Caesar's Legions

Thumbnail Analysis Game Review

by Don Lowry


Last issue I reviewed Avalon Hill's new version of WOODEN SHIPS & IRON MEN, which they bought from Battleline Publications. Now they have taken Game Designers' Workshop's EAGLES and revised it and re-titled it. While W.S.&I.M. is in their wholesale line, sold through dealers all over the country, CAESAR'S LEGIONSis part of their mail order line, only available directly from Avalon Hill. Also ALEXANDER THE GREAT (which they bought from Guidon Games/us) has been moved from their mail order line to the wholesale line and is now available through dealers, while FRANCE, 1940 has been moved from the wholesale line to the mail- order only line (presumably due to declining sales).

CAESAR'S LEGIONS come in the new, shallow style, 11 1/2" x 14 1/2" x 11 1/4", flat box with a picture of Roman soldiers in black on red. This contains: a 22"x27" mounted mapboard (which folds into quarters) printed in black, brown, blue, green and red on slick, cream-colored paper, with standard, 5/8" wide, numbered hexes; two 8 1/2x11" sheets of 1/2"-square unit counters (legion black on red, Roman auxiliaries black on pink, Batavii white on red, Roman deserters black on yellow, Gauls black on green, Germans black on tan, misc. markers white on black); an 8 1/2x11" 16-page rules book; one 8 1/2"x1l" card containing various charts and tables; two sets of 8 each 2 1/2" x 3" Tactical Manuever cards (identical to those in 1776); and one 1/2" cube white die.

The original design and historical research were by Loren Wiseman of Game Designers' Workshop. system redesign and development is by Donald Greenwood. Unfortunately EAGLES is one GDW game I haven't seen so I can't compare this version with theirs.

The area represented on the map is the valley of the Rhine on the west, the upper Danube on the south, the North Sea on the north, and eastward as far as (but not including) Denmark. The period of history simulated is, roughly 60 B.C. to 60 A.D. Five scenarios are provided: Caesar's Conquest 1, of Gaul. Caesar's Crossing of the Rhine. "Tuetoburger Wald". "Idistaviso", "Campaign for the Eagles," and "Batavian Revolt." Some scenarios provide for concealed movement by use of "CM" counters on the board which represent real unit counters that are placed on the Ambush and Concealed Movement Sheet.

Ambushes don't show on the board at all -- the position is written down and no movement is allowed. Combat is quite similar to that in 1776, both sides occupying the same hex, except that losses are taken by breaking units down into subordinate units (as in BLITZKRIEG) instead of by simple substitution of counters with fewer combat factors. This is an interesting looking game with several innovations and appears to be based on sound historical research. It sells for $8.00 plus $1.00 for shipping and is available from the Avalon Hill Company, 4517 Harford Road, Baltimore MD 21214.

More Thumbnail Analysis

Back to Campaign # 72 Table of Contents
Back to Campaign List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1976 by Donald S. Lowry
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and related product articles are available at http://www.magweb.com