ON THE TABLE last night... ALBION 20 from Victory Point Games.

ALBION is the latest in the NAPOLEONIC 20 series designed by Joe Miranda. These are corps-level operational wargames with no more than a dozen pieces on a side, but with plenty of meaty choices regarding maneuver and tempo. Rules for each side's morale are key, and provide many opportunities for bold tactics or untimely disaster. Random event cards round out the package, providing additional replayability.

ALBION posits a Franco-Spanish naval breakout in 1805 that allows Napoleon to go ahead with his invasion of England. A pregame sequence gives both sides an opportunity to spend their precious morale to accelerate reinforcements, so the hard decisions about pacing begin before turn 1 does.

After that, it's about cracking the Dover garrison and/or establishing a good base port, and securing the road to London. Of course, breaking the opponent's army works as well. Meanwhile, through random events, naval battles rage in the Channel and drive the rate of French reinforcements, as well as providing the possibility of an English counterinvasion.

Our game saw the French land in Deal with only one additional corps before the British call a start to the game. Confusion about landing orders causes traffic jams almost immediately, and the Kent corps is able to stymie the initial attacks along the Stour. The French are slow to send enough troops to take well-fortified Dover and a series of standoffs delay the resolution of that contest.

A successful French run of the channel allows Deal to be upgraded, and French reinforcement begin pouring in. The British do form a line, but French attacks are able to steadily push them back throughout the second day. An initial British morale advantage begins to evaporate under random events (although very few units are routed by French attacks, so the situation could be worse).

By the third day, Dover falls and French troops swing along the road to Ashford. The British fall back towards the Stour, holding a line from Lympne to Canterbury. Dense fog at the end of the second day delayed French maneuvers a bit, but some forced marching and commitment of the Guard keep the pressure on in the south. The French have been driven hard by their commanders and morale is low on both sides, but a final series of attacks on the third afternoon break the line and morale of the English army, and the rout is on.

Final score: France 1, Britain 0.

Another cracking good game. This series has resulted in fantastically dramatic and fun games in every instance. Play time was more like 150 than 50 minutes, but still worth every second. I heartily recommend ALBION and it's NAP20 brethren.

Agreed - the Nappy20 games are a fantastic series! (and there's more to come )