Napoleon's Game is a revolutionary design; not just another POG in Napoleonic costume. We hope pre-orders will continue to grow so that Napoleon's Game can be released later this year.
Historical Validity means much more than having the correct names on the units. It means a clear interpretation of the factors which led to the success of one side and the failure of the other. Players of Napoleon's Game will compete in four arenas: militarily they will exploit the strengths and weaknesses of the armies; geographically they will exploit their natural advantages in the environment; based upon these strengths and weaknesses they will devise and implement a strategy; all modified according to diplomatic moves specified in the strategic cards.
Strategy is the plan guiding the player's military forces, and success requires coordination in the timing of maneuvers. But if an army can move faster or slower to its objective than its historical counterpart did over the same roads, then the design is worthless as a dynamic interpretation of events.
We were dissatisfied with the point-to-point map provided with the original design, and so we re-designed and corrected the map. We still found that too many historically valid 'positions' were impossible to reveal at this scale. Jena had to be considered part of the Erfurt space, or else re-name Erfurt as Jena and have the wrong routes leading there. Immediately we were dissatisfied with this false solution. Obviously Erfurt is not Jena, or there would have been no 1806 campaign as we know it. A valid map has to represent both locations.
Ideally, each link between spaces would be an actual primary road. However, in order to accomplish that, we would have to zoom in on a country-by-country treatment. No longer would we have a 'Napoleon's Game,' covering all the wars.
The only solution was to fill in all the positions that we wanted. But the density of spaces became so high that we found ourselves looking at a hex map. Well, what is wrong with that? Hex maps have served the hobby well. There is no reason a card-driven game cannot have hexagons.
The new map has a scale of about 30 miles per hex, covering Europe from Lisbon to Moscow and St. Petersburg to Elba. At this scale we can show all the depots. A very simple rule allows units to use the best attrition column when they occupy Depot hexes. LOC rules are equally simple: the LOC goes from supply base to supply base, and at least one hex in every three must be a depot hex. The depots were all important locations worth fighting over, and they provide a link into the Campaigns of Napoleon series.
Unlike the World Wars of the 20th Century, the Napoleonic Wars did not involve solid lines of troops dug in from sea to sea. Napoleon, like his predecessors Gustavus, Marlborough and Frederick, always ended up fighting over linear corridors, or sometimes in the interstices of linked corridors, for example the famous 'Cockpit of History' of central Belgium, lower Saxony, and Champagne in France.
Take a look at your copy of the Napoleon at Bay map. Although the concept of Depots is not a part of the NAB rules, historically the Primary Towns on that map were used as depots in 1814 or 1815. Napoleon was easily able to create a LOC for his invasion of Belgium through Meaux, La Ferte (a small depot), Soissons and Laon, each town within 22 to 30 miles of the next, because the facilities already existed in those towns. You will note that the important towns are all connected by primary road, and the more important towns have more primary road connections. These roads were created to facilitate trade, so the other trade facilities - the workforce, the warehouses, the wagons, horses, fodder, food, and other supplies - are already available in the depot towns.
As an aside, John von Neuman, the brilliant 20th Century mathematician who 'invented' the hex-grid for cartographic applications, did so in order to show general laws regarding the distribution of roads and facilities, and these laws are demonstrated on the NAB map.
As players of NAB know well, campaigns do not stray far from the primary roads. The towns at the critical road junctures tend to become the operational objectives, not only strategically, but also because of their logistical importance. These are the places the armies ended up fighting over. And regions with lots of depot towns tend to be the ones fought over as opposed to regions with only scattered depots. Because movement is quicker and easier through depot hexes, and also because supplies are plentiful, attrition is reduced.
In Napoleon's Game, this will be represented simply. Depot hexes are assumed to have primary roads and bridges. However, the player does not see these; they do not have to be graphically represented. He simply notes that his attrition is low when moving through depot hexes, allowing him to move faster through depot hexes.
A lot of people merely set up their games, and instead of playing them, hope to understand the strategic situation through pushing around the cardboard. Each depot, each potential 'position,' will be named so that you can read along with the game. We have made each scenario an in-depth historical study: the equivalent of the West Point Atlas' Strategic Map in any given chapter, only more accurate and more detailed.
Somebody wrote on Consimworld about OSG's 'lovingly produced' Napoleonic Games. The beauty is in the details: the content, not the chrome and paint.
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