Battles of Napoleonic Europe - Instructional Playthrough

This is how you play. Enjoy!
1:52 Set Up
11:00 Play begins
14:15 First AI Turn
55:50 Line of Sight
Errors: At 38:40 I retreated my unit when it was adjacent to its Commander, which should not have happened. Units who are adjacent to their Commander at the time of the Attack do not retreat - 4s are ignored.

[@giulianopietoso1206]

Another great game! Thanks for the video Mike, really helps with this one.

[@willtijerina5149]

My copy is arriving on Friday and I'm excited to start playing. Thank you for this instructional video as it will make it easier to learn the ropes.

[@mikelambosolitairebookgames]

You're welcome - glad it helps.

[@xavierzambrano1062]

Great AI, Mike! I can see how you combined successfully mechanics from Command and Colors (sectors) and a couple of your previous games- priorities (English Civil War) and bucket of dice (Vimy Ridge). The attrition felt Napoleonic as well.I already bought it yesterday

[@mikelambosolitairebookgames]

Thanks 😊

[@mathmethman]

You've probably worked this out yourself, but in retrospect the disastrous decision was at 1:25:50 when you moved the cavalry right and up instead of up twice. The latter would have given you the same kind of attack but would have blocked the retreating enemy from sneaking past next turn.

[@mikelambosolitairebookgames]

Yep ☹

[@mathmethman]

At 1:05:42 you remembered NOT to retreat your infantry because they were next to the commander and wondered if you had forgotten this earlier. You had. At 38:47 you retreated unnecessarily, though it did put you out of range of an attack from the next infantry to activate (39:27), so it was arguably to your advantage to retreat. [Edit: whoops. This was already pointed out in the description. Sorry.]

[@mikelambosolitairebookgames]

Thanks for this. I think this is the one I'd picked up in the description above (you might need to expand it to see it).

[@mathmethman]

@@mikelambosolitairebookgames That will teach me to read descriptions before commenting. Original comment edited. Thanks for a great series of light games. (I own 7 books so far.) I've just finished all of 'Medieval Britain' and am enjoying these playthroughs for an informed decision about which to buy next.

[@mikelambosolitairebookgames]

@@mathmethman Thanks - I appreciate your support and I'm glad to hear you enjoy the games.

[@Darthvegeta8000]

Are there plans to publish a version that focusses on other battles besides the Iberian peninsula? Italy, Austerlitz,...

[@mikelambosolitairebookgames]

Maybe. The 'Battles' games I produce take a very long time to make due to the amount of play-testing and AI adjustment needed. New games tend to be more popular than sequels or expansions, so I'd need to be sure it was worth the effort involved, if that makes sense?

[@A.Venator_Helveticus]

@@mikelambosolitairebookgamesI second that. While I really like the fact that more obscure theatres like the Peninsular War get attention, it's the "great battles" that will always draw many people to buy another book with this ingenious system. You simply can't go wrong with Napoleonics, a gamebook depicting Quatre-Bras - Ligny - Waterloo - Wavre would be fantastic. This campaign just never gets old.

[@angielg.1899]

Nice game, I will surely try it !!! Is there no diversification of infantry types (guard, light etc.) or cavalry types (dragoons, cuirassiers etc.) ?

[@mikelambosolitairebookgames]

Thanks! My games are kept simple. The key reasons for this are to aid ease of play and make the game-play smooth, without having to keep consulting too many different charts, but also because space is limited on the page and fitting varied stats for different unit types is hard.

[@fredkano3651]

Hi Mike. This game looks really good and I have put in an order. Just one question from the playthrough. As at 1:12:50(ish) the British (AI) infantry is under attack by the French cavalry, should the AI infantry be given a chance to form square (say on a die roll of 1 to 3)? Also, more generally, is there any intention to broaden the scope of the battles to other theatres within the Napoleonic Wars in the future (e.g. Napoleon's central European campaigns)?

[@mikelambosolitairebookgames]

Thanks! I know what you mean and in some battles the AI will form square (although it does this on its turn rather than on the player's turn when faced with a cavalry attack). In this battle the AI is intent on crossing the river so on these rules has no time to go into square and then out again, which would take two turns.

[@fredkano3651]

@@mikelambosolitairebookgames OK. Thanks Mike. Looking forward to receiving the game.

[@user-gk7yn2ig7j]

You made a slight mistake in 1:19:14 when you attaked the infantry through the hils
Great game

[@mikelambosolitairebookgames]

Not that I can see. There were no hills there and the town did not block line of sight. The only two hexes to consider are those two I point to, both of which are clear hexes. Unless I’m looking at the wrong bit?

[@user-gk7yn2ig7j]

@@mikelambosolitairebookgamessorry wrong time 1:18:56, the hill blocks line of sight in section 3

[@mikelambosolitairebookgames]

@@user-gk7yn2ig7j No, in fact that is OK too - LoS runs from the centre of the attacker’s hex to the centre of the target’s hex, so it would miss that hill. The game includes lots of examples to explain it. Cheers.

[@seanibus42]

Do you sell your games as print and play anywhere?

[@mikelambosolitairebookgames]

Yes, on Wargame Vault.com but they usually appear on there a few months after the book is released. That gap is getting smaller though so this one shouldn't be too much longer. Cheers.

[@usaghy1O]

thank you for this, but i dislike napoleonic s games, i am french lol

[@mikelambosolitairebookgames]

You can play as the French! I understand 😊