State of play: Napoleon 1806 (2/6)

So, Monday night T and I played Napoleon 1806 for the second time, still using the quick-start rules, with T again playing the French and me the Prussians. The result was still inconclusive, so a technical win for the Prussians. The French forces managed to take Leipzig by turn five and might have taken Erfurt in the same round if it hadn't been for a really lucky draw on the part of the defenders that managed to throw back the attack.

I also realised that we'd been misrepresenting the points value of taking a target town. I must have skimmed over it, but successfully taking a flagged town wins the attacker a four-point shift (we'd been playing it as one point). Moreover, if a side retains three of the four target towns at the end of a round, that side gains an extra point-shift. Neither of these would have changed the result of Monday's game, but it may have made T more willing to act recklessly to try to gain the extra points in combat to nudge the score-tracker closer to zero.

We've agreed to play Napoleon 1806 again next week, introducing the other Conscript rules (notably, having a three-card hand each round to use for the events). We've both got a good grip on the movement and combat, and, as the Prussians, I'm beginning to understand the importance of choke-points on the map to at least slow down the French movement. The Prussians are underpowered compared to the French, both in unit capacities and sheer hitting power; this is clear looking at the dice - optional but included - which are representative of the "hit" ratios in each deck (the French hit harder and dispense casualties more often). 

Another rule we've been overlooking is the loss of a card in combat when a formation's exhaustion reaches five or more, although, thinking back over both games so far, I don't think there would have been a situation in which that would have influenced the outcome; both sides have been quite cautious over accruing exhaustion points.

Even with the rules oversights and cautious play thus far, it's clear that this is a system that has a lot to offer in terms of a worthwhile challenge, numerous decision-points in each round, and (importantly) replayability. I find myself looking forward to next week's bout.