Before Waterloo is a two-player strategic level simulation of the Napoleonic Campaign of 1814, extending the play of Beyond Waterloo annual 2011 reprint with two campaigns.

One, "La Patrie en Danger!", runs from January through April, 1814. Napoleon has been sent reeling from his second massive defeat in 2 years at Leipzig and must defend France from a now overwhelming coalition. The Allies must defeat Napoleon and impose a new civil government on France. The French must avoid that outcome.

The other campaign, "Napoleon's Dream", from November 1813 through April 1814, represents an optimal French imperial campaign.