Le Grand Empire
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Le Grand Empire, subtitled "France and Napoleon, 1795-1815", is a strategic board wargame of conquest published by Simulations Canada in 1978 that simulates the European and global wars during the reign of Napoleon.
Gameplay
Le Grand Empire is a board wargame set in Europe, the Mediterranean and India in the late 18th century, where players representing the major European powers attempt to conquer other countries. With only seven pages of rules, it is not a complex game; designer Steve Newberg noted that it was designed to be "easy to play."[1]
Each turn represents one year, and the game lasts for twenty years. Military campaigns are dependent on an annual stipend of supplies.[2] Critic Nicky Palmer called the combat system "rudimentary": each unit involved in a combat counts as one point. Once a simple ratio of attacker to defender is established, the attacker rolls a die. Leaders Napoleon and Admiral Nelson modify the die roll.[2]
The game can be played by two players, one controlling France and the other controlling England and Austria.
All other countries are neutral, and cannot be traversed. A neutral country can be turned into an ally if a player conquers the neutral country. For two turns (two years), the victorious player can use the new ally's armies. But after two years, the ally returns to being neutral. The armies of the player who used to be an ally can now cross the neutral country, but the player no longer can use its armies (unless the player reconquers the neutral country.)[2]
The game can also be a multi-player game, with the players controlling the major European powers, much like Diplomacy.
Victory conditions
In the two-player game, France can draw by controlling Paris and either London, Moscow or Bombay. If France can also take Alexandria, France wins. England/Austria wins by preventing a French draw or victory.[2]