I have played both the Jena 20 and the Waterloo 20 games from the 'Napoleonic 20 Series' enjoying both of them, which prompted me to post my thoughts.

Firstly the components, which are functional but perfectly fine for the price (which imho is good value for money). Personally I find it difficult to maintain the integrity of a game with large maps, (two cats!) so the 11" by 17" map (as above) is ideal. Also, if it is nuked by the cats the minimal number of counters & short playing time enable me to restart with the minimum of fuss.





The rules run to 8 pages (system & Jena exclusive) and are clear, at least to me; enabling you to get going with the minimum of fuss. The sequence of play is:

First Player

* Random Event Phase
* Movement Phase
* Enemy Cavalry Reaction Phase
* Combat Phase

If it is a night turn then a player can attempt to rally eliminated troops, adjust/ recover morale, etc.

repeat for second player.

I just mentioned morale when mentioning stuff that can happen in night turns. This is IMPORTANT, morale is the key to the system, basically if your morale level goes down to zero - you lose! In Jena both sides start with their morale at 8. This figure can change due to breaking enemy units, routing enemy units & players spending morale points to increase movement or combat strength. Morale levels can rise and/or fall alarmingly over a single turn and need to be monitored or disaster can befall one side or another.

Movement and combat are pretty straightforward in the classic IGO - UGO sequence: the only quirk is the enemy reaction phase where cavalry can counterattack and do great damage to enemy infantry formations.

The night turns are interesting in that they allow for the 'chance' for rallying troops, however they can also be eliminated. You can also gain morale points due to captured enemy LOC and objective hexes. In Jena 20 these are Jena & Hassenhausen for the French and Dornburg & Auerstadt for the Prussians. You can also recover a morale point in a night turn which single point can be a lifesaver! You also shuffle the random event cards during the night, which brings me on to:

Random Event Cards

As noted above the first thing you do each player turn is to reveal a card and apply its effects (if applicable). these vary from quite helpful, or not, to your plans to pivotal if drawn at the right/wrong turn. They do add a bit of spice to the game which I for one appreciate.

Please see below for sample card - Blue = French effect White = Prussian effect





I would also mention that there are a number of optional rules that you can use. One I would recommend further restricts the abilities of routed units for very little additional complexity. Other rules provide for 'fog of war' and unit breakdown, etc.

Overall I was very impressed with Jena (and prompt delivery from VP Games). Quick to learn, set-up and play with lots of twists and turns. The game can hinge on the roll of a die or turn of a random card, which may put off some but is a plus for me. There are alternate deployment scenarios for testing those 'what if' questions adding replayability to Jena.

Give it a try along with its sister game Waterloo 20 I commend this game to my fellow 'geek wargamers for a quick but satisfying experience. (Perhaps I should rephrase that......)

It is good to see publishers like VP Games producing quality products in this line, hopefully they will sell in sufficient numbers to allow for further series games to be made?