La Belle Alliance: The Battle of Waterloo is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. It was one of four games that were published as part of the "quadrigame" (four games with a single set of rules) titled Napoleon's Last Battles , but was also released as an individual "folio game", packaged in a shrinkwrapped cardboard folio.
In the spring of 1815, with the return of Napoleon from exile on Elba, the rest of Europe hastily mobilized the armies of the Seventh Coalition. However, they had not yet had time to join forces when Napoleon and his reconstituted army marched out of Paris. Napoleon strove to forge a path north to Brussels in order to drive a wedge between the various armies of the Seventh Coalition, which would give him an opportunity to destroy each of them individually. All that stood between Napoleon and Brussels was an Anglo-Allied force under the command of the Duke of Wellington. On 18 June 1815 near the Belgian town of Waterloo, Napoleon arrayed his forces around a farm named "La Belle Alliance", and ordered his numerically superior army to attack Wellington's forces, hoping to destroy Wellington's army before a Prussian army under Field Marshal von Blücher could arrive. Wellington knew he had to hold off the French attack in the hope that von Blücher would arrive in time. [1]
La Belle Alliance is a two-player wargame in which one player takes the role of Napoleon, and the other controls the Anglo-Prussian Alliance forces. It is a simple and easy-to-learn game, with only 100 counters, a relatively small 17" x 22" paper hex grid map, and two rules sheets.
The game uses a simple "I Go, You Go" system of alternating player turns taken from SPI's popular Napoleon at Waterloo game published in 1971: [2]
This completes one game turn, which represents 1 hour of daylight. There are only eight turns in the game. [3]
After the success of SPI's first quadrigame, Blue & Gray: Four American Civil War Battles , published in May 1975, the company quickly produced several more quadrigames, including Napoleon's Last Battles. [4] One of the four games included was La Belle Alliance, designed by Jay Nelson and Kevin Zucker. Napoleon's Last Battles debuted strongly, moving to #5 in SPI's Top Ten Games list the month it was published, but quickly fell off SPI's chart after a few weeks. [4]
La Belle Alliance was also offered for individual sale as a "folio game" packaged in a cardstock folio. [4]
After the demise of SPI, TSR republished La Belle Alliance in 1982 as part of a reprint of Napoleon's Last Battles. In 1995, Decision Games acquired the rights and published a revised edition with larger maps. Decision published a new edition in 2015.
In the 1977 book The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming , Nick Palmer found that "Numerous units are crowded into a small area, and the game is much less interesting than [the other games in the Napoleon's Last Battles box]." [5] In his 1980 sequel, The Best of Board Wargaming , Palmer added: "Unfortunately the need to fit the game into the campaign scale has forced a mass of units into a small segment of the map, so one gets a rather boring pitched battle with little room for manoevre." He concluded by giving the game a very low Excitement grade of only 25%. [6]
In the 1980 book The Complete Book of Wargames , game designer Jon Freeman reviewed Napoleon's Last Battles and agreed that the map was just too small to allow any maneuvering, calling the game "a set-piece affair in which the object is to wear the enemy down to his demoralization level, a not particularly fascinating prospect." He concluded by giving the game an Overall Evaluation of "Good", saying, "the scale is wrong for a game of the Waterloo campaign." [7]
In Issue 53 of Moves , Ian Chadwick called La Belle Alliance "A good tight game, one with plenty of excitement and action. For the entire eight turns, the game is alive with combat and movement as both sides try to force the issue." He gave the game grades of A for both Playability and Historical Accuracy. [3]
In another retrospective review written over thirty years after publication of the game, Matt Irsik noted that La Belle Alliance was "pretty interesting and very different from all of the others. The mandatory attack rules did a good job of portraying operational level combat from that era and the end result was pretty satisfying." [8]
Golan subtitled "Syrian-Israeli Combat in the '73 War", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates operational level ground combat between Egypt and Israel on the Golan Heights during the just completed Yom Kippur War of October 1973. Golan was originally published as part of the "quadrigame" Modern Battles: Four Contemporary Conflicts.
Napoleon's Last Battles is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications in 1976 that simulates the last four battles fought by Napoleon. It was one of SPI's most popular games, and also received many positive reviews.
Marengo: Napoleon in Italy, 14 June 1800 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 as one of four games packaged together in the Napoleon at War "quadrigame". Marengo was also released as a separate game the same year. The game simulates the Battle of Marengo between Austrian and French forces.
Napoleon at War, subtitled "Four Battles", is a collection of four board wargames published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates various battles fought by Napoleon.
Bloody Ridge, subtitled "Turning Point on Guadalcanal, September 1942", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates the Guadalcanal Campaign during World War II. The game was originally published as part of the Island War: Four Pacific Battles "quadrigame" — a gamebox containing four games simulating four separate battles that all use the same rules. Bloody Ridge was also published as an individual "folio game."
Thirty Years War, subtitled "Four Battles", is a "quadrigame" — four separate board wargames packaged in one box that use a common set of rules — published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976. The four games simulate different battles during the Thirty Years' War, and were sold individually as well as in the quadrigame format. Some of the games were well received by critics, but overall, the quadrigame did not sell well.
Nordlingen, subtitled "6 September 1634 – Triumph of the Imperialists", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the 1634 Battle of Nordlingen during the Thirty Years' War. Nordlingen was originally sold as one of four separate games packaged together in Thirty Years War, a "quadrigame". Many critics called it the best game of the four, and Nordlingen was also published as a separate game.
Lützen is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the 1632 Battle of Lützen during the Thirty Years' War. Lützen was originally sold as one of four separate games packaged together in Thirty Years War, a "quadrigame". Many critics called it one of the better games of the four, and Lützen was also published as an individual game.
Rocroi, subtitled "19 May 1643 – The End of Spanish Ascendancy", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the 1643 Battle of Rocroi during the Thirty Years' War. Rocroi was originally sold as one of four separate games packaged together in Thirty Years War, a "quadrigame", but it was also published as an individual game. It received mixed reviews from critics, some of whom called it a "bland tactical problem", while others declared it was the best game of the four in the Thirty Years War box.
Freiburg, subtitled "3–9 August 1644 – Conquest of the Rhine Valley", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the 1644 Battle of Freiburg during the Thirty Years' War. Freiburg was originally sold as one of four separate games packaged together in Thirty Years War, a "quadrigame", but it was also published as an individual game. It received poor reviews from critics, who called it the weakest of the four games in the Thirty Years War box, "a series of slogging matches", "not much fun", and "relatively boring."
Breitenfeld, subtitled "Triumph of the Swedish System", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the 1631 Battle of Breitenfeld during the Thirty Years' War. Breitenfeld was a free game that appeared in Strategy & Tactics, designed to promote SPI's soon-to-be-launched wargame Thirty Years War. Breitenfeld proved popular and was also published as part of SPI's "folio" series of games.
Arnhem, subtitled "Operation Market-Garden, September 1944" and also published as A Bridge Too Far: Arnhem, is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates Operation Market Garden during World War II, when Allied forces attempted to create a salient in the Netherlands, using paratroopers to take strategic bridges over the Rhine. Arnhem was originally published in the WestWall "quadrigame", but was also packaged for sale as an individual game.
Blue & Gray II, subtitled "Four American Civil War Battles", is a collection of four board wargames originally published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that each simulate a battle from the American Civil War. It is the sequel to Blue & Gray published earlier in the year. Each of the four games was also published as individual "folio games."
The Battle of Nations, subtitled "The Encirclement at Leipzig, 16–19 October 1813", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. It was one of four games that were published as part of the "quadrigame" titled Napoleon at War, but was also released as a "folio game", packaged in a shrinkwrapped cardboard folio. It was popular in a 1976 poll of favorite wargames, and critics also gave it favorable reviews.
Jena-Auerstadt: The Battle for Prussia is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates the twin battles of Jena and Auerstadt in October 1806. It was one of four games that were part of the "quadrigame" titled Napoleon at War, but it was also released as an individual "folio game" packaged in a shrinkwrapped cardstock folio. Jena-Auerstadt was rated highly in a 1976 poll of favorite wargames, but critics questioned whether its simplicity was capable of simulating a complicated two-part battle.
Quatre Bras: Stalemate on the Brussels Road is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the Battle of Quatre Bras, one of the engagements leading to the Battle of Waterloo. Quatre Bras was originally published as one of four games in the popular collection Napoleon's Last Battles, but was also released as an individual game.
Bastogne: The Desperate Defense, December 1944 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the German attack on Bastogne during World War II's Battle of the Bulge. The game was originally part of the four-game collection Westwall: Four Battles to Germany, and was also released as a stand-alone "folio" game.
Ligny: Incomplete Victory is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the Battle of Ligny. Ligny was originally published as one of four games in the popular collection Napoleon's Last Battles, but was also released as an individual game.
Wavre: The Opportunity Lost is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the Battle of Wavre. Wavre was originally published as one of four games in the popular collection Napoleon's Last Battles, but was also released as an individual game.
Wagram: The Peace of Vienna, 5–6 July 1809 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates the Battle of Wagram in July 1809. It was one of four games that were part of the "quadrigame" titled Napoleon at War, but it was also released as an individual game with a set of metal miniatures. Wagram was rated highly in a 1976 poll of favorite wargames, and critics called it the best of the four games in the Napoleon at War box.