Boxed board game, Campaign, made in England by Waddingtons in 1971

Boxed board game, 'Campaign' comprising box lid and base, cardboard box inserts, rectangular tri-fold playing board, coloured plastic playing pieces and colour printed playing cards. The cardboard box lid is colour printed with the game title, brief description of game play and a painted illustration of three military drums with battle imagery printed onto the drum sides. The image wraps round onto the box sides and all four sides have the title printed in white text. The cardboard box base is white on the exterior, brown on the interior.

30 playing cards: 24 Town Cards, 4 Alliance Cards, 2 blank cards.
The Town Cards comprise of 6 sets of 4. On the playing faces each set has a different coloured border: green, blue, orange, purple, white and green and white along with a country emblem and city name printed in black.
4 Alliance Cards, each with a different coloured border on its playing face: white, orange, green and blue; an illustration of a manuscript and seal and the title 'An alliance is made'.
All 30 cards have an identical image on the reverse: a cannon printed in white on a brown background.

76 playing pieces comprising 4 sets of 19 pieces. Each set is moulded in a different coloured plastic: green, blue, red and white and contains a playing piece of The General, 9 Infantry pieces and 9 Cavalry pieces .

There are two white dice and a colour printed paper rule booklet.

The playing face of the game board is covered in paper, printed with a grid with areas demarcated into six countries: Austria, Italy, Spain, France, Prussia and Russia. The borders between countries are marked by rivers, red dotted lines and illustrations of trees and earth. There are four cities marked within each country. Along the outer edges of the board there are illustrations of trees, areas of water and the text 'ENLISTMENT AREA'. Several squares on the grid are marked with the symbols for the playing pieces: The General, Infantry and Cavalry. The reverse side of the playing board is covered in textured burgundy paper; a strip of black cotton tape is glued along the length of both folds.

Given by Mrs June Hilley

The company of John Waddington was established in Leeds in the 19th century as a printing firm. It started producing playing cards in the early 1920s and soon diversified into board and other games, becoming the foremost producer of games in Britain until the 1990s when the company was taken over by Hasbro.

Text about the game 'Campaign' as printed on the lid of the game box and inside the rule booklet:

‘An exciting strategy game in which each player can become a Napoleon or a Wellington leading his army across Europe. Famous battles can be refought and alliances can be made and broken with this compelling game of military and political strategy.’

‘The history of Europe in the 23 years following the French Revolution records an extraordinary series of military campaigns and shifting alliances. Napoleon Bonaparte set out to dominate the Continent, thereby producing opposing coalitions that at different times involved almost every country in Europe and at times included Russia. A brief resumé of those fascinating years is given in the accompanying folder.

Although no attempt has been made to parallel the Napoleonic wars, this period of history has been used as the inspiration for the game “Campaign”. Each player sets out to be a “Napoleon” and to win the game by the outright defeat of his opponents or by the acquisition of large areas of territory.’

Note: the accompanying folder that is mentioned is not with this game.

This Campaign board game was played with over several years by the same family during the 1960s and 1970s. These decades were a boom time for the production and playing of board games in Britain, when companies such as Waddingtons and Parkers designed and published a profusion of all types of game.

This is a two to four player strategic game where history can be re-written as Napoleon can end up victorious.

B.67:1 to 25-2015