NUMBER OF PLAYERS 2 to 6Napoleon was the emperor of France, king of Italy, and Protector of the Confederate of the Rhine. This game evolved in England (of course) as a tribute to the two generals—Wellington and von Blücher—who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, sparing England from French domination. Americans will recognize this game as a distant cousin of Euchre.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS 2 to 6
HOW TO DEAL Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal each player five cards in batches of 3-2. Card rankings are standard, with aces always high.
SCORING If the bid winner makes the bid, she scores the points shown below. If she falls short, subtract the corresponding bid from her score.
There is no bonus for winning extra tricks. Games of Napoleon are typically played to 25 points.
HOW TO PLAY Starting from the left of the dealer, each player has one chance to bid or pass. You’re bidding on how many tricks you may win. Suits are not mentioned, and each bid must be higher than the previous one. The bids in Napoleon are (low to high):
THREE Bidder to win three tricks (3 points)
NO TRICK Bidder to lose all tricks (3 points)
FOUR Bidder to win four tricks (4 points)
NAP Bidder to win all five tricks (5 points)
WELLINGTON Bidder to win all five tricks; used to overcall when a previous player bids nap (10 points)
BLÜCHER Bidder to win all five tricks, may be bid only after other players have already bid nap and Wellington (20 points)
If all players pass, the hand is dead, the cards are reshuffled, and new hands are dealt.
The bid winner plays the first card, and the card’s suit determines trump for the hand. All players must follow suit if they can; otherwise they may play any other card. Tricks are won by the highest trump, or by the highest card in the leading suit. The trick winner leads the following trick. Scores are tallied once all cards are played, and the deal rotates left.