Game of the Week Jul 29 - Aug 4

Welcome to another week, and another featured game. This week we bring you Napoleonic Battles: Napoleon's Russian Campaign! This title is on sale for 25% off now through Sunday, August 4th.

Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 initiated one of the most monumental efforts in the history of warfare up to that time. The campaign presaged the bloody world conflicts that were to follow in the 20th century.

The scope of the campaign in Russia was enormous both in terms of the number  of people involved and the expanse of territory touched. To undertake the herculean task of bringing Russia to its knees, Napoleon assembled over 600,000 men on its borders with perhaps 500,000 troops actually entering Russia.

The cost of the campaign was huge in terms of treasury and manpower. Like a huge cloud of locust Napoleon’s armies cut a swath through Russia, devastating towns and villages along the way and leaving many of the civilian population dead, homeless or destitute. At campaign’s end over 400,000 of Napoleon’s command were dead along with at least 250,000 Russian dead. In large measure the seeds of Napoleon’s eventual downfall were sown in 1812.

Given the enormity of the task and the risks involved, why did Napoleon choose to invade Russia? There is no simple answer to this question. Several factors contributed to this fateful decision.

To outward appearances Russia and France seemed to be the best of friends following the Treaty of Tilsit signed in 1807. Napoleon and Tsar Alexander professed admiration for each other. However, the agreement they reached in 1807 probably had more to do with political reality than any genuine appreciation the leaders had for each other.

Russia had been twice beaten by Napoleon. Austria and Prussia were cowed and Great Britain wasn’t on the continent. Russia had little choice but to agree to Napoleon’s generous terms. Likewise, while Napoleon had defeated Russia he lacked the means to do much more to further subjugate them, and he desperately needed a powerful ally in a Europe that seemed comprised of nothing but enemies. His friendship with Prussia and Austria was tenuous at best having  been forced on those two states.

The cracks in the alliance began to show almost immediately. As part of their alliance with France, Russia was compelled to abide by Napoleon’s Continental blockade. This forced enormous economic hardship on Russia and her merchants. The Tsar felt pressured to renounce his adherence to the Continental blockade, and finally yielded when he announced Russia’s withdrawal from the blockade on December 31, 1810.

This announcement rankled Napoleon, who feared Russia’s example would soon be followed by the other nations of Europe. For the Continental blockade to work against Britain, Napoleon believed Russia would have to participate. A  campaign against Russia to force adherence to the blockade began to be envisioned...

You can continue reading the background and get further details on the development process and what's included in the game in the Design Notes.

(Game images can be clicked for full size view.)

The game features 60 standalone scenarios, with a sampling of small, medium and large actions to choose from. Scenarios range from historical - beginning with the correct places where the forces started the action & historical arrival times - to "What if?" and Variant scenarios that explore other ways in which situations could have unfolded.

Note: This game features only the original series standard of 15-minute turn versions of the scenarios.

The major historical and hypothetical battles included are:

• Lubina
• Drissa
• Vyazma
• Borodino
• Tarutino
• Maloyaroslavets
• Gzhatsk
• Moscow
• Berezina
• Smolensk
• Krasnoi
• Polotsk
• Gorodetchna

In addition to the standalone scenarios there are 64 more scenarios included within the campaign feature.

Added in 2024, there's a new large map, created by Luciano Bassotti, which is five times the size of the original Borodino map. I (Rich) have created a "blind" meeting engagement scenario for it with collaborative multi-player in mind. 

For those who like to create their own scenarios, this title features many maps to pull from, the largest being over 130,000 hexes!

And speaking of additions, Napoleon's Russian Campaign was the 2nd title to be published in the Napoleonic Battles series of games when John first started publishing with HPS. Like the other titles in the series, this game has seen an immense amount of "love" in the last few years in the way of updates. From the plethora of engine fixes and enhancements listed in the 17-page Changelog, to the complete graphical overhaul of both 2D, 3D as well as the unit portraits featured in the Hex Info Area. We believe it brings a very attractive and appealing environment to the table in order to enjoy your Napoleonic gaming experience.

Next, we move on to a few books that could help you learn more on the subject:

Moving to Video content now. First up we have a 3 hour documentary from "Real Time History". 

Then we have SmartWargames doing a review of NRC and various updates. Not completely "current", but does feature some of the work done under WDS.

Next we have a series of screenshots from the game in various view modes and also a few optional settings selected - like Highlight Organization for example.

And finally, here's the Napoleonic Battles specific section on the Official WDS forums if you wish to discuss the game, or any games within that series.

Ok, that concludes our preview of the game. You can head on over to the product page for Napoleon's Russian Campaign and pick up a copy for yourself when ready!