Napoleon in Egypt Interview: Pascal Toupy

 

Napoleon in Egypt is a two-player, card-driven, operational wargame that allows you to recreate the French campaign in Egypt and Syria, from the landing of the French troops to the surrender of General Menou on August 31st, 1801. The game draws inspiration from other top-selling CDGs like Here I Stand and Twilight Struggle. A good and fast-playing introductory wargame thanks to its tight ruleset with few exceptions, the game will also please the veteran wargamers with 100 cards dripping with flavor, challenging players with the hand management every CDG fan has come to love!

The rules and images shown here are not final.

You can find it in P500

1-Who are you and your favorite wargame/s?

Hello, I’m Pascal Toupy from Bordeaux, France. I studied linguistics, ethnology and musicology, and I’m a professional musician.

I prefer tactical level wargames, but I’m very interested by all sort of military simulations. My best game for 2021 was Imperial Struggle.

2-Why did you decide to do this game?

While my son was working on his thesis (the Reign of Terror in Bordeaux), I was reading a book on the Egyptian campaign. At the end of each day we told each other what we had read during the day, and we realized that key revolutionaries who had acted in Bordeaux were members of the Egyptian campaign. So we decided to deepen our knowledge of this event which is the starting point of the Napoleonic epic. It was during our further reading and research that we came up with the idea of recounting the extraordinary adventures of these Frenchmen trapped in the land of a thousand and one nights through a game.

3-Can you talk about the mechanics?

Napoleon in Egypt is an easy to play card driven game that will challenge all CDG fans. Cards, in typical CDG fashion, can be played either for their Action Points or for their event (all events illustrate the many key moments in the campaign). Cards can be favorable to one side or the other, or neutral. When a player plays a card that is favorable to the opponent, he will benefit from his Action Points but will have to trigger the event that is not favorable to him, which leads to a tense management of the hand of cards. Fortunately, a track called La Patrie en Danger allows to discard one card per turn, much like the Space Race in Twilight Struggle. Each faction also has access to a Home Card, which can be used once per turn and offers a range of powerful options.

The game board is point-to-point, ranging from Alexandria to Thebes and Damascus on the continent, and Malta and Cyprus in the Mediterranean. Some spaces are more difficult to cross and are obstacles to the movement of armies; they represent the deserts and other inhospitable areas of the region. The maritime spaces allow the transport of troops but are also the scene of fierce naval battles.

We have favored a simple and fast combat system that does not require the players to calculate dice roll modifiers or refer to tables. There are four special dice types in Napoleon in Egypt, each associated with a combat quality ranging from Elite to Poor. Each type of dice is different and contains blank faces (failures), targets (successes) or squares (which can be treated as successes if the French general has taken the time to square his troops). The players roll the dice corresponding to the number of their units engaged and total the number of successes. But beware of unpleasant surprises: some cards allow reactions during combat (at the cost of reducing the hand).

The scientific aspect of the campaign is of course taken into account by the game (166 scientists participated in the expedition). Moreover, the French player will have to develop the scientific aspect in order to facilitate the victory. Tracks are used to measure the progress of the expedition's scientists and the benefits brought to the field.

Another important element of the game is the conquest of the hearts and minds of the population. Indeed, the local populations take sides with one camp or the other providing militias or support. But beware, changes of allegiance are frequent in the land of a thousand and one nights! For this reason, a good spy network will be a real advantage (or bane!). It will allow players to plot assassinations of generals, to set up ambushes or to create public order disturbances. You will have to know how to make your spies act at the right time, while keeping some in reserve to counter those of your opponent.

4-How do the different factions work?

In Napoleon in Egypt, a French player faces an Allied player, controlling the Mamluk/Ottoman/British coalition. At the beginning of the campaign, the French seem unstoppable because everything is in their favor: number and quality of troops, element of surprise, better command, etc. But the French regulars, as strong as they are in battle, are limited in number. But the French Regulars, however strong they are in battle, are limited in number. The French must care for their wounded, convince the local population that they will be better off under French occupation, and devote time and effort to the expedition's scientific mission.

As the turns progress, the Allied player will gain the upper hand, being able to recruit locally, control the Mediterranean with the British navy, and exploit General Menou's incompetence when Napoleon leaves Egypt. The Allied player, however, has his own challenges. Ottoman generals can command Mamluk units but not vice versa, making it difficult to build a large force to counter French assaults. Moreover, strength in numbers is not always enough...as Napoleon has proven time and again, no matter what the odds, he can perform a miracle on the battlefield!

5-Scenarios and/or length of the game?

Napoleon in Egypt comes with four scenarios. The campaign game can be played in 4 to 5 hours, and let the players relive the highs and lows of the French expedition, from its landing to its bitter capitulation. The three shorter scenarios (which each can be played in 90 minutes when you are familiar with the system), cover different periods of the campaign which vary a lot in situations and challenges. The first scenario (The Conquest) sees the French surprise the Mamluks and sweep across Egypt. In the second scenario (The Syrian Anabasis), Napoleon Bonaparte rushes on the road to Damascus to take control of the key city and port of Acre. The third scenario (The Fall) sees the Ottomans and Mamluks supported by the British counterattacking, while Bonaparte might leave Egypt and let Menou take care of what’s left.

Napoleon in Egypt also comes with a solitaire module which allows the player to see the campaign evolving while taking all the decisions.

6-Do you have another game/project in mind?

Soon to be published by Fellowship of Simulations is my game Vendée 93: a card driven game, which is about the War in the Vendée, a counter-revolution from 1793 to 1796 in the Vendée region of France during the French Revolution.

I also have just finished Dynasties:Pyrrhos,the first game in a series of solitaire games where the player faces the challenges of great historical rulers in managing and expanding their realm or empire. It is the second game where Tom, my son who is an historian, is co-designer.

And right now on my desk, I’m polishing the final version of the solitaire module for my WW1 tactical level game Great War Commander (Hexasim). Oh, and at the same time, Tom and I are already working on a game which uses Napoleon in Egypt’s system…yes this will be a series!

A lot of projects but not enough time!