From: CHARTON Francois <deef@pobox.oleane.com>
Subject: Re: tell me about Napoleon at Waterloo

Michael P. Burton wrote:
> 
> I see lots of copies of the old S&T Napoleon at Waterloo for sale these days.
> Can anyone tell me if it's a decent game? I really don't know what I'm looking
> for but I'd like a Napoleonic game (I don't have any) and something that is
> easy and interesting and can be played in an evening or two.
> 

Napoleon at Waterloo was an introductory wargame, given to any S&T 
subscriber (and maybe direct mail purchaser from SPI), a long time ago.

It is an extremely simple game, playable in a couple of hours. It uses 
the Napoleon at war system, which is a very simple Napoleonic game 
system.

IMO, N@Waterloo is not the best of the lot. It suffers from several 
flaws, one being that fortified farms like Hougomont or La Belle Alliance 
are much too easy to take, another (typical of Waterloo games) is that 
the French knows that the Prussians are arriving on his right (which was 
not the case historically), and can take unhistorical counter-measures.

For simple games on this period, you might like to try other games with 
the same system. Napoleon's last battles (reprinted by decision games) is 
a good choice, the old S&T Napoleon's Art of War (Eylau and Dresden) are not 
bad either.

Francois