Victory & Glory: Napoleon allows the players to re-fight the entire Napoleonic Wars in an afternoon. One player takes the role of Napoleon as he seeks to expand the French Empire by defeating the other major powers of Europe in battle, and adding territories in Germany, Italy, Poland, and Spain to the Empire. The other player takes on the role of Great Britain as she attempts to create a powerful alliance of European nations and armies that can contain the ambitions of France. Britain’s powerful navy allows her armies to land anywhere on the continent to support her allies.

Huge 45″ x 114″ Game Board

Each player has access to powerful armies and navies to do their bidding. The standard board game contains hundreds of tiles that represent these forces, with historically accurate uniforms for each major nation and many minor nations, including France, Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria, Spain, The Ottoman Empire, Bavaria, The Grand Duchy of Warsaw, Portugal, Holland, and The Kingdom of Northern Italy.

The Premium version of the board game adds over 300 specially made Napoleonic meeples that represent these troops in iconic, 3-dimensional pieces. There’s even a Napoleon meeple!

During the game, the players move their armies and navies in an attempt to bring the enemy to battle. When an army is moved into a region containing a hostile army controlled by the other player, a battle takes place on a battle board.

Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery are maneuvered to attack the enemy. In each round of battle, initiative and how many units may attack each round are determined by the commanding general’s rating. Each unit type has special traits and bonuses when attacking other unit types. There are also bonuses for ‘combined arms’, attacking a unit in ‘square’ or a unit that has been ‘disordered’ by a previous attack. The quality rating of the unit along with all bonuses determine how many dice the player will roll for attack and how many his opponent will roll for defense.

The winner of each combat is determined by comparing the total ‘hits’ scored by each. If the winner wins by 1 or 2, then the opponent is ‘disordered’ (or routed if already disordered). If they win by 3 or more, then the losing unit is eliminated.

Some units will be destroyed by attacks, and some will be routed. When all of the units in one area on the battlefield (flank or center) have been removed, the battle-line is broken and that army flees. Fleeing armies are subject to pursuit by the victorious cavalry units.

Each time the game is played, new events occur and new opportunities arise because of how the ‘Event Cards’ come into the game. In each scenario, the players start with a unique set of starting cards. Every other turn, the players draw a new card into their hand. Additionally, they may get new cards for winning a major battle.

Event Cards not only include historical events that occurred during the Napoleonic Wars, but also include historical-based opportunities to recruit new troops, add bonuses to troops, add new generals, and incorporate new territory into the French Empire (or, for the British player to detach it). The Event Cards also allow the players to affect the ‘Diplomatic Ratings’ of the major powers. Once a major power’s Diplomatic Rating falls low enough, they can be approached about joining the anti-French alliance.

If the French player captures an enemy capital, that nation sues for peace and must remain ‘Friendly Neutral’ toward France for one year. Their diplomatic rating is then set at ‘6’ and must be influenced downward again to re-join the anti-French alliance. In this way, the anti-French alliance ebbs and flows as it did historically, with major nations coming in and out of the war depending on circumstances.

Victory & Glory: Napoleon allows the players to re-fight the entire Napoleonic Wars in an afternoon or evening. For those that want to focus on just the strategy, there will be a ‘fast-play’ land battle system that will resolve battles quickly. There are also naval battles where ships may be damaged, sunk, or even captured.