Napoleon Solo

(I have David in Suffolk, he of the Ragged Soldier blog, to thank for the excellent title to this post!)

One of the striking things about wargamers compared to other gamers is how many of us like to game solitaire, even when there is no shortage of potential opponents.

Numerous reasons are often given for gaming solo. A game might be approached as a puzzle to be solved rather than a combat to be modelled, and this is particularly the case with some of the many designed-for-solitaire games. The human player is attempting to outwit or outperform an AI whose behaviours are dictated by the rules. But many wargamers enjoy – in fact, would prefer - playing two- or multiple- player games solo, including many that on the face of it look like very poor candidates for solitaire play, typically because they include ‘fog of war’ features which are supposed to hide information from one’s opponent; you can’t very easily hide information from yourself after all.

(That said, I have heard elderly wargamers declare that after you get past a certain age that fog of war can be easily recreated by making sure you just leave a few hours between turns so you have forgotten what the other side had in their hand or printed on their blocks. Senescence can be your friend.)

But a wargame is to many of us something different from ‘just’ a game or a puzzle. We like to watch the events unfold before our eyes. Playing a wargame solo can be like writing a story; the narrative becomes key, and the moments of most interest often revolve around particular characters or units or subplots that can later be described at length in an engaging after action report, vivid enough for the reader to smell the gunpowder and hear the shouted orders.

At these times the presence of an opponent introduces an unwanted element of tension or pressure, the need to compete as opposed to the opportunity to observe at leisure. There are few experiences in wargaming, I find, to beat that pleasure of slowly sipping a glass of good wine over a board showing a campaign or battle finely poised, and just ruminating over what each side might do next, and how the situation before you contrasts with that of the actual conflict, and why that might be so.

I have several designed-for-solitaire games under my belt these days, and I plan to say something about all of them at some point in this blog. They are not normally my go-to games; if I am not playing an opponent I prefer to play a reasonably simple 2-player game as both players, just honestly trying my best for both sides and savouring my wine when the crisis of the battle approaches. But sometimes I will acquire a particular game out of curiosity, and the way in which the AI tries to model an actual opponent is always a matter of the keenest interest.

So my current game is a rather obscure one called N: The Napoleonic Wars, and oddly what first attracted me to it was how little it resembles your average wargame.

It’s quite a light-ish game, 12-pages of rules that are written with tongue frequently in cheek. Design notes include the following, on various events in the game that keep Napoleon busy:

Napoleon’s escapade in Egypt took him away from France for many long and critical months. His later escapades in the boudoir with Marie Louise, his Habsburg wife, did produce an heir to his throne, but also initiated him into the dubious joys of growing bald and pudgy and playing with the toddler while his Empire burned.

Boney busy in Egypt...

...and in the boudoir. Coo-er, missus.

Or, regarding the presence of the Josephine counter in a nation where a battle occurs:

The locals are in awe of her beauty, style and her legendary skills in the boudoir.

This jolly style might start to get irksome in a longer ruleset or a game that has pretensions to be a serious simulation, but in a light solitaire of this type it reads fine, and the rules are in fact admirably clear.

The first surprise to the game is that you, the player, are not Napoleon. You play his Coalition foes and the aim is to bring the Corsican Ogre down. This is unusual for a start – everyone always wants to be Napoleon, right?

The game board itself has a map of Napoleonic Europe in the background but that is pure decoration. The main feature consists of five appropriately positioned boxes representing nations where a battle may take place – France, Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain. Germany (as Prussia), Austria and Spain may also side with the Coalition and contribute their armies to the anti-French military alliance. The rest of the board is mostly a number of smaller boxes that either show information pertinent to the game (nations’ political status, current religious status of France, current status of Europe’s Jews to name but a few) or allow wars occurring outside of Europe in places as diverse as Egypt, Haiti, the Cape of Good Hope and Ireland, to be managed in an abstract way.

The board

An obvious omission is any box representing Russia, which initially seems very jarring. In fact this makes for another abstraction that fits in with the mechanics of the game very well. As the Coalition you have a good chance of bringing Russia onside as long as both Prussia and Austria are in the Coalition. If both of these nations are knocked out the Russians just decide to go home. A Napoleonic invasion of Russia itself is triggered when four specific minor wars have been fought, and this invasion is handled in a different way to the battles fought in the on-board nations.

The idea is to get Napoleon to abdicate by pushing the Napoleon Abdicate counter up from 0 to 16. The counter is pushed up mostly by winning battles – you have to win 3 battles per turn, which given the number of big beefy French Corps that get deployed each turn is a tall order. 

Those Coalition armies look awesome...

...until compared to this cup of bruisers.

You can also push the counter up by winning naval battles or key minor wars – the French hate to lose Haiti for example. Or, you can suffer a sudden defeat if the French win the Battle of Trafalgar and get to invade Blighty. The full game has 16 turns, running from 1794 until 1821 and if you fail to force Napoleon to abdicate by that time then the great man dies in his bed in the Tuileries and the nations of Europe settle down under the benign guidance of his son. Peace reigns and neither of the world wars ever happens. Hurrah! Oh, sorry, I mean, boo hiss!

The game is to an extent scripted, there are certain events that must happen every turn, Boney appearing in 1795 for example, but there is a lot of unpredictability also, unexpected accidents, variations as to what French forces are deployed and to where, and a High Politics chit pull mechanic that means you know there is a chance of a particular political event happening but no way of knowing exactly when. As might be expected, keeping the coalition going in the face of likely military defeats requires financial management and diplomatic success, as well as just plain luck. Getting an idea of the ebb and flow of the game is impossible without an example, so having played the first six turns I thought a brief after action report would be instructive and give an idea of what sort of history the game allows to play out. Here is the narrative of my game, to the end of 1805.

1792-1794

The First Coalition includes Britain, Austria and Prussia, with Sweden and Russia neutral.

There is fighting in South Africa which the Coalition wins, thanks mainly to British naval dominance.

Spain signs the Treaty of San Ildefonso with France and becomes a French ally.

French diplomats are active in Europe and the Allies find they have little spare cash for countermeasures.

Fighting occurs in three nations, Italy, Spain, and Germany. Italy sees a thumping French victory but in Spain and Germany the Coalition are victorious. The continuation of the Reign of Terror in France sees a slight shift in the Italians’ sympathies and they are not quite so enthusiastic about the Revolution.

1794 ends with a Naval Battle which the Brits win comfortably.

Summary: Everything seems to be going smoothly so far – most importantly the victory in Germany means Prussia are still onside.

1795-1796

Napoleon appears on the scene with his beautiful and fascinating Creole wife Josephine.

Minor wars in Switzerland and Haiti. Coalition manages to lose the Swiss War despite some considerable expenditure, but just scrapes a victory in Haiti which is a good one to win.

There are battles in Spain and Italy which both result in defeats for the Coalition. Germany once again gives us a victory however, aided by the fact that the main target (‘butt’) nation changes from Germany to France which means Napoleon goes off there with his army instead.

Among the random accidents this turn the Barbary Pirates lead the RN a merry dance which makes it more vulnerable to naval defeat, Yellow Fever in Spain denies the French use of their Spanish allies, the French attitude to religion mellows and the Italian scientist Alessandro Volta decides he has had quite enough of the French and throws his lot in with the Allies.

Summary: We are still unable to beat the French in three nations in one turn – that is going to be a major challenge – but another victory in Germany keeps Prussia in the field, which is key.

1797-1798

Russia abandons its neutrality but due to terrible diplomacy rolls the Allies are unable to entice her to join the Coalition. Meanwhile a war in Senegal goes badly despite the Allies throwing a good deal of money at it.

Much worse is to come.

There are battles in Italy, Austria and Germany. 

We might get something out of this one...

This one, not so much.

Italy yields a convincing Coalition victory but there are overwhelming defeats in Germany and Austria which knocks both of our German allies out of the war!

uh-oh...

Summary: A negative reaction in France to the ongoing Terror and another victory in a late naval battle is no consolation for the fact that Prussia and Austria have surrendered and the coalition has collapsed!

1799

A war in Egypt keeps Boney busy for the turn, and what’s more we win it. Ha ha, sucked in, Bonaparte.

We also manage to get Austria back into the fight with a bit of money and a bit of plain begging.

But the rot has set in now. The Coalition win a battle in Italy but the French effortlessly batter Austria into surrender again.

Meanwhile more disastrous die rolls mean we have been unable to bring the Prussians or Russians onside and the Barbary Pirates continue to distract the RN from its French enemies.

Summary: Bad times for the anti-French alliance, even without Napoleon being available to push us around in Europe. The die rolls are relentless. The same die that continually rolls 1s and 2s to enable French Cavalry Corps to move from nation to nation turns to rolling 5s and 6s when we are trying to oust French diplomats from Germany!

1800-1804

Britain concludes the Peace of Amiens with France so there is little fighting this turn. The perfidious Bavarians join the French alliance. Austria is game to have another go but with no other forces except the weak ‘Duchy’ units the result is predictable and the battles in Austria and Germany scarcely bother the French hegemony of Europe.

1805

Those French, they just can’t help themselves. With no other enemies on the European mainland they engineer a war in the Balkans between the Russians and the Ottomans that the Russians win, which is potentially good for the Allies in the long run.

More serious though is a battle fought at Cape Trafalgar which, contrary to all expectations, the RN narrowly loses! Lord Nelson is killed and the French immediately invade Britain. A victory would end the game immediately with a French win, but the British manage to inflict a costly defeat on the invaders, wiping out three corps. But the French Navy rules the waves and the situation is grim.

Better news in Germany with an unexpected victory over small French occupying forces and the prospect of Prussia rejoining the war. Late 1805 sees a naval victory that reverses some of the worst effects of Trafalgar and restores the RN to its former position of superiority.

Summary: Britain has survived an invasion attempt and an unexpected defeat at Trafalgar has been largely redeemed by two subsequent unexpected victories. But the Allies are on the ropes, not least due to some truly catastrophic die rolls.

And here, for now, the game ends. It’s a clever and enjoyable little game which to an extent captures the gist of the Napoleonic wars. To have a hope of beating Napoleon the British need to get Austrian, Prussian and Russian boots on the ground, which requires sound financial management, diplomatic success (which also costs money) and luck, and they also need to keep spending on the RN high enough to win any naval battles that might occur – losing the big one at Trafalgar particularly is a body blow. Land battles can seem pointless – the French can often pile in enough troops to make the result a foregone conclusion – or bizarre – the retreat/pursuit rules can lead to armies chasing each other from nation to nation around Europe – but where the forces are evenly matched it can be an interesting contest. The randomness is high enough that I suspect there is a good replayability factor, and I suspect also that if I stick to this game there will be future events that will likely turn the tide for the beleaguered Coalition. Not bad at all for a light solo gaming experience.