First Look at Ted Raicer's I, Napoleon Solo Game

Ted Raicer is, to borrow a term from Too Fat Lardies, one of the Big Men of board gaming and is definitely a wargaming Hall of Famer.  His WW1 game, Paths of Glory, has won numerous awards and nominations, and is an early example of the Card Driven Games (CDG) that have come to characterize a lot of GMT Games' output in the last few decades. I Napoleon is Ted's latest design, a CDG game that shows the evolution of Ted's thinking since Paths of Glory.    A solo game, it allows a player to follow in the steps of Napoleon, seeking to rise in glory and power.  

 Like other CDG historical, it has a set of cards for each period or epoch, and each card introduces an event or a personage in Napoleon's career.  To win the game big time, Napoleon has to conquer Europe and to die peacefully with a legitimate heir, though as Ted says in his designer notes, good luck with that.  Any lesser outcome is assessed by the measure of Glory and Politics points that you accrue through the game.

I, Napoleon is a beautifully produced game.  The cards are numerous and lavish, and the display board has a period feel to it.   Here's what the game looks like at the start of the first scenario, which begins as Napoleon is a young officer during the Terror.  Note the bottle of Napoleon brandy that I opened up to get me into the mood.

Almost immediately, a narrow escape from Madame Guillotine.  Fortunately, the game gives Napoleon one re-roll every game turn (a turn is a variable number of card draws equalling one year) to simulate Napoleon's famous luck.   

As the game progresses, the player will draw a variable number of cards each year, which may or may not re-create famous events in Napoleon's career.  For example, I never drew the cards  for the capture of Toulon, but the young general did just fine, winning glorious campaigns in Egypt and Syria, including the famous visit to the plague wards despite the chance of an early death.

Returning to France in 1800, and with the Brumaire card in play, I had enough Glory and Politics points, with enough friends and allies in influential positions, for Napoleon to become First Consul.

So that was a successful outcome for what is essentially the first scenario of the game.  Had time permitted, I would have broken the plastic seal on a whole whack of First Consul game play cards and continued Napoleon's progress.  

My first reaction to the game is quite positive.   I'm not sure it's a war-game so much as it's a model of an era, with one influential man as a focal point, so perhaps it's best described as a biographical game or a period of history game.    As a model I think it's sufficiently detailed for someone to learn a lot about the Napoleonic period, and the mechanics are simple enough that a non-grognard with an interest in history could easily pick it up.

I hope to file another report soon on the progress of First Consul Bonaparte.   Those who violently dislike the Corsican Ogre (looking at you, Conrad Kinch), feel free not to read that post.

Cheers and blessings to your die rolls,

MP+