“I would rather be first in a small village in Gaul than second in command in Rome.”
J. Caesar

It is September 52 B.C. France is known as Gaul. Its various tribes have joined together uniting under one leader, Vercingetorix. They have finally realized that this is the only way they can succeed in removing the yoke of Roman rule from their land. The Roman proconsul of Gaul is Julius Caesar. He reacts quickly to this revolt and a series of battles are fought between the two leaders. One of them, the battle of Gergovia, results in one of Caesar’s few defeats. The other battles are victories, and Vercingetorix and his army of Gauls decide to go to ground in Alesia, a fortified village situated on a hill top. They will be safe there. If Caesar attacks the defenses of Alesia, the Romans will be beaten just like they were at Gergovia.

Caesar has no intentions of attacking Alesia. There are 80,000 soldiers within its walls along with the civilian populace. Alesia is a small village. He will starve them out. He begins constructing a circumvallation – fortified siege works that will completely surround the hill village. Nothing will be allowed in or out. The Gauls will not be able to hold out long.

Vercingetorix realizes this. Before the circumvallation is completed, he sends forth his entire cavalry force in an effort to break through the Roman lines and escape. He tasks them with gathering a relieving force. Somehow, the Gaul cavalry manage to break through to safety.

The situation has now become precarious for Caesar. The circumvallation of Alesia is complete, but it only serves as a defense to the Gauls within Alesia. It will be useless if attacked from behind by a vastly larger relieving force. Most generals would give up the siege at this point and withdraw. Not so, Caesar. He orders the construction of a contravallation, a ring of fortifications facing outward towards the relieving force. It is his hope that both the inside line of fortifications (stretching 11 miles in length around Alesia) and the outside line of fortifications (eventually snaking 14 miles in length around the inner fortifications) will manage to maintain the siege of Alesia and fend off any attacks by a relieving force of Gauls.

As time passes, things become desperate for the Gauls trapped within Alesia. Eventually, a relieving force does arrive, consisting of almost a quarter of a million Gauls. The 12 legions under Caesar consisting of about 50,000 men hunker down and wait. The battle for Alesia is about to begin. The fate of all of Gaul is in the balance.

In 1976 A.D., the Avalon Hill gaming company released a game based on this ancient battle titled ‘Caesar – Epic Battle of Alesia’. Dr. Robert Bradley was the designer. This my review of that game.




“As a rule, men worry more about what they can’t see than about what they can.”
J. Caesar

If one manages to get hold of a copy of Caesar Alesia, what does one get?

If memory serves me, this was one of the last games that AH published in a regular ‘classic game’ tablet sized box and not a ‘bookcase’ box. The Caesar Alesia box is a bit thinner than the ‘classic’ game boxes and does not include the two small cardboard counter trays those boxes had to keep the unit chits in. The cover artwork depicts a group of Gauls charging a section of siege works with Roman soldiers tossing their pilums at the onslaught while a blazing fire roars in the background. The box sides give background on the battle and feature pictures of some of the units contained in the game. There is nothing on the box bottom.



The board in Caesar Alesia is huge. At the time of its release, it was perhaps the largest board that AH had ever published with the possible exception of the board in Blitzkrieg. It measures 28x33 inches and is quite sturdy. It depicts the fortifications and outer works surrounding Alesia.



The Gallic and Roman forces are represented by classical wargame punch-out cardboard unit counters each about a half inch square. Most contain two numbers at the bottom, the leftmost number representing the relative strength of the unit, the rightmost representing the base number of spaces the unit can move.

The Gallic force counters are pale green. There are only three type of Gallic units: foot, horse, and leader. I never bothered to count them but according to the box flap there are 210 units representing 46 Gallic tribes.

For the Gallic foot units, the only information that is integral to the game play are the two aforementioned numbers and whether the unit is part of the relieving force or the besieged force. For historical background, the name of the Gallic tribe the unit belongs to is shown along with the battle group number of that tribe. This is indicated by a triangle in the upper right hand corner of the unit. Triangles that are black with a white battle group number are besieged units in Alesia. Triangles that are green with a black number comprise the relieving force.

The Gallic cavalry units are part of the relieving force. They have a strength and movement number and a picture of a black horse head facing right.

The Gallic leader unit represents Vercingetorix. It has a picture of a Viking hat on it. As will be explained later, it is the key to victory.

The Roman unit counters are red and pink and more diverse. The box flap states that there 152 of them. Again the only information that is integral to play are the units strength and movement numbers. There are legion cohorts, archers, slingers, light infantry, cavalry and leaders.

Each Roman Cohort has a picture of a Roman banner. In the banner is the number of the cohort and the legion it is part of.

Roman archer units have a picture of a Roman bow and arrow. Roman slinger units have a picture of a hand holding a sling. These two unit types have a third numbers at the bottom of the counter. Here the leftmost number is a zero and represents the strength of the unit should it be involved with other units in a hand-to-hand attack. The middle number is its defensive strength should it be involved in a hand-to-hand battle. The last number is its movement.

The Roman cavalry counters have a picture of a horse head facing left. Roman light infantry are depicted by a picture of a shield over a spear.

Romans have two leaders, both of whom assist units that are in hand-to-hand battles. These leaders are Caesar and Labienus.

The last type of unit included in the game is one of the most important: forts. The Roman player has 23 of these that are placed on the board at the beginning of the game further strengthening the siege works.






There are two charts included. One chart is used to track the off-board movements of the Gallic relieving force. The other contains combat tables along with turn and off-board presence indicator charts.




The rulebook included is 15 pages, of which six and half spell out the rules. They are typical of most war games and written in better than average legalese. The rest of the rulebook is used for some optional rules, examples, designer notes, and strategy suggestions. The designer notes are particularly interesting.

Lastly, the game has s a single white six-sided dice.




The besieged Gallic force - notice the Vercingetorix counter in the upper left. It is the key to victory for both sides.

“It’s only hubris if I fail.”
J. Caesar

How does one win the game?

Caesar Alesia can last a maximum of 24 turns spanning two assault periods of 12 turns each.

The Gallic player wins if the Vercingetorix counter is successfully moved from Alesia through the Roman siege works to any point off-board before the end of the game.

The Roman player wins if, at any time, a Roman unit is placed next to the Vercingetorix unit which results in the Gallic leader’s capture, or if Roman missile units succeed in eliminating the Vercingetorix unit, or by keeping Vercingetorix from escaping before the end of the game.

The best result the Roman player can receive is a draw if the Caesar unit is killed. So why doesn't the Roman keep Caesar far away from the action? Roman leaders if present in a combat allow additional rolls of the dice with the Roman player allowed to keep the most favorable result. Caesar gives the Roman a total of three rolls. Labienus gives the Romans two rolls.

The length of time it takes to play a game of Alesia varies greatly. If all 24 turns are played, it could take five or six hours. If Vercingetorix makes it off the board, the game could be over considerably quicker than that.



“Experience is the teacher of all things.”
J. Caesar

What are the rules to this game?

As war games go, Caesar Alesia is not a complicated one. It is certainly more involved than the early AH classics, but it is much simpler than some of its near AH contemporaries like Third Reich and Russian Campaign.

Caesar Alesia is playable by three or four players. With more than two, there are large amounts of down time for the players, especially for the person controlling the besieged Alesia force. In a four player version, one of the Roman players can be removed from the game if their leader is killed. I think the game is best enjoyed as just a two player game. It does not lend itself well to play-by-mail.

Setup for the Gaul player is easy. First, the besieged units are all placed within the town of Alesia. It does not matter where and unit stacking does not apply within the town. Roman units cannot move into or attack units within Alesia. Second, the Gaul places the rest of his force hidden from the Roman in the area one section of the off-board movement chart. When the Gallic player starts entering units from off-board or leaving Alesia, a maximum of two Gallic units can occupy the same hex.

The Roman set-up is not so easy. It is possibly one of the most important aspects of how the game will play out. The Roman player places the Roman units anywhere on the mapboard except inside the town of Alesia. The placement of forts is crucial. They cannot be placed within seven hexes of Alesia. Units are allowed to have three units in a hex. Leaders do not count towards the limit. As the Roman sets up, it will become evident that it will not be possible to fully man all the inner and outer fortification ramparts. Some important decisions must be made.

A turn in Caesar Alesia consists of the following:
- Gallic player moves
- Check if Gallic units on Outer Work hexes that are next to Roman units survive
- Gallic player resolve battles
- Roman player moves
- Roman player resolve battles

The spaces on the board that are used for movement are hexagons. Some hexes have terrain which can influence movement or battle, but for a war game of this size, there is surprisingly few and they are very easy to remember without having to consult the charts.

One of the things the Gallic player must consider is how best to use off-board movement. This is handled by the Off Board Movement Chart which is placed in the bottom of the box away from the prying eyes of the Roman player. The chart has 10 areas that are used to hold units that are moving off-board. Each area is numbered. The entrance areas of each off-board region is listed along the edges of the mapboard. The entire Gallic relieving force starts off-board in area 1.

During Gallic movement, the Gallic player may:
- move units on-board normally
- move units from one off-board area to an adjacent off board area on the OBMC.
- move units that are on-board off the board edge and into the appropriate box on the OBMC.
- move units from a box on the OMBC to the appropriate board edge.

The Roman player may not use off-board movement nor view units on the OBMC. When a Gallic unit, even if it is just a single Gallic unit, enters an off-board region, Gallic presence is marked on the Off Board Presence table. This is the only clue the Roman has to the disposition of Gallic forces off-board.

Units on the board are moved one unit at a time. During the Gallic player move, units can come under fire from Roman missile units and forts. This is resolved as it occurs.



“The die is cast.”
J. Caesar

Resolving hand-to-hand combat is done in the traditional style of the AH classics. Units have zones of control. Units must attack adjacent enemy units. Unit strengths are totaled and compared. Odds are reached and a dice is rolled.

Combat can result in a unit being eliminated or advancing or retreating - all common to the AH classics. Caesar Alesia adds two other possible results to the mix: ‘Melee’ and ‘Battle Rages’.

A ‘Melee’ results in no losses to either side and no retreat or advance. The defender can move away or counterattack during their turn.

A ‘Battle Rages’ likewise results in no losses to either side and no retreat or advance, but locks the units involved together. When it is the defender’s turn the defender can elect to counterattack or do nothing. When it is once again the attacker’s turn, the attacker must continue the attack.



“Mmm. Dough-nut.”
H. Simpson

There is no doubt about it. Piercing the tactical doughnut created by Caesar is no easy task for the Gauls. A unit on a rampart hex is doubled on defense if attacked from a non adjoining rampart hex. Units moving along a rampart get to do so using only half a movement point.

The fort counters placed by the Romans are even worse. Defenders in them are doubled and they can be used to bridge rampart hexes that are otherwise not connected to each other. On top of all that, Romans units inside forts can fire at the attacking Gauls up to three times a turn using missile engines. Once when a Gallic unit enters a hex three spaces away from the fort, once when a Gallic unit enters a hex two spaces away, and then once before hand-to-hand combat is announced against any hex next to the fort. Alleviating this just a little bit is that if a Gallic unit begins the turn already two hexes away from the fort, the three hex range attack can’t be performed and if the Gallic player starts the turn next to the fort, the two hex range attack is forfeited. Last but not least, Roman units in forts have the option of not engaging units in hand-to-hand combat against units that are next to them. Fortunately, Gallic units next to a fort can optionally ignore the units in the fort (except for their missile fire) should they decide to do so. This is all because units in forts do not exert a zone of control into their adjacent spaces like other units do.

Outer works hexes that reflect the ‘no-man’s-land’ nature of the obstacles in front of the ramparts are a final hindrance to the Gauls. Prior to hand-to-hand combat, each Gallic unit that is in an outer works hex that is also adjacent to a Roman unit is subject to an ‘Outer Works’ attack. If a six is rolled for that unit, it is destroyed. Neither sides cavalry may enter an Outer Works hex.



“These Romans are crazy!”
Obelix

After the 12th turn of the game, the first assault period comes to an end. Gallic units that are part of the relieving force are placed in their nearest off-board region and besieged units are returned to Alesia. The strength of each group of eliminated units are totaled and each group recovers units whose total strength equals 10% of the total in strength points lost.

The Romans can than reposition all of their units (not their forts – and destroyed forts remain that way) as desired. The second and last assault period than begins.

There are a few other things, but that is essentially how the game is played.





“Men in general are quick to believe that which they wish to be true.”
J. Caesar

So what do I think of this game? Let me begin by saying I have a sentimental fondness for this game for reasons I won’t go into and therefore my opinion is hardly objective. I have tried to give a detailed account of how the game is played and also what the game’s components are like, so that perhaps should best be used to gauge how good a game you might think this is if you are thinking about giving it a try. As for me, I have ranked only one game in my collection with a 10, and this that game.

Caesar Alesia takes the classic AH style game mechanic and perfects it into an enjoyable masterpiece of war gaming strategy. The rules are not overly complex – if you have played any of the classic AH games you can learn everything you need to about Alesia in minutes. It has easy to incorporate fog-of-war with the Off Board Movement Chart. It’s victory conditions do not involve the taking of land or the elimination of the enemy army – it all comes down to one man and his ideas as to how life should be lived trying to stop another man and his ideas about how life should be lived. It is a tense game, especially when the Gallic player finally commits the Vercingetorix piece by moving it out of Alesia.

If you are a wargamer, there is little to not like about this game. Is it perfect? I guess it has its blemishes, but I choose not to see them.


True grognards may better appreciate another game based on this battle that is part of the Great Battles of History series by Richard Berg and Mark Herman called Alesia. I have the game and plan on playing and reviewing it in the future. It is much more detailed and therefore more a simulation of the battle than Caesar Alesia is.


[edited to correct dumb mistakes]