by Michael Eckenfels, 6 April 2025
Here we go! Another bountiful year as the glorious dictat-errr, I mean, the benevolent Emperor of France.
For Resource Income, I’m at -2 G, +1 D, +6 A, and +1 P for the turn, which equates to grand totals of each of 50 Glory, 1 Diplomacy, 6 Admin, and 5 Political points, respectively. I just now realized I’d not been factoring in my Chief of Staff, Berthier, who grants me +2 A per turn; adding that to Napoleon’s own +4 A per turn, that’s 6 I should have been collecting. Oh well. Let’s call it political oversight and/or corruption, but we’ve fixed that now.
I won’t be exchanging any Political or Glory points for more Admin points; with 6 Admin, I should be okay this turn. I hope.
There are no cards to remove at the moment, and no cards to add (the next cards won’t be added until the 1807 turn, which is next year). The only thing that remains, then, is to shuffle the existing Card Draw deck and start drawing cards.
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Napoleon was more loyal to the men he raised than most of them would prove to be to him. In 1814, many Marshals turned on their master, including Marmont, his oldest friend.
Not a great way to start the turn, but this does not have an immediate effect – not unless we draw the indicated card later on. This can potentially gut my Commanders pile by removing them from play permanently. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.
And now, the second card draw.
Berthier organized a rabbit hunt for Napoleon. Unluckily for Berthier, the rabbits were all tame and, rushing in the hundreds towards the Emperor, chased him from this particular battlefield.
Another speck of bad news. Berthier is indeed our Chief of Staff – what a coincidence given that I had overlooked his +2 A ability thus far, ugh – and now I lose 1 A and 5 G, dropping my totals of both to 5 Admin and 49 Glory, respectively. Those scwewy wabbits!
Third card draw time. It can only get better, right?
Apart from the retreat from Moscow, the Polish Campaign of 1806-1807, and the defense of France in 1814, Napoleon generally avoided campaigning in winter.
And it’s a -1 DRM Campaign Modifier to add to the pile. Lovely! What will the next, fourth, card draw bring?
Napoleon’s attempt to launch a counter-blockade of England by denying her all trade with the Continent. It drove Britain to the edge of disaster, but was even more disastrous for the European economy, turning many away from France and towards Britain.
Oh, more good news. From this point forward, our Domestic Politics rolls will get a -1 DRM. The only thing that would remove this card is a ‘Britain Conquered’ effect, which I don’t think can happen right now, but I could be wrong (thanks to Trafalgar not quite going our way, innit).
And now for the fifth card draw. One can only hope for something good this time.
Napoleon developed the effective tactic of massing his artillery in a Grand Battery to shatter a selected point in the enemy line before ordering his infantry and cavalry to attack. This tactic failed at Waterloo thanks to Wellington’s superb use of the terrain to protect his troops.
I guess this is good news, in that it’s a positive DRM for our next Campaign, though it will cost 1 A to implement it.
For the sixth card draw, I roll a 4; the DR for that draw is 1, so we’re getting our sixth card now.
Napoleon created Kingdoms and Kings during his rule. Most disastrous was his decision to replace the royal house in Spain with his older brother Joseph.
And this is how you ‘get rid’ of Joseph and his -2 G per turn penalty. I can send him to the Kingdom of Naples, which removes said penalty and will grant me another +1 G per turn. I could send him to Spain as well, but the Bayonne card is not in play so that’s not happening. Also, I could instead send Murat to the Kingdom of Naples, which means it only costs me 1 A to use him in a Campaign instead of 2 Glory, but losing Joseph’s -2 G per turn penalty is better, I think, at this point. Since we’ve done our card draw, we can now do an Existing Card Play segment and I’ll do that. I drop my Admin total to 4 and move Joseph to the Kingdom of Naples.
I made the necessary changes to my Income markers to remember I get +1 G now per turn.
The seventh card draw has a DR of 1-3; I roll a 4, so we’re getting that seventh card.
The threat of assassination always hung over Napoleon. When a German student tried and failed, Napoleon offered to pardon him if he would repent. The student refused and was executed.
This is unlikely to be a thing as it requires not one, but TWO rolls of a 1d10 and a 1 result on both.
Well…that’s not good at all.
I looked it up, and apparently, in 1806, there was a young German student that tried to get close to Napoleon, who was amongst a crowd. The young man ostensibly was seeking an audience with Napoleon, but one of Nappy’s aides-de-camp, Jean Rapp, noticed his approach, questioned him, and was not happy with his answers so he had the young man removed. Undeterred, though, the young man approached again, from a different direction.
Apparently, this second time around, Rapp noticed him again, and saw the young man reach into his coat – to pull out a petition, or so he claimed, but Rapp had the man seized and searched; they found a concealed knife that the student had intended to ram into Napoleon.
This is the final episode in a running playthrough of Ted Racier’s I, Napoleon from GMT Games; you can find the links to all published episodes at the end of article, with new ones each SundayAnd…that is apparently what has happened, here.
That’s somewhat anticlimactic.
And yet, at the same time, it follows history to an extent. It looks like Rapp did not notice him this second time, or was unable to act quickly enough, and the student managed to pull the knife and end Napoleon’s life – and rule – very quickly.
Right when Napoleon was on the cusp of greatness. Allegedly.
I cannot say I’m disappointed. I further can’t say I’m not surprised. This game has quite a few ‘dead ends’ that can occur suddenly and end your game. I’m frankly surprised we lasted this long and did this well, because there were many chances for the game to end just like that (snap).
At the same time, that was horrific luck, rolling two 1s in a row. I can’t say I’m surprised at that horrific luck, nor can I say I did not consider just ignoring that result and re-rolling the die. And yes, I could have used Napoleon’s Luck, perhaps, to alter that roll – but I decided against it and to just let fate be what it is. If that d10 wanted so badly for Napoleon’s rule to be ended so suddenly and dramatically, so be it.
This was a fun AAR to write up. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it, and forgive rules errors that I know I have made. You may do the same in your playthroughs, but understand, it’s your game, your story, and you can therefore tell it and read it however you wish. I really liked this and want to get back to my Napoleon biography, actually.
This has been a pretty wild ride and I think it has imparted to you the potential for what-ifs and what-could-have-beens throughout. Ultimately, the game gives you a keen insight into Napoleon’s life and does provide you with some choices to make…though mostly, it feels like you’re along for the ride, and it’s one very good narrative generator in that regard. I will need to revisit this game several times and perhaps do another AAR in the future…once I have the rules down, heh. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoyed reading this and look forward to hearing about your own experiences as you live the life as I, Napoleon!
I, Napoleon AAR
PART 1 ~ PART 2 ~ PART 3 ~ PART 4 ~ PART 5 ~ PART 6 ~ PART 7 ~ PART 8
PART 9 ~ PART 10 ~ PART 11 ~ PART 12 ~ PART 13 ~ PART 14
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What a great story and a crazy, tragic finish. Thanks for sharing and for the enjoyable write ups.