Vae Victis has been producing a Napoleonic battle on a bicentennial basis for a number of years. But the Peace of Amiens has intervened and we have a hiatus. Into this gap has plunged Frédéric Bey with a set of campaign rules based on the old Gettysburg set. There are two campaigns now out, both based on rivers. The Danube will allow you to play 1800, 1805 and 1809, and the Vistula the late 1806 and 1807 campaigns. The scale is not the same however, the Danube covering much more territory. The rules (now in translation - get the VV47 set with updates) are an interesting set covering a lot of subjects in an intuitive fashion. I am not certain that they always have the correct results but I doubt any of you will find the rules difficult. The low price (a copy of Vae Victis costs about £7) and high quality of counters will all mean that this is a good choice for a Napoleonic campaign game - a strangely under-covered area - without the excesses of the Zucker systems ("another 100 stragglers to be booked"). The map uses point-to-point movement that easily codes the terrain type, but is dropped on a map so as to not become too geometric (I felt The Vistula was less effective here). The counters show a portrait of the leader (very nicely done) or a soldier of that unit. This allows us to see Bavarians, Wuerttemburgers, Italians and Tyrolese (inter alia) and maxes the old Gloire thing. The choice of leaders is not just Commanders and "Corps Groups" but also especially good Corps commanders (like Massena and Davout) appear even though they lead but one unit. Most units are Corps (though with enough detachments to cover other units) so that one can be playing with less than 20 counters (certainly in 1800). Supply is not covered at all (which did not look completely wrong in The Danube but may not fit in the potato fields of the East). Each unit is rated for three things - Cavalry and Artillery Bonuses and quality. Its strength is recorded on a roster. As each counter has a hidden side a certain degree of fog of war can descend. The Cavalry bonuses are used in pursuit and the Artillery for certain rounds of bombardment. I would have preferred a Heavy cavalry concept but perhaps not in these scenarios. Each Leader is rated for command value, rank and tactical bonus. The leaders are very important in driving play. Each turn each Army (and there can be more than one army a side) dices up a number of Action Points (a die roll plus Commander Value). These are used to move its forces. Forces with or close to the Commander of an Army move more cheaply than those someway off. However, in a good army you should be able to operate at least one distant force. Action Points are paid by stacks but these are more groups for movement - so a large stack can be several movement groups. This rule combines the chaotic nature of war, the differing command spans of armies, and (perhaps) some of the supply concepts not directly addressed. The Sequence is ingenious but not as taxing as it might be. The event phase (weather, choosing first player, reinforcements etc) First Player Administration First Player Movement Marching to the sound of Cannon (the Second Player may attempt to join close battles) Combat. The process is then repeated for the Second Player. The non-moving Player can intercept during the other player's movement (interception also allows one to move away so is closer in concept to reaction). However (and this is one of the less taxing areas) this interception does not bring forward combat it simply halts the moving stack. Other friendly stacks can pile in if they have not yet moved and are in range. If combat was integrated with movement then messing about in detachments or multi-stacks would be a much more dangerous game than it is. Action points can also be used to do useful stuff like dig entrenchments, have sieges and build bridges. Combat is rather interesting in concept but you will need a pad to undertake it. Firstly both sides play a tactics counter. These range from Skirmish (1), Covering Battle (2), Offensive Battle (3) and Decisive Battle (4). There are now limits to prevent the entire Grande Armée from skirmishing and other useful rulings to make battle choice more rational, but essentially this permits you as the gamer to rate the battle for importance, and not to have to fight knock-out battles every time. (Note that the Vistula Rules have tightened up this area). Add both of the two choices together and divide by two. The result (with rounding up or down cleverly added in) is the number of combat rounds you will fight. Each round is the same (though with Artillery fire being added on even numbered rounds) and consists of the usual totting up of Strength Points, finding the column on the chart, adjusting column or die roll and inflicting the indicated losses. Quality is important here and can give a smaller but better force a good chance, as can the Tactical Bonus of a Commander. The battle continues for the number of rounds or until one side suffers 20% losses and loses a Morale Check. The result if long and somewhat normative gives a good range of everything from light divisional actions up to Austerlitz. Sieges are handled by a series of dice rolls that get more deadly with time until the fortress surrenders or the siege is lifted. The Jours de Gloires Campagne system is not one of those savage games that change with each stack's move, nor is it very interactive. Had I designed it, it would have been much crueller. It is however extremely pretty and atmospheric and it does contain much that will inform you on its topic. The scenarios are not (so far) very balanced and they are more in the nature of a historical play through. However, even in 1805 a slow Napoleon (and I've seen one) will lose. The game does encourage you to plunge and occasionally this will turn nasty. The Hohenlinden scenario is small and with interesting possibilities without Napoleon. (Napoleon always chooses who goes first - even in 1809), Austerlitz should be a French win, but only if the two Allied armies are kept apart. 1809 can come down to some huge battles and is (I feel) the most interesting of the three Danubian games. (Surely the Austrians should be able to move first, and shouldn't Ratisbon be fortified?). I have not yet played the Vistula battles that include Eylau, Friedland, and the 1813 Campaign (including Armistice). If you want to play a quick game on Napoleon that will optimise bank for buck then I can recommend these two games. You may want to adjust the scenarios a wee bit, but six good scenarios for £14 sounds a fair old bargain. (A volume on the 1814 campaigns in France has come out since this review). Back to Perfidious Albion #104 Table of Contents Back to Perfidious Albion List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by Charles and Teresa Vasey. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com