Description

Game billed as "a complete Napoleonic miniatures system in a box." Note that the title is bad French; the correct title would be La Petite Armée.

Box contains three two-panel mounted, green-flocked boards combining to measure 3' x 2'. Game includes a selection of terrain to use on these boards to create battlefields, including six different hills, two different villages, two different farms with farm fields, hedgerows, stone walls, roads, streams, rivers, two forests and a bridge. Roads, streams, and the forest footprint are in colored felt. Buildings are painted and cast from resin. Tree bases are magnetized for secure storage inside the box.

Boxed set includes rules, charts, two rulers, two ten-sided dice, casualty/morale caps, command/rally counters, deployment/dummy markers scaled to unit base sizes, objective/line of communication markers, and two fully painted, based and flocked Napoleonic armies.

Each army consists of four line, one light and one elite infantry brigade; two light and one heavy cavalry brigade; three foot and one horse artillery batteries; and one General with two separate lieutenants used for command extension functions. Each brigade includes a flag of its nationality.

Infantry is mounted four to a magnetic stand, three stands to a brigade representing about 2200 men. Cavalry is mounted two to a magnetic stand, three stands to a brigade representing around 700 men. Guns are mounted individually, one crew member for a field/horse battery and two crew for a heavy gun. General is mounted with a foot figure; lieutenants are mounted individuals.

Figures in the standard starter set are painted "Risk" figures from the "shako" edition of Risk. Additional painted brigades representing helmeted cavalry, lancers, etc. may be ordered from the producer. Supplemental terrain boards and terrain elements are also available.

The rules are playable and concentrate on command and morale. Units out of vision distance or line of sight are initially represented by hidden deployment markers, revealed as units come within sighting range. Units may also be assigned to off-board flanking forces and/or reserves.

Initiative is determined each turn, as are available command points for each army. Command points may be used either to activate units for movement and combat, or to rally shaken or demoralized units. Army command diminishes as brigades are demoralized or destroyed.

The game system allows for considerable expansion and accommodates multiple players on a side. Entire large battles can be gamed using this system and additional unit, but an interesting game can be played with as few as four or five brigades on a side.