by Pascal Toupy and Marco Poutré
In the previous article of this series, we began exploring the auxiliary units the French raised during their campaign in Egypt and Syria. We’ll finish that review with the Régiment de dromadaires (Dromedary Regiment) and then look at how the French player can best use Auxiliary Units in their quest for victory in our game Napoleon in Egypt.
Introduction by Congress of Vienna (CoV)’s Assistant Designer & Editor, Fred Schachter – To familiarize the InsideGMT audience of what designer Frank Esparrago created with his fun and exciting Congress of Vienna game, now a GMT P-500 offering which has “made the cut”; InsideGMT presented articles of “Designer’s Notes” and a “Game as History” series entitled “An Historical Introduction to the Congress of Vienna Period (CoV)”. Use this link to access copies of these articles: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-850-congress-of-vienna.aspx .
Since this is the fifth of GMT’s “Great Statesmen” game series, it seems appropriate to focus on those very Statesmen who make this Napoleonic Wars historical period so fascinating to our hobby from perspective of the game Frank designed.
Consequently, following Part Three’s “Russian Contingent” piece, here’s the final part of this four-part series: “Meet the Statesmen of Congress of Vienna – The French Contingent”. Please note InsideGMT published the original of this article during early 2020. This is the 2024 edition… which is an update including Terry Leeds’ gorgeous graphics of Congress of Vienna’s cards.
Alas, as previously explained, this four part “Meet the Statesmen of Congress of Vienna, which is essentially a compendium of its cards, could not be accommodated within CoV’s Playbook due to space limitations.
I enjoyed learning more of the historical figures behind the game’s cards and hope you do as well. Also, the CoV Team appreciates folks’ feedback, whether within this forum or elsewhere to this InsideGMT series. Now to conclude matters with its final Pt. 4 of 4 installment by meeting the Great French Statesmen, War Leaders, and other “neutral” personages of Congress of Vienna.
In italics we include a description of each card’s CoV game attributes in terms of its game-related background, along with for players, its game play opportunities and weaknesses.
Note: If you would like to view any of the below images in a larger size, you can click on the image, and it will point you to an expanded image file.
Additional note: We are releasing this article about Congress of Vienna’s French Contingent on July 14, Bastille Day, for a little thematic flavor. We hope you enjoy it!
The second edition of Illusions of Glory: The Great War on the Eastern Front (“IoG”) is currently on the P-500 list.
Links to prototype unit counters, player aid cards, mapboard, rules, and playbook can be found on the IoG webpage.
Playtesters have remarked about the difficulty of fighting Large Unit Counters (“LCUs”) representing regular or elite German infantry corps. Each of them has a Loss Factor (LF) of “3”. Under the Combat Results Table, those units end up absorbing hits without taking step reductions.
A unit’s step reduction is caused by applying the unit’s Loss Factor (LF) to the Loss Number (LN) generated by the Combat Results Table for damage inflicted by the enemy (Rule 12.6.2). If the LN is equal to or greater than a unit’s LF, the unit loses a step; if the LN is less than the unit’s LF, then the unit absorbs the LN without taking damage (Rule 12.6.3).
Introduction by Congress of Vienna (CoV)’s Assistant Designer & Editor, Fred Schachter – To familiarize the InsideGMT audience of what designer Frank Esparrago created with his fun and exciting Congress of Vienna game, which is now a GMT P-500 offering; InsideGMT presented articles of “Designer’s Notes” and a “Game as History” series entitled “A Historical Introduction to the Congress of Vienna Period (CoV).” Use this link to access copies of these articles and much more: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-850-congress-of-vienna.aspx.
Since this is the fifth game of GMT’s “Great Statesmen” series, it seems appropriate to focus on those very Statesmen who make the Napoleonic Wars historical period so captivating and compelling to our hobby from the perspective of the game Frank designed.
Consequently, following Part One’s “British Contingent” and Part Two’s “Austrian Contingent” (with its bonus of CoV’s Bibliography), here’s part three of a four part series: “Meet the Statesmen of Congress of Vienna – The Russian Contingent, with their Prussian and Swedish Allies.” For the Russian CoV player controls cards and military forces representing Prussian and Swedish game Characters and together what a fascinating group they comprise!
The next and final increment of this series will address the French with their USA Allies for the War of 1812 and other non-aligned personages. It should be noted this piece was originally InsideGMT published during early 2020. This is the 2024 edition…which is an update including Terry Leeds’ gorgeous graphics of Congress of Vienna’s cards.
In italics we include a brief description of the cards with their CoV opportunities and weaknesses. However, before commencing this article’s main text, below is an aside regarding Leader Cards, a type of distinct card unique for each Major Power. Here’s the relevant Rulebook extract with an associated illustration:
I enjoyed learning more of the Historical Personages behind the game’s cards and hope you do as well. Now to meet the Great Statesmen (and military leaders) of Congress of Vienna’s Russian player…
I knew from the outset that I wanted people playing 1867 Big Wyoming to feel pressure. I didn’t want players to get comfortable, to bask too long in their short-term successes, to feel like the responsibility of changing the game state was on somebody else—I wanted players to feel like they were running a race, like slowing down was not an option, like there was always some ill-intentioned force waiting for the right moment to strike. In short, I wanted the game to put pressure on players in addition to what pressure naturally comes from their opponents. Some 18xx games are content to let players dictate the pace of a game and drive the game’s action; in fact, in many 18xx games, it’s theoretically possible that, if players behave in certain ways, the game will never end. While I very much appreciate many such games, that’s not what I wanted for 1867 Big Wyoming. There are several reasons for this.
In Napoleon in Egypt, the French Player has several different types of Units at his disposal: Regulars, Grognards, Militia, and Auxiliaries. In this article, we will take a more detailed look at the background history of the various Auxiliary Units, original and colorful troops who can either be recruited by the French Player for 2 APs or show up through historical Events.
During the French campaign in Egypt and Syria, Bonaparte faced a major challenge: the renewal of his troops. Since the start of the Revolutionary Wars, the French armies had always maintained a link with their mother country, a natural source of new soldiers. Moreover, the revolutionary enthusiasm which had spread to some conquered territories and populations had assured an influx of allied units for the Republic. But after the naval disaster in Aboukir, sending troops from France to Egypt and Syria became impossible. Bonaparte had no choice: if he wanted to swell his ranks and benefit from fresh troops, he had to recruit local units, a principle he would later adopt throughout the Empire.
One of my earliest goals when working on 1867 Big Wyoming was to create an endgame that differed from your standard 18xx “script.” Most 18xx games end with a prolonged and workmanlike series of operating rounds in which meaningful decision points become increasingly rare and the dynamic character of earlier game phases gradually disappears. While this sort of endgame appropriately rewards players for the foundations they’ve laid over the course of the game, I’ve never found them very fun or very engaging. I have yet to meet anyone who claims the end of an 18xx game is their favorite part.
1867 Big Wyoming’s endgame, which is driven by a series of acquisitions by the non-player Union Pacific and Burlington Northern systems, is my favorite part of the game. The seed of this acquisition system can be found in 1860: Railways on the Isle of Wight, designed by Mike Hutton. 1860’s acquisition system, while a breath of fresh air, lacked player agency and often tended only to make the rich richer. 1867 Big Wyoming’s acquisition system is, by contrast, full of meaningful decision points that have a significant impact on the game’s outcome.
It has been a long road (no pun intended) from my original kindergarten-(well, maybe 2nd grade) level playtest map to what we are soon having printed for ongoing play test and “Learn the Rules / Play the Game” demo session purposes, but it has been worth the trip. Readers can glance at the original Hannibal’s Revenge hand-drawn map I devised (should they want to start their day with a groan or a giggle, depending on their point of view) by going to this posting: Meet the Leaders & Gameboard of Hannibal’s Revenge | Inside GMT blog
Introduction by Congress of Vienna (CoV)’s Assistant Designer & Editor, Fred Schachter – To familiarize the InsideGMT audience of what designer Frank Esparrago created with his fun and exciting Congress of Vienna game, now a GMT P-500 offering; InsideGMT presented articles of “Designer’s Notes” and a “Game as History” series entitled “An Historical Introduction to the Congress of Vienna Period (CoV)”. Use this link to access copies of these articles and more: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-850-congress-of-vienna.aspx .
Since this is the fifth game of GMT’s “Great Statesmen” series, it seems appropriate to focus on those very Statesmen who make this Napoleonic Wars historical period so captivating to our hobby from perspective of the game Frank designed.
Consequently, following Part One’s “British Contingent,” here’s part two of a four-part series: “Meet the Statesmen of Congress of Vienna – The Austrian Contingent.” The next article increments will address the Russians-Prussians (a single player controls them both) and finally the French with their USA Allies for the War of 1812. It should be noted this piece was originally InsideGMT published during early 2020. This is the 2024 edition… which is an update including Terry Leeds’ gorgeous graphics of Congress of Vienna’s cards.
This piece includes bonuses! #1: The Military & Diplomacy Cards of Congress of Vienna and #2: a Bibliography, whose works lay behind the game’s design. Alas, as previously explained, this material could not be accommodated within CoV’s Playbook due to space limitations and is consequently here presented.
I enjoyed learning more of the personages behind the game’s cards and hope you do as well. Now to meet the Great Austrian Statesmen (and military leaders) of Congress of Vienna…
In italics we include a description of the cards’ historical background, and their CoV opportunities and weaknesses:
This overview provides historical perspectives on the Democratic Coalition playable faction in The Weimar Republic, as well as some insight as to how the faction functions in gameplay terms. For overviews on the NSDAP, KPD, and Radical Conservatives factions, be sure to check out my earlier posts on Inside GMT.
