Le Vol de l’Aigle

About this board game

Le Vol de l’Aigle is a Napoleonic-era campaign game for 3–10 players, with sessions lasting about 600 minutes. Players take the roles of generals, directing campaigns while knowing little about the positions of the enemy—or even their own army.

The game uses a double-blind system: players can communicate with one another only through messages carried by the umpire. This structure places uncertainty and communication at the center of play, as commanders must make decisions based on incomplete information rather than a fully visible battlefield.

Despite its historical scope, the rules use a quite simple system. The game requires only paper and pens, along with a few dice, and is played on nineteenth-century maps taken from Thier’s atlas. These materials support a focused simulation of Napoleonic command and campaign movement.

The included scenarios cover several major campaigns and actions from the period:

• The 1806 campaign in Prussia
• The 1806–1807 scenarios in Poland: Pultusk, Eylau, and Friedland
• The beginning of the 1809 campaign in Bavaria

Le Vol de l’Aigle is the first volume in a planned three-volume series covering the issues of Napoleonic warfare. Its combination of historical maps, concealed information, umpire-mediated communication, and straightforward play makes it a game about the challenges faced by commanders who could never be certain where their forces—or their opponents—really were.