Grognards rejoice! Recently hitting shelves is Fantasy Flight Game’s Napoleon: The Eagle and the Lion. Depicting ten major battles between Le Petite Dude Mort and the forces of the English crown, The Eagle and the Lion looks to be another addition to what’s shaping up to be the Year of the Wargame. Of course the new system is more on the light side of wargaming but should appeal to both seasoned veterans and newbies alike.
“When you have resolved to fight a battle, collect your whole force. Dispense with nothing. A single battalion sometimes decides the day.”
– Napoleon Bonaparte
From Fantasy Flight: For twenty years, from 1796 until the final defeat at Waterloo in 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte and his generals fought on the battlefields of all Europe. Battles of Napoleon is a gaming system that allows two players to recreate the most important historical battles of the era. The Eagle and the Lion, the first game in the Battles of Napoleon series, gives you all you need to recreate many of the major clashes that saw the French and English armies — sworn enemies — face each other on the battlefields of Belgium, Spain and Italy. No less than 10 battles are featured, each of them based on a major historical event. In Battles of Napoleon — The Eagle and the Lion, the two players control the French and English armies (sometimes supported by allies of other nationalities) in a specific battle. Planned as the first in a series of products that combine principles and mechanics from board and miniature games, each subsequent release will be standalone two-player games that can also be combined with others for larger battles.
The battles to be fought:
The game includes:
- 4 game boards, printed on both sides
- 200 plastic figures, including artillery pieces
- 120 cards
- 2 ten-sided dice
- 20 order markers
- 150 counters
- 2 player reference cards
- 1 scenario booklet
- 1 rulebook
It seems that the system has been received extremely well. Here’s this user’s review on BGG.
I think Battles of Napoleon: The Eagle and the Lion is bringing a lot of new things to the table and, if people will give it a chance for what it is, they may find a very good game here. If, on the other hand, folks try to fit a square peg into a round hole, they may be unhappy and (as gamers frequently do) end up criticizing the peg for not being round enough. But while sporting the usual high levels of production we have come to expect from FFG, clear and interesting rules, and a gaming system designed to be expanded upon, Battles of Napoleon could just be one of the best wargames to pickup this year. I’ll say that I personally saw the box, at a game shop yesterday, and I can attest that it is huge!
Battles of Napoleon: The Eagle and the Lion retails for $99.95 in the US but is currently out of stock at FFG. It can be found at a 20% discount at Funagaingames.com though.
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