Napoleon’s Options: Waterloo 1815 is the first Napoleonic Wars solitaire and 2-player mini game created by Dana Lombardy, designer of the multiple award-winning Streets of Stalingrad board game (three editions since 1979), and publisher of the magazine Napoleon Journal from 1996-2000.
Four previously published mini games by Dana appeared in each of the first four issues of World War One Illustrated magazine, a Journal Dana published from 2013-2018.
In 2015, Dana began developing his first Napoleonic mini game on Waterloo, in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the battle. The cover art shows a study from a larger painting by historical artist Keith Rocco.
Napoleon’s Options: Waterloo 1815 focuses on Napoleon’s command decisions, particularly on when to commit and where to deploy his Imperial Guard reserve units. The game is designed to play quickly—with large, perforated die-cut 1-inch square markers (playing pieces), a small game map, just a few turns, and short rules. Although the game has a “mini” format, it was intended to be challenging—including several “what-if” historical possibilities plus random events and hidden markers to simulate the “fog of war.”
The Camp at Dresden, 1812-1813
The previously unpublished manuscript of A. Sauerweid
Click on image to enlarge.
Eyewitness French uniform illustrations by Alexander Sauerweid before Napoleon’s last victory in Germany in the summer of 1813.
In 1813 Alexander Sauerweid (1783-1844) created dozens of uniform plates based upon the soldiers in the French Army and its allies encamped around the city of Dresden before Napoleon’s victory there on August 26-27. These plates have been known to collectors, but until now they were not published as a single collection.
Click on image to enlarge.
Editions Epopees published this 2-book set in French in December 2021. A limited number of English editions became available in 2022. See below for how to order a set.
Click on image to enlarge.
Click on image to enlarge.
● Only 175 sets were published in English
● Less than 20 sets in English are available in North America as of January 6, 2024
● 2-volume boxed set
● 244 total pages
● Large page format 9.4 inches by 12.5 inches (24 cm x 32 cm)
● Volume 1 – 450+ illustrations; Volume 2 – Analysis of the plates, manuscript context & history.
● Based upon the extensive uniform plate collection of artist Edouard Detaille (1848-1912)
● Plate analysis by researcher and author Vincent Bourgeot
● Foreword by Jean Tulard, member of the Institut de France ● Commentary by uniform experts and authors Alfred Umhey and Yves Martin
● For orders in the UK, EU, and rest of Europe, contact: https://www.caliverbooks.com/
● For orders in the USA the cost is $199 USD plus $20 shipping paid via PayPal to dana.lombardy@gmail.com
● For orders in Canada the cost is $199 USD plus $30 shipping paid via PayPal to dana.lombardy@gmail.com
Click this link to read about Keith’s Waterloo: Napoleon’s Last Army, the most accurate collection ever published of images of the French Army at Waterloo, now on Kickstarter.
“His painterly and fluid style and exhaustive research of his subject has earned Rocco acclaim as one of the country’s most sought after narrative artists.”
—Imagine Art Gallery
The French Army of the Hundred Days
On his return from the island of Elba in early 1815 Napoleon had to resurrect an army that had been greatly reduced during his exile from France. It was his last campaign.
For more than two decades historian, researcher, and author Paul Lindsay Dawson delved into the archives of the French army, translating reams of original documents and reports related to the rebuilding of Napoleon’s Imperial Army in 1815.
This book visually represents the results of that research, and describes the many variations of French uniforms hastily pressed into service by the harried quartermasters as they rushed to rebuild and refit an army that would end its life at Waterloo.
The most accurate collection of images of the French Army as it appeared at Waterloo
64 original paintings portraying many of the French Army units at Waterloo
Over a decade of research and artistic rendering by Keith Rocco went into producing the paintings in this book
150+ photographs of historical artifacts from the holdings of three museums and seven private collections
Foreword by David Markham, President, International Napoleonic Society
“I have always prided myself on telling the story of the common soldier, the often anonymous men who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances.”—Keith Rocco
Features a new painting of the Guard fighting in the cemetery at Placenoit. Click to enlarge.
What You Get In
WATERLOO: NAPOLEON’S LAST ARMY
176 oversize-format 9 3/8” by 13 1/2” large pages
128 pages featuring 64 Keith Rocco soldier paintings – 32 Imperial Guard and 32 Line units
Full color throughout
Fine high-grade, art quality paper
Facing pages feature descriptive text relating to the subject of the painting along with captioned photos of rare artifacts depicted within the artwork
An added plus: 28 more pages dedicated solely to beautifully photographed and captioned artifact photos
Illustrated Uniform Glossary in French and English
Index of units and officers that are portrayed in the book’s paintings
4 large horizontal battle paintings on 2-page chapter title spreads, including:
Plancenoit – Guard Infantry & Artillery chapter. A NEVER-BEFORE-PUBLISHED PAINTING OF THE IMPERIAL GUARD FIGHTING IN THE CEMETERY! The artist created this painting especially for this book.
Empress Dragoons – Guard Cavalry chapter.
The Great Gate of Hougoumont – Line Infantry & Artillery chapter.
Artist Keith Rocco has created paintings for the Pentagon, museums in both the U.S. and Europe, the U.S. Army War College, and numerous National Park Service sites. He has been painting professionally for over 35 years specializing in military subjects.
Keith Rocco at work. Click to enlarge.
“One of today’s foremost painters of military images.”
—NapoleonicHistoricalSociety.org
“(An) artist in the tradition of Remington and Detaille”
—Uniformes magazine
“When Keith Rocco prepares to create a historical painting he does extensive research on the subject and time period . . . he researches information on individuals from their memoirs, letters and biographies. From there he creates a story of what happened.”—From the student handout in a lesson plan created by Baltimore Public Television for teachers to use in having students analyze Keith Rocco’s work
Author Paul Lindsay Dawson is a field archaeologist and professional historian specializing in the army of Napoleon I. He has written more than 35 books on Napoleonic subjects.
The goal of this four-page painting guide was to authenticate the color Imperial Blue used on all French infantry and artillery uniforms. Thanks to the assistance of the Musée de l’Emperi in Salon-de-Provence, France, and private collector Jean Brunon, we had the opportunity of handling First Empire uniforms. These were checked against cloth samples in other museums and institutions to provide cross-references.
We do not claim that the colors presented are the only “true” colors worn by Napoleon’s soldiers. However, we made a concerted effort to obtain or examine the best existing samples of First Empire uniforms and nearly all of our visual color matches were made using interior surfaces of garments, behind linings, where colors were most likely to remain consistent over the past 200 years.
The printer used actual samples of cloth to match the colors presented in this painting guide.
Dana Lombardy and John Redmann, using the splendid portraits created by game Industry Hall of Fame graphic artist Rodger MacGowan, designed the following Waterloo commemorative bookmark and coasters. Available for purchase from our Shop.
Battle of Waterloo Bookmark
$3.00 (includes shipping)
Bookmark front
Bookmark back
Battle of Waterloo 4-Coaster Set
$12.00 / set (includes shipping)
One coaster each: all three generals, Napoleon, Wellington, and Blücher
Why Napoleon magazine and Napoleon Journal? It’s more than a case of tomAto – tomAHto.
Napoleon: His Life, His Wars, His World magazine evolved from a club-like ’zine called Empires, Eagles and Lions started by Jean Lochet in 1976. In 1994 Dana Lombardy took over as publisher, and two years later the name changed to Napoleon: His Life, His Wars, His World magazine as part of a complete layout overhaul. Following additional upgrades (more pages, perfect binding) the name changed again to Napoleon Journal: International Journal of the French Revolution and Age of Napoleon. Click on the link to read the Backstory on Napoleon Journal.
Own all 17 issues as searchable PDFs on a DVD in a protective sleeve!
Available from our Shop or at our affiliate site NapoleonJournal.com
for just $29.95 (USA) or $42 (international)
Over 1,200 pages of information on Napoleon, his wars, and his world, enhanced by clear, colorful, easy-to-understand graphics
Includes index to issues 1–12
To see all 17 issues’ covers plus table of contents and sample pages from each, visit LOMBARDY STUDIOS’s affiliate site NapoleonJournal.com, where you can also read a brief biography, Why Napoleon?
A limited number of printed copies of these back issues are still available. Contact dana.lombardy@gmail.com for the current list and prices.
An Analysis of the Organization and Composition of the French Imperial Armies of the Hundred Days
by
Scott Bowden and Peter Cross
Project Overview (September 29, 2022)
There has never been an English language study of the organization and composition of all the French Imperial armies of 1815. This multi-volume series will hopefully correct this and leave a lasting contribution to the historiography of the Napoleonic epoch. As envisioned, it will expand upon the acclaimed Armies at Waterloo first published in 1983 by award-winning historian and author Scott Bowden. Additional years of research will include narrative and analysis of the aspects impacting the formation, organization, equipping and motivating of Napoleon’s last armies, along with detailed orders of battle for all the armies, as well as newly-commissioned color maps, informative graphs and sidebars, and other images that will visually aid the telling of the story.
In order to accurately and thoroughly create the historical record that will be remembered, and at the same time be a must for anyone interested in Napoleon, his armies and the Hundred Days reign, the story draws on Napoleon’s own Correspondance, as well as that of Marshal Louis Davout, along with a great many cartons from the French army archives located at château Vincennes. From these cartons, there are included the general military correspondence, the letters of the generals who served the Emperor, the situations (parade-states) and registres of the armies, as well as the journals of the Garde Impériale, the infantry and cavalry regiments of the line, and the state of the artillery equipments and support troops. Only in this manner can the complete story be told of Napoleon’s 1815 armies that were des Alpes, du Jura, de la Loire, de la Moselle, du Nord, des Pyrénées, du Rhin and du Var.
Updates will appear in the Lombardy Studios monthly eNewsletter. Estimated publication date for the initial volume is late 2023.
