Swords around the Throne

The system is novel and is repeatedly surprising in how it is able to recreate its historical arc. The gameplay, and especially the battles, come off limp and unsatisfying. That's a bit unfortunate, as we did see changes in how games were won and how armies applied pressure as we replayed the game. Early Napoleon wins shifted after Britain's armies found footholds in Spain, and shifted further after Britain made a naval landing in northern Europe and marched to an undefended Paris. This latter result was due to the Napoleon player not having any cards allowing a march action in hand, so there is --some-- uncertainty in the card play. But most outcomes are known prior to initiating the attempt. I'm not particularly inclined to start investigating variants, especially given the lack of details on the cards and the board (so many exceptions could be handled by the cards and board). Had this game been given a full development cycle, it could have been excellent.

La mécanique de jeu fonctionne très bien et traduit les aléas de la planification stratégique. Il faut donc préparer sa stratégie, anticiper au mieux les actions possibles de l'adversaire pour tirer profit de ses cartes d'actions. Le jeu force à faire des choix stratégiques, car 6 actions max par année, ne permet pas les hésitations.

Temporary Rating

Nice ideas ! But I am not sure how to prevent French "turtling" (see forum). Maybe we did something wrong ?

A very involved game with few components that are card driven. Brings a lot into this small package. Card planning is critical and not sure I like the card mechanics planning, seems too involved at this point. Diplomacy is excellent and battle formulated is an interesting formula that players can apply in their strategy.

ADD: Always willing to play a Napoleonic Boardgame and look to get this one back to the table - I've had this on my mind since I wrote these comments and also certain insight from the creator has me more intrigued on this game system of a few parts but many decisions and actions. Like Napoleon - a powerful force in a small package.

Don't forget to download the nifty solitaire-play rules! :-)