Soldier Emperor is our beautiful game of the Napoleonic Wars, in which anywhere from two to seven players vie for dominance in Europe. It’s a fairly simple game (compared to most wargames, that is) with the emphasis on the interactions of the players – military, political and economic.

Great Powers is a full-sized book adding some of what game designers call “crunch” – additional rules to deepen the gaming/historical experience of playing the game. And so, each of the seven great powers in the game (France, Britain, Spain, Austria, Prussia, Russia and the Ottoman Empire) now receives its own special rules sections: a path to Dominant Power status, national objectives for victory, and special powers unique to that nation. Plus, a whole slew of new optional rules, including pre-war options to re-set the European battlefield due to different outcomes of prior conflicts.

Great Powers is a rules expansion for Soldier Emperor – you’ll need Soldier Emperor for the rules to make any sense at all, but you’ll have a lot more fun when you combine them.