Game: Eagles of the Empire: Borodino
Publisher: Games USA
Price: USD 34.95
Size: 340 counters
Scale: division/regiment/brigade; 500 yd/in / 180 m/cm; area movement
Rating: B
Unbelievably, we have another new game company in Games USA! This has been a good year for upstarts, and so far the showing by them all has been superb. Games USA is based in New York, and Eagles of the Empire: Borodino (Borodino) is the first of many (hopefully) promised area movement games. As per the description in their game, they chose area movement after extensive studying of numerous battles. It is the opinion of the designer that most battles were fought using the terrain to decide how lines of attack were employed. For example, in Napoléonic warfare, lines of men rarely were sent (intentionally) attacking along a slope, but more often were sent up or down it. This kept line cohesion at a maximum, and it also utilized the unit's firepower more efficiently. Borodino was chosen because it was one of the designer's many test battles used to prove his theory. Surprisingly enough, it works!
Without going into too much design theory, of which the surface was only scratched above, this is truly a unique game. Unlike other area movement games, where there is a limit to the number of units that can occupy an area, Borodino makes the area a physical limit to units. Before this sounds all too confusing, just imagine an area that physically can only allow only a limited number of counters without stacking. This is just what Games USA has done. Not only can units only occupy an area into which they can physically fit, but the facing is also regulated in directions that the counter can fit into the area (from boundary to boundary). This gives the game a "miniatures" feel, and makes it harder to support or attack bordering areas. Mix special stacking rules (like artillery and infantry combining together) into this unique system, and you start to feel the true frustration and rewards that the real commanders must have felt.
Some of the downsides to this game are the dreaded rules ambiguities. Some of the charts don't jive with the charts in the rules, and when reflecting on the rules examples, one begins to realize that the charts were probably produced first and the rules second. Games USA could have reprinted the charts at very little cost, and completed an otherwise good game. Another downer is that there are no special formations in the rules (e.g. squares); all of this is taken into account with DRM's and column shifts. The net effect is that it's a bit oversimplified, yet at the same time the charts are modification-heavy.
On the positive side, the counters and map are just beautiful - a nice job indeed! A couple of counters are labeled or colored wrong, but if you mail in the registration card, the company promises to send amended counters at the next printing. None of the misprints detracts from the playability of the game. Another plus is the system itself, as it breathes a bit of fresh air into the old and tiring Napoléonic systems. They also have created a flexible command and control system that works by revealing limitations of fighting a grand tactical battle without losing control or sight of the immediate objectives.
Eagles of the Empire: Borodino is a good effort by Games USA, and it deserves a good look by all historical gamers.