Waterloo 20 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Using These Rules
• About the Napoleonic 20 Series
• [2.0] Game Equipment
• [3.0] Setting Up the Game
  • Standard Scenario Setup
• [4.0] Sequence of Play
• [5.0] Random Events
• [6.0] Movement
• [7.0] Zones of Control
• [8.0] The Reaction Phase
• [9.0] Combat
• [10.0] Rallying
• [11.0] Reinforcements
• [12.0] Army Morale
• [13.0] Passing ("Lulls")
• [14.0] Night Turns
• [15.0] How to Win
• [16.0] Optional Rules
• [17.0] Additional Scenarios
  • [17.1] The Extended Campaign Scenario
  • [17.2] The Opening Battles Scenario
  • [17.3] The Closing Battles Scenario
  • [17.4] Additional Forces (Game Balance Options)
• Designer & Developer Notes

Using These Rules

New gaming terms, when initially defined, appear in dark red lettering for quick referencing.

The instructions for this game are organized into major "Rules" sections as shown in large green Caps font, and represented by the number to the left of the decimal point (e.g., Rule [4.0] is the fourth Rule). These Rules generally explain the game's subject matter, its components, the procedures for play, the game's core systems, how to set it up, and how to win.

With each Rule, there can be "Cases" that further explain a Rule's general concept or basic procedure. Cases might also restrict the application of a Rule by denoting exceptions to it. Cases (and Subcases) are an extension of a Rule shown in the way that they are numbered. For example, Rule [4.1] is the first Case of the fourth Rule; and Rule [4.1.2] is the second Subcase of the first Case of the fourth Rule.

Important information is in red text.

Blue blocks are examples.

Grey blocks are tips and designer notes.

About the Napoleonic 20 Series

Joe Miranda challenged himself to design a realistic, playable game of a major campaign with only about 20 units on the map. Choosing the Waterloo campaign as his starting point, his new "classic" game system came to Alan Emrich at Victory Point Games in 2007 and became its first game release, Waterloo 20. Joseph's goal was to give players the "Big Picture," having them focus on making key decisions which shaped the way a campaign developed: which way their army will go, coping with the fickle fortunes of war, and weighing the cost effectiveness of constant attacks versus wearing down morale.

Elements of the System's Design

Designed around large scale formations (i.e., corps or divisions), the Napoleonic 20 system highlights key operational elements of the period. Movement rates are low to prevent players from conducting unrealistic flanking maneuvers, and to show the significance of using roads and forced-marches to enhance maneuverability. Combat values are also low, allowing the use of a Differential Combat Table that is both simple and provides a variety of results appropriate to battles at this time. Results range anywhere from indecisive, to Routing (with the die roll nicely simulating the varying distances units might flee before recovering), to Breaking (where a unit is not "completely destroyed," but is ineffective until Rallied).

The Napoleonic 20 system also emphasizes the vital importance of Morale during this period. In essence, Morale is a resource that must be carefully managed: once your Morale is reduced to zero, you lose! Morale is a vital asset that can be spent at critical moments to help you achieve decisive results on the battlefield through forced marches, committing reserves, or rallying troops.

Finally, the Napoleonic 20 system also includes random events to both help "tell the story" of the battle while adding an important element of uncertainty. Players need to think intuitively about what might happen, considering how the "friction of war" could impact which routes of march their forces should take, when their best forces should be committed, and where they want to fight the decisive battle. The random events in these games create delicious puzzles that can foil a "perfect plan," create sudden opportunities, and generally make for a great gaming experience.

"Between the Event cards and the rather mercurial combat resolution, players never really know whether they're doing as well as they think they are, yet they still maintain the feeling that they're in control. It's almost as if (system designer) Joe Miranda has somehow given the players the 'illusion' that they're in control and know what's going on, when in fact they don't. It's very similar to what I suspect their historical counterparts would have felt." – Lance McMillan

Tales of the System's Development

When Alan Emrich began developing Waterloo 20, he knew he wasn't making just a single game (Waterloo 20), but a completely new game system (Napoleonic 20) for an entire series of games. He turned the Random Events Table of Joe's original design into a small deck of cards. To give the armies more "direction," Alan added Objective Hexes to the maps. He also created new Optional Rules for Fog of War and Cadre units, evolving this series to create more robust gameplay.

Alan then took the plunge and created a "proof of concept" design, the second game in the series, Jena 20, and from there the floodgates opened. This series' success has seen a healthy evolution – new terrain types were required for different battles (minor rivers, redoubts, slopes, etc.), and new unit types were spawned (artillery, plus the Optional Rules for Militia, Cossack, Light Infantry, etc.), and rules were gradually expanded to better capture the "feel" of operational warfare during the Napoleonic period.

All of this has been shepherded by series developer Lance McMillan since that second game evolved. As the keeper of the Napoleonic 20 "vision" (and a designer of several games in the series himself), Lance never forgets that any offering in the "Nappy 20" series must remain a simple, quick playing, and above all fun game. His development philosophy is that these games are, first and foremost, made to be played, not studied; they are simulation games, true, but they are games first and simulations second. This has remained true of every game in the Napoleonic 20 series, from VPG's original "bagged" releases, to GMT's licensed Fading Glory and Rising Glory quadrigame releases, to these new version 4.0 titles from Victory Point Games.

[2.0] Game Equipment

The Game Map: The game board features a map portraying the area where that game's battle or campaign took place. Superimposed over it is a hexagonal grid that regularizes the movement and positioning of the game's pieces. The Waterloo 20 game map is a 17" x 22" board which, when assembled, features a map portraying that part of Belgium where the campaign took place.

The Playing Pieces: The cardboard game pieces come in two basic types: units and markers. Units represent the actual military formations and leaders that participated in the campaign and maneuver around the map. Each unit shows:

• Combat Strength is the value of that unit when fighting.
• Movement Allowance is the speed and endurance of that unit; basically, it is the maximum number of open terrain hexes that unit can move through during a single Movement Phase.

There are also markers included to indicate a unit's current status (e.g., routed or fatigued), each army's morale level, the time of day, and other information matters.

In Waterloo 20, the blue units are French. The red units are Anglo-Dutch and the black units are Prussian.

Unit Abbreviation: Adv. Guard = Advance Guard (cavalry).

Note that the Anti-French forces (i.e., the Anglo-Dutch and Prussian armies) share a common Morale Value (and marker). They also share a common Player Turn.

The Event Cards: These have the title of their specific game at the top and the Event (common) or Events (specific by side) beneath. Dual Events are specific to the player who drew that card. French Player events are the ones on top, Anti-French Player events are the ones on bottom. Single Events affect whichever player drew that card. The Game Title (red titles set up in the Discard Pile) marks the cards belonging to that game.

Game Charts, Tables, and Tracks:

The Game Turn Record Track is on each game's map. It shows the passing of time, measured in Game Turns.

The Morale Track is on the Player Aid mat. It indicates the current number of Morale Points available to each army.

You use the Combat Results Table when resolving battles.

The Terrain Effects Chart explains how the map features impact movement and combat during play.

Other tables and reminders are also on the Player Aid mat.

[3.0] Setting Up the Game

Determine who will play which side. The French Player controls all of the French units, the Anti-French Player (a.k.a., the "Allied" or "Coalition" player) controls the other (i.e., opposing) units.

Preparing the Cards: Sort through the cards and find those with the title of the specific game being played. From those cards, find the ones with red titles; these cards begin, face up, in the Discard Pile. (These do not enter play until after the first reshuffle.) Shuffle the remaining cards together to form the Draw Pile, placing it face down next to the Discard Pile.

Follow the game's Exclusive Rules for the remainder of the set up instructions.

Standard Scenario Setup

After sides have been determined, set up as follows:

• Place the Game Turn marker on the June 16 Afternoon (Turn 9) space showing its French side.
• Place the French Morale marker on the "8" space and the Allied Morale marker on the "7" space of the Morale track.
• As per [3.0] (Preparing the Cards), use the Waterloo 20 cards to form the initial Draw Pile; set up the red-titled Event card (#12: A Change in the Weather) face up in the Discard Pile and use the remainder to form the initial Draw Pile. Optionally, you can set up the Napoleonic 20 Event card (#13, Just Like the Old Days) in the Discard Pile (as if it were a red-titled card).
• If using Variable Weather (see Rule [16.10]), place the Weather marker in the Cloudy box of the Weather Track, with its Worsening Weather side showing.

French Deployment

The French player sets up these units on the map:

Hex	Unit
0504	1e: D'ERLON (3-2)
0703	III: KELLERMANN (2-3)
0507	GARDE (3-2)
0704	2e: REILLE (4-2) + NEY (0-5)
0608	IV: MILHAUD (1-3) + NAPOLEON (3-5)
0707	3e: VANDAMME (3-2)
0610	II: EXELMANS (1-3)
0709	4e: GERARD (2-2)
0611	I: PAJOL (1-3)
0205	CADRE (1-2) * (remove unless using Rules 17.4.1 and/or 17.4.2)
0406	RESERVE ARTILLERY (2-2)

*This represents LOBAU's 6e Corps.

French Force Pool: Set aside the four French CADRE and two French DUMMY units. The NAPOLEON (2-5) and GROUCHY (1/0-5) Leader units are also set aside, if using the Optional Leader Rule [16.9].

Anglo-Dutch Deployment

The Anti-French player sets up these units on the map:

Hex	Unit
1005	I: ORANGE (4-2) + WELLINGTON (3-5)
1203	COLLAERT (1-3)
1304	RESERVE (3-2)

Anglo-Dutch Reinforcements: The Anti-French player sets up these units on the Game Turn track: Turn 9 — UXBRIDGE (2-3), Area X. Turn 10 — II: HILL (3-2), Area X.

Anglo-Dutch Force Pool: Set aside the three Anglo-Dutch CADRE and two Anglo-Dutch DUMMY units. The III: FREDERICK (2-2) unit is also set aside; it might arrive as a reinforcement via Event cards.

Prussian Deployment

The Anti-French player sets up these units on the map:

Hex	Unit
0808	I: ZIETEN (3-2) + the Good Ground (Artillery Immune) marker
0809	II: PIRCH (3-2) + BLÜCHER (2-5)
0909	RESERVE: VON HOBE (1-3)
0910	III: THIELMANN (2-2)

Prussian Reinforcements: The Anti-French player sets up these units on the Game Turn track: Turn 10 — IV: BÜLOW (3-2), Area Y.

Prussian Force Pool: Set aside the three Prussian CADRE and two Prussian DUMMY units. The Roeder (1-3) unit begins this scenario already Broken from fighting along the Sambre River the day before; it can be Rallied normally (see [10.0]). Set the Mud marker aside; it is only used with the Variable Weather Rule (see Rule [16.10]).

[4.0] Sequence of Play

General Rule

Play proceeds in successive Game Turns, composed of alternating Player Turns. During your Game Turn, you maneuver your units (and your opponent's Cavalry units might move in reaction); you then resolve combat situations. At the conclusion of the last Game Turn, determine the winner (see [15.0]).

In the Standard Scenario, the French player is the First player.

Game Turns

Each Game Turn consists of two Player Turns, a First Player Turn and a Second Player Turn (the game's Exclusive Rules will specify who the First Player is). Distinct Phases divide the activities of each Player Turn. The term "Phasing Player" describes the player who is currently the protagonist conducting activities during that Phase.

The First Player Turn

1. First Player Random Events Phase: The First Player reveals and enacts the top card's event [5.0].
2. First Player Movement Phase: The First Player may move all, some, or none of his units as desired within the limits of the rules for Movement [6.0], Zones of Control [7.0], and Terrain Effects [6.5, 6.6]. Reinforcements Arrival: That side's reinforcements might also enter the map, if available [11.0].
3. Second Player Reaction Phase: The Second Player may have some, none, or all of his eligible Cavalry units conduct Reaction Maneuvers [8.0].
4. First Player Combat Phase: In any order the First Player desires, his units can attack enemy units [9.0]. Recovery: After concluding every battle, eligible units recover from Rout [9.6.2] and Fatigue [16.8], and In Contact markers [8.2.4] are removed. Lull: If he did not Force March during his Movement Phase, and was not involved in any battles during the Reaction or Combat Phases, the First Player can, if eligible, receive a Morale Point from resting this turn during a "Lull" [13.0].
5. First Player Night Operations: Only if it is a Night Game Turn, the First Player may Rally eliminated units [10.0]; adjust his side's Morale based upon captured Line of Communication ("LOC") and Objective hexes; recover one Morale Point [14.0], then reconceal all of his units; and add his Dummy units to the map when using the Optional Fog of War Rule [16.1].

The Second Player Turn

6. Repeat Phases 1 through 5 above, reversing the roles of the First and Second Players.
7. If it is a Night Game Turn, reshuffle the Draw and Discard Piles together to create a refreshed Draw Pile.

Sudden Death Turns

8. Certain Game Turns, as indicated on the Game Turn track by a red "stop sign" symbol with a die face inside, present the possibility for an early conclusion to the battle. At the end of these turns, the Second Player rolls a die and, if the result is less than or equal to (≤) the number shown on the die face, the game ends immediately and the winner is determined. If the die roll is greater than the number shown, play continues on to the next Game Turn.

[5.0] Random Events

General Rule

Events represent the imponderables of war affecting campaigns.

At the beginning of your Player Turn, you reveal the top Event card from the Draw Pile and immediately perform that one event. If you draw a Dual Event card, perform only the color-coded event which applies to your side (e.g., blue if you are the French Player). Ignore the other player's event entirely.

Events ignored thus might still occur later on after reshuffling the discards back into the deck.

• Reshuffle the Deck and Discard Pile together when specifically instructed by an event, and always at the end of each Night Game Turn.
• Unless otherwise specified on the event itself, a specific event can occur multiple times per game.

Some Event cards instruct the player drawing that event to "Keep this card." Do so, retaining it face-up in front of you. Typically, its effect is usable on that or some future turn. It is usually discarded once used or at the end of a specified timeframe (e.g., the beginning of your next Night Turn), whichever occurs first.

In the Standard Scenario, skip the French player's Random Events Phase on the first Game Turn.

[5.1] Damned Good Ground

When the Allied player draws this event, he may place the Good Ground marker on any Allied (Anglo-Dutch or Prussian) unit at the end of his Movement Phase that turn. When placed, one side or the other must be selected and is shown face up to be in effect:

• Showing its "+1 Terrain Defense" side, this marker adds one (+1) point to the defender's Combat Strength in battle. Contrary to the limitations of Rule [9.4.1], this bonus is cumulative with any other defensive bonus provided by one other terrain effect.
• Showing its "Artillery Immune" side, the French Artillery unit does not receive its usual double Combat Strength bonus (see [9.3]) when it attacks an Allied unit stacked with this marker. It attacks as a 2-strength unit instead.

The Good Ground marker remains stacked with that unit until it leaves that hex for any reason, at which time this marker is removed from the map. It can re-enter play, or even be moved (if desired), if the Allied player subsequently draws this event again. Another unit cannot take possession of that hex during play and use this marker.

[5.2] Weather

When not using the Optional Variable Weather (see Rule [16.10], below), the Game Turn track shows different types of weather and ground conditions: Clear, Cloudy, Showers, Downpour, Storm, Mud.

[5.2.1] Weather Effects:

• If the weather is Clear or Cloudy, there is no effect.
• If the weather is Showers, decrease all Infantry Combat Strengths by one (-1).
• If the weather is Downpour, apply all of these effects: decrease the Movement Allowance of all units by one (-1); units receive no increase to their Movement Allowance for moving along Roads [6.6] (however, units can still Force March [12.2.1]); treat Minor River hexsides as Major River hexsides [7.1]; decrease all Infantry unit Combat Strengths by one (-1); the French Artillery unit does not double its Combat Strength when attacking [9.3].
• If the ground conditions are Mud, apply all of these effects: decrease the Movement Allowance of all units by one (-1); the French Artillery unit does not double its Combat Strength when attacking [9.3].

Reminder: Units can always move one hex, even when they do not have enough Movement Points to do so (as per [6.2]). This means that even when a unit's Movement Allowance is reduced to zero through a combination of night, weather, and/or card effects, it can always move a single hex under the regular Movement Rules.

[6.0] Movement

General Rule

During your Movement Phase, you may move as many or as few of your units as you desire. You can move units in any direction or combination of directions.

Procedure

Move your units one at a time, tracing a path of contiguous spaces along the map. As each unit enters a space (called a "hex"), the unit pays one or more Movement Points from its Movement Allowance to do so.

Restrictions and Prohibitions

[6.1] Strict Sequence: Movement never takes place out of sequence. You can only voluntarily move your units during your own (i.e., your "friendly") Movement or Reaction Phases (see [8.0] for the latter).

Units might also move as a result of combat, but that is not "movement," per se; it is "Retreating" or "Advancing," which have their own distinct rules different from normal movement.

[6.2] Speed Limit: A unit cannot exceed its Movement Allowance during a friendly Movement Phase, with the exception that a unit can always move 1 hex per friendly Movement Phase (as long as it does not move into prohibited terrain or across a prohibited hexside), even if it does not have sufficient Movement Points to pay the entire cost to enter that hex. A unit can expend all, some, or none of its Movement Points during its friendly Movement Phase. Unused Movement Points do not accumulate from turn to turn, nor are they transferrable between units. Unused Movement Points are lost.

[6.3] Enemies: A friendly unit cannot enter a hex containing an enemy unit.

[6.4] No "Take Backs": All movement is final once a player's hand is withdrawn from the unit he is moving. Players may not change their minds and retrace a unit's movement after releasing it. Strictly enforce this rule! During these campaigns, units often went in the wrong direction at decisive moments with disastrous results.

Terrain Effects

Normally, units pay one (1) Movement Point to enter each hex, regardless of its terrain type. However, the following Cases apply to define this further:

[6.5] Rugged Terrain: A unit that enters a Forest, Marsh, or Rough hex must immediately stop, forfeiting unspent Movement Points (even those awarded through Forced Marching; see [12.2.1]). It can freely leave that hex at its next opportunity, but if it enters another such hex, it must again immediately stop.

[6.6] Roads: A unit using road movement (i.e., moving directly from one road hex to another, connected road hex) does not have to stop in Rugged Terrain (see [6.5]). A unit which conducts its entire move along connected road hexes receives one additional (+1) Movement Point that turn.

For example, a Cavalry unit with a 3 Movement Allowance, moving entirely along connected road hexes, could spend up to 4 Movement Points that turn.

Zone of Control Effects

[6.7] Stop: A unit that enters an enemy Zone of Control (see [7.0], below) must stop immediately and forfeit its unspent Movement Points (even those awarded through Forced Marching; see [12.2.1]). Friendly units' Zones of Control do not affect the movement of other friendly units.

[6.8] Stuck: Units may voluntarily leave an enemy Zone of Control only through Disengagement (see [8.2]) or at Night (see [7.7]). Typically, most units leave an enemy Zone of Control by Advancing or Retreating after a battle (see [9.7] and [9.8]).

Effects of Other Friendly Units

[6.9] No Stacking: A friendly unit can move through hexes occupied by other friendly units (at no extra Movement Point cost). However, a unit cannot end the Movement Phase stacked in the same hex with another friendly unit.

[7.0] Zones of Control

The six hexes immediately surrounding a unit constitute its "Zone of Control" (abbreviated "ZOC"). Those hexes adjacent to an enemy unit (where its ZOC extends) are called "Enemy Zone of Control" (abbreviated "EZOC") hexes.

General Rule

During Day Game Turns, your units that begin their Movement Phase in an EZOC cannot move during your Movement Phase, and units that enter an EZOC during your Movement Phase must immediately stop moving (see [6.7]).

• All units exert a ZOC at all times, regardless of the current Phase or Player Turn. Markers do not exert ZOCs.
• Other units, enemy or friendly, never affect the presence of ZOCs. That is, units never negate other units' ZOCs.
• ZOCs extend into all types of terrain hexes except Fortified and Redoubt hexes. Additionally, ZOCs do not extend between adjacent Town / Fortified / Redoubt hexes (i.e., hexes in a "built-up" urban area).
• ZOCs extend across all types of hexsides except Major Rivers.

Example: The ZOC of the French unit in La Haye Sainte does not extend into the adjacent Town hex of Mont St. Jean (where the British unit is) because they are adjacent Town hexes; nor into the Fortified hex of Hougomont. However, the French unit's ZOC does extend out from its own Town hex into other adjacent hexes (without Towns), such as the one occupied by the Prussian unit.

[7.1] Major River Hexsides

ZOCs do not extend across Major River hexsides, nor are units separated by a Major River hexside considered "adjacent" for the purposes of these Rules. The exception to this might occur where a bridge or ford crosses that Major River hexside (see below).

At a bridged/forded (i.e., those hexsides intersected by a bridge or ford symbol) Major River hexside, the Phasing Player, on a case-by-case basis, determines whether ZOCs extend across them. Specifically, this means that...

• During your Movement Phase, your units can ignore EZOCs from across that bridged/forded Major River, allowing your units to move past them without stopping [6.7], or to move away from them voluntarily [6.8].
• During your Reaction Phase, your Cavalry units may still Countercharge [8.1] or Disengage from [8.2] enemy units across that bridged/forded Major River hexside.
• During your opponent's Reaction Phase, your units may choose to Maintain Contact [8.2.4] with enemy units that Disengage while on the opposite side of a bridged/forded Major River hexside.
• During your Combat Phase, your units may attack enemy units across that bridged/forded Major River hexside, but they are not obligated to do so.

[7.2] Multiple Zones of Control: Both friendly and enemy units can exert their ZOCs upon the same hex. There is no additional effect if multiple units cast ZOCs over the same hex. Typically, if a given unit is in an enemy-controlled hex, that enemy unit is also in its controlled hex, and those two units are equally and mutually affected; they are "locked" into each other's ZOCs.

[7.3] Movement Cost: Units do not pay any additional Movement Points to enter or exit an EZOC.

Effects on Combat

[7.4] Combat Obligation: During your Combat Phase, all of your units that are in an EZOC must attack one or more adjacent enemy units, and all of your opponent's units exerting those EZOCs must be attacked (see [9.1]).

[7.5] Retreat Effect: Units can Retreat into a hex containing an EZOC, but to do so requires them to check for a Hazardous Retreat (see [9.7.4]).

[7.6] Advance After Combat Effect: EZOCs never affect Advance after Combat [9.8]. Units Advancing after Combat can freely enter and/or leave EZOCs.

Night Game Turns

[7.7] Night ZOC Effects: During Night Game Turns, EZOCs work the opposite from the way they do during Day Turns. That is, units cannot enter hexes in an EZOC (such hexes are prohibited), but they can freely exit hexes in an EZOC – consequently, those units are no longer stuck (as per [6.8]) during a Night Turn.

[8.0] The Reaction Phase

General Rule

Your Reaction Phase takes place during your opponent's Player Turn. Any of your Cavalry units which begin the Reaction Phase adjacent to an enemy unit are eligible to either Countercharge or Disengage (or Penetrate, if using Optional Rule [16.2]). Reaction is voluntary; you are never compelled to React with your Cavalry units and you can simply have them stand in place and defend normally.

Countercharge

[8.1] Seizing the Initiative: Non-Routed Cavalry units may make a special "Countercharge Attack" during your Reaction Phase (only; not during your normal Combat Phase) against enemy units already adjacent to your Countercharging Cavalry (i.e., your Cavalry unit does not get to move prior to initiating a Countercharge). The Reacting Player becomes the "Phasing Player" and is considered the "Attacker" in such battles.

[8.1.1] Good Order Requirement: A Cavalry unit that is Routed (i.e., has a Rout marker) cannot conduct a Countercharge.

[8.1.2] Unhinging the Enemy: A Countercharge Attack follows the normal rules of combat in most ways (see [9.0]), but because it is used to throw off the enemy's timing and coordination before battle, it receives the following modifications: [8.1.3] to [8.1.5]

[8.1.3] Selective Attacks: Unlike regular combat ([9.1] and [9.2]), units conducting a Countercharge Attack do not have to attack every unit in whose EZOC they are (per [7.4]). Instead, they may make a "Selective Attack" against only some, or even just one, adjacent enemy unit.

Some Event cards also grant this Selective Attack ability to certain units to recreate their extraordinary behavior.

• Multiple Cavalry units can combine to conduct a Selective Attack against a single enemy unit if they are all adjacent to that unit.
• Normal Advance after Combat [9.8], including the requirement to roll on the Controlled Advance table, follows a Countercharge attack.
• Normal combat still occurs between the Countercharging unit and any enemy unit(s) to which it is adjacent during the ensuing enemy Combat Phase.

[8.1.4] Strength Bonus: The Combat Strength of units conducting a Countercharge is doubled except when Counter-charging enemy Cavalry units.

[8.1.5] Holding Fast: In a Countercharge Attack, victorious defending units cannot Advance after Combat [9.8]. They are too busy protecting their lives by taking cover or forming squares.

Disengagement

[8.2] Cavalry "Retreat Before Combat": A Cavalry unit, even a Routed one, that starts its Reaction Phase adjacent to an enemy unit can move away via "Disengagement."

[8.2.1] Timing: Disengagement can only occur during your Reaction Phase.

[8.2.2] Pinned: A Cavalry unit cannot disengage if it is in the ZOC of an enemy Cavalry unit.

[8.2.3] Procedure: A Cavalry unit performs disengagement by moving one hex to an adjacent, vacant, non-prohibited, non-enemy controlled hex. That ends its Disengagement movement. If no other route is available, it may move through friendly occupied hexes not in an EZOC to reach a vacant hex. If it does so, it goes one additional hex at a time until it is no longer stacked with a friendly unit.

[8.2.4] Maintaining Contact: One enemy unit that was adjacent to the disengaging unit may maintain contact with it. The enemy player moves the unit maintaining contact into the hex just vacated by the disengaging unit (similar to an Advance after Combat, see [9.8]) and places an In Contact marker on that unit.

Effects: While a unit has an In Contact marker on it, apply all of these effects:

• It loses its ZOC.
• Its Combat Strength is reduced by 50% (round fractions up), when attacking and defending. This does not modify any Terrain Strength benefits should this unit be defending.
• It cannot Advance after Combat.

Combat while in Contact: Note that the unit maintaining contact typically must attack the Disengaging unit in the immediately following Combat Phase (due to the requirements of Rule [9.1]), and that attack will be at half strength (due to the second bullet, above). Consider carefully whether you need to occupy a vacated hex before you move to Maintain Contact.

Recovery: At the end of your Opponent's Combat Phase, automatically remove all the In Contact markers in play on your friendly units.

Cavalry Penetration

[8.3] Cavalry Penetration: See Optional Rule [16.2] for this interesting additional Reaction Phase option.

[9.0] Combat

General Rule

During your Combat Phase, regardless of the overall strategic situation, you are the attacker and your opponent is the defender at each battle (i.e., the resolution of a single attack). You must declare all your battles for that Phase before conducting any of them. Then, each individual battle is resolved, one at a time, in any order you choose, by rolling a die and consulting the Combat Results Table to determine its outcome.

Procedure

At each battle, follow these Battle Sequence Steps in order:

A. Designate which of your units are attacking which adjacent enemy unit(s). B. Total the Combat Strength of all your attacking units in that battle. Check to see if they are in command if using Optional Rule [16.9.5]. You may now spend one Morale Point to commit reserve troops [12.2.3] to that battle and increase your strength total by one (+1). C. Total the Combat Strength of all the defending units that are the target of the attack. Add in the single best terrain effect benefit for the defender's location. Your opponent may now spend one Morale Point to commit reserves [12.2.3] and increase the strength total of the defense by one (+1). D. Check the Special Troop units participating in that battle: Elite and Unreliable, see Optional Rule 16.7.4. E. Subtract the total defending strength from the total attacking strength. The result is the Combat Differential, expressed as either a positive or negative number (or 0). F. Consult the Combat Results Table (CRT) and resolve the battle using the Differential Column from Step E. G. Roll one die. Cross index the die roll with the Differential Column to determine the result of that battle [9.6]. H. Apply this Combat Result immediately, including Retreats [9.7] and Advances [9.8] after Combat.

[9.1] Mandatory Combat: During your Combat Phase, all of your units in an EZOC must make an attack. If you choose to have a unit which is not in an EZOC (e.g., a unit in a Redoubt hex) attack, then all enemy units in that unit's ZOC must be attacked.

[9.1.1] Attacker's Prerogative: You determine which of your attacking units will attack which defending enemy units, in any combination you desire, as long as: A) all your friendly units in an EZOC participate in an attack, and B) all enemy units in your friendly ZOCs are, themselves, attacked (see [9.2.1]).

[9.1.2] Limitations: No unit can attack more than once per Friendly Combat Phase, and no enemy unit can be attacked more than once per Friendly Combat Phase.

[9.2] Declare All Battles First: At the beginning of your Combat Phase, you must declare which of your friendly units will be attacking which adjacent enemy units (to ensure that all adjacent units are attacked according to the Subcases below) before conducting any individual battles.

[9.2.1] Multiple Unit and Multi-Hex Battles: When one of your units is in the ZOCs of more than one enemy unit, it must attack all of those enemy units that you do not designate to battle some other friendly unit during your Combat Phase. Example: You have a lone unit adjacent to two enemy units; it must fight them both!

[9.2.2] Multi-Unit Battles: Attacking units in two or more hexes can combine their Combat Strengths in a single battle providing all of your attacking units are adjacent to all of your opponent's defending units. Battles can thus involve multiple attacking and/or defending units.

Diversionary Attacks: As you organize a series of battles, you may allocate your attacking units in such a way so as to conduct some battles at sacrificially poor differentials so that you can conduct other, adjacent battles at more advantageous differentials. This is a wargaming technique called "soaking off."

[9.3] Combat Strength Unity: A given unit's Combat Strength is always unitary; it is not divisible among multiple battles during a single Phase, either for attack or defense.

Artillery Bonus

Artillery units, when included in a game, represent large, unwieldy parks of cannons that were concentrated into Grand Batteries to blast a hole in the enemy's line.

• Always double the Combat Strength of attacking Artillery units in a battle. Artillery units use their normal (printed) Combat Strength when defending in a battle.
• Artillery units can never Advance after Combat (see [9.8]).

Terrain Effects on Combat

Defending units benefit from the terrain in the hex they occupy (i.e., that they are attacked in) or that hex's perimeter hexside(s) (i.e., that they are attacked across).

[9.4] Defender's Benefit: Add the Combat Strength of the defender's hex or hexside, if any, to the defender's strength total as indicated on the Terrain Effects Chart.

[9.4.1] A Single Benefit: The terrain benefits for combat are not cumulative. A battle's defender receives only the single most advantageous terrain benefit (for the defender) available.

[9.4.2] Multiple Benefits: When two or more defending units are involved in a single battle, and they receive different terrain benefits (i.e., different effects on the Combat Differential), then modify the entire attack by the single most favorable benefit to the defender.

[9.4.3] Attacker's Terrain: Terrain in hexes occupied by the attacking unit(s) has no effect on combat with this important exception concerning EZOCs [7.0]: An attacking unit in a Fortified or Redoubt hex, OR in a Town hex that is adjacent to an enemy unit in a Town, Fortified, or Redoubt hex, OR across a Major River hexside (even at a bridge or ford) from an enemy unit, is not obligated to attack out of that hex or across that hexside. If a unit opts to attack from any of these positions, Rule [9.1] fully applies.

[9.4.4] Garrison Forces: Some Napoleonic 20 games feature hexes containing intrinsic Garrison forces. These positions, typically indicated on the map by a small flag representing the side controlling the Garrison, resist enemy efforts to enter them.

Unless otherwise indicated in the Exclusive Rules, Garrison forces normally have an intrinsic Combat Strength of zero (0), meaning they contribute nothing to an attack, but their defense strength is modified for any terrain advantage inherent in their location! For example, a Garrison in a Town hex would have a strength of 1 when defending in a battle.

Garrison forces function as listed below when their hex is unoccupied, but while a friendly unit occupies their hex, ignore them completely!

[9.4.4.1] Garrison Force Abilities: Garrison Forces, when alone in their hex, have these abilities:

• Garrison Forces exert a normal ZOC.
• Garrison Forces cannot attack.
• Garrison Forces do not move or Retreat.
• You cannot commit reserves [12.2.3] to battles involving only your Garrison Forces.
• Your units can freely move through and/or occupy the same hex as your Garrison Forces. That is, your units can "stack" in the same hex with your Garrison Forces.
• Enemy units cannot enter your garrisoned hexes except by Advancing after Combat when those enemy units attack.

[9.4.4.2] Rearguards: When your attacking unit is displaced by combat from a hex including your intact Garrison Force, the victorious defending unit(s) cannot Advance after Combat. This overrides the usual Advance after Combat rules as your Garrison Force is, in effect, covering for your retreating unit after its failed attack.

[9.4.4.3] Routed and Broken: When a garrisoned hex has a friendly unit in it, and that unit is forced to retreat out of the hex due to an enemy's attack, those victorious enemy units can Advance after Combat normally into that garrisoned hex. In this case, consider the Garrison Force subsumed into the defending unit and will suffer that unit's fate. If, for any reason, a victorious attacking enemy unit does not immediately Advance into that garrisoned hex, its Garrison Force remains unaffected and intact.

[9.4.4.4] Elimination: Unless otherwise noted in the Exclusive Rules, Garrison Forces are permanently destroyed the instant an enemy unit occupies their hex.

[9.4.4.5] Impact on Morale: Because Garrisons are not actual units, they cause no Morale loss to their owner when they are Routed, become Broken, or are Permanently Eliminated. Friendly units stacked with Garrisons that Rout or Break, and enemy units which do so when they attack a Garrison, do cause normal Morale adjustments.

Other Combat Considerations

[9.5] Voluntary Differential Reduction: When attacking, you may announce the voluntary reduction of the Combat Differential of that battle during Step F in the Battle Sequence, resolving it at a specified lower differential. It can be nerve-wracking to commit a single strong unit to an attack against a much weaker unit and risk an Exchange result.

Explanation of Combat Results

Once it is determined, immediately apply the combat result, including any Retreat and/or Advance after Combat, before resolving the next battle that Phase.

[9.6] Battle Outcomes

Listed below are the different combat results and their effects on the units participating in that battle:

• AB: Attacker Breaks. Break [9.6.1] all attacking units in this battle. The defender conducts any Advance after Combat [9.8].
• AR: Attacker Routed. The defender rolls one die for each Routed unit, one at a time, and the attacker Retreats that Routed unit a number of hexes equal to its die roll and places a Routed! marker on it on the appropriate side (see [9.6.2]). The defender conducts any Advance after Combat [9.8].
• AW: Attacker Withdraws. All attacking units in this battle are Retreated one hex [9.7] by the attacker. The defender conducts any Advance after Combat [9.8].
• DB: Defender Breaks. Break [9.6.1] all defending units in this battle. The attacker conducts any Advance after Combat [9.8].
• DR: Defender Routed. The attacker rolls one die for each Routed unit, one at a time, and the defender Retreats that Routed unit a number of hexes equal to its die roll and places a Routed! marker on it on the appropriate side (see [9.6.2]). The attacker conducts any Advance after Combat [9.8].
• DW: Defender Withdraws. All defending units in this battle are Retreated one hex [9.7] by the defender. The attacker conducts any Advance after Combat [9.8].
• EX: Exchange. First, Break [9.6.1] all defending units, and then the attacker must Break from among his units in that battle an amount of Combat Strength Points at least equal to the defender's Combat Strength total. Use only the printed Combat Strength values on the units, unmodified by terrain, events, etc. Note that if the defending side's morale was not reduced to "0" (i.e., the attacker did not just win the game, as per 15.0), the attacker may be forced to Break units whose strength is greater than the defender's if there is no other alternative – i.e., you cannot "make change." The attacker may also choose to Break a stronger unit than necessary if he so desires – this might occur if a weaker unit is deemed more valuable to the attacker. Afterward, if there are any surviving attacking units, the attacker conducts any Advance after Combat [9.8].
• N: Engaged. There is no effect. Neither side Breaks any units, Retreats, or Advances as a result of this battle.

Broken and Routed Units

[9.6.1] Broken Units: Remove Broken units from the map and set them aside. You can attempt to Rally your Broken units later and get them back in play (see [10.0]).

[9.6.2] Routing Units: After surviving their Retreat [9.7], a Routed unit receives a Routed! marker showing the color matching the side whose Player Turn it currently isn't.

Effects: While a unit has a Routed! marker on it, apply all of these effects:

• It can only move in such a way as to continue its Retreat (denoted by the "R" on the marker in the Movement Point position). That is, any Movement Points it spends must be in accordance with Rule [9.7]. It can always not move and simply remain in place.
• It loses its ZOCs.
• If a Cavalry unit, it cannot conduct Countercharges or Penetrate during the Reaction Phase (but it can Disengage).
• Its Combat Strength is reduced by 50% (round fractions up), both when attacking and defending. This does not modify any Terrain Strength benefits should this unit be defending.
• If all of your units participating in a battle have Routed! markers on them, you cannot spend a Morale Point to commit reserves to that battle [12.2.3].
• It cannot Advance after Combat.
• It will Retreat and Rout again normally, if compelled to do so.

[9.6.2.1] Elite Unit Routing: When an Elite unit (i.e., one with a red Combat Strength) Routs, subtract two (-2) from the Rout die roll to reduce the number of hexes it must Retreat.

Defensible Positions: Units in a Fortified or Redoubt hex subtract one (-1) from the Rout die roll to reduce the number of hexes they must Retreat (and also see [9.7.2.2]). If the modified result is less than one (<1), the outcome is changed to "Withdraws" (This is cumulative with the Elite unit modifier).

[9.6.2.2] Recovery from Rout: At the end of your Combat Phase, automatically remove all Routed! markers in play whose colors match your side's color (blue-colored if you are the French Player or gold-bordered if you are not), and are not in an EZOC.

Rout Timing Reminder: The Game Turn marker flips between a blue-colored French Player Turn side and a gold-colored Anti-French Player Turn side to help you remember what color Rout! markers to place (opposite color) and remove (same color).

[9.7] Retreating After Combat

"Retreat after Combat" occurs when the outcome of a Battle requires a player's unit(s) to Retreat, either by a Withdrawal (AW or DW) or Rout (AR or DR) result. The owning player must immediately move each such unit the indicated number of hexes away from the hex it occupied during the battle (i.e., its "battle hex").

[9.7.1] No Movement Cost: Retreat is not regular movement. Retreating units simply count the hexes Retreated through, one at a time, regardless of terrain (including Rough, Forest, etc., where retreating units do not stop during a Retreat).

[9.7.2] Retreat Restrictions: If a unit is unable to Retreat within the following restrictions, that unit is Broken instead:

[9.7.2.1] Terrain Effects: Units cannot Retreat off the map, into prohibited hexes, or across Major Rivers (except across Bridge or Ford hexsides).

[9.7.2.2] Defensible Positions: Units in a Fortified or Redoubt hex may always Retreat one fewer hex, at the owning player's option.

[9.7.3] Retreat Hex Priority: Whenever and wherever possible, you must Retreat units into and through vacant hexes not in an EZOC.

[9.7.4] Hazardous Retreat Path #1 – Enemy ZOCs: If the above [9.7.3] is not possible, you can Retreat a unit into/through an EZOC and even end its Retreat in an EZOC. If you do so, however, you must roll one die as that unit enters each EZOC hex. On a roll of 1, 2, or 3, the unit Breaks [9.6.1] in that EZOC hex; on a roll of 4, 5, or 6, it Retreats normally into that hex without Breaking.

Friendly units do not negate EZOCs for purposes of Retreat.

[9.7.5] Hazardous Retreat Path #2 – Crossing Rivers: When Retreating anywhere across a Minor River, or across a Major River via a Bridge or Ford hexside, your unit must roll one die in the hex before it crosses that River hexside. On a roll of 1, 2, or 3, the unit Breaks [9.6.1] in that hex before crossing; on a roll of 4, 5, or 6, it Retreats normally across it without Breaking.

When retreating into/across multiple hazards at a single hex, you must make a separate die roll for each of them!

[9.7.6] Friendly Units: If no other route is available, a Retreating unit may move through friendly-occupied hexes. If its Retreat would end in a friendly-occupied hex, it Retreats one additional hex at a time until it is no longer stacked with a friendly unit. This means additional die rolls if these hexes are also hazardous!

[9.7.7] Retreat Direction Priority: While always yielding to Rule [9.7.3] (Retreat Hex Priority), whenever and wherever possible, you must Retreat your units in such a way that, with each hex they Retreat, they move closer to a friendly Line of Communications (LOC) hex than the hex Retreated from. You have the choice of which LOC hex to Retreat each unit toward if more than one is available (regardless of proximity to the Retreating unit).

In the Standard Scenario:

• French units must retreat towards one of the French LOC hexes located on the south map edges (hexes 0105 and 0106).
• Anglo-Dutch units must retreat towards the Anglo-Dutch LOC hexes, located on the north map edge (hexes 2502 and 2505).
• Prussian units must retreat towards the Prussian LOC hexes, located on the north and east map edges (hexes 0812 and 2512).

Here is a prioritized list of criteria for each hex of the Retreat:

1. Is there a vacant hex without an EZOC available? If so, the unit must Retreat into that hex; if not…
2. Is there a vacant hex with an EZOC available? If so, the unit must conduct a Hazardous Retreat into that hex; if not...
3. Is there a hex occupied by a friendly unit available? If so, it must retreat into that hex (which could be Hazardous) and then continue its Retreat.

In all of the above situations, if there is more than a single hex available meeting that criteria, the unit must Retreat into the hex which moves it closer to a friendly LOC hex.

If none of the above situations exist and the unit is unable to retreat (typically because the Retreating unit is completely surrounded by enemy units and/or prohibited terrain), it Breaks [9.6.1] in its hex instead.

[9.7.8] Going the Distance: A Retreat path can zig-zag only to avoid self-destruction, but it must strive to maintain Rule [9.7.3]. The length of the Retreat path must be the full indicated number of hexes. If the unit reaches an LOC hex before reaching the full required distance, it Breaks in the LOC hex (i.e., it has Retreated "off the map").

[9.8] Advance After Combat

Victorious attacking or defending units can usually Advance after Combat. Units must adhere to the following Cases when doing so:

[9.8.1] Immediacy: The decision to Advance after Combat or not must be made immediately after resolving the battle, before the next activity is resolved. If not exercised immediately, that opportunity to Advance is lost.

[9.8.2] Who is Eligible to Advance? With the following limitations, any or all victorious surviving units that participated in the battle can Advance after Combat.

• Artillery and Routed (and see [16.8.2], "Spent") units can never Advance after Combat.
• Infantry units can only Advance a single hex, into the hex originally occupied by the defeated unit(s) at the start of that Battle.
• Cavalry units can Advance multiple hexes along the Retreat Path (see [9.8.5]), but never more hexes than their printed Movement Allowance.
• Reluctant units (with their Movement Allowance in yellow; see [16.7.5]) might decline to Advance after Combat.

[9.8.3] Units Which Must Advance: Normally, Advancing is made at the discretion of the victorious player. However, if that battle included one or more victorious Cavalry units, the victorious player must roll a die on the Controlled Advance Table (with a -1 die roll modifier if any of the victorious Cavalry units are "Heavy," i.e., have a Combat Strength of 2 or more).

• If control of the advance is Kept, there is no effect and those units may advance normally or remain in place, as their owner sees fit.
• If control of the advance is Lost by the Cavalry, then at least one victorious Cavalry unit must advance into the vacated hex.

[9.8.4] How to Advance: Advance after Combat is, essentially, a "free move" and, like Retreating, is not regular movement. Advancing units neither spend Movement Points nor stop for Rugged terrain [6.5], but they may not Advance into Prohibited hexes (i.e., hexes that they could not enter through normal movement) or across Major Rivers (except across Bridge or Ford hexsides). Units also ignore enemy Zones of Control when Advancing.

[9.8.5] Pursuit: When an enemy unit Retreats as a result of combat, it will leave a specific path of vacant hexes behind it called the "Retreat Path." If this path went through a hex containing another unit friendly to the Retreating unit [9.7.6], the Retreat Path ends at the hex just before the unit Retreated through. If a unit Breaks, then the hex it occupied at the instant it was Broken is the end point of its Retreat Path.

If a victorious Cavalry unit is the first unit to Advance into the vacated hex originally occupied by the defeated unit(s), it may continue to Advance along the Retreat Path (only) up to its printed Movement Allowance.

After any Cavalry unit Advance after Combat (either mandatory or voluntary) and Pursuit is conducted, if the defeated unit's hex is still vacant, then one (other) attacking unit involved in that battle may (at the owning player's discretion) Advance after Combat into that hex (only), if otherwise allowed (see [9.8.2]).

[9.8.6] Exhaustion: After they have Advanced, units can neither attack nor be attacked again during that same Combat Phase, even if their Advance places them next to enemy units whose battles are yet to be resolved, or who were not involved in a battle.

[10.0] Rallying

General Rule

At certain times (e.g., Night turns or due to the effects of specific Event cards), you can attempt to "Rally" your Broken units.

Important: Rallying has nothing to do with removing Rout! Markers; that process occurs automatically (see [9.6.2.2]).

Procedure

For each Broken unit attempting to Rally, roll one die and apply all appropriate die roll modifiers as listed on the Rally Table on the Player Aid mat. Note that if at any point you make the decision to spend one Morale Point [12.0] to increase your Rally chances, you must do so before rolling the die, but it also then applies to all of your Rally rolls during that specific occasion (e.g., spending one Morale Point will provide you its benefit for all your Rally attempts that Night). Consult the Rally Table and apply the result immediately. Also see the Unit Reduction Optional Rule, [16.5].

Placement of Rallied Units

Place a newly Rallied unit on any empty friendly Line of Communications (LOC) hex. If none are available, or you do not desire to place it at this time, then that Rallied unit simply remains Broken; you may try to Rally it again at a later time. (Also see Optional Rule [16.4] for additional Rally locations.)

[11.0] Reinforcements

General Rule

You might receive additional units over the course of play – these are called "reinforcements." Your reinforcements appear at any time during your Movement Phase on the Game Turn, and at the location indicated by the set up instructions in the Exclusive Rules.

Variable Reinforcements

Some games list "Variable Reinforcements" in their set up instructions or there are units that enter play via Event cards. Each of your Variable Reinforcement units requires you to make a separate die roll for it on its scheduled arrival turn. If your die roll succeeds, it enters play that turn normally. If it fails, advance that unit ahead one turn on the Game Turn track, where you can roll for it again during your Movement Phase next turn (and so on until it finally arrives, or the game ends).

Procedure

When reinforcements arrive, place them next to their specified map edge hexsides (color-coded for your side) as indicated in the Exclusive Rules.

[11.1] Initial Movement: Arriving reinforcements are poised next to the map edge. When entering its first hex, a reinforcing unit expends its Movement Points normally according to the Terrain Effects Chart. Units entering along a Road can benefit from the Road movement bonus.

[11.2] March Order: When you have more than one reinforcement unit appearing at the same hex during the same Movement Phase, line them all up off map, one behind the other, with the "lead" unit poised next to the map entry hex itself. To simulate a "march order" column of troops, each such unit spends one more Movement Point than its predecessor did to enter the map on the same turn.

[11.3] Timing: Arriving reinforcements can enter the map at any time during your Movement Phase. Once on the map, treat them as normal units in play for all purposes.

[11.4] Blocked Entry: A reinforcement unit cannot enter a hex occupied by an enemy unit; it may enter a hex in an EZOC, but then must cease movement there as per the EZOC Rules (see [7.0]).

[11.5] Delaying Arrival: You may voluntarily delay your reinforcements' arrival from Game Turn to Game Turn, bringing them into play on some later turn (or not at all). This is what a player must do when a reinforcement's entry area is blocked by enemy units. Whenever you bring a reinforcement unit into play, it must appear at its scheduled entry area.

Important: The notion of reinforcements being poised directly at the map's edge is strictly a concept. Until they enter the map, reinforcement units have no effect on gameplay (i.e., off-map units have no ZOCs, cannot attack enemy units, etc.).

[11.6] Unit Arrival Locations (Standard Scenario):

• French reinforcements enter play via Entry Area A along the southern map edge.
• Prussian reinforcements enter play via Entry Area Y along the northeast map corner.
• Anglo-Dutch reinforcements enter play via Entry Area X along the west map edge.

Frederick's III Corps must arrive via the Road hex at 2001 only; if that hex is occupied by an enemy unit at that time, III Corps does not enter play on that turn. Instead, it must keep rolling for another entry turn when, hopefully, 2001 is not enemy occupied.

[12.0] Army Morale

General Rule

Each side begins with a number of Morale Points as indicated in the Exclusive Rules' set up instructions. Morale Points represent that side's level of motivation and command skill during the campaign. Players expend Morale Points to enhance their movement, combat, and rally operations.

Keeping Track of Morale Points

Use the Morale markers to record Morale Points on the Morale track located at the bottom of the Player Aid mat.

[12.1] Gaining / Losing Morale Points

See the Morale Chart (on the right side of the Player Aid mat) for specific in-game events that raise and lower Morale Points. Generally, your army loses morale when your units Rout more hexes than their Movement Allowance or, worse, are Broken and removed from the map (if a Routing unit also Breaks, you only lose 1 Morale Point total). Breaking enemy units is a great way to gain Morale Points.

If two or more morale-changing events occur simultaneously, first add and then subtract all the Morale Point changes that apply.

[12.1.1] Maximum Morale: A side's Morale Value cannot exceed ten (10); any excess is lost.

[12.1.2] Morale Destroyed: If a side's Morale Value ever reaches zero (0), then that side immediately loses the game. If this occurs simultaneously to both sides, the game is a draw.

[12.2] Spending Morale Points

You can only spend a single Morale Point at a time (i.e., nothing "costs" two or more Morale Points) and only for these purposes at the appropriate time:

[12.2.1] Forced Marching: During your Movement Phase, you may spend one Morale Point to increase the Movement Allowances of all your units by one (+1). In the Standard Scenario, the Allied player must pay to Force March each of the two Allied armies separately (i.e., either all of the Anglo-Dutch units or all of the Prussian units). By expending two Morale Points, all Allied units from both armies increase their Movement Allowance by one (+1) that turn.

[12.2.2] To Rally: When you attempt to Rally units, you may spend one Morale Point for a plus one (+1) die roll modifier to all your Rally die rolls (should there be more than one) conducted on that occasion. In the Standard Scenario, the Allied player must pay to Rally each of the two Allied armies separately (i.e., either all of the Anglo-Dutch units or all of the Prussian units). By expending two Morale Points, all Allied units from both armies increase their Rally die rolls by one (+1) that turn.

[12.2.3] Committing Reserve Troops to Battle: During a Battle's Steps B and C, the attacker and defender, respectively, may each spend one Morale Point to add one (+1) to their side's total strength in that particular Battle.

[12.2.4] Committing the Guard: During your Movement Phase, before moving your Guard unit into a hex from which it can attack an adjacent enemy unit, you must spend a Morale Point unless either side is down to 1 Morale Point (see [12.3.1], below).

[12.3] Guard Units

Certain units, often referred to as "Guards" (i.e., units with a red Movement Allowance) were typically held back and committed only at critical times.

[12.3.1] Committing the Guard: You must spend one Morale Point before moving your Guard unit into a hex from which it can attack an adjacent enemy unit (i.e., to "commit the Guard"). You must make this expenditure each and every time you move a Guard unit into such a hex.

Exceptions:

• There is no cost to commit a Guard unit if it is already in an EZOC at the start of the Movement Phase. The Guard is considered already committed.
• There is no Morale cost for a Guard unit to Advance after Combat [9.9]. Again, the Guard is already considered committed.
• There is no cost to commit a Guard unit if either side has only 1 Morale Point remaining. The Guard serves to join the fray at such critical junctures.

[12.3.2] Le Garde Recule: If an attacking Guard unit in a battle could not conceivably Advance after Combat (i.e., it was not victorious or did not survive an EX outcome, see [9.6]), that side loses one (-1) Morale Point. That Guard unit does not have to actually Advance, it simply must be victorious and capable of doing so to avoid this penalty. This Guard unit morale adjustment is in addition to other morale-adjusting factors from that battle.

[13.0] Passing ("Lulls")

General Rule

After the first Night Game Turn occurs, during any subsequent Day Turn IF you have units on the map, AND if you do not Force March your army, nor do any battle die rolls [9.0] occur during your opponent's Reaction Phase or your own Combat Phase, THEN your side gains one (+1) Morale Point at the end of your Player Turn if either of these applies:

A. Your side has fewer than 6 Morale Points, – OR – B. Your side does not have more Morale Points than your opponent's side.

[14.0] Night Turns

General Rule

After conducting your Random Event Phase, during your Night Game Turns, the following rules apply:

• Speed Limit: Reduce all Movement Allowances to one (1) Movement Point. You can still increase this, as usual, by using Roads and/or Forced Marching. Reminder: Unless specifically prohibited from doing so (e.g., by a card event), a unit can always move at least one hex (as per Rule [6.2]) even if reductions might otherwise combine to reduce its Movement Allowance to zero or less.
• ZOC Effects: At night, EZOCs work the opposite way as they do during Day Turns. That is, units cannot enter hexes in an EZOC (such hexes are prohibited), but they can freely exit hexes in an EZOC – consequently, those units are no longer Stuck (as per [6.8]) during a Night Game Turn. This is a great way to exit enemy ZOCs. In effect, units can disengage from each other at night.
• No Battles: Skip the Reaction Phase, and no combat occurs during a Night Turn's Combat Phase.

Additional Activities

The following "Night Operations" are skipped during Day (i.e., non-Night) Turns. You only perform them, in order, during the Night Operations Phase of your Night Game Turn.

1. Rally: You may attempt to Rally your Broken units (see [10.0]).
2. Enemy Morale Loss due to Captured Terrain: If you have units physically occupying enemy LOC and/or Objective hexes (i.e., ones in the opposing side's color), apply their morale loss effect at this time according to the Morale Chart.
3. Morale Recovery from Rest: Your side increases its Morale Value by one (+1) point from a night's recuperation.
4. Reconcealment: When using the Optional Fog of War Rule, you now reconceal (i.e., flip face-down) and place your side's Dummy units on the map (see [16.1.3]).
5. Reshuffle: At the end of the Second Player's Night Turn, reshuffle the cards to refresh the Draw Pile.

Standard Scenario Specifics

French Objective Hexes: Quatre Bras (hex 1104) and Sombreff (hex 0809).

Allied Objective Hexes: Waterloo (hex 2102), and Wavre (hex 2109).

Important: Allied Morale Recovery from Rest: The Allied side increases its Morale Value by two (2) points at Night (instead of one).

[15.0] How to Win

General Rule

Each side has its own victory conditions based upon Morale values:

The French player wins a Decisive Victory if, at any time, the Anti-French side's Morale is reduced to zero (0) and French Morale is one (1) or more.

The Anti-French player wins a Decisive Victory if, at any time, the French side's Morale is reduced to zero (0) and Anti-French Morale is one (1) or more.

The Anti-French player wins a Marginal Victory if, at the end of the game (i.e., at the conclusion of the last Game Turn), the Anti-French side's Morale Value is at least 1 higher than the French side's Morale Value.

A Draw occurs with any other result.

[16.0] Optional Rules

Players can use these Optional Rules in any combination desired.

[16.1] Fog of War: Hidden Units

Players place their units face-down at all times (including during set up). You can freely inspect your own units, but not your opponent's pieces until they are "revealed." Face-down units function normally in all other respects.

[16.1.1] Revealing Hidden Units: You reveal a face-down unit…

• Whenever you desire to reveal your own unit.
• When you pay a Morale Point to "Commit the Guard" [12.3.1]; at that time, that Guard unit, if hidden, must be revealed.
• At the end of each non-Night Turn's Movement Phase, if you have a face-up Cavalry unit adjacent to a hex containing face-down enemy units, reveal all of those face-down units.
• When an enemy Cavalry unit attempts to move during its Reaction Phase via Disengagement [8.2] or Penetration [16.2], and you wish to prevent that maneuver with a hidden friendly Cavalry unit, your hidden friendly Cavalry unit is revealed.
• After all battles are declared during a Combat Phase (i.e., which friendly units are designated to attack which other, possibly hidden, enemy units), all units involved are revealed.
• No Advance after Combat is permitted when only a hidden Dummy unit is revealed in Battle. (There was no actual combat, so there is no Advance.)

[16.1.2] Reconcealing Units: Face-up units remain revealed until the end of your Night Turn, at which time turn all of your face-up units face-down to begin the new day.

[16.1.3] Dummy Units: Each side's mix of pieces includes one or more "Dummy" units.

• Unless specified, do not set up any Dummy units on the map prior to starting the game.
• You may add to the map one hidden friendly Dummy unit per turn, if available, with the arrival of either your newly Rallied or new Reinforcement units (these units are also hidden). They arrive stacked together (like a "shell game") and you must move at least one of them during your Movement Phase so that they do not remain stacked [6.9].
• You can also place in play all of your available (i.e., those not currently hidden on the map) Dummy units when your units are reconcealed (usually at Night, see [14.0]). Place them in hexes containing a friendly unit that is not adjacent to an enemy unit and then immediately relocate one of those two stacked units (i.e., the real unit or the Dummy) to an adjacent hex that is also not adjacent to an enemy unit.
• A Dummy moves like a Cavalry unit (with a Movement Allowance of 3). But moving them only 2 will help conceal them among your Infantry units!
• The instant you reveal your Dummy unit, it is removed from the map (with no Morale loss). Dummy units can be removed and re-enter play any number of times.
• When declaring battles [9.2], include hidden Dummy units! Their declared battles do fulfill the attacker's mandatory combat requirement [9.1]. That is, you can use unrevealed Dummy units as "feints" to create diversionary attacks!
• When revealing units as per [16.1.1], Dummy units do cause enemy units to be revealed. In this capacity, they are "scouting."
• Until revealed, a Dummy unit functions in all ways as a normal unit and does control the hex it occupies (e.g., an enemy Objective or LOC hex).

[16.2] Cavalry Penetration

During your Reaction Phase, your Cavalry units can move through EZOCs under certain circumstances.

Procedure

Cavalry Penetration occurs during your Reaction Phase (only) as that non-Routed Cavalry unit's single action. Your Cavalry unit must begin its Reaction Phase adjacent to an enemy unit. It can then move into another hex that is also adjacent to an enemy unit (even moving from one hex in an EZOC to another hex in an EZOC belonging to that same unit, if desired), but it must then cease its movement for that Phase and cannot also conduct a Countercharge attack.

The Penetrating cavalry unit cannot have a Routed marker on it, nor begin in, or enter, an enemy Cavalry unit's EZOC.

This move is, in effect, the opposite of Disengagement [8.2].

[16.3] Artillery Support

Individual artillery batteries were often detached from "parks" for nearby formations to help shore up threatened parts of the line.

[16.3.1] Defensive Support: If no attack has been declared [9.2] against an Artillery unit, it adds one (+1) to the strength of all friendly defending units in its ZOC (if it currently has one). This benefit has no Morale Point cost and applies during the enemy's Combat and Reaction Phases.

[16.3.2] Bombardment: Artillery units can attack across a Major River or other prohibited terrain hexside by Bombardment. A bombarding Artillery unit can attack, either alone or in concert with other friendly attacking units, using its normal (printed; not doubled as per [9.3]) Combat Strength.

When bombarding, Artillery units enjoy a limited immunity to adverse combat results: Treat all AB or AR results as AW. If an EX result occurs, bombarding artillery cannot be Broken to satisfy any losses (see [9.6]); if the Artillery unit is attacking alone via bombardment, treat EX results as eNgaged instead.

[16.4] Additional Rally Locations

In addition to vacant LOC hexes, you can also place Rallied units [10.0] in a "Rally hex" that meets all of these conditions:

• It must be an empty Town, Fortified, Redoubt OR your side's Objective hex. That is, a "natural rallying point."
• It must be "a safe distance" of at least 4 hexes away from the nearest enemy unit AND closer to your nearest LOC hex than the nearest enemy unit is. That is, it must be "safely behind your lines."
• It must be able to trace a path of hexes to your closest LOC hex that is unoccupied by an enemy unit. This path can be of any length, but cannot pass through any hex containing or adjacent to an enemy unit, or across impassable Major River hexsides (i.e., ones without a bridge or ford). In other words, that hex is not "isolated behind enemy lines."

[16.5] Unit Reduction

Broken units can return to play as smaller formation, reduced-strength units called "Cadres."

[16.5.1] Partial Rallying: When you conduct a Rally Check for an Infantry unit (only) and roll a "Cadre?" result, you have the option to partially Rally that unit thus: Eliminate the Infantry unit you were rolling for (i.e., it is permanently removed from play), and Receive ("Rally") one of the generic, 1-strength Cadre units instead.

[16.5.2] Cadre Units: Cadre units function as normal Infantry units except, if they are ever Broken, they themselves cannot be Rallied. When Broken, they return to your pile of available Cadre units instead, ready for future reuse.

[16.6] Unit Breakdown and Buildup

Before it moves during your Movement Phase, your "large" (i.e., having a Combat Strength of 2 or more) Infantry-type unit (only; other types are not eligible) can be exchanged for (i.e., "broken down into") two Cadre units, if available, at the cost of 1 Morale Point. Conversely, at the end of your Movement Phase, you can stack two Cadre units together and exchange them for (i.e., "combined them into") an eliminated large Infantry unit and recover 1 Morale Point.

[16.6.1] Breaking Down: A player must have two available Cadre units in order to break down a large Infantry unit. Remove the large Infantry-type unit being broken down from the map and place it among your eliminated units (i.e., it cannot be Rallied). Replace it in its hex with two Cadre units. These newly-placed Cadre units are free to move and engage in combat this turn.

• There is a minus one (-1) Morale Point cost to break down a unit thus.
• If an unrevealed large Infantry unit breaks down, one Dummy unit (if available and Rule [16.1] is in effect) can also be added to that stack of two (also unrevealed) Cadre units when it is formed.

[16.6.2] Combining: Any two Cadre units of the same nationality can end their owner's Movement Phase stacked together (an exception to Rule [6.9]). When they do so, remove them from the map and replace them in that hex with your weakest eliminated large Infantry unit of that same nationality; that unit is then free to participate in combat that turn. There is a plus one (+1) Morale Point gain when building up a large Infantry unit thus.

[16.7] Special Troop Units

Some games include special unit types with unique capabilities identifiable by their Combat Strength and/or Movement Allowance in a different (non-black) color. These Cases are already part of the Standard Rules:

• All units with their Movement Allowance in red are Guard units (they must be "committed" to attack with them, 12.3).
• Infantry units with their Combat Strength in red are Elite units (-2 for Rout rolls, and +1 for Rally rolls).

Note that not all Guard units are Elite, nor are all Elite units Guards. This Optional Rule introduces these new Cases:

[16.7.1] Elite Unit Élan! Bonus: Whenever any of your Elite units participate in an attack, you roll a die for each to see if it benefits from "Élan!" Make this roll during Step D of the Battle Sequence. Apply the following plus one (+1) die roll modifiers for each criteria which is applicable:

• If the unit is also a Guard unit.
• If you spent a Morale Point to Commit the Guard to this unit prior to this attack (see [12.3.1]).
• If you spent a Morale Point to Commit Reserves to this battle (see [12.2.3]).
• If either your or your opponent's Morale level is currently at one.

If the modified result is six or more, that Elite unit receives an Élan! bonus of +1 to its Combat Strength for that Battle; if the modified result is less than six, there is no effect. If you have several Elite units participating in a given Battle, it is possible to receive more than one Élan! bonus. However, it is important to note that you never check for Élan! when your units are defending, only when they are attacking.

[16.7.2] Light Infantry: Infantry units with their Movement Allowance in green are Light Infantry. They function as normal Infantry units in all respects except as follows: They can also Disengage, exactly as per Case 8.2 (i.e., not if in an enemy Cavalry unit's ZOC). As an exception to Case [6.5], Light Infantry units need not stop in Rugged hexes (e.g., Forest, Rough, and Swamp). Instead, they may simply spend one Movement Point to enter each of these hexes and can continue moving.

[16.7.3] Cossacks: Cavalry units with their Movement Allowance in green are Cossacks. They function as normal Cavalry units except as follows: As an exception to Case [6.5], Cossack units need not stop in Rugged hexes (e.g. Forest, Rough, and Swamp). Instead, they may simply spend two Movement Points to enter those hexes and can continue moving. If one enters a Rugged hex when it has only one Movement Point, it can enter and must stop as usual. During the Reaction Phase, Cossack units cannot Countercharge [8.1] or Penetrate [16.2]. During the Reaction Phase, Cossack units can Disengage from the ZOCs of enemy Cavalry units (an exception to Case [8.2.2]).

[16.7.4] Unreliable Troops: Units with their Combat Strength in yellow are Unreliable. When your Unreliable unit participates in a Battle, you must roll a die to see if it Wavers. Make this roll during Step D of the Battle Sequence. Subtract one (-1) from this die roll if your side's Morale level is currently less than your opponent's Morale level. If the modified result is greater than one (>1), that Unreliable unit is Steady and there is no effect. If the modified result is less than or equal to one (≤1), that Unreliable unit Wavers and its Combat Strength is reduced by one (-1) for that Battle only.

[16.7.5] Reluctant Troops: Units with their Movement Allowance in yellow are Reluctant. As an adjunct to Case [9.8.3], if you wish to Advance after Combat with your victorious Reluctant units, you must first roll a die for them (individually) on the Controlled Advance Table. If control of the advance is Kept, there is no effect and that unit can advance at your discretion. If control of the advance is Lost by that Reluctant unit, it cannot advance, even if you desire it to (but your other victorious units can, if able).

[16.7.6] Road-bound Units: Units with their Movement Allowance in white are Road-bound (e.g., wagon trains and supply convoys) and must occupy and move along Road hexes only. If ever forced to Retreat off a Road hex, a Road-bound unit is permanently destroyed. Note that Road-bound units are eligible for both the Road Movement and Forced March bonuses.

[16.7.7] Irregular Units: Units with their Combat Strength in white are Irregular (e.g., militia, guerrillas, feudal levies, etc.). The Exclusive Rules for those games that feature them define their special characteristics and how you use them during play.

[16.7.8] Other Special Units: Units with their Combat Strength in blue are Scenario-Defined Special Units. The Exclusive Rules for those games that feature them define their special circumstances and how you use them during play.

[16.8] Fatigue

Sustained combat exhausts troops and degrades their performance over time. You can show this using the round Fatigue markers and this Optional Rule.

Fatigue Levels

0. Fresh (no marker)
1. Ready (green marker)
2. Tired (yellow marker)
3. Weary (orange marker)
4. Spent (red marker)

Procedure

[16.8.1] Exhaustion: Each unit participating in a battle (attacking and defending) has its Fatigue Level increased by one (e.g., from having no Fatigue marker to placing a Ready marker on it; or flipping a Ready marker over to show its Tired side; or replacing a Tired marker with a Weary marker; or flipping a Weary marker to show its Spent side). If the unit is already Spent, there is no additional effect; it simply remains Spent.

[16.8.2] Effects of Fatigue: While Fatigued (i.e., marked with a Fatigue marker), that unit is affected thus:

• Ready: That unit is unaffected.
• Tired: That unit receives no movement benefit if its side conducts a Forced March [12.2.1].
• Weary: That unit suffers the Tired penalty AND a -1 penalty to its Movement Allowance (e.g., if it is an Infantry unit, its Movement Allowance is reduced to "1", and a Cavalry unit would be reduced to "2").
• Spent: That unit suffers the Tired AND Weary penalties, AND cannot voluntarily enter EZOCs, including during Advance after Combat.

[16.8.3] Recovery: At the end of your Combat Phase, each of your units with a Fatigue marker on it that is not adjacent to an enemy unit has its Fatigue Level reduced by one level (even during a Night Game Turn). A unit with a Ready marker on it simply removes it to symbolize that it is again Fresh.

[16.9] Leaders

The smaller units with their "Combat Strength" in purple are Leaders. Leader units represent the command structure needed to coordinate offensive action across a sprawling battlefield. These units do not have a "Combat Strength;" instead that purple value in the Combat Strength's position is called its Command Span rating.

Leader Set Up

Listed in the game's set up instructions you will find the optional Leader units included and highlighted in purple. In the Standard Scenario, the French leader GROUCHY has a Command Span of 1 when providing command to Cavalry units, but can only provide command to Infantry or Artillery units which are in the same hex he is in.

[16.9.1] Command Span: A Leader unit's Command Span is the radius in hexes over which it exerts control over friendly attacking units, reflecting its command authority. Terrain features and/or the presence of enemy units or enemy ZOCs have no impact on a Leader's Command Span radius.

[16.9.2] Leader Movement: Leader units move like Cavalry units, with the following exceptions:

• Leader units move through all Rugged Terrain [6.5] hexes as if they were Clear terrain.
• Leader units can voluntarily leave EZOCs [6.8] providing they do not move from one hex in an EZOC directly into another.
• As an exception to Rule [6.9], a Leader unit can end the Movement Phase stacked in the same hex with a friendly unit and/or any number of other friendly Leader units (i.e., Leader units are "stack free").

[16.9.3] Leaders and ZOCs: Leaders do not exert ZOCs, nor are they obligated to attack enemy units [7.4]. A Leader not stacked with a friendly unit which is in an EZOC must immediately Retreat one hex; if it is still in an EZOC and not stacked with a friendly unit after executing that mandatory retreat, the Leader is then Broken [16.9.6].

[16.9.4] Leader Reaction Movement: Leaders, themselves, do not perform Reaction Movement [8.0]. A Leader unit can accompany the friendly unit it is stacked with that performs Reaction Movement. Leaders do not affect the Combat Strength of countercharging Cavalry units.

[16.9.5] Leaders in Combat: During your Combat Phase, your Leader units "coordinate attacks" by providing Command to your units that are within their Command Span. Units within their Command Span are In Command, while those that are not are Out of Command.

Procedure

When calculating your total attack strength during Step B of the Battle Sequence [9.0], check to see if your attacking units (only) are "In Command."

• Your attacking units are In Command, and your total attack strength is unaffected, if any of your attacking units are within the Command Span of one of your Leader units.
• Your attacking units are Out of Command, and your total attack differential is reduced by one (-1), if none of your attacking units are within the Command Span of one of your Leader units.

There is no benefit to having more than one (or even all) of your attacking units In Command, or having multiple Leader units exerting their Command Spans over your attacking units.

Command has no effect on units' ability to defend. Command only affects the attacking units in a Battle.

• A Leader unit can provide Command to multiple Battles within their Command Span in the same Combat Phase.
• Whether a unit is In Command or not (its "command status") is determined at the instant each Battle is resolved. Should an adverse combat result cause your Leader unit to Break or Retreat in such a way that its Command Span is no longer exerted over your unit involved in a subsequent Battle, then that attack is conducted Out of Command.
• A Leader unit stacked with a friendly unit that Advances after Combat [9.8] may accompany that unit (or not).
• A Leader unit stacked with a friendly unit that is forced to Retreat must accompany that unit for the duration of the unit's entire Retreat. If that unit Breaks during that Retreat due to a failed Hazardous Retreat roll [9.7.5] and [9.7.6] or upon reaching an LOC [9.7.8], then that Leader unit also Breaks (see below).
• Leader units never suffer from Fatigue (see [16.8]).

[16.9.6] Broken Leader Units: Unlike other units, there is no Morale penalty when a Leader unit is Broken, with this one exception: If the French Leader unit Napoleon is Broken (for whatever reason), the French Player must immediately roll a die and consult the Breaking Napoleon Table and apply its result.

[16.9.7] "Rallying" Broken Leaders: Unlike other Broken units, at the beginning of your Movement Phase each turn, you automatically Rally (i.e., no die roll is required) your Broken Leader units. Place Rallied Leader units in the same way as other units (see [10.0] and [16.4], if that Rule is used).

[16.9.8] Rallying On a Leader: Some Event card titles state that your units are "Rallying on" a specific leader. If you draw that Event, are using Optional Rule 16.4, and your Leader unit named in that event's title is on the map, then vacant hexes with or adjacent to that Leader unit and not in an EZOC can serve as additional Rally locations (without any other restrictions) for the duration of that Event only.

French Wing Commanders (Standard Scenario)

The French side begins the game with different combinations of Leader units in play, one of whom is always NAPOLEON.

At the conclusion of his Player Turn, the French player may put the third French Leader unit into play by replacing the NAPOLEON (3-5) unit with its (2-5) version and the third Leader unit in the same hex as NAPOLEON.

Conversely, at the conclusion of his Player Turn, if the NAPOLEON Leader unit is stacked with either of the other French Leader units, the French player may remove both of them from the map and replace them with the single NAPOLEON (3-5) Leader unit. The French Player can repeat this process of creating and/or absorbing these French Wing Commanders any number of times during the game.

[16.10] Variable Weather

Instead of using the historical weather conditions printed on the Game Turn track (see [5.2]), players can agree to randomly determine the weather each turn:

Procedure

During the French Event Phase (only), after performing that turn's Event card, the French Player rolls a die to check the Weather, comparing the result with the Weather Trend marker and then adjusting its position on the Weather Track accordingly.

• The Allied player never rolls for weather.
• The weather can never improve to better than Clear, nor get worse than Downpour.

[16.10.1] Weather Trends

The Weather marker has two sides ("Improving" and "Worsening"). Flip it over whenever Event card #12 A Change in the Weather is drawn. When rolling for weather, apply the following results:

• If the Weather marker is showing its Improving side: 1 = move this marker one space left on the track (e.g., worsening from Cloudy to Showers); 2, 3, or 4 = No effect, the weather remains unchanged; 5 = move it one space right on the track (e.g., improving from Showers to Cloudy); 6 = move it two spaces right on the track (e.g., improving from Showers to Clear).
• If the Weather marker is showing its Worsening side: 1 = move this marker two spaces left on the track (e.g., worsening from Clear to Showers); 2 = move this marker one space left on the track (e.g., worsening from Clear to Cloudy); 3, 4, or 5 = No effect, the weather remains unchanged; 6 = move it one space right on the track (e.g., improving from Showers to Cloudy).

Weather Example: On a Morning turn, the French player's weather roll is Storm: the Weather marker itself is lowered to the Downpour box, and the Mud marker is placed one turn ahead on the Game Turn track (to the Midday turn); Mud conditions are now in effect (which, in this case, is the same as the Downpour effects). The next turn (Midday), there is no change in the weather (leaving the Weather marker in the Downpour box): the Mud marker is advanced one turn ahead on the Game Turn track (to the Afternoon turn); Mud conditions continue (which are the same as the Downpour effects). On the following (Afternoon) turn, the weather improves to Showers: the Mud marker remains in place and is removed at the end of the current Game Turn, ending its effects next turn (subject to worsening weather again, of course); Mud conditions continue (which, in this case, are combined with Shower effects). If the weather then improved to Cloudy from there, no weather effects would be in force at all.

[16.10.2] Storms and Mud

If the weather worsens to Storm, the Weather marker does not remain in that box. Instead, place the Mud marker one turn ahead on the Game Turn track and then move the Weather marker one space down on the track back to Downpour. If the Mud marker is already on the Game Turn track when a Downpour or Storm occurs, advance it ahead one turn.

The Weather marker never remains in the Storm box and there are no special "Storm" effects. The sole purpose of Storms is to place (or move) the Mud marker on the Game Turn track.

Mud Duration: Once the Game Turn marker reaches the Mud marker, remove that marker from the Turn Track and immediately end its effects (see below).

Mud Effects: While the Mud marker is on the Game Turn track:

• If the actual weather is Downpour, then apply Downpour weather effects only [5.2.1].
• If the actual weather is Showers, then the effects of Mud and Showers are combined. That is: Infantry Combat Strengths are reduced by one (-1; from the Showers); all units' Movement Allowances are reduced by one (-1; from the Mud), and the Artillery is not doubled when attacking (from the Mud).
• If the actual weather is Clear or Cloudy, Infantry unit Combat Strengths are not reduced by one (-1) from the Mud! Their powder is dry; only actual rainfall (Showers or Downpour) reduces Infantry Combat Strengths.

Only Downpour or Mud prevents the doubling of the Artillery unit's Attack Strength.

[17.0] Additional Scenarios

[17.1] The Extended Campaign Scenario

This scenario commences play one day earlier with the French crossing the Sambre River.

IMPORTANT: When playing this scenario, Optional rule [16.6] (Unit Breakdown and Buildup) must be used.

Setting Up the Game

After sides have been determined, set up as follows:

• Place the Game Turn marker on the June 15 Morning (Turn 1) space showing its French side.
• Place the French Morale marker on the "7" space of the Morale track. Place the Allied Morale marker on the "8" space of the Morale track.
• As per [3.0] (Preparing the Cards), use the Waterloo 20 cards to form the initial Draw Pile; set up the red-titled Event card (#12: A Change in the Weather) and the blue-titled Event card (#11: Frederick's Corps) face up in the Discard Pile, and place the green-titled Event card (#10: "Now's Your Time!") so that it is at the top of the Draw Pile (so that Card #10 will always be the first card drawn in the game). Optionally, you can set up the Napoleonic 20 Event card (#13, Just Like the Old Days) in the Discard Pile (as if it were a red-titled card).
• If using Variable Weather (see Rule [16.10]), place the Weather marker in the Cloudy box of the Weather Track, with its Improving Weather side showing.

French Deployment: No French units set up on the map.

French Reinforcements: The French player sets up these units on the Game Turn track; all of them arrive at Area A:

Turn	Units
1	2e: REILLE (4-2); 1eC: PAJOL (1-3)
2	GARDE (3-2); 2eC: EXELMANS (1-3); GROUCHY (1/0-5) + NAPOLEON (2-5) *
3	3eC: KELLERMANN (2-3)
4	1e: D'ERLON (3-2); 3e: VANDAMME (3-2)
5	4e: GERARD (2-2); 4eC: MILHAUD (1-3)
6	RES. ARTILLERY (2-2) + NEY (0-5)
7	CADRE (1-2) **

*French player's discretion to alternately have these Leaders enter play combined as the 3-5 version of NAPOLEON [16.9.8]. **This represents LOBAU's 6e Corps.

French Force Pool: Set aside the three French CADRE and two French DUMMY units.

Anglo-Dutch Deployment: The Anti-French player sets up these units on the map: hex 1201 — CADRE (1-2)* (remove unless using Rules 17.4.1 and/or 17.4.2).

Anglo-Dutch Reinforcements: The Anti-French player sets up these units on the Game Turn track:

Turn	Units
3	CADRE (1-2)*, Area X
5	RESERVE (3-2) + WELLINGTON (3-5), Area X
8	COLLAERT (1-3), Area X
9	UXBRIDGE (2-3), Area X
10	II: HILL (3-2), Area X

*These two Cadre units represent detached elements of the I: PRINCE OF ORANGE (4-2) unit; they can be combined into that unit normally in accordance with rule [16.6.2] including gaining one Morale Point.

Anglo-Dutch Force Pool: Set aside the two Anglo-Dutch CADRES and two Anglo-Dutch DUMMY units. The III: FREDERICK (2-2) unit is also set aside; it might arrive as a reinforcement via Event cards.

Prussian Deployment: The Anti-French player sets up these units on the map:

Hex	Unit
0203	CADRE (1-2)**
0205	CADRE (1-2)**
0206	ROEDER (1-3)

**These two Cadre units represent detached elements of the I: ZIETEN (3-2) corps; they can be combined into that unit normally in accordance with rule [16.6.2] including gaining one Morale Point.

Prussian Reinforcements: The Anti-French player sets up these units on the Game Turn track:

Turn	Units
4	II: PIRCH (3-2) + BLÜCHER (2-5), Area Z
6	RESERVE: VON HOBE (1-3), Area Z
7	III: THIELMANN (2-2), Area Z
10	IV: BÜLOW (3-2), Area Y

Prussian Force Pool: Set aside two Prussian CADRES and two Prussian DUMMY units. Set the Mud marker aside; it is only used with the Variable Weather Rule (see Rule [16.10]).

SPECIAL RULE (for Extended Campaign scenarios only): At the start of the game, two Allied units (the Prussian ZIETEN corps and the Anglo-Dutch ORANGE corps) begin play already broken down into Cadres. The two Prussian Cadres comprising Zieten's corps are already deployed on the map at game start; one of the Anglo-Dutch Cadres comprising Orange's corps also begins already on the map, while the other Anglo-Dutch enters play as a reinforcement on Turn 4.

Under normal circumstances, the loss of one of these Cadres would prevent the Allied player from rebuilding the associated parent unit. However, in this scenario the Allied player still has the possibility of rebuilding the parent unit by employing the following:

PROCEDURE

• If one of his Cadres is Broken during the course of play, on any future Turn the Allied player may choose to voluntarily eliminate a Cadre of the same national group (Prussian or Anglo-Dutch) in order to place the associated Infantry unit which began the game in a "broken down" condition into his Broken Units pile so that it can then be Rallied normally [10.0].
• The Cadre being eliminated cannot be adjacent to or within two hexes of an enemy unit when it is removed from the map.
• The Cadre must be removed from play at the start of the Allied Player Turn (before the Allied Player's Random Events Phase) of a Daylight (non-Night) Turn.
• The Infantry unit which is placed in the Broken Units pile must be of the same nationality (Prussian or Anglo-Dutch) as the Cadre which is removed.

Sequence of Play: The French player is the First player.

Random Events: Skip the French player's Random Events Phase on the first Game Turn.

Scenario Variants

[17.1.1] Crossing the Sambre River: The French movements on the 15th were adversely impacted by poor staff work and the defection of some key officers. The resulting confusion allowed the Prussians to fall back in good order. This variant allows the French player more flexibility in arranging the arrival of his forces, but at the risk of having things unravel even worse than they did historically.

Set Up Procedure: After sides have been determined, and the Allied units have been set up as indicated above, the French player secretly arranges all his units face down on the Game Turn track, thus "scheduling their arrival," subject to the following constraints:

A. No more than three units can be scheduled to arrive on a single Game Turn, and no more than two of those units can be Infantry units. B. The four Cavalry units must be scheduled to arrive before the Artillery unit; note that the Artillery can arrive on the same turn that the last Cavalry unit is scheduled to arrive. C. The Imperial Guard unit cannot be scheduled to arrive on Game Turn 1. D. If using the Optional Leader Rule [16.9], the following special restrictions apply:

• No Leaders may enter play on Turn 1.
• Leader units do not count towards the maximum limit of three units per turn and do not affect the arrival die roll (they arrive automatically).
• The NAPOLEON Leader must be scheduled to arrive on the same turn as the Imperial Guard unit.
• The NEY Leader cannot arrive before Turn 6 (i.e., the first Night Game Turn).

Exclusive Rules 11-16 are the same as the Standard Scenario.

Arrival Procedure: If there are any French units scheduled to arrive that turn as reinforcements, the French player should decide whether a Forced March will be conducted that turn and then rolls a die, consulting the French Arrival Table. Move Delayed units ahead to the next turn on the Game Turn track where they try again to enter on that turn.

Note that in order to enjoy the benefits of his favorable die roll modifier to the French Arrival Table, the French player can always voluntarily delay the entry of the Napoleon Leader unit.

Player's Note: As individual units are Delayed, they generate adverse modifiers to the arrival rolls for next turn's units, and this can produce a cascading effect of further Delays on future turns. The French player may want to draw out his reinforcement plans so as to lessen the chances of a poor arrival die roll causing a catastrophic traffic jam.

Die Roll Modifiers:

• -1 For each non-Leader unit scheduled to arrive that turn as a reinforcement.
• +1 If the French player Forced March this turn.
• +1 If the NAPOLEON Leader unit has not yet arrived on the map; only when using the Optional Leader Rule, [16.9].
• +1 If the Berthier is Back! variant [17.1.2] is being used.

[17.1.2] Berthier is Back! NAPOLEON's vaunted Chief-of-Staff returns for this final campaign! This variant can work with any scenario.

• Apply a +1 die roll modifier to the French Arrival Table when rolling for reinforcements.
• When using the Optional Leader Rule, ignore the provisions of [16.9.8], French Wing Commanders. The 3-rated version of the NAPOLEON Leader unit is always used. The NEY and GROUCHY subordinate commanders do not need to be "merged" with the NAPOLEON Leader unit to do this.

A fortnight before the Waterloo campaign began, Marshal Berthier, Napoleon's long-time Chief-of-Staff, died after falling from an upstairs window under mysterious circumstances. His replacement, Marshal Soult, did not perform well in the position. This variant allows you to experiment with an intriguing what-if: what if "Napoleon's" Chief-of-Staff had not met his untimely end and was there alongside the Emperor during these fateful days?

[17.1.3] Look Out Bülow! Instead of placing IV: BÜLOW (3-2) on Turn 10 of the Game Turn track as a scheduled reinforcement, set it up on Turn 6 (i.e., the Morning Turn of 16 June). Beginning on that turn, roll for its arrival: 6 = it arrives via Entry Area Y; on any other result, move it one turn ahead on the Game Turn track and roll for it again on that turn.

This unit's arrival die roll is modified by +1 on any turn that the Prussian army conducts a Forced March.

Blücher issued two sets of similar but conflicting orders to Bülow on 14 June. The uncertainty this caused delayed the arrival of IV Corps to the extent that it was unable to join the rest of the army for the battle at Ligny on the 16th. This variant allows you to experiment with what could have happened had Blücher's orders been clearer or Bülow acted more decisively.

[17.2] The Opening Battles Scenario

Set up the Extended Campaign Game and feel free to use any of its variants.

How to Win the Opening Battles Scenario

The game ends on Turn 12 (i.e., at the end of the second Night Turn). If neither side wins a Decisive Victory based upon Morale Values in the usual manner, then the following Victory Conditions apply at the end of the game:

• The only way for the French player to win a Decisive Victory is to reduce the Anti-French side's Morale level to zero.
• The French player wins a Marginal Victory if both French Objective hexes (Quatre Bras; hex 1104, and Sombreffe; hex 0809) are not occupied by Anti-French units and French morale exceeds Anti-French morale.
• The Anti-French player wins a Marginal Victory if one French Objective hex (Quatre Bras or Sombreffe) is occupied by an Anti-French unit and Anti-French morale exceeds French morale.
• The Anti-French player wins a Decisive Victory either by reducing the French side's Morale level to zero -or- if both French Objective hexes (Quatre Bras; hex 1104, and Sombreffe; hex 0809) are occupied by Anti-French units (regardless of which side has higher morale).
• A Draw Occurs with any other result (either both French Objective hexes not being occupied by Anti-French units but Anti-French morale exceeding French morale -or- one French Objective hex (Quatre Bras or Sombreffe) is occupied by an Anti-French unit and French morale exceeds Anti-French morale). This was the historical outcome.

[17.3] The Closing Battles Scenario

For players desiring a shorter game focusing on the climactic double battles on the final day of this campaign (Waterloo and Wavre), after determining sides, use the following set up instructions:

• Place the Game Turn marker on the June 18 Morning (Turn 16) space showing its French side.
• Place the French Morale marker on the "7" space and the Allied Morale marker on the "6" space of the Morale track.
• As per [3.0] (Preparing the Cards), use the Waterloo 20 cards to form the initial Draw Pile; set up the red-titled Event card (#12: A Change in the Weather) face up in the Discard Pile and use the remainder to form the initial Draw Pile. Optionally, you can set up the Napoleonic 20 Event card (#13: Just Like the Old Days) in the Discard Pile (as if it were a red-titled card). And see the Historical Events Variant that follows.
• The first turn of this scenario is automatically a Mud turn (see Rule [5.2.1]).
• If using Variable Weather (see Rule [16.10]), place the Weather marker in the Cloudy box of the Weather Track, with its Improving Weather side showing.

French Deployment: The French player sets up these units on the map:

Hex	Unit
1603	III: KELLERMANN (2-3)
1604	GARDE (3-2) + NAPOLEON (3-5)
1611	4e: GERARD (2-2)
1704	RESERVE ART. (2-2)
1702	2e: REILLE (3-2)
1705	IV: MILHAUD (1-3)
1703	CADRE (1-2) *
1805	1e: D'ERLON (3-2)
1810	3e: VANDAMME (3-2) + GROUCHY (1/0-5)
1909	II: EXELMANS (1-3)
1911	I: PAJOL (1-3)

*This represents LOBAU's 6e Corps.

French Force Pool: Set aside the four French CADRE and two French DUMMY units. The NAPOLEON (2-5) and NEY (0-5) Leader units are also set aside, if using the Optional Leader Rule [16.9].

Anglo-Dutch Deployment (remove these variant units unless using Rules 17.4.1 and/or 17.4.2): The Anti-French player sets up these units on the map:

Hex	Unit
1902	I: ORANGE (4-2) + the Good Ground marker (showing either side)
1903	RESERVE (3-2)
2001	COLLAERT (1-3)
2002	II: HILL (3-2)
2003	UXBRIDGE (2-3) + WELLINGTON (3-5)

Anglo-Dutch Force Pool: Set aside the three Anglo-Dutch CADRE and two Anglo-Dutch DUMMY units. The III: FREDERICK (2-2) unit is also set aside; it might arrive as a reinforcement via Event cards.

Prussian Deployment: The Anti-French player sets up these units on the map:

Hex	Unit
2009	IV: BÜLOW (3-2)
2108	RESERVE: VON HOBE (1-3)
2109	III: THIELMANN (2-2) + BLÜCHER (2-5)
2209	CADRE (1-2)¹
2210	CADRE (1-2)²

Prussian Force Pool: Set aside the one Prussian CADRE and two Prussian DUMMY units. Also set aside the Roeder unit; it is Broken and can be Rallied normally.

¹This is the remnant [16.5.1] of the II: PIRCH (3-2) unit. ²This is the remnant [16.5.1] of the I: ZIETEN (3-2) unit.

[17.3.1] Historical Events Variant

For a more scripted version of the Closing Battles scenario, sort the Event cards and arrange the deck so that they are drawn in the following order:

Time	Player Turn	Event
Morning	French	#01 Imperial Indecision
Morning	Allied	#02 Rally on Old Forwards!
Mid-day	French	#03 Intelligence Gathering
Mid-day	Allied	#04 "Steady, Lads!"
Afternoon	French	#05 Napoleon's Illness
Afternoon	Allied	#06 Rally on Old Nosey!
Dusk	French	#07 Michel Ney
Dusk	Allied	#08 March to the Guns
Evening	French	#09 "Sacrebleu!"
Evening	Allied	#10 "Now's Your Time!"
Night	French	#11 "Never Interrupt Your Enemy…"
		Reshuffle the cards.
Night	Allied	Draw the next Event card

[17.4] Additional Forces (Game Balance Options)

For players wishing to either explore certain "what if" historical possibilities, or to help inexperienced players when playing the French side, we offer the following options:

[17.4.1] Lobau Reinforced: In addition to all the battalions in Lobau's 6e Corps being severely under-strength, it was also completely missing two entire regiments (40e Ligne, which was still in the process of forming, and 47e Ligne, which had been sent to put down rebels in the Vendée). To get a sense of how having this unit at its assigned strength might have influenced the campaign, substitute the 2-2 rated 6e LOBAU unit for the historical 1-2 rated CADRE (representing that unit) listed in the scenario set-up instructions.

Using this optional variant will tend to slightly unbalance the game in the French player's favor.

[17.4.2] Rapp's 5e Corps: General Rapp's 5e Corps was assigned to cover the frontier in Alsace. This option presumes that Rapp's corps was instead assigned to the Armée du Nord to participate in the campaign in Belgium. To use this optional variant, set up the chosen scenario normally, but reduce the French player's starting Morale level by one point (to reflect the impact of leaving the border in Alsace undefended) and include the 5e RAPP (2-2) unit in the scenario set up as follows:

• For the Standard scenario: hex 0305 — 5e: RAPP (2-2)
• For the Extended Campaign scenario [17.1]: Turn 6 — 5e: RAPP (2-2)
• For the Closing Battles scenario [17.3]: hex 1503 — 5e: RAPP (2-2)

Using this optional variant will unbalance the game in the French player's favor.

Designer & Developer Notes

Designer's Notes for Waterloo 20

By Joseph Miranda

I had a 20-counter game on the Waterloo campaign that had appeared in The Strategist back in 1999. My concept of a modern, miniaturized version of the old Avalon Hill game Waterloo from the 1960s, one that might become a new gaming "classic," has come a long way to achieving just that, thanks to the Napoleonic 20 series.

The star of this series is Morale. Morale has been around in wargames in one form or another since just about forever. What I did in Waterloo 20 was use it not only as an index of the overall status of each side's armies, but by also adding Morale Points, created a "currency" that the players can collect (during Lulls, Night turns, by breaking enemy units, and through the occasional random event), lose inadvertently (through battlefield reversal and, again, through random events), and wisely spend at critical moments.

What this did was add a level of decision-making on top of the operational level of gameplay, putting the player in the boots of Napoleon, Wellington, or Blücher. Game strategy evolved from the usual wargaming fare of scrounging up enough units to get optimal attack differentials to also agonizing over whether you wanted to gamble those crucial Morale Points to perform potentially decisive actions.

Developer's Notes

By Alan Emrich

Long before Victory Point Games was a glint in my eye, Joe Miranda sent me a computer scan of a dim photocopy of a mimeographed newsletter that looked like a refugee from the wastebasket moments before a trip to the incinerator. If you tried to give a game a worse presentation, you would have been hard pressed to top my first encounter with Waterloo 20.

Then, along with my students, we started up Victory Point Games to make small-format games, and suddenly I needed some "example" games to publish and thus demonstrate to future classes what we could do together. Instead, I blew the cobwebs off my dusty memory banks and remembered that I had this old chestnut on my computer somewhere; the search was on! Finding it, then rolling my eyes at all the development work there was do, I dove in and started putting together our first Victory Point Games edition of Waterloo 20.

The game system (to say nothing of the first two games, Waterloo 20 and Jena 20) went on to success and built the Napoleonic 20 series that is still growing strong. We are grateful that GMT published a great quadrigame of these games (including the second edition of Waterloo 20) in its Fading Glory game and hoped to publish a second quadrigame (Rising Glory), but finding time on its crowded release schedule for a reprint of the former and publication of the latter was difficult. The publishers then agreed that these Napoleonic 20 games should return to VPG where they could more quickly return to publication and into players' hands. The rules have since evolved to a v4.0 edition, the VPG series graphics have been greatly enhanced, and Napoleon & Co. will continue to march across our maps thanks to these paper time machines we call "wargames."

Napoleonic 20 System Developer's Notes

By Lance McMillan

Unit Values: At the very broad-brush scale of the Napoleonic 20 games, the quality of a corps worth of troopers really doesn't make a whole heck of a lot of difference: with perhaps only one or two exceptions (and those based chiefly on raw numbers and not training / experience), they're all going to end up rated at "1" strength. However, there are other issues involved because of the game system itself. Take for example the notion of Elite troops. Thus far, we have rated only a few select formations as "Elite."

During our playtesting of Austerlitz 20, the question came up about giving the Austrian heavy cavalry an Elite rating. Now, arguably, they might warrant Elite status based on their training, motivation, historical performance, and so forth – but in game terms, giving them (or any cavalry unit) Elite status can create problems.

A Horse is a Horse? One of the chief in-game effects of Elite status is that you subtract two (-2) from your Rout rolls. Couple that with the fact that Cavalry does not generate a Morale Point loss unless it Retreats more hexes than its Movement Allowance (typically, a 3), then you end up with the bizarre situation of Heavy Cavalry that is almost immune to Routing; it becomes the supreme defensive unit in the game!

Thus, the entire process of deciding how to rate individual units in the Napoleonic 20 series is a very subjective process, dependent not only on historical research, but also heavily influenced by discussions among the Napoleonic 20 team and the results of fairly extensive playtesting.

Matters of Scale vs. Unit Types: We have received comments about the "feel" of having Cavalry units attacking into or defending in Town hexes, or Artillery units that can attack into cities but not support an adjacent City hex in defense [Rule 9.3] because its ZOC does not extend to an adjacent City hex. At first blush, these game mechanics raise eyebrows, but really it's all a matter of scale and perspective.

Remember, games in the Napoleonic 20 series tend to be corps level, with hexes that are one-half to a full mile across, and turns that are roughly 4+ hours long. There's plenty of room in there for a squadron or two of Cavalry, quite likely with Horse Artillery support, to maneuver and threaten, or even drive off, a foe – also keeping in mind that many Cavalry formations had troopers equipped with carbines and trained in skirmishing tactics.

There's a great anecdote I came across in my research for the Smolensk 20 game, where a single Russian cavalryman in a small wood held up a French regiment for several hours by taking pot shots at them! They eventually had to bring up a battery of guns to blow the copse of trees down and take him out before the regiment could resume its advance. Those kinds of stories get lost in the background with an operational level system like this, but they're still happening "just below the radar" of these games. So, yes, Cavalry can (and did) attack into/out of Towns with considerable determination at this scale.

The Artillery units in this series are of the "grand battery" or "Artillery park" varieties – upwards of 100 guns, plus the large trains of ammunition wagons that supported them. These formations were notoriously slow, unwieldy, and occupied large sections of the line when deployed. Our feeling was that while it was certainly feasible to line up the guns in a convenient field and blast away at some building or other enemy defensive strongpoint, it was much more difficult to maneuver several batteries through an unmarked series of narrow streets and effectively deploy them to counter an emergent enemy assault. Remember, this "they can't support certain adjacent friendly units" issue only applies in situations where the Artillery and adjacent friendly unit are in adjacent Town hexes, across a River, or there is some other such obstruction between them. If you want defensive artillery support, keep the field artillery outside the Town (i.e., in the field).

Design for Effect: We don't just count muskets and arbitrarily say, "Okay, this one's a Strength 3" and leave it at that. We playtest it as a 3… and as a 2 and a 4 as well; sometimes we even try it out as a 1 or a 5! And we keep on trying until we get the in-game effect we are after. It is all an evolutionary, iterative process in our quest to get the right game effect and balance.

Could some tweed-wearing scholar take exception to the fact that we failed to address the fact that the 32nd Ligne had pewter rather than brass buttons on their facings? Sure. Is the way we do things perfect? No, our methodology is admittedly imperfect by that yardstick – but it works perfectly well for game purposes. We realize that the games we're making are fairly simple (by wargame standards), quick playing, and, above all, fun games. If you're looking for a rich, deep historical simulation that covers esoteric details like unit frontages, formations, and facing to give you a greater insight into the deeper operational mysteries of the period, this is probably the wrong series for you.

"Getting" the Series: We make Napoleonic 20 series games to be played, not studied. Most take only about an hour to complete (even for utter "n00bs" who've never seen a hex-and-counter wargame before in their lives, if taught by a wargamer). With that in mind, you're just not going to get rules addressing the equestrian skills of individual cavalry squadrons with that kind of a package – at least not in any recognizable detail. Do we try to address those and similar issues? Yes, albeit in very indirect manner: in how we rate various units in comparison to one another. Thus the system is highly abstracted in order to produce a more "upper level" operational narrative.

The Evolution of Third Edition Waterloo 20

By Lance McMillan

When VPG made the decision to release a third "Bicentennial Edition" of Waterloo 20, I wanted it to be something more than just an upgrade of the previous releases; I wanted it to address something which most other games on this campaign have largely ignored: the activities of 15 June and the French crossing of the Sambre River. This because I believe that it was then, and not during the climactic battle on the 18th, that Napoleon actually lost his bid to retain the throne of France.

With the shift to the new v4.0 components, I hoped there might be enough room to expand the map to include the important additional terrain necessary to include in that extra day, but it took the sublime artistry of Tim Allen to realize that goal. He was able to find a way to squeeze four new hex rows onto the southern end of the map. With that done, I felt confident we could create a game that would really please our fans.

My focus with the Opening Battles scenario was to find a way of showing how a combination of poor French staff work (coupled with the defection of a few key officers the night before the Armée du Nord began its march north) and the tenacious rear-guard action of Zieten's dispersed corps managed to hold up Napoleon's advance just long enough for the Allies to concentrate their forces at Quatre Bras and Ligny on the 16th. Had that not happened, joining the Anglo-Dutch and Prussian armies to achieve a decisive victory over the French would have been a much more difficult proposition.

Early test games of this re-design's prototype revealed problems: The geography occasionally caused the flow of battle to diverge from the historical path, and the previous edition's order of battle made it tough to duplicate the first couple days' action of this campaign. Changes were needed, and for that I turned to the experts. Master cartographer Rick Barber created a version of what he believed the map should look like which I borrowed heavily from (I didn't adopt it wholesale as I was reluctant to deviate too far from Joe Miranda's original); and noted Napoleonic historian Jack Gill helped me restructure the order of battle to better reflect the reality of the forces which were involved in the campaign. With those changes in place, the game came together very quickly.

It's my hope that fans of the two earlier editions of Waterloo 20 will find that this updated version is still as exciting, challenging, and balanced as Joseph Miranda's original, but will now also be able to better appreciate how the Emperor's clumsy opening moves during his final campaign were the root cause of his eventual defeat.