In 1812: The Retreat the players are captains of a company leading their soldiers out of Russia during Napoleon's catastrophic campaign of 1812. The players must survive the retreat by making it safely to Vilnius or the Polish border. A soldier that loses all his strength dies on the side of the road or freezes at the bivouac and is disqualified. They can also be captured by the Cossacks. At the end of the game, each soldier is worth a number of victory points. The player with the most points wins the game...but remember: there WILL be casualties! 1812 is a resource management/survival game very high in theme. It is fresh, daring and cutthroat... The game is played in 3 phases consisting of a number of rounds: From Moscow to Smolensk, from Smolensk to the Berezina and from the Berezina to Vilnius. At the end of each phase, benefits lie in wait for the soldiers in the vanguard arriving at the location first. At the end of each round, a main event card will be drawn which will have consequences for all the soldiers on the board: this can be cold, snow, an attack of the cossacks or maybe a village in the distance that can be explored... All players have a number of soldiers under their control: an officer, a musician, light infantry, heavy cavalry... Each of them have their own advantages. The loss of any of your soldiers during the game will always have consequences for your company for the remainder of the retreat. —description from the designer