Napoleonics - Commands and Colors System
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Rules

Base Game 11

Commands & Colors: Napoleonics is not overly complex by design. It is based on the highly successful Commands & Colors game system, where the Command cards drive movement while creating a “fog of war.” The battle dice resolve combat quickly and efficiently. However, Commands & Colors: Napoleonics introduces many new game concepts which add historical depth and will provide even the most veteran Commands & Color player many new experiences and challenges.

The scale of the game fluctuates, which allows players to effectively portray epic Napoleonic battles, as well as smaller historical actions.
In some scenarios, an infantry unit may represent an entire division, while in others a unit may represent a single regiment or battalion. The Napoleonic tactics you will need to execute to gain victory conform remarkably well to the advantages and limitations inherent to the various Napoleonic National Armies of the day and the battlefield terrain features on which they fought.
The battles showcased in the scenario book focus on the historical confrontation between the English and French armies. The stylized battlefield maps emphasize the important terrain features and highlight the historical deployment of forces in scale with the game system.

Welcome and Enjoy! Richard Borg


Expansion 1 7

The Spanish Army is the first expansion for Commands & Colors: Napoleonics. In this expansion, you will find 18 historical scenarios that focus on Peninsular battles fought by the Spanish army from 1808 to 1813, plus all the new units you need to field for these engagements. A number of additional scenarios are also presented that involve the Anglo-Spanish alliance and will require British and Portuguese troop blocks from the core game.
Spanish troops and leaders, as many Napoleonic historians point out, performed badly on a large number of occasions. Yet there are a number of battles where the Spaniards fought valiantly and gained victory. Ironically, the point most historians overlook is the fact that the Spanish armies constituted a threat that Napoleon simply could not ignore. As good as Wellington’s Anglo-Portuguese field army was, he could only take on one French army at a time. The Spanish forces and the accompanying guerrilla warfare against French troops tied down many French forces in the Peninsula, allowing the Anglo-Portuguese army to ultimately emerge victorious.
At the time of the Napoleonic Wars, Spain was only a shadow of its former power. The quality of Spanish troops varied, from very poor to good, and the Spanish National Unit Reference Card presents a wealth of subtle National unit characteristics that set the Spanish Army apart from all other Coalition armies that opposed Napoleon. Command of the Spanish Army, therefore, will truly challenge even the most experienced Commands & Colors: Napoleonics player.

Welcome and Enjoy!
Richard Borg

Expansion 2 5

The Russian Army is the second expansion for Commands & Colors: Napoleonics. In this expansion, you will find 20 historical scenarios that focus on the battles fought across eastern Europe and deep into Russia from 1806-1807 and 1812-1814, plus all the new units you need to field for these engagements.
The Russian army at the time of Napoleonic wars still had many characteristics of Peter the Great’s regime. Senior officers were largely recruited from aristocratic circles, and the Russian soldier was regularly beaten and punished to instill discipline. Furthermore, many lower-level officers were poorly trained. Still, the Russians involved in hostilities with its neighbors—Sweden, Poland, Turkey and Austria—were capable of astonishing feats and total, blind obedience to orders.
In 1805 Britain and Russia signed an alliance against France. In 1806, Prussia joined the Coalition and Prussia and Russia mobilized for a fresh campaign. After Napoleon’s humiliation of Prussia at Jena, the French Emperor turned his attention to subduing his Russian foe and marched into Poland. After a series of sanguinary battles, the French drove Russian forces out of Poland, back to Mother Russia, and created a new Duchy of Warsaw.
By 1812, the Russo-French treaty gradually became strained, as the requirement of joining France’s Continental Blockade against Great Britain was a serious disruption to Russian commerce. Napoleon decided to bring the Russians back into line in June, and invaded Russia hoping to inflict a major defeat on the Russians and force Tsar Alexander to sue for peace. The invasion of Russia and the disastrous retreat of the French army, as many historians point out, proved to be the turning point in the Napoleonic Wars.
Players will soon discover that the Russian Army is a unique Coalition army, challenging to command, and challenging for Napoleon’s French army to defeat.

Welcome and Enjoy!
Richard Borg

Expansion 3 6

Prior to the Napoleon wars, the Austrian Empire stretched from Italy to the Netherlands and from Poland to the Balkans. Its Position in the center of Europe, however, made it the perfect target for revolutionary France and in April 1792, France declared war on Austria. The first war lasted for 5 years. Austria renewed the war against France in 1799 and again in 1805, but in both cases was swiftly defeated. In April 1809, judging that Napoleon’s army
was bogged down with the fighting in Spain, Austria invaded Bavaria, but Napoleon recovered quickly and Austria’s defeat at Wagram led to another humiliating peace treaty.

Even though the Austrian army was the third largest in the world, the Austrians lost many more battles than they won. At the time of the Napoleonic Wars, the Austrian army was a large multi-national army, made up of Austrians, Swedes, Hungarians, Englishmen, Scots, Irishmen, Walloons, Poles, Russians, Ukrainians, Germans, Croats, Serbs, and even French royalists.
The infantry regiments were large and somewhat reliable, but the tactical formations and drill were still entrenched in the past. The cavalry, although well mounted, still applied the practice of scattering their formations in small bodies, which greatly reduced their combat effectiveness. In general, the Austrian army did enjoy many successes on a regimental level, but at the brigade, divisional and corps levels its commanders were often
woefully inadequate.

In this expansion you will find 20 historical scenarios that focus on the Austrian Army battles from 1805 to 1809 against Napoleon, plus all the new units you’ll need to field for these engagements.

Welcome and Enjoy!
Richard Borg

Expansion 4 5

In spite of its reputation as a powerful fighting nation, Prussia withdrew from the First Coalition as an active opponent of the French Revolution and remained on the sidelines until the Fourth Coalition in 1806. The Prussian Army,  formidable on paper, was the product of an outdated system that had not altered since the Seven Years’ War. In late 1806 Napoleon crushed the hapless Prussian military machine. The humiliation of military defeat and being forced to cede much of its territories forced the Prussian king, Frederick William III, into much-needed military reform.

In 1813 Prussia rejoined the war against Napoleonic France and the Prussian army under Blücher, although sometimes playing second fiddle to Austria, Russia and Great Britain, was a major force in bringing an end to Napoleon Bonaparte’s rule.

In 1815 Napoleon returned to meet the English and Prussians, which would lead to his Waterloo. Prussia’s reward in 1815 at the Congress of Vienna was the recovery of her lost territories, as well as the whole of the Rhineland and Westphalia and other  territories. Prussia, therefore,  emerged from the Napoleonic Wars
as the dominant power in Germany.

Welcome and Enjoy!
Richard Borg

Expansion 5 5

Generals, Marshals & Tacticians is the fifth expansion for GMT’s Commands & Colors Napoleonics game system. There are 18 historical scenarios in this expansion. A number of the scenarios focus on the engagements of the French army of 1813 against the Russian, Austrian and Prussian armies around Leipzig.
The expansion also introduces a  brand new deck of Tactician cards. The Tactician cards, along with the  updated deck of Napoleonic Command cards, are designed to  spice up each and every player’s Napoleonic experience by enhancing the role of Leaders on the  battlefield, without adding additional complexity or pages of rules. Overall, the Tactician cards add  some exciting new command  possibilities to the scenarios  included in this expansion. Also  included is a comprehensive listing  of Commander tactical ratings for all Commands & Colors Napoleonics scenarios released to date. This  listing will allow players to refight any previously released Napoleonic scenario using the new Tactician card deck, the updated set of  Command cards and these  Generals, Marshals & Tacticians  rules.

Welcome and Enjoy!
Richard Borg

Expansion 6 5

EPIC Napoleonics is the sixth expansion for GMT’s Commands & Colors: Napoleonics game system. Included in this expansion are six standard-sized scenarios that focus on key phases of the battle of Austerlitz, 2 December 1805. This expansion also features 12 EPIC engagements and two La Grande Battles scenarios. The EPIC battlefield is larger—much larger—and at 11 hexes deep by 20 hexes wide, it is almost double the size of the standard size battlefield of 9 hexes deep by 13 hexes wide. The La Grande Battles battlefield is a whopping 11 hexes deep by 26 hexes wide.
Knowing that it is not always easy to muster eight players, the EPIC Napoleonics game is also set up to play out very well with just two players—or four, or six. A La Grande Battles game is best played with eight players (four players taking command on each side). To experience the maximum enjoyment with these two new Napoleonic game formats, both EPIC Napoleonics and La Grande Battles scenarios are best played using the Command card and Tactician card decks that were part of the Generals, Marshals & Tacticians expansion.

Welcome and Enjoy!
Richard Borg

Terrains 20

Units 23

Command Cards 21

Command cards are used to order troops to move, battle, or do something special. Units may only move or battle when given an order.

Command Cards G.M.T. 20

DESIGNER NOTE
A deck of 90 Command cards is a lot of cards, but if you want an open, freewheeling style game play, this is exactly what the new 90 card Command deck will provide. However, with a little deck modification, players may wish to set up a more standard, compact deck of 75 Command cards. Whichever deck set up you prefer, both have been well tested and will work fine in conjunction with the deck of Tactician cards.
The number of cards in the brackets list the number of the new full 90 cards Command deck (first number) and the smaller compact deck of 75 Command cards (second number).

Tactician Cards 27

The usage of the Tactician Cards is optional.

Tactician Card Rules

FAQs 12

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

If you are searching for some clarifications about the rules, let's have a look at these FAQs.
These are constantly reviewed and checked by Mr Richard Borg.

If you can't find the answer over here you could try posting your question in the FORUM.

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