Winter’s Victory: The Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, 7-8 February 1807

About this board game

Winter’s Victory: The Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, 7-8 February 1807 is a 2–5-player grand tactical simulation of the bloody winter battle between Napoleon’s Grande Armée and the Imperial Russian army under General Count von Bennigsen. A full campaign lasts 3360 minutes and covers both days of the struggle.

Set in West Prussia, in modern-day Poland and Russia, the game presents the battle at battalion level. Turns represent 15 minutes, while each hex covers 116 yards, giving players room to make broad operational decisions and apply tactical techniques used by Napoleonic armies.

Players command a force built around infantry battalions, cavalry regiments, and artillery batteries. The system features an asymmetric sequence of play and alternating fire combat, while individual counters represent leaders ranging from brigade commanders to the army commanders.

• Infantry counters show column formation on one side and line formation on the other.
• Infantry strength points can deploy as skirmish companies using separate counters.
• Artillery is represented by battery or half-battery units, with separate gun crews for each battery.
• Cavalry counters show cavalry formation and can become exhausted after a charge by flipping to their reverse side.

The full campaign covers the entire two-day battle, while smaller scenarios focus on distinct moments and actions. These include Napoleon’s approach to Eylau on February 7, the February 8 battle on the high ground beyond Eylau, Davout’s III Corps attack against the Russian left flank, and the Prussian late-day counterattack.

In Winter’s Victory, cavalry strength points represent game strength rather than squadrons: although some values may coincidentally match squadron numbers, most do not.