Napoleon's Imperium, 1798-1815

The aim of Napoleon’s Imperium design is to represent history, simply! This game satisfies both the long-term history buff and the new but ambitious history maker!  You don’t have to know anything about history to play this game, but you will certainly learn and enjoy history along the way as you join this epic battle for European domination!

Designed for two to eight players, Napoleon’s Imperium pitches eight Empire Nations of the Napoleonic Wars, divided into two Alliance’s in a fight to the death struggle for control of Napoleonic Europe!

Napoleon’s Imperium is a team-based game! The key to winning Napoleon’s Imperium is your ability to strategize and work as a team with your allies. Each player rules an Empire with difference strengths and weakness, with different economic starting points and geographic positions. No two Empires are alike! Everyone brings something different to the table and in Napoleon’s Imperium survival relies on strong partnerships to capitalise your advantages!

But although no two Empires are alike, the two opposing alliances are equal. The slight imbalance of commencement units is offset geographically and by the combination of Empire individual special abilities.

Upheaval of changing alliances and treaty ramifications, weather and world events are all represented in the game via 160 beautifully designed “Battle Cards” that play out consequences of battlefield defeats!  These cards balance real history and real-world events with the element of chance and fog of war!

And with Napoleon’s Imperium, the more you play, the more your individual rank and prestige grows as you earn both individual and team ranking points with every game!

The average game would run five to six hours but can be campaigned to play for days. And it’s straight into the cannon fire or cannon fodder depending on your battle fortunes as an average game would encompass an average of 80 to 100 battles!

Napoleon’s Imperium is played out on a magnificently designed, large scale map which is accented by a “Christopher Columbus” style world globe. The globe is a visual masterpiece which reflects all of Europe and some of North Africa! Altogether Napoleon’s Imperium has a “Churchill war room” feel with large numbers of counters representing age-of-sail style Fleets, Artillery, Cavalry, Infantry, Commanders, Spies, the colours (flags) and the odd camel just to mix it up! It’s big, it’s bright, it’s attractive, it’s interactive and it’s addictive!

And the wonderful thing is, every time you play it’s different!

Andrew Rowland, game designer from Australia, is a Local Government Community Development professional who has been a passionate Napoleonic scholar for three decades. Don’t be surprised you if see a rare cameo of little-known Napoleonic connections to Australia in the game play!

Napoleon’s Imperium represents over 28 years of design development and game testing and is modelled on an award-winning prestige tabletop game which has featured in Australian media, exhibitions and used for many years as a corporate training aid for team building and strategic planning.

THE BASICS

Napoleon’s Imperium is a turn-based game which is restricted by a timeline of years.

There is a maximum of 18 playable years in Team Napoleon; 1798 to 1815.

A typical game is five to six years or turns. Approximately 80 to 100 battles will happen in that time.

• A Battle Point Game lasts 4 to 6 hours (variable turn length based on player agreement).
• A Campaign Game can last up to 5 to 20 hours depending on skills of the players as they seek to achieve a Capital Victory.

Large Scale Map - The map is divided into land territories and sea territories with different economic values Capital Cities and Sea Ports.

Playing Pieces Types

• Artillery = Cannon
• Cavalry = Horses
• Camels (only Ottoman Empire)
• Infantry = Foot soldiers
• Fleets = Ships
• Colours = Flags

Each Turn has 3 phases.

• Phase One: Purchase
• Phase Two: Attack
• Phase Three: Movement

Weather. A wonderful optional element of Napoleon’s Imperium is the roll for weather each year. This has individual effects on each player and can lay waste the best of plans or save an Empire from imminent destruction!

Game Objectives

The objective of Napoleon’s Imperium is for one Alliance to conquer the other by either achieving a Capital Victory (capturing key enemy territories) or a Battle Points Victory (based on favorable outcomes and achievements made during game play)

Product Information:

• Scope: Napoleonic Grand Strategic
• Complexity: 6 out of 10
• Solitaire Suitability: 4 out of 10
• Time Scale: 1 Turn = 1 Year
• Map Scale: Global map centred on Europe, North Africa
• Unit Scale: 10,000 men per Infantry unit, 2,000 men per Cavalry unit, 50 cannon per Artillery unit, 5 ships of the line per Fleet unit
• Players: 2-8 players
• Playing Time: 4-6 hours for Battle Point Game, 6-15 hours for Campaign Game depending upon skill of players. Each year of play takes approximately 40 minutes to one hour to complete.

Components:

• One Battlefield Game Map (33x44 inches)
• 160 Battle Cards (20 cards per Empire)
• 80 Battle Point Cards
• One Battle Point Card Replacement Board
• Five sheets of 168 oversized counters each
• Eight Player Aid Cards
• Rules Booklet
• Twenty 10-sided (10 red, 10 blue)
• Box and Lid 

Game Credits:

• Game Development and Design: Andrew Rowland
• Game Development Partner: Harry Rowland, Australian Design Group
• Lead Playtesters: “Team Napoleon Test Team” (Darryl Kane, Guy Wernhard, Thomas Carrett, Michael Popple, Scott Rowland, Andrew Rowland, Wayne McIntyre, Robert Spier, Aylin Rowland, Natasha Rowland)
• Research, Historical GAme Components Development: Peter Cross, Andrew Roland
• Game Rule Editors: Darryl Kane, Guy Wernhard, Scott Rowland
• Artist: Vlad Stanescu
• Map Design and Layout: Andrew Rowland, Vlad Stanescu