War and Peace (game)
Multi-player strategic wargame simulating the Napoleonic Wars from 1805 to 1815.
War and Peace, subtitled Game of the Napoleonic Wars: 1805–1815, is a board wargame originally published by Avalon Hill in 1980 that simulates ten years of Napoleonic wars. Designed by Mark McLaughlin, it is a multi-player strategic war game divided into nine scenarios covering major campaigns from Austerlitz to Waterloo, plus a grand campaign game. The game was a finalist for the 1981 Charles S. Roberts Award for Best Pre-Twentieth Century Game of 1980 and was later reprinted by One Small Step Games in 2020.
Quick Facts
- Designer
- Mark McLaughlin
- Publisher
- Avalon Hill
- Date
- 1980
- Genre
- Napoleonic
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
War and Peace was designed by Mark McLaughlin and published by Avalon Hill in 1980 in a boxed set with cover art by Denis Dighton. The game includes nine scenarios: Austerlitz (1805), Jena to Friedland (1806–07), Wagram (1809), Napoleon in Russia (1812), The War of Liberation (1813), Napoleon at Bay (1814), Waterloo (1815), The Peninsular War (1808–1814), and Spain (1811–1814), plus a Grand Campaign Game covering the entire period. Several more scenarios were published in various issues of The General magazine. After Avalon Hill was acquired by Hasbro, the rights were later acquired by One Small Step Games, which reprinted it in 2020 with a redrawn map and counters, and new scenarios of the Italian Campaign of 1796–7, the Egyptian Campaign of 1798, and the Marengo Campaign of 1800.
Reader's Guide
War and Peace is notable for its combination of strategic maneuver and diplomatic alliance phases, with a turn structure that includes attrition, alliance, reinforcement, movement, and combat phases for both French and Non-French players. Supply rules require units to trace a chain of friendly strength points up to three hexes long to a major city. Naval rules, used only in the campaign game, involve blockades and skirmishes per sea zone (Baltic, North Sea, Atlantic, Mediterranean) resolved on a separate chart. The game received mixed but engaged reviews: Charles Vasey in Perfidious Albion praised its maneuver focus and flavor, while Peter Lee criticized withdrawal rules as too lenient and supply rules as allowing unsupplied forces to survive too long. David Mylie in Phoenix recommended it for strategic or Napoleonic enthusiasts. Fantasy author R. A. Salvatore later selected it for the 2007 book Hobby Games: The 100 Best, citing its simple elegance and multitude of tactics. The game's legacy includes continued interest through reprints and computer adaptations.
Did You Know?
- The game includes nine scenarios plus a Grand Campaign Game covering 1805 to 1815.
- Fantasy author R. A. Salvatore included War and Peace in the 2007 book Hobby Games: The 100 Best.
More in World conquest board games 1-19
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced