Britannia

I was on the fence about picking up Britannia for some time. On the one hand I'm drawn to the terms "epic" and "Fantasy Flight Games" much like the ant that finds himself at but another picnic in the summer. On the other, "A Board Game of Historical Conflict that Accurately Depicts the Millennium-long Struggle for Control of England, Scotland, and Wales" should probably have suggested that I was getting in a little over my melon. At any rate, thanks to but another of countless situations where I needed only add one more medium-priced game to my virtual shopping cart to get free shipping, Britannia beckoned like a Roman infantry unit from across the English Channel. The rest, as they say and as I would soon discover, was history.

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of the game, let me first clear the air by confessing sheer ignorance to any of Lewis E. Pulsipher's earlier incarnations of the game, including but not limited to the 1987 Avalon Hill version. My fastidious obsession with Fantasy Flight Games is exclusively to blame for my attraction to this particular title.

That said, Britannia is structured for 3-5 players (though playable with 2 and optimal with 4), is suggested for players 12 and up, and should take between 3 and 5 hours to play through. It spans 16 rounds of play that each represents roughly 75 years of actual history (43 A.D. - 1085). Players control 17 nations but not all at once as nations enter and leave the game in accordance with historical authenticity although it should be noted that controlling a nation known to have suffered defeat in reality isn't necessarily the kiss of death. The game discourages radical departures from actuality but does allow for some "what-if" scenarios for history-buffs to try wrapping their heads around. In the case of my friends and I, our knowledge of history is just poor enough to allow us absolutely no concern for such intricacies. You can imagine how proud our history teachers must be to hear this.

Now, before we even begin to discuss the game play, let's take a moment to address the rulebook. You know you're in trouble when Tom Vasel confesses intimidation to a game's manual! But alas, I ignored his warning and pressed on, determined to make sense of the 24-page tome. I too nearly caved after multiple readings that, while reminiscent to the actual history classes themselves, ended in confusion, despair, and hopelessness. About all I can say in the manual's defense is thank goodness there wasn't going to be a test on the material at the end of the week!

I'm fairly confident the jumbled rule presentation has more to do with years of devoted players encountering unique in-play situations that required addressing. While it was admirable for Corey Konieczka, John Goodenough, and Lewis Pulsipher to tackle these uncertainties right from the get-go, to do so with as many exceptions, amendments, and page referencing as is done here almost requires the Ph.D. of Dr. Pulsipher himself to fully grasp.

No need to take my word for it, the following is an actual quote from the game's instructions:

"Stacking Limits

The number of armies of one nation allowed in a single land area is strictly limited in most cases. Each nation (except the Romans) may normally have no more than three armies on in a non-difficult terrain area, or two in a difficult-terrain area. As an exception to this restriction, each nation may have a single overstack. This overstack consists of one group of an unlimited number in a non-difficult terrain area or one group of up to four armies in a difficult terrain area (but not both).

Exception: The Romans can have any number of armies in each non-difficult terrain area and up to four in each difficult-terrain area. Since Romans do not have to adhere to normal stacking limits, they do not have a single overstack capability.

Stacking limits may not be exceeded during the Population Increase Phase, not may they be exceeded as a result of retreats.

Exceptions: Stacking limits may be exceeded during Round 1 Belgae reinforcements, Round 6 Romano-British armies, and round 7 Romano-British reinforcements (see page 15)."

If reading 24 pages jam-packed with this type of crystal-clear direction floats your Viking boat, then by all means, please ignore my grumbles. I suspect players already familiar with the game will have no trouble translating this cipher, but neophytes, prepare to struggle.

I would strongly recommend beginners visit the designer's site (www.pulsiphergames.com) to review the original 2006 rules, which are much more concise.

Once sorted, the game actually flows pretty well thanks to a timeline track on the upper right portion of the board that breaks up the game's 16 phases and a nation card for each of the 17-countries involved that explains their objectives in a given phase.

Movement is turn-based (rather than dependent upon dice rolling) and is determined entirely upon the geography presented on the game board (which is broken down into difficult and non-difficult land areas, open-ocean, and straits). The amount of maximum spaces moved on a turn is dependent upon such factors as the nation in question, the terrain, and the type of army being used.

Combat is a dice-rolling affair with both nations (notice I didn't say "players" because sometimes a player will be involved in battles between two or more nations that he controls) getting an opportunity to roll an attack number. Eliminated forces are pulled from the board immediately and, like before, the actual numbers required for victory vary depending on the nation in question, the type of army, and the terrain itself.

All of these things are accomplished across five phases: I) Population Increase, II) Movement, III) Battles/ Retreats, IV) Raider Withdrawal, and V) Overpopulation. And of course, each of the five phases is performed by each nation involved in the game at a given time; again, keep in mind that players will be in control of multiple nations. Once this is completed, scoring takes place by first checking the timeline to determine whether or not the round completed was a scoring round (in this case, rounds 5, 7, 10, 13, and 16 are scoring). Nations gain victory points for holding land areas as indicated on their nation cards, and at other times of the game, nations may earn points for electing and crowning a king.

At the end of the 16 phases of the timeline, the nation with the most victory points is deemed the winner.

If all of this sounds a bit complex, rest assured, it is. I've done all I can to simplify, condense, and summarize the game's actual structure and play dynamic into the space allotted but truthfully, this is no lightweight of a war simulation. I may go as far as to say that Fantasy Flight is being a tad bit optimistic in assigning the game an ages 12+ rating as, based on their own rulebook alone, several adults I know gave up long before completing a full game. About the most efficient method of mastery I've discovered is to convince someone who already knows how to play to join your group or to make use of the helpful posters on forums devoted to the game such as those on Board Game Geek or Fantasy Flight Games' own site to get answers to specific questions as surely, there will be many.

Once grasped however, Britannia really becomes quite an achievement for its ability to accurately depict sweeping historical events in the span of a few hours. It does, however, require a good deal of commitment from its players. The strategic element is always present, but not quite as dominant as it is in other similarly themed games. Pulsipher undoubtedly went to great lengths to ensure advantages and disadvantages of the forces involved based on historic record (which is why some players will inevitably whine that their meager Jutes forces didn't stand a prayer against the might of the Roman Empire to which the only proper answer is "oh well").

A strong grasp of history is recommended but not required to make the most of the experience. I wouldn't go as far as to say it's a game for everyone however, as even some diehard Risk fans in my gaming circles succumbed to the tedium of 16 lengthy rounds. At the end of the day however, Britannia is one of those games that is perhaps without rival in terms of packing a millennia's worth of savage conflict into one nicely decorated box that just so happens to contain those beautiful letters, "FF" in the lower-right corner.