Habit of Victory, The

January 1807
The French army awoke from quarters and assembled into regiments and brigades, advancing cautiously into the winter fastness, passing alternately through the plains and forests of Masuria. Encountering determined opposition in a series of rearguard battles lasting a week, they finally emerged into a clearing about a mile and a half in front of the large village of Deutsch Eylau.

To the north, east, and south stretched an undulating plain. In the left foreground a frozen pond extends half a mile north-west to the village of Tenknitten; to the right is the Waschkeiten Lake, blanketed in snow. Slightly elevated ground occupies the space of 1000 yards between the two lakes, and the road runs along the highest crest.

Half a mile before Eylau, the road begins to descend. The substantial village lies in the valley, on both sides of the road. On the right side, the church and cemetery stand on a well-defined mound.

February 7th, 2 PM
The French cavalry under the fiery Murat arrives in sections at the edge of the woods, across the road from Tenknitten Lake. The advanced guard of Marshal Soult's IV Corps moves up in support. Mindful of the ambush the day before, the horsemen are in no hurry to attack the Russians drawn up across the road in front of Eylau: they will await the infantry.

Soult impatiently sends the first men forward in piecemeal fashion. Their unsupported attack is a dismal failure. The Russians organize a counterattack with cavalry and infantry. Soult places his corps artillery on a slight rise and begins a bombardment. While his arriving units move through the woods on the right, Marshal Augereau's VII Corps moves out toward the lake. Feeling the pressure on their flanks, the Russians withdraw on their main body, and shortly thereafter into the village itself.

The Battle of Eylau has begun.

Eylau is one of three decisive battles simulated in The Habit of Victory. After the fall of Berlin on 26 October 1806, Napoleon turned to engage the surviving forces of Prussia and the fresh armies of her Russian ally. With the first moves in December came the Battle of Pultusk where Napoleon's forward momentum was checked. Then came the inconclusive massacre of Eylau and a long period of recovery. Resuming hostilities in June, the armies met again at Friedland, where Napoleon used crushing strength to capture his long-delayed victory. The campaign ended in the complete collapse of Prussian power.

Game Description:
• Campaigns of Napoleon System, Series 2X. Game Mechanics are the same as Napoleon at the Crossroads, with the addition of the cards.

• Card Assisted Game (CAG) plays with far fewer dice rolls, and quicker
overall.

• Each card represents a Movement Command specifying attrition, administration, etc., and allows for one-time events such as: political, military, officer feuds, and guerilla war. Because they define Movement more closely, the cards make attrition a matter of a quick read-off at a glance.

• Three short introductory scenarios simulate the battles of Pultusk/Golymin, Eylau, and Friedland.

• Three full-sized campaign scenarios depict the three phases of the war-the Crossing of the Bug and Battles of Pultusk and Golymin, the campaign and battle of Eylau in February, and the final miscalculation by Bennigsen at Friedland.

• A massive Grand Scenario of up to 69 turns.

• During major battles entire armies can be concentrated under just a few leaders. At other times units can be dispersed independently along with Cavalry Vedettes which help confuse the enemy.

Components:
• One 22 x 34" map in four colors
• 280 two-sided leaders, units and markers
• 100 playing cards that represent March Orders the players can issue
• 56 pages of rules including campaign analysis, designers notes and more
• French, Russian and Prussian Organization Displays
• Turn Record, Coalition and French Record Tracks

Game Scale:
• 6 km (3.75 mi.) per hex / 3 days per turn / 3000 men per Strength Point.

Note: the game requires 2 six-sided dice to play, but are not included with this entry.