The Emperor Returns
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The Emperor Returns is a Napoleonic board wargame published in 1986 by Clash of Arms that asks "What if Napoleon had won the Battle of Waterloo?".
The Battle of Waterloo was a narrow victory for forces of the Seventh Coalition under General Arthur Wellesely, and if several small factors had changed — for example, if French Marshal Emmanuel de Grouchy had not pursued Prussian troops at nearby Wavre and had instead returned in time for the main battle — a French victory might have been very possible.[1]
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The Emperor Returns is a two-player wargame in which one person controls French forces under Napoleon, and the other player controls armies of the Seventh Coalition under General Arthur Wellesely, and covers a hypothetical month-long campaign by Napoleon in Belgium following a fictional French victory at Waterloo.
Rules cover the movements and fighting of Napoleonic era armies, including features such as supply and attrition, morale, leadership, and military intelligence and administration.[2]
Only army or corps leaders appear on the map, with subordinate units (corps, divisions, battalions, regiments) placed on graduated mark sheets. This means there are few pawns to maneuver, and this system also preserves secrecy about the forces present.[3] In addition, both players can deploy decoys, raising uncertainty about the quality of soldiers in the engagement.[3]