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Imperial Bayonets is a new planned series of Grand Tactical wargames covering the long 19th century. The series rules use a hack of the tried and true NLB mechanics in order to simulate what as, at the time, the largest campaign since Leipzig. 1859 occupies an interesting place in military history, post Crimean war, tactics had barely improved much beyond their Napoleonic forefathers. Cavalry had been rendered nearly useless in terms of shock, and artillery still caused many casualties but infantry fire was now the single biggest cause of casualties in war, as the accuracy and range of rifles had increased tenfold in the past decade.

1859 also is notable as it features one of the last successful campaigns of Napoleon III and the French Second Empire. The French martial philosophy of Le Systeme D’ (loosely translated to ‘Muddling Through’) which doomed them to failure in 1870 against Prussia, propelled them to victory against a much lesser opponent in Austria. Fresh off their victory in the Crimea, France and Piedmont were considered two of the finest armies in the world.

For Liberty & Lombardy includes 4 stand-alone games on the major battles of the campaign, Montebello, Magenta, and Solferino. Each battle has 1-3 variants such as the Italian assault on San Martino during Solferino.

For Liberty & Lombardy also include a campaign game which uses the Long Century Operations Series rules to simulate the entire campaign. This means you get a total of 3 battle games and 1 campaign game.