HOLY SMOKE, BATGUY, THIS NAPOLEON'S BATTLES THIRD EDITION GAME HAS MORE STUFF IN IT THAN YOUR NIFTY UTILITY BELT!

By S. Craig Taylor, Jr.

Riddle me this: What weighs four-and-one-half pounds and holds hundreds or even thousands of hours of gaming fun for you and your friends? Come on, people, this is not a trick question. I am, of course, discussing the new, Lost Battalion Games third edition version of NAPOLEON'S BATTLES. I may be one of the designers but to be truthful, until you get a finished copy in your hand you are basically writing and talking about something that is planned but does not yet exist in the material world.

So, let's examine exactly what you get. I have one of these brand-spanking-new, jam-packed box-o'-goodies here on the table in front of me as I carefully record my own first impressions. First, I have to pierce the industrial strength shrink wrap. Hmm, that's easier said then done with these rheumy old eyes, withered muscles and clumsy thick fingers. Can I just grab it here on the corner and rip it open from there? Apparently not; this transparent stuff is tough! Is there a flaw in the film's seam that I can exploit? No, you could bury this bad boy in the backyard and archeologists in the year 3000 would dig it up in mint condition with no water damage. In the end, I revert to form and slice it open with a few vicious thrusts of my trusty box cutter. Take that, inanimate object! After that ordeal, I amazingly have no trouble sliding off the slipcover. If you pause to look at the slipcover, you will see the words "Origins Hall of Fame". The NAPOLEON'S BATTLES game system was singled out as a "Hall of Fame Game" at the Origins Award Ceremonies in 2007. At the time, we had no publisher and we (Bob Coggins and I) were humbled by this honor and thank all who voted for us.

The forces are commited in this remake of The Battle of Craonne.

Anyhow, I carefully pry up one corner of the box lid of the sturdy black box and peer in for a first look at the finished game's components. Nope, it is just too dark to see anything. So I completely remove the lid and put it aside. Inside are the glittering treasures of THE GAME. Ta, da! First up, I find a shiny, high-tech CD. This is an innovation from earlier editions. You load it into your computer and you can print out full-color labels for your troops for the game's twelve different scenarios. It also contains a complete and searchable list of generals and their ratings for designing your own scenarios. Peeking out from under this is a small sheet of self-sticking circular labels for the large, circular wooden markers. There are labels for both sides of the Turn and Initiative markers and for the twelve Mystery markers for each side, which are used for hidden movement.

Whoa, is there no end to this almost shamanistic magic? Delving still deeper into the box, I find what appears to be enough cards to play a game of TEXAS HOLDEM. Actually, there are not quite that many, but there are 20 cards. First are the cards which are used for player reference during a game. There is the one-sided Time Record Card, which contains the Time Record Chart (move the Turn marker on it to record the game time) and it also contains the optional Weather and Observation Table, two identical one-sided Sequence of Play Cards and two identical two-sided Game Cards with the lists of Fire Modifiers, lists of Combat Modifiers and the General Elimination Table on one side and the Force Marching rules, a General Ratings Diagram, a Unit Rating Diagram, the optional Ranged Artillery Modifier Chart, the Dispersal Numbers Chart and the optional Night Turns Chart. Then, there are the two identical Information Notes Charts Note Cards. These are something new – the old (and very repetitive) notes have been dropped from each of the National Information Cards and the Information Charts found in the scenarios and placed for reference on these cards, which now include references to the rules. The backs of these Information Note Cards show a reference as to what the different color small, square wooden markers each mean. Generally speaking, I would forget my hat if it wasn't nailed to my head, so the comprehensive reference information means that I can look up most of what I can't remember.

A down on the table shot of Napoleon's Battles in action.

The National Information Cards have the information about all the different troop types found at different time periods in the game and include the one-sided Ottoman States (the Ottoman Empire proper and its associated North African subsidiaries) Information Card, the two-sided (lots of stuff) French Information Card, the two-sided Italian States (Republic of Italy/Kingdom of Italy, Piedmont and Naples)/Iberian States (Portugal and Spain) Card, the two-sided Low Countries (Netherlands and Dutch-Belgian)/Britain Card, the two-sided Westphalian States (Brunswick/Oldenburg/Hanseatic League. Hanover, Hesse-Darmstadt/Hesse-Kessel and Westphalia)/Confederation States (Baden, Berg, Confederation/Holy Roman Empire/German Federal and Nassau) Card, the two-sided Russian/Scandinavian States (Denmark and Sweden) Card, the two-sided Austria/Prussia Card and the two-sided Bavaria and Saxony/Poland and Wurtemburg Card.

The remaining cards all contain templates. The Templates and markers on these cards must all be carefully cut out for use in the game, so they will be destroyed for the good of the game. There are two identical copies of one-sided Template Card 1 & 4, which each contain one Artillery Fire Template and one Maneuver Template, two identical copies of two-sided Template Card 2, which each contain one Spread Artillery Fire Template and a set of Terrain markers that are printed front and back and one copy of two-sided Template Card 3 which contains Infantry Skirmish Templates on side 1 and Artillery Spread Templates on side two – these templates are the same size, although marked differently. To be perfectly honest, all of these templates are the same sizes as the ones in the first two editions and I already have dozens of those older ones stowed away with my Napoleonic miniatures but I need these new brown ones to run "official" Lost Battalion Games third edition games when hosting at conventions. I must cut out these new templates and need some extra ones (just a hint, Jeff, I can use some extra template cards, gratis, please) for use when I demo the game at conventions. For now, though, I will not stop to cut out what I have as I continue to delve into the wondrous world of third edition NAPOLEON'S BATTLES.

Whew! Digging into this box is getting to be hot work and the box still seems to be about half full. Next, I come across the Scenario Cards, which are all folded, have a hole punched in the upper left corner and are held together through that hole with a metal ring. Guess what? I can't figure out how to unhook the metal ring. The zippers on my winter coats should be this sturdy - I recently spent $74 to put new zippers on my two heaviest winter coats and am still bitter. Hooray, after only a couple hours of experimentation and some bloody fingers, I finally solved the "secret of the ring". The trick is that the most visible bump on the ring is not where you unhook the beastie, it is its hinge. Just opposite the hinge is the break – just push the parts of the ring on either side of the break away from each other and Scenario Cards can easily be removed. Who would have thunk it? I'm so pleased with myself that I stop for a last remaining piece of Christmas pumpkin bread and a cup of coffee. Each Scenario is printed on card stock and most are four pages long, except for the Battles of Lutzen and Waterloo, which have eight pages. The twelve scenarios included are Valmy, Novi, Marengo, Auerstadt, Raab, Talavera, Albuera, Gorodetschna, Lutzen, Craonne, Quatre Bras and Waterloo.

After my mole-like digging through these masses of high quality cardboard, I noticed some plastic baggies along the side of the box. The first one contains all the large, circular wooden markers. Since I finally found these, I will pause and take a break from my writing while I stick the labels onto them and pour myself some cool, refreshing lemonade. Looking over a copy of NAPOLEON'S BATTLES is thirsty work and I've been at it so long, I think I've missed some meals. "Old Fumble Fingers" finally got all the labels attached and well-centered, so I am ready to continue on my voyage to the center of the box. The second plastic baggie proves to contain an ample supply (I refuse to pause yet again just to count these but there are lots and lots of them) of the small, square wooden markers in eight different colors. Sensibly, there are more yellow (react), blue (disordered) and red (rout) markers, as these are used the most. I should have brought a backhoe but I seem to finally be closing in on the bottom of the box. The next item is the Reference Book, which is 56 pages long plus covers. This contains a treasure trove of reference information about designing and setting up scenarios and background historical information about all the different armies that participated. For reasons that elude me but probably have something to do with Lost Battalion production methods, this book is saddle-stitched (fastened together with staples) while the other book below it is perfect-bound (glued together with a flat spine).

Would you like to know more about Napoleon's Battles?

Good things come to those who wait. I can see the bottom of the box and an excellent box it is. Just as an aside, if you store your game elsewhere, this box looks like it will be excellent for storing 10mm to 25mm figures. By-the-by, this last item is the Rule Book, which is 96 pages long plus covers. This contains a lengthy (15 pages) Introduction to miniature gaming and instructions about raising miniature armies, including basing and organization, and hints on tabletop terrain. This is followed by 12 pages of an Introduction to the Rules which explains finding and interpreting game information, commanders and other units, unit formations, troop type abbreviations, what the markers mean and a detailed description of the Sequence of Play. The actual Standard Game Rules cover 33 heavily-illustrated pages. This is followed by 24 pages of Optional Rules and three pages on interpreting scenario information. If you are a veteran of the First and Second Editions you will find a few rule changes but a game that still plays substantially the same as it always has. Two substantial changes from the Second Edition are the 90 degree limit on pivoting units and returning the artillery ranges to what they were in the First Edition. Both books contain some excellent diagrams, sketches and decorative artwork.

Wow, I'm finally done. This is a game that does the job thoroughly, gets the job done and looks good doing it. Oh, and by the way, when they finally get it posted online, the game will have its own forum and discussion page at the Lost Battalion portal along with some items of interest and some free scenarios. The information that Bob Coggins and I have already sent to Lost Battalion for this site includes some general biographies, two downloadable scenarios and our complete general's ratings list, including our notes. This is some interesting reading and I hope to see it soon (hint, hint, hint). We hope to use this get some lively discussions going about these ratings, general historical topics, discuss some fine points of design and generally have some fun.