Introduction to

Bonaparte at Marengo

The battle of Marengo. On 14 June 1800, the French army under Napoleon Bonaparte was taken by surprise and attacked by the Austrian army under General Melas. Outnumbered and outgunned, the French were defeated and forced to retreat. But later that same day, French reinforcements arrived under General Desaix, and in what amounted to a second battle the French counter-attacked and won, taking thousands of prisoners and driving the Austrians from the field. Thus was won the battle of which Napoleon was always the most proud: Marengo. Bonaparte at Marengo recreates that dramatic battle. The game is simple and fast-playing, departing from almost all of the standard conventions of wargaming in order to achieve the look and feel of nineteenth century linear warfare.
3-strength Infantry 2-strength Infantry 1-strength Infantry 2-strength Cavalry 1-strength Cavalry 1-strength Artillery		Bonaparte at Marengo comes with 80 wooden playing pieces representing the opposing French and Austrian armies. All pieces come painted by color to indicate whether they are French (blue) or Austrian (red) and have symbols painted on their face side to indicate their type (infantry, cavalry, or artillery) and strength (indicated by the number of symbols on the piece). In order to provide a better visual representation of nineteenth century linear warfare, the pieces are not squares, but rectangles (1.5" x 0.5" x 0.5"). Their three-dimensional design also allows convenient simulation of "the fog of war", as pieces have their type and strength printed on only one side -- this allows each player to see the type and strength of his own pieces by facing them towards himself, while leaving the blank sides facing his opponent, who can only guess about the forces which are rolling in his direction ...
Bonaparte at Marengo offers a slim set of rules. However, almost none of the standard wargame mechanisms are present. The map does not have hexagons, but uses irregular polygons of varying shapes and sizes, according to the terrain at each location. Most wargames also use a terrain effects table to indicate the effects of terrain on movement and combat, but in Bonaparte at Marengo, terrain effects are indicated in each polygon itself, which is for the player's convenience. Movement does not use movement allowances, but is integrated in polygons' shape and size. And, there are no dice! The combat resolution is entirely based on the principle of majority. Therefore, it is only your own skill which will decide about your triumph or your disaster.