Imperial Borders

Imperial Borders feels like the unruly offspring of War Room and the Nightingale catalogue: less simulation, more wargame, and plainly aimed at players who want Napoleon and conflict without requiring history to prescribe their evening. The flags need attaching and the set-up takes its time, but the finished table already suggests operations on a properly large scale.

Its core is War Room’s written, hidden-order system, developed further here. You commit instructions without knowing precisely what the other side has written, then watch the sequence unfold; there is ample scope for having read the position wrongly and paying for it. The rules appear accessible, with a few demanding corners, while combat uses enough dice and cannon fire that its lethality is not merely an abstract possibility.

The significant departure from War Room is symmetry. The countries are broadly comparable rather than burdened with their individual historical circumstances, so player interaction is not a matter of performing scripted openings but of reading concealed intentions. The interesting decision is how to open when your initial deployment may meet an equally viable, entirely different response.

We did not reach a complete game; between assembly, explanation, and a few demonstration battles, Imperial Borders remained an attractive proposition rather than a finished contest. Still, the discussion of openings and possible lines lasted for hours, which is generally encouraging. Imperial Borders looks like a substantial, excellent wargame that deserves the time and a full table it asks for.