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.
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.
Napoleon at War is a "quadrigame", a game box holding four thematically connected 2-player board wargames that use a common set of rules, in this case four different battles fought by Napoleon:
The game box contains:
Many players stated that they would have preferred military symbols on the counters rather than silhouettes. [1]
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. After sunset, night movement is allowed, but not night combat. [2]
Each game has a historical scenario based on the actual battle, as well as several "what if?" scenarios that change the orders of battle and timing.
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 over the next six months, including Blue & Gray II, Modern Battles , Island War and Napoleon at War. [3] The latter featured graphic design by Redmond A Simonsen, and debuted strongly, moving to #5 in SPI's Top Ten Games list the month it was published, and staying in the Top Ten for the next six months. [3]
Each of the games in Napoleon at War was also offered for individual sale as a "folio game" packaged in a cardstock folio. [3] Battle of Nations and Jena-Auerstadt proved popular, and were also offered as "Designer's Edition" boxed sets with mounted maps; players could also purchase a set of 15mm metal miniatures for each game from Heritage Models. [4] The miniatures did not sell well, and SPI did not try that experiment again. [4]
After the demise of SPI, Decision Games acquired the rights to some of the SPI game catalogue, and re-published Marengo and Wagram as Japanese-language pull-out games in Tactics magazine in Issue #46 (1986) and Issue #47 (1987) respectively. [5] [6]
In the December 1975 issue of Airfix Magazine , Bruce Quarrie noted that "Despite the popularity of the Napoleonic period with miniature figure wargamers, board gamers interested in this period have not been particularly well served up till now. so these games are particularly welcome." He commented that the rules were "extremely simple", but found issues with historical accuracy, saying "Unfortunately, as with other Napoleonic board games, Napoleon at War does not accurately re-create the tactical capabilities and restrictions of the time, and the more ingenious player will probably wish to improve the game by devising rules for flank and rear attacks." Quarrie concluded, "Overall verdict — a good one for beginners because it is easy to learn and play, but lacking the detail necessary for accurate historical simulations." [2]
In a 1976 poll conducted by SPI to determine the most popular board wargames in North America, Napoleon at War was rated very highly, placing 23rd out of 202 games. [7] All of the individual games also rated very well in the poll: Jena-Auerstadt placed a very popular 7th, [7] : 154 Wagram was 15th, [7] : 182 The Battle of Nations was tied with its parent game for 23rd, [7] : 135 and Marengo was 44th. [7] : 160
In the 1977 book The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming , editor Nicholas Palmer called the game a "Highly successful Quad," noting that "The high rating [in the SPI poll] is impressive." [7] In the same book, Charles Vasey also reviewed each of the games individually:
In the 1980 book The Complete Book of Wargames , game designer Jon Freeman called this "a fine set of game player's games. Mechanics are simple and easily learned, and the games are clean and fast-moving." The games' only weakness, according to Freeman, was "that they don't have many strategic options, so they may get stale after you've played them a few times." Freeman rated Marengo "the smallest, shortest — and best. It provides both players with good offensive opportunities, and the battle is generally not decided until the final attack." On the other side of the coin, he considered Jena-Auerstadt "the least successful" and "fairly dull." Freeman concluded by giving this game an Overall Evaluation of "Very Good". [9]
In The Guide to Simulations/Games for Education and Training, Martin Campion commented, "The games are fast-moving and suggestive of the strategic situation of the original battles. One tactical system is not very realistic but tends to give realistic general results." Compion concluded, "The game maps are excellent. The games are simple and make good introductory games." [10]
In Issue 53 of Moves , Ian Chadwick reviewed Napoleon at War, and gave the quadrigame a grade of "B" for component quality. Chadwick also commented on the individual games, and gave each one grades for Playability and Historical Accuracy: [1]
In Issue 24 of Fire & Movement , Bill Haggart commented, "The games are fun, and the discerning player can gain some insight into the respective battles." [11]
Games included Napoleon at War in their "Top 100 Games of 1982", saying "All [four games] use the same movement and combat system, which even a newcomer to wargames will master easily." [12]
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.
Blue & Gray: Four American Civil War Battles is a board wargame originally published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates four battles from the American Civil War.
The Art of Siege, subtitled "Four Great Siege Battles", is a collection of four board wargames published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1979 that simulates four famous sieges.
Island War: Four Pacific Battles is a collection of four board wargames published in 1975 by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) that simulates various battles between American and Japanese forces during the Pacific Campaign of World War II.
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.
Modern Battles: Four Contemporary Conflicts is a collection of four board wargames published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates four modern-day battles set in the early 1970s.
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.
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.
Westwall: Four Battles to Germany is a collection of four board wargames published by Simulations Publications (SPI) in 1976 that simulate battles in Europe in late 1944 and early 1945 during World War II.
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."
Hurtgen Forest, subtitled "Approach to the Roer, November 1944 ", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the Battle of Hürtgen Forest during the final year of World War II. The game was originally published by SPI as part of a four-game collection titled Westwall: Four Battles to Germany, but it was also released as an individual "folio game." While the quadrigame Westwall received good reviews from critics, the static nature of Hurtgen Forest was less well received.
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" titled Napoleon's Last Battles, but was also released as an individual "folio game", packaged in a shrinkwrapped cardboard folio.
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.
Chattanooga: Gateway to Victory, Nov. 24-25, 1863 is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates the Battle of Chattanooga during the American Civil War. The game was originally part of the four-game collection Blue & Gray II, and was also released as a stand-alone "folio" game.
Sevastapol: The First Modern Siege is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1978 that simulates the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. The game was originally part of the four-game collection The Art of Siege, and was also released as a stand-alone "folio" 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.