The Napoleonic tactical shelf is a crowded one, so a new box has to earn its table time before it earns your money. Battles of Napoleon: Volume II from Sound of Drums — designed by Uwe Walentin, with artwork by Marc von Martial — makes its case by putting two distinct battles in a single box: Quatre Bras 1815 and Wartenberg 1813. This first look cracks it open to see what you actually get.
What’s in the box
This is a genuine 2-in-1 tactical wargame — two separate maps, two orders of battle, and a rules set meant to carry both. I go through the box back and specs, then both maps (Quatre Bras 1815 and Wartenberg 1813), the blocks and dice, the battle displays, the mounted order-of-battle boards, the player aid cards and combat tables, and the counter sheets for each battle. The counters are pre-rounded, which spares you the usual clipping session, and the presentation is sharp throughout. There’s a bonus in here too: a set of update components for Volume I (Eylau 1807), so owners of the first box get some attention as well. The rules present as clean and tactical — the kind of system you can teach yourself solo without drowning in exceptions — but a first look only tells you so much. How it actually plays is a question for the table, and there’s even a community vote running on which battle to bring there first. For a solo Napoleonic gamer weighing two battles’ worth of content in one box, the first impression is a strong one.
A playthrough follows once the vote is in. Subscribe so you don’t miss which battle hits the table first.
