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Empires in Arms

	Author: Bill Macon Article Type: PC Game Review Publication Date: 2/5/2008 Developer: Outflank Strategy Wargames Publisher: Matrix Games Developer: Australian Design Group Related Categories: Turn-based, Strategic, Online or Multi-Player, Single-Player, Napoleonics, Europe

In 1983 newcomer Australian Design Group published a gem of a wargame entitled Empires in Arms. This multiplayer boardgame of diplomacy and warfare allowed up to seven players to recreate the entire Napoleonic Period (1805-1815), each as one of the major European powers of the time. Empires in Arms quickly gained a worldwide following and was nominated for the prestigious Charles S. Roberts Award for Best Professional Game of the Year at Origins in 1984. This classic game of Napoleonic Grand Strategy was then licensed to the Avalon Hill Game Company (now a subsidiary of Hasbro Inc.) in 1985 and has remained a popular board game ever since. And now, after more than five years in development, Matrix Games, Australian Design Group and Outflank Strategy Wargames have released Empires in Arms™, The Napoleonic Wars of 1805–1815, a faithful computer adaptation that retains all of the excitement and depth of play of the original board game.

The Napoleonic Era, Then and Now

History books are replete with detailed and voluminous accounts of Napoleon Bonaparte, who gave his name to the period from 1795 to 1815 and the wars that he spawned. For wargamers, this period is rich with raw material for everything from tactical battles, to operational campaigns, to grand strategy on a continental scale. Combined arms warfare involving infantry, cavalry, and artillery on massive scales reflect the glory of the era. Grand diplomatic alliances were formed and broken over the years as the major powers of Europe (Austria, France, Great Britain, Prussia, Russia, Spain, and Turkey) competed for dominance. International wars were fought, battles won and lost, and history made. Love him or hate him, the wars were driven as much by the unique genius and personality of Napoleon as they were by the clash of national interests.

As broad as the spectrum for Napoleonic Wars was, the spectrum for Napoleonic wargames has been just as broad. Who can count the total number of miniatures games, boardgames, and computer games that have been published over the years, each one attempting to capture a piece of the action in its own way? Web-Grognards alone lists a couple hundred different titles. I will not claim to be a Napoleonic expert, but I have studied the period, played a few different games and held a fascination about the era. Many years ago I played with System 7 Napoleonics rules by Game Designers’ Workshop and still have some French and Prussian cardboard units around someplace. I used to play the Avalon Hill wargame War and Peace, a two-player board game with 40-mile hexes and operational campaign scenarios. I also used to play the Operational Studies Group game Napoleon at Leipzig that won a CSR Award in 1980. There were a couple of other Napoleonic games I played in the early 80’s whose names I do not recall; it was long ago now. Alas, although my interest in the era and board gaming may have waned over the years, the Napoleonic Wars continued to linger in my mind. I did manage to visit Waterloo in 1993 to tour the battlefield and reminisce about that final clash of arms long ago.

A fascinating aspect of the Napoleonic Era was how the multiple wars erupted over time between different nations, how the great powers decided to go to war, how peace treaties and alliances were negotiated and broken, and how the combined effort of Europe was necessary to ultimately defeat Napoleon before peace was restored on the continent. I had been on the lookout for quite some time for a Napoleonic grand strategy computer wargame that captures the essence of the entire period, waiting and hoping for the right opportunity to get involved again with something comprehensive like War and Peace, something... So when I first heard about Matrix Games working on Empires in Arms, I felt an old weakness coming on strong. This was it, the whole enchilada: the Austerlitz Campaign of 1805; the Jena and Auerstadt Campaigns of 1806; the Eylau and Friedland Campaigns of 1807; the Peninsular War in Spain from 1808-1814; the Danube Campaigns (Wagram) of 1809; the Russian Campaign of 1812; the Leipzig Campaign (War of Liberation) of 1813; the French Campaign (Napoleon at Bay) of 1814; the Waterloo Campaign of 1815; and of course a grand campaign spanning 1805-1815.

It is almost funny how when it rains it pours. AGEOD recently released Napoleon’s Campaigns that provides a large collection of operational campaign scenarios, but this is essentially a two-player game similar to War and Peace and fails to capture that elusive element of gameplay sought by many—multiplayer diplomacy. Western Civilization Software previously released Crown of Glory: Europe in the Age of Napoleon back in 2005, marking the 200th anniversary of the Napoleonic Wars, and this game offers multiplayer support for up to eight players as well as an innovative system for monthly strategic turns and 20-minute tactical turns. However, despite winning a CSR Award in 2006, the game concept did not take hold for many players because of its steep learning curve and unnecessary complexity. Well, Empire in Arms also has a steep learning curve and complexity, yet players may find it is easier to learn than Crown of Glory: Europe in the Age of Napoleon but harder to master.

Original Empires in Arms Gamebox Cover

Background of Empire in Arms

To appreciate the official licensed adaptation of the classic Empires in Arms board game designed by Harry Rowland and Greg Pinder, one should know some of the background about the game that has captured the imagination and interest of players for over two decades. The original game was rated as having very high complexity, and Matrix Games is not shy to rate the complexity of Empires in Arms as “Advanced.” With the original game rules almost 50 pages long in small print, it was not unusual that many of those rules went through various revisions and clarifications over the years. Issues of Avalon Hill’s The General often contained rules errata to keep players informed. An unofficial “Advanced Empires in Arms” developed by Mike Treasure called Empires in Harm with modified map and rules gained popularity among players. And for every playgroup there seemed to be an additional house rule or two that was deemed necessary to raise the game to an even higher level of near-perfection.

Into this complicated morass of official rules, optional rules, errata, variant rules and house rules, an intrepid programmer named Marshall Ellis volunteered to take on a project that proved to be only slightly less difficult than herding angry cats. When I was at the World Boardgaming Championships (WBC) in 2004, Empires in Arms was in a semi-playable state and David Heath of Matrix Games took some time to demonstrate the game for me. It was already overdue from an announced 2003 release date, and little did I or anyone else expect that it would remain overdue for another three years! The main reason for these delays was that as more details about the proposed game were released to the veteran player community, objections arose to many game design decisions that demanded reconsideration. Changes, compromises and their associated code changes and playtesting took time—a lot more time than expected or desired—yet Matrix Games maintained to take as much time as necessary to publish a high-quality adaptation of the original that would adequately satisfy the original designers and the veteran players. Finally, after what has seemed to be an eternity for anxious and impatient players, THE Napoleonic monster game has come to life as a computer wargame.

Designing and programming a computer game as a computer game from the ground up is one thing; trying to faithfully adapt a complicated board game to the computer is another matter entirely. I was speaking with David Heath again at WBC last year and he commented then how challenging development has been for both Empires in Arms and the upcoming World in Flames adaptations. So how close is this adapted version? Pretty close. A couple of new ship types—light ships and transports—were added but naval combat rules remain the same. From the Empires in Harm variant, a few minor countries were added to the standard map and the minor country diplomacy rules were implemented where players can influence/ally minors. Many optional rules from the standard game were implemented for the release version, while some others may get added in a future patch. Most everything else is about as faithful to the original game as possible. Veteran players should not have a problem transitioning to the computer version, other than learning how to use the interface. Considering the challenges faced to make this all happen, this is a significant accomplishment.

Main Menu Screen for starting a game