"Another Waterloo game?"

Not exactly. And much more.

While most "Waterloo games" either lock players into the circumstances of that famous battle, or give some small leeway into the overall circumstances of the "100 Days" battles in Belgium, they all suffer from a similar narrow focus. You will have the Armée du Nord face some combination of Blucher and Wellington and everyone just does the best they can.

But any reading of the 100 Days shows a flurry of activity - key, historical events - which no one has bothered putting into game form.

Until now.

Beyond Waterloo, designed by John Prados, begins with Napoleon entering Paris and the Coalition Allies facing choices about what to do about this.

We've all read the events that follow. Napoleon feverishly works the diplomatic channels while trying to reform a government and rebuild something like La Grande Armée. The allies put aside their quibbling over the new lines on the map of Europe, declare Boney an outlaw, and start mobilizing about a million troops to invade France.

Repeat, Beyond Waterloo begins with Napoleon entering Paris. Each player gets to pursue these grand strategic paths that's been discussed many times but never gamed. The map includes France - ALL of France - plus Belgium, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Get the picture? This time, the players will have different choices. "Beyond Waterloo" means WATERLOO MAY NOT HAPPEN AT ALL! Or if it happens, the players will be part of why it happens!