Empires in Arms

Empires in Arms is an out-of-print board game by Harry Rowland, published by the Australian Design Group in 1983. It was licensed to the Avalon Hill Game Company (now a subsidiary of Hasbro Inc.) in 1985. It was nominated for the Charles S. Roberts Award Best Professional Game of the Year at Origins '84.

A computer version of the game was released by Matrix Games in late 2007.

Empires in Arms is a "grand strategy" wargame, focusing on warfare in the Napoleonic era of 1805-1815. Up to seven players can participate, each assuming control of a Great Power (France, Great Britain, Russia, Austria, Prussia, Spain and Turkey). Variants have been developed that cover other time periods and allow for additional players by elevating a neutral country to a playable power.

Although classified as a war game, the object of the game is to achieve international prestige (measured by "victory points," as described below). Although successful military campaigns contribute to a player's prestige, there are other ways of gaining prestige, such as creating diplomatic alliances and improving the country's internal economy. A shrewd player can win the game without ever declaring war.

Victory is achieved by a given player when that player accrues a particular number of victory points. The number of victory points required is determined at the start of the game, when each player bids a certain number of victory points for each country. The player that bids the most for a given country plays that country. As a result, although not all seven countries are of equal strength, the weaker countries have a competitive advantage if the players bid a sufficiently low number of victory points for them.

Each power has a unique mix of economic and military power. Additionally the properties of the available forces and generals vary widely. Although Great Britain's regular infantry have high morale, France in general possesses the largest and highest-quality military.

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