Napoleon in Italy – Game Review
The other half of the game, is in detailed tactical combat. These battles are fought on a random field, with terrain based on input from the strategic map. The size of the map changes based on the number of troops fighting. The basic unit on the field, is a battalion or demi-brigade of 500 to 1000 infantry, 250 cavalry, or a battery of 8 guns. There are four possible unit formations, column, line, square and skirmish. The player moves and fires his units during his turn, while leaders shore up shaky troops. During fire and melee, casualties are tracked to the man, and each unit is rated for moral, cohesion and experience. Players are allowed to alter initial setup, but if fog-of-war is enabled, they will not have complete information about the disposition of the enemy. One the great features of these battles is that reinforcements from adjacent friendly armies, enter the battle randomly. This creates an edge of the seat factor in many fights, and the entire tide of battle can shift suddenly. In the tension of a close fight, players will have to stop themselves from tapping on the computer desk and muttering things like, where is Murat?
{default}Tactical battles in NII are just plain fun, play quickly, and are mostly true to the period. Moral for each unit rises and falls due to casualties, or when units see other battalions on the battlefield break and run. Commanders then are used to rally the troops and keep the line steady. Casualty levels for musket and cannon fire generally seem realistic, with a few sometimes strange variations. However, melee combat feels off, as there are few casualties from crossed bayonets. In battles, there are also a few questionable features that detract from realism. For example, commanders can block hexes, forcing an advancing unit to waste an assault. Grognards will certainly notice and gripe about these issues, but most players, interested in a great battlefield experience, won’t even care.
The tactical AI offers a challenge, and does a great job with maintaining its line and using artillery to pummel your forces where it hurts. The AI generals will also react to attempts to outflank, but not always with enough speed to keep themselves out of trouble. Still, the AI is good enough that even veteran gamers will have to be careful in choosing their battles. While these fights are fun, they sometimes can be a little tiresome if you are playing your fourth or fifth for the evening. Fortunately, NII makes it easy to automate resolution. This automatic combat, is very detailed, and gives realistic results. Unlike many games, where turning your combats over to the CPU gods is risky business, NII lets you hit the auto-combat button without guilt.
NII is a niche wargame, and as such will not impress anyone with its graphics and sound. Overall, the game has a professional feel to it, but sometimes seems like a throw-back to an early 90’s console game. The graphics do grow on you with time, and mostly enhance the gaming experience. However, many players will likely turn the music off. The good news is that those with low spec machines will have no trouble running the game. NII does have one nice interface feature that would be welcome in more games, an option to display large text; a great feature for players who don’t have 20/20 vision.
If the game has any issues, they come mostly from weak points in the manual. Overall, NII is straight-forward enough that many players will not need to crack open the book to start playing. But when the player wants make a deep dive to understand the more subtle aspects of the game, they will find only sparse information in the docs; the details of how supply works, or the exact effect of formations on tactical combat are examples. Also, out of the box, there is no historic background on the campaign or scenarios. The player will find themselves groping to figure out how to win. To patch this problem, Matrix has published historical and scenario information on their web-site, but players have to go find it. Also, like most games these days, NII has a handful of minor bugs. None of these affect game play much, and many players will not even notice.
In the last measure, Hussar has given us a game that is certain to provide many hours of great gaming, and a history lesson as an added bonus. Napoleon in Italy manages to synthesize strategic and tactical combat in a balanced, playable game. Napoleonic buffs, interested in getting black powder on their hands, should not miss this title. But the game can certainly appeal to a broader audience, and all strategy gamers should consider NII to keep them busy during these long winter nights.
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