Below are the latest draft rules for Napoleon, Blown Apart. Further information can be found here..

Introduction

Napoleon, Blown Apart is a trick-taking card game for two, three, or four players, where players compete in Battles to try and win the campaign against their opponents. Players win either by Routing their opponents enough times, or by having the most points when all Battles are complete.

Components

• 1 deck of Combat cards of 76 cards, consisting of Infantry cards (1-9, 3 copies of each), Cavalry cards (1-9, 2 copies of each), Artillery cards (1-9), 3 Cavalry/Infantry Commanders, 1 Artillery/Cavalry Commander, 6 Tirailleurs (three 2s and three 3s), 6 Scouts (three 2s and three 3s), and 6 Tactical Retreats.
• 1 deck of Battle Sites of 40 cards, consisting of 4 Massive Battle cards(2 x 12, 2 x 11), 8 Siege cards (2 x 2, 3 x 2, 4 x 2, 5, 6), 10 Mobile Battle cards (2, 3, 4, 5 x 2, 6 x 2, 7, 8, 9), and 18 Standard Battle cards (2, 3, 4, 5 x 2, 6 x 2, 7 x 3, 8 x 3, 9 x 3, 10 x 2).
• 32 Bonus Tokens: eight “+3 Bonus” tokens, eight “Suit Change” tokens, eight “Draw 2, Discard 2” tokens, and eight “Reversal” tokens.

Players will also need some way to keep score, and a token of some kind for the player with Initiative (a coin, small statue, cavalry sabre, copy of Lipscombe’s The Peninsular War Atlas, etc).

Setup

If playing with four players, Napoleon, Blown Apart is a partnership game. Choose partners using any suitable method, such as random chance, alphabetical order, or compatible blood types. Seat the partners so they are not sitting next to each other.

Shuffle the Battle Sites deck. Deal eight Battle Site cards face up upon the table, setting the rest aside. Finally, the player who last read a book on Napoleonic warfare gets the initial Initiative (and some gentle ridicule from the table for being a dork) and takes the Initiative token. Nobody has read a book on Napoleonic warfare? How dare you! I suppose you could draw cards and the high card takes the Initiative token.

Find the Commanders in the Combat deck, remove them, and mix them. Pull out the Scouts and the Tirailleurs and mix them together. Shuffle the remainder of the Combat deck. Deal a Reserve for each player (partners will share one Reserve):

• 2 Players: 2 random Commanders + 2 Tirailleurs/Scouts + 4 random cards
• 3 Players: 1 random Commander + 2 Tirailleurs/Scouts + 5 random cards
• 4 Players: 2 random Commanders + 2 Tirailleurs/Scouts + 6 random cards (per partnership)

Shuffle the unused Commander back into the deck in a 3p game along with the unused Tirailleurs and Scouts. Shuffle the Bonus Tokens face down, and give each player two Bonus Tokens. Players may look at their Bonus Tokens but keep them concealed until played.

Starting with whoever has Initiative and going clockwise, players may now discard non-Commander cards from their Reserve in order to gain additional Bonus Tokens, one token per discarded card. In a 4p game, the tokens are assigned to the player who makes the discard, and cannot later be transferred.

How To Play

Napoleon, Blown Apart is played in a series of Battles. Start each Battle by first shuffling all Combat cards that are not in a Reserve together. Commanders played in previous Battles will be shuffled into the deck with all the other cards. Then, deal each player two cards. After looking at their first two cards, the player with Initiative selects a Battle Site from among the ones available. The Site card determines how the Battle will be fought: how many tricks will be played, and what order the suits have for the Battle. In a Standard Battle, the suits rank Artillery > Cavalry > Infantry. In a Mobile Battle, the suits rank Cavalry > Infantry > Artillery, and in a Siege, the suits rank Artillery > Infantry > Cavalry. A Massive Battle is fought with no ranking among suits.

Now, deal each player Combat cards so they have cards in their hand equal to the number of tricks in the Battle. Place the Battle Site card next to the Battle Site deck face up as a reminder of the suit order and the number of tricks in the current Battle.

After looking at their hand each player may draw additional cards from their Reserve into their hand, looking through their Reserve and choosing whatever cards they want. After drawing cards from their Reserve, they discard the same number of cards of their choice (including cards they just drew if they want) to the bottom of the Combat card deck. The player with Initiative draws all their Reserve cards first, followed by the remaining players going clockwise. Once each player has finished drawing their Reserve cards, tricks will begin, with the player with Initiative starting the first trick. There is no limit to how many cards players can draw from their Reserve, but they should keep in mind the need to bolster their hand for future Battles, as the cards from the Reserve are never replaced.

A trick consists of each player playing one card, and then determining the winning card. The first card played is called the lead card, and every player must play a card from the same suit if possible. If they do not have cards from that suit, they can play any card they want. After each player has played a card, players have an opportunity to play a single Bonus Token, starting with the lead player and going clockwise. If a “+3 Bonus” is played, that player’s card is considered three ranks higher when resolving the winner. If a “Suit Change” is played, that player may choose to resolve their card as a different suit. A “Reversal” token changes the trick resolution so the trick is won by the lowest instead of the highest ranked card. A second “Reversal” cancels the first one, discarding both tokens (but another player might subsequently play a token to restore the “Reversal” state). A “Draw 2, Discard 2” token causes the player to draw two cards from the deck, discarding two of their choice to the bottom of the deck. Note that a “Draw 2, Discard 2” token can only be played at the end of a trick, like all the other Bonus Tokens.

The trick is won by the highest card played from the highest suit, after all players have had a chance to play a Bonus Token. So, the lowest card of the top suit will beat the highest card of the suit below it. If an uncancelled “Reversal” is in play, the trick is won by the lowest card played from the highest suit. A “Reversal” does not change the suit order. For a Massive Battle, the highest (or lowest) card of the lead suit always wins. If the best cards are tied, the first one played wins. The winner of each trick leads the next trick.

Scoring

A trick is decisive when the winning card’s rank is three or more higher than all cards played by opponents. Suits do not matter when computing if a trick is decisive. The winning side of a decisive trick keeps the trick, as it will be used in scoring. For a “Reversal” trick, it is decisive if the winning card’s rank is three or more lower than all cards played by opponents.

After tricks equal to the number on the Battle Site, the Battle ends. Score the Battle, with players in a 4p game combining their decisive tricks. If the decisive tricks were at least half the size of the battle, and one player or side took them all, they score a Rout. They gain Rout points equal to the size of the Battle. Players can keep the Battle Site card to record Rout points. In addition to any Rout points scored, each player/side scores points for the decisive tricks they took. Subtract the lowest decisive trick count in the battle from each side’s total and then look it up in the following table:

Points

For example, if a player in a three player game took three decisive tricks, another player took one, and the last player took none, the first player would score six points and the other player who took a decisive trick scores one.

Finally, everyone scores one additional point for each Commander won in a decisive trick.

If a player or side has seven Rout points or if all Battle Sites have been used, the game ends. Otherwise, the player who has the fewest points has Initiative and will select the next Battle. If tied, the player or partnership who previously had Initiative keeps it. In a 3p game, if there are two players who are tied for last place and the other player had Initiative, the player with Initiative chooses who to give it to for the next battle. In a 4p game, the partnership with Initiative freely decides which of their players has Initiative for each Battle. The player that gains Initiative also takes a “+3 Bonus” token (tokens are not intended to be limited, use any substitute if the supply runs out).

Special Cards

In addition to the Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery cards that make up the bulk of the deck, there are some special cards in the deck: Commanders, Tirailleurs, Scouts, and Tactical Retreats.

Commanders

Commanders are always a 10 in rank, but unlike regular cards can be played at any time. They do not count as being of their suits when in hand, so you are never forced to play them in order to follow suit. When led, the player declares which of the two suits will be the lead suit. When resolving the trick, they count as a 10 of either of their suits, and it might be different than the declared lead suit if the Commander was led.

Tirailleurs

Tirailleurs are light infantry and have three ways they can be played. They can be played to:

• Strengthen: the Tirailleur is played with another card, adding the Tirailleur’s rank to the rank of the other card. The player also draws an extra card from the Combat deck. A player may play as many Tirailleurs as they want to Strengthen a single card.
• Cycle: when it’s a player’s turn to play, they can discard a Tirailleur to the bottom of the Combat deck to draw cards equal to the Tirailleur’s rank, keeping one and discarding the rest to the bottom of the Combat deck. A player may only Cycle once (no matter what type of card is used) during a trick before playing a card as normal.
• Skirmish: A Tirailleur can be played directly to a trick. It is considered Infantry when played in this way with its rank as normal, but playing Infantry must still be a legal play for you. In other words, either you are leading the trick, Infantry was led, or another suit was led and you do not have any cards of that suit. However, you are never forced to play a Tirailleur to Skirmish when Infantry is led, even if you do not have any other Infantry.

Scouts

Scouts are light cavalry and have three ways they can be played. They can be played to:

• Scout: when it’s a player’s turn to play, they can discard a Scout to the bottom of the Combat deck to expose cards from an opponent’s hand equal to the rank of the Scout (or as many cards are left in their hand). Choose an opponent, and then randomly select cards to expose. Those cards are revealed to all players, and then put back in that player’s hand. The Scout’s player then draws a card from the Combat deck. A player may only Scout once during a trick before playing a card as normal.
• Cycle: when it’s a player’s turn to play, they can discard a Scout to the bottom of the Combat deck to draw cards equal to the Scout’s rank, keeping one and discarding the rest to the bottom of the Combat deck. A player may only Cycle once (no matter what type of card is used) during a trick before playing a card as normal.
• Skirmish: A Scout can be played directly to a trick. It is considered Cavalry when played in this way with its rank as normal, but playing Cavalry must still be a legal play for you. In other words, either you are leading the trick, Cavalry was led, or another suit was led and you do not have any cards of that suit. However, you are never forced to play a Scout to Skirmish when Cavalry is led, even if you do not have any other Cavalry.

Tactical Retreats

A Tactical Retreat does not have a suit and can be played into any trick. You are never forced to play a Tactical Retreat, unless you have nothing else in your hand. It cannot win a trick, but a trick with a Tactical Retreat in it is never considered Decisive, no matter the difference in ranks and even if the Tactical Retreat was played by the winning side. If a Tactical Retreat is led, the next player may play any card and is then treated as leading the trick. If a trick is nothing but Tactical Retreats, the trick is not considered won by any player (although it still counts towards the total number of tricks for the battle) and the next trick is led by whoever led the all Tactical Retreat trick. A Tactical Retreat cannot be Strengthened, and a +3 Bonus cannot be played on a trick with a Tactical Retreat (even to influence the winner to change who leads the next trick). The rationale is that the refused engagement does not permit the heightened push a +3 Bonus represents.

4p Battle Changes

The following changes apply to the partnership game:

• Players are not permitted to discuss the contents of their hand, or to show their partner what they discarded when drawing from the Reserve.
• The team with Initiative may perform a “pre-battle deployment” - the two players may agree to perform a blind exchange of up to two cards with each other before the battle. This is done prior to drawing from the Reserve.
• The side without Initiative may “march to the guns”. The first time a player on the team plays an Artillery card (not the Artillery/Cavalry Commander), the other player may send up to two cards to that player. The receiving player does not send cards back. A player who has no cards in their hand doesn’t play on tricks, and the player with extra cards just discards the extras when the Battle concludes. If a player with no cards in hand is supposed to lead a trick, their partner leads instead.
• Combined Arms: if partners play cards of two different suits, both cards are considered two ranks higher when resolving the trick. Only Infantry, Cavalry (and Skirmishing Scouts and Tirailleurs), and Artillery can be used for Combined Arms. Commanders and Tactical Retreats prevent Combined Arms for that partnership for that trick.

Game End

If a player or partnership scores seven Rout points, they instantly win. Otherwise, once eight Battles have been fought, each player or partnership scores two points for each Commander left in their Reserve and one point for other card. After this bonus, the highest score wins. If tied, most Rout points wins. If that is also tied, whoever most recently won a trick wins the tie. In the unlikely case of a tie in a 3p game where the third player who isn’t tied took the last trick, the player who scored the most points in the last Battle wins. If that’s also a tie, damn your eyes, fight a duel to determine a winner. If you are unwilling to do so, the third player wins, for being less difficult.

However, the point leader cannot win if an opponent scored a Rout in the final Battle. They were just Routed, after all! Play another Battle by randomly dealing another card from the Battle Site deck and then check again for victory at the end of this additional battle. In this way, a player always has a chance to win by stringing together Routs no matter how far behind they are.