Game review : Julius Caesar

Reviewed game: 

Game Announcement

Julius Caesar

Submitted by W. Eric Martin on Sun, 2010-07-04 22:04

Game name: 

Julius Caesar

Designer: 

Grant Dalgliesh

Designer: 

Justin Thompson

Publisher: Columbia Games — June 2010

Players: 

2

Ages: 

12+

Playing time: 

60-180 minutes

Price: 

$65

Language: 

English

A brief game description from the publisher:

Julius Caesar brings the drama of the Roman Civil War (49-45 BC) to life. Players take control of the legions of Caesar or Pompey and fight to determine the future of Rome: republic or empire. Marc Antony, Cleopatra, Octavian, and Brutus also play key roles.

The map board depicts the major theatre of operations during the Roman Civil War.

• Login or register to post comments

In 49 BC, when Julius Caesar crossed the river Rubicon in northern-central Italy with the legendary 13^th legion, he wasn't only setting up a nice phrase for future generations to use at decisive moments in their lives. Going against the ruling of the senate, Caesar initiated one of the bloodiest civil wars the Roman Empire would ever know.

Columbia Games' Julius Caesar casts two players back to that troubled period, as Caesar and Pompey – with Cleopatra in the middle…

The game is played with wooden blocks on a beautiful, elongated point-to-point map of the Mediterranean and the surrounding territory. Seas, roads and cities are the significant pieces of information, but the rest is very pretty to look at.

While possibilities exist for a sudden-death victory, the game is designed to unfold over five years, each composed of five game turns. The engine that drives the action is a 27-card deck made up of 20 command cards and seven event cards. A command card features two values – one for move and one for levy – while each event card sports a unique event.

At the start of every year, each player is dealt a hand of six cards, one of which must be discarded. Then it's on with the show.

A turn is initiated by both players simultaneously revealing a card selected from their hands. The card with the highest move value indicates the player who will go first during that turn. (Ties are broken in Caesar's favor.) That player uses the values on his card to move his units, then brings replacements onto the board.

Each movement point (between 1 and 4 of them are found on each command card) allows the player to activate one city, which enables any and all blocks in that city to move to adjacent cities. Each unit is moved individually and can move a maximum of two cities, provided neither of those was enemy occupied. If the first city contains enemy units, the block must stop – and that first move becomes an attack. No attack is possible on a block's second move within the same turn; in other words, attacks are only allowed from adjacent cities. Naval movement functions the same way, with navies permitted to perform a double move only if they don't attack.

After all movement is completed, player 1 brings replacements into play using his card's levy value (from 1 to 3). Each levy point allows the placement of a new cadre unit or the addition of one step to an existing unit.

Then it's on to player 2, who performs the same actions as player 1, with the exception that some of his attacked units are not allowed to leave the city that's being assaulted. When player 2 is done with his moves and levies, combat erupts in each city that contains blocks belonging to both players.

Each block features several steps displayed on the edges of the block, one step per side. Those represent the number of dice a unit will roll in combat, but also its general shape, for each hit rotates the block one step down, until it loses its last step and is removed from the board. Each block also sports a combat rating: A, B, C and D. Those indicate the order in which blocks get to fight. A before B, B before C, and so on, with the defender's units going first. That rating also shows a number, from 1 to 3, showing what result (or less) constitutes a hit for that unit. A unit with a rating of 2, for instance, will score a hit on a roll of 2 or less.

So in each contested city, blocks have at it. The defender's A-rated units fight first, rolling their dice and forcing the opponent to rotate his toughest unit one step down for each inflicted hit. Then it's on to the attacker's A-rated units, and so on all the way down to the attacker's D-rated units. This goes on until one side is wiped out, or the battle lasts until a fourth round, at which point the attacker is forced to retreat all of his remaining units.

Instead of a command card, a player can decide to play an event card. Those seven powerhouses create some serious chaos in the game and can give a significant edge to the player laying them down. Their effects range from a first strike capability in an upcoming battle to an enemy block defecting to the other side. Those powerful effects are mitigated by the lack of move and levy values on event cards, and also the fact that the player of an event always goes first (thus leaving room for the opponent to react – possibly with a strong command card – before all hell breaks loose). If both players decide to play an event card, both cards are cancelled and the turn ends immediately. This sometimes makes for very fast, very short years.

At the end of a year, units must retreat to big enough cities to survive the winter and live to fight another year. Stacking limits – normally non-existent in the game – come into play with sometimes devastating effects for the unsuspecting player.

Each conquered city and eliminated leader block is worth victory points, and a player wins as soon as he hits 10 VPs. If the game runs its full course, whoever has the most victory points by then is the winner, with a tie going to the player who holds Rome.

War Production

Columbia Games' offerings are usually very pleasing to look at, but Julius Caesar is the most beautiful of their games to grace my table so far. The map is easy to read, with very little clutter, and yet it stands out. Just like its predecessors, the cardboard map is not mounted but of good quality, and will not necessarily need to lie under a plexi to remain flat.

The board does feel a little small, however, as it positions some of the adjacent cities very close to one another. This becomes a problem when several blocks get parked on the same spot – and since the game enforces no stacking limits (except during winter), some areas of the board get clogged up pretty fast. After a few games you'll get used to it, but a bit more breathing room would have been nice.

I also found myself instinctively looking for a scoring track somewhere on the map but to no avail. Because the value of each city is usually buried under a handful of blocks, it's impossible to tell at a glance where each player stands as far as victory goes (until you learn city values by heart, that is). We ended up solving this minor problem with two 10-sided dice. (Of course, we chose ones that matched the colors of the blocks!)

The cards are the best Columbia Games cards so far: good stock, beautiful art (both front and back) and with round corners, which makes them much easier to handle and shuffle than their counterparts from previous games.

And the stickers that go on the blocks are just gorgeous. I thought Richard III looked really nice, but this one takes the cake.

Rules of Engagement

Wargamers who have played previous titles from Columbia Games' catalog (such as Hammer of the Scots and Richard III) will be familiar with the basic movement and combat systems found in Julius Caesar, as they show up here with a few tweaks to better fit the venue.

As usual, the rules are short. This rulebook runs eight pages with plenty of room to breathe, a slew of examples, and even historical tidbits sprinkled throughout. There are no exceptions to speak of and the mechanics are rather intuitive. Whether or not you're familiar with the system, you'll be up and running in no time – provided you don't make the mistake I made in my first game: All coastal cities are ports, not just the ones with a little ship icon!

Fun Factor

Some players complain about the fact that many Columbia Games' titles are similar in terms of game mechanisms. My take on this is that if you happen to like those game mechanisms, it should only make getting into the next game easier and faster, using a system you know you already enjoy.

Plus, there's always a surprise just around the block (yes, that silly pun was intended). In this case, there is a Cleopatra block – of a neutral color – that starts in the Pompey camp but can switch sides if defeated. In essence, Cleopatra never dies: She immediately joins the opponent as soon as she loses her last step. This makes for interesting reversals, and while Cleopatra is not an all-powerful unit, she can make a difference at times.

Naval battles (gotta prevent those amphibious moves!) are a lot of fun, and winter is indeed a harsh mistress. Be particularly wary of leaving navies out on the open seas when the cold winds start racing across the Mediterranean.

I especially like the requirement for some blocks to join the action in a specific city, which must be friendly. So unless you retake Utica, that elephant block you were counting on will be a no-show…

Parting Shots

Julius Caesar is fun and plays surprisingly fast. Even when two events cards don't cancel each other out (and thus move the game forward at an accelerated pace), the action is lightning-fast and reaches a conclusion in less than two hours, sometimes much less – which from time to time makes it possible to enjoy two helpings of Julius Caesar in a single evening.

Now you're talking.