Age of Muskets Volume I: Tomb for an Empire

About this board game

Age of Muskets Volume I: Tomb for an Empire is an operational-level wargame for 2–6 players with a listed play time of 6000 minutes, covering the conflict in the Iberian Peninsula from 1808 to 1814.

Players command either the Allied side—Spaniards, British, and Portuguese—or the Imperial side, representing France and its allies and satellites. The war combines an international struggle against French occupation with the complex internal divisions of Spain, creating a broad setting for campaigns, individual operations, and battles.

The Age of Muskets rules emphasize command and control, along with the uncertainty and friction of pre-industrial military operations. Game turns represent a month or a fortnight, while combat points represent 1,000 men or approximately 8–12 artillery pieces. Headquarters and attached divisions and brigades maneuver across a variable-scale map, usually set at 1:1,250,000.

• Play the war from July 1808 to April 1814, or begin at later dates including November 1808, May 1809, January 1810, January 1811, and February 1812.
• Explore focused conflicts such as the War in Levante from 1809 to 1813.
• Re-create battles including Bailen, Salamanca, and Vitoria.
• Choose from 6 introductory battle scenarios and 18 campaign scenarios of increasing complexity.

Scenarios range from the brief Bailen battle, lasting less than one full turn, to full-war campaigns designed for team play, ideally with 4–6 players. Many scenarios also support two players, making Tomb for an Empire adaptable for both compact battles and extended multi-player campaigns.

The game is in English, with Spanish player-support files providing help sheets, rules, and scenarios.