card samples |
It is a relatively simple game; the complexity is listed as a '3'. However, the player is still given a myriad of choices to make in his trek toward power and dominance. The chance that the very next card, or the first one, could be the end of the game makes it a nail-biting experience. Just like the historical Napoleon, anything can happen at any time to your character. You can choose to play out his life as closely as possible to history to see if you could do better, or you can take his path to glory any way you want. The fun, mystery, and sometimes misery is all in the cards. I have lost games within the first couple of minutes, and I have lived as long as possible as the Little Corporal. One of the things that a lot of gamers, not necessarily wargamers, want in a game is replayability. In this game the sky's the limit as far a replay value. Each game and each turn are a new chapter that you can write in an ever-changing biography of the Napoleon that you happen to be playing. Of course, it helps if you have an affinity for the color green and Golden Bees.
This game comes with nicely done components and is easy to learn, and you will be playing in no time. The 2nd edition of the game is already on the P500 list, and it has a larger more complex version of the game coming 'I, Napoleon: The Limits of Glory'. The new game has a lot more characters and takes longer to play among many other things. This is a very good thing because the original game was great, and more of it can only make it better.
Thank you, GMT Games, for allowing me to do a review of I, Napoleon. I must also say good luck to all the other budding emperors out there. May your cards always be lucky and you avoid pulling the dreaded card 33 and end up bleeding out at the Place de la Révolution. Although you do get a good view of Nostradamus's famous 'tile works'.
Robert Peterson
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