Karl Laskas - May 27, 2005 8:25 pm (#11902 Total: 11908) Last played: Fateful Summer Lightning Storm.. Boney at Marengo, Lock n Load, ATS I just completed a solitaire playing of ALESIA. I think this is the best game Richard Berg has done since SPQR, and it might be the best he's done period. Components GMT's components are always top-notch. The map is elegant and bespeaks of serious research. While I initially thought the coloration a bit dark, it works very nicely with the bright counters. The counters are typical of the Great Battles of History series, with colorful icons and striping to identify formations. The counters in ALESIA are actually more functional than most other GBoH games, as the designer has resisted the temptation to overload them with data. Rodger MacGowan's artwork is excellent. The rulebook is a major upgrade from other titles in the series. First, it is printed in color, and does a better job of engaging the gamer than previous rulebooks. Second, it is loaded with examples of play that make game mechanics crystal clear. Third, kudos to whoever edited these rules. Whether the credit goes to Richard, developer Alan Ray, or some other benevolent angel, the rules themselves are refreshingly smooth and don't ask the gamer to remember countless exceptions -- probably the tightest I've seen in a Richard Berg game. A further word about the map. The attraction of ALESIA as a game subject is its unique tactical situation: Caesar is defending a double ring of fortifications around a fortified town -- against an encircled force trying to break out and a relieving force trying to break in. Richard's thesis is that there actually was a significant gap in the fortifications around Mt. Rhea. This is a matter of some controversy, but regardless of whether he's right or not, it makes for an inviting target of opportunity for the Gauls. Which brings up... Game Play I just took a minute to look through Richard's ludography on GMT. I've owned and played 39 or 40 of his games. Aside from ALESIA and CAESAR AT ALEXANDRIA (which I have yet to play), I've kept only two of his titles in my collection -- and only 1 if Mark Herman deserves the credit for DELUXE ALEXANDER. Thus, ALESIA has been a very pleasant surprise for me. What's very nice about this game is that it includes what Richard does best without being saddled with his most common flaws. Reading through the game and notes, you really get a sense that he worked hard on this game to get his research right. You get an excellent "paper time machine" effect from this game. You almost feel how hard it would have been for the Gauls to cross those "Gardens of Death" protecting the walls. The great thing is that you get this flavor without an overwrought rules system. The base rules play like Simple Great Battles of History, which is good in itself, but is even more streamlined. Units are no longer rated for size (something missing from the last few GBoH games) and the few unique combat mechanics are straight-forward. Another welcome change is that this is a tense and competitive (!) game. The battle breaks down nicely by areas, with a crisis somewhere on virtually every play. At one moment, a Gallic breakthrough seems imminent, then the Roman line looks impregnable. The fortifications, interior lines and Gardens of Death give the Romans important advantages, but a 4:1 advantage in numbers and the ability to choose the time and place of the breakout help the Gauls out. The rulebook suggests that the Romans are for choice, and that may be true, but the Gauls won a nailbiter in my first playing. The Alesia force took fifteen casualties during the breakout and would've been forced to withdraw if they had taken eighteen. One more Roman unit on the walls would have held the line. At an earlier the relieving Gauls were two casualties away from being forced to retire. I was encouraged that the Gauls managed to win even with some rather egregious deployment mistakes. What's so refreshing is that I'm coming away from the game thinking about strategy and playing the "what if" game. That's half the fun of wargaming, playing with the possibilities and seeing if you could have done better. No game is perfect. The counter mix is a bit thin on damage counters. There is one place where the old rules diptheria returns -- the rules for "filling" the trenches, which even Richard appears to recognize as a blemish since he actually apologizes for them in the rulebook. And it might have been possible to produce an even cleaner combat system, with death through elimination instead of progressive cohesion hits. Still, this is a gem -- succeeding both as history and game.