During a game of Napoleon in Egypt, the French Player has the opportunity, through scientific research, to build a “military hospital”. This precious asset will greatly increase the durability of the French troops. In this article, we’ll look at the historical aspect of this element, before considering the game mechanics around it in a follow-up article.

Desgenettes and Larrey were two French military physicians who followed Bonaparte from the Italian campaign (1796) to Waterloo (1815). The medical breakthroughs of the Egyptian expedition are largely thanks to these two dominating figures. René-Nicolas Dufriche Desgenettes was chief physician, and Dominique-Jean Larrey was chief surgeon. Both displayed remarkable skills in organizing the Medical Corps in Egypt. In a difficult geographical, climatic and epidemiological context, they were crucial in the emergence of modern military medicine and played a full part in the expedition’s scientific achievements.

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.

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.

In this series of articles, we will chronologically discover the epic of Napoleon in Egypt. In our previous article, we saw how, after conquering Egypt, Napoleon had to take his men to Syria to face the Ottoman army. But after failing to conquer the walls of Acre, coupled with a British landing, Bonaparte had to turn back to defend his hard-won territory. What does the future hold for these thousands of French soldiers, trapped between the desert and the enemy? This is what we will see in this final article, which covers the third scenario of Napoleon in Egypt: The Fall.

In this series of articles, we will chronologically discover the epic of Napoleon in Egypt. In our first article, we followed the French from the moment they left their country throughout the Nile campaign, which allowed them to conquer an immense territory from Alexandria to Thebes via Cairo. The year now turns to 1799, and Bonaparte sets his sights to Syria (now Israel) to complete his conquest. This episode covers the second scenario of Napoleon in Egypt: The Syrian Anabasis.

In this new series of articles, we will discover chronologically the epic of Napoleon in Egypt. We will divide this expedition into three parts, which correspond to the three shorter scenarios you’ll find in the actual game. Let’s start with THE CONQUEST!

The year is 1797. Napoleon Bonaparte returns from a year of campaigning in Italy, covered in glory. The French Directory, which then ruled Republican France, finds this general far too popular and begins to fear him. It is thus decided to send him to conquer Egypt! But why this adventure over 3,000 kilometers away from the homeland?