(NEW) KS - Beyond Waterloo

Beyond Waterloo - The Deluxe Reprint

Against the Odds Magazine will be conducting a Kickstarter campaign is raise funds to reprint the 2011 Annual issue with Beyond Waterloo inside, featuring updated rules, an expanded map, more counters, upgraded quality cards and more scenarios! The campaign will run on Kickstarter next month. We’ve set this page up to allow people who are wary of giving Kickstarter their credit card information a first shot to get a copy now through the end of April 30th, 2021.

First, some important things to point out:

Some things about this page that are different from a regular Kickstarter pledge page include:
1.) This isn’t a pledge page. This page is live and will charge your credit card the moment you order a copy. You won't be able to cancel your purchase, but we'll refund your money if the kickstarter fails to Fund (although our big success with Buffalo Wings last year gives us every confidence that it will do so).
2.) Unlike Kickstarter, you can now also use PayPal or send in your order by mail to pay for your purchase (your letter must be postmarked by 4/30).
3.) You will receive the same final Beyond Waterloo package that all the KS participants are getting. It will include all the Stretch Goal extras as finalized on May 31st (the end of the new Kickstarter campaign).
4.) Your copy will mail when we ship out the Kickstarter copies.
5.) You won’t get any campaign progress reports/e-mails/comments out of Kickstarter system.

Now on to the good stuff!:

“Another Waterloo game?”

Not exactly. And much more.

While most “Waterloo games” either lock players into the circumstances of that famous battle, or give some small leeway into the overall circumstances of the “100 Days” battles in Belgium, they all suffer from a similar narrow focus. You will have the Armée du Nord face some combination of Blücher and Wellington and everyone just does the best they can.

But any reading of the 100 Days shows a flurry of activity—key, historical events—which no one has bothered putting into game form.

Until now.

Beyond Waterloo, designed by John Prados, begins with Napoleon entering Paris and the Coalition Allies facing choices about what to do about this.

We’ve all read the events that follow. Napoleon feverishly works the diplomatic channels while trying to reform a government and rebuild something like La Grande Armée. The allies put aside their quibbling over the new lines on the map of Europe, declare Boney an “outlaw,” and start mobilizing about a million troops to invade France.

Repeat, Beyond Waterloo begins with Napoleon entering Paris. Each player gets to pursue these grand strategic paths we’ve all discussed about many times but never gamed. The map includes France—ALL of France—plus Belgium, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Get the picture? This time, the players will have different choices. “Beyond Waterloo” means WATERLOO MAY NOT HAPPEN AT ALL! Or if it happens, the players will be part of why it happens!

This is a rare opportunity for some genuinely alternative history exploration. The game involves military, economic, and diplomatic paths, and totally new design elements. Because of the complexity and “newness” of many approaches, the game offers a layered approach, beginning by teaching players a new way of having combat that is both strategic and nuanced for the era. And yes, you can fight “just the Battle of Waterloo” if you wish! At the next level of instruction, we get to the “Basic game.” (Yes, when have you seen “phase 2” in complexity called “the Basic Game?” ) Here the players begin to deal with strategic issues, economics, administration systems, and other factors scarcely deal with in any game, much less one on the 100 Days. As players work up to the Advanced Game, they include diplomacy, force mobilizations, politics, and how each of these impacts and molds grand strategy.

Beyond Waterloo gives players the first ever chance to actually PLAY the situation we’ve all read about regarding Napoleon’s return. Now the varied circumstances in Switzerland, Spain, the Vendée, disgruntled allied countries (who aren’t getting what they wanted at the negotiation table), spy networks, and the politics of Paris are all PART of the game. Yes, you’ll find the familiar names of Wellington, Ney, and Blücher included, but also Soult, Schwarzenburg, Charles, and even Murat’s bizarre effort in Naples.

John Prados has been part of some of gaming’s real milestones… Rise and Decline of the 3rd Reich, Army of the Heartland, Campaigns of Napoleon, Panzerkrieg. For ATO, he’s delivered award winners like Fortress Berlin and Khe Sanh, 1968. Beyond Waterloo sets another milestone that gamers will talk about for years to come.

This is the Waterloo game serious students of the end of an era have been looking for. The 2011 Annual will be a landmark of historical gaming. Make sure you get yours now!

Expanded Map - One and 1/2 full color 22"x34" mapsheets
More Counters - 560 full color 1/2" die-cut pieces
Rules length - 24 pages
Upgraded Cards - 24 Battle Tactic cards
Separate Charts - 4 pages
Complexity - High
How challenging is it solitaire? - Poor
Playing time - Up to 3 to 4 hours for the smaller scenario, 16 to 20 hours for the full campaign game

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Click here to view the contents spread below (in PDF format) for this issue of Against the Odds Magazine!

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Download the rules for Beyond Waterloo (in PDF format).

Read more about this game on Consimworld