Pax Brittanica
The Colonial Era from
1880 to The Great War

Game Review

Reviewed by David Pope


Designed by Greg Costikyan, Rules by Bob Ryer
Victory Games Inc. 43 W 33rd St., New York, NY 10001
Released: January, 1985
Catalog No. 3011
Price: $24.00
Complexity: Intermediate to Experienced
Solitaire Suitability: None
**** 1/2

Ah, the Victorian era. Leisurely afternoons with tea and crumpets on the cricket field while in the background Sabu tends the elephants. The truth is, there are rifle shots in the distance. Another uprising: "Demme sir, it's happening every day."

Pax Brittanica, represents the period of colonial chaos that transpired between 1880 and the beginning of the First World War. The game is designed for four to seven players, and each player assumes the role of head of a country. The playing area is on two maps that provide a northern polar projection of our world, and 666 counters are provided for play.

The first things I noticed about Pax Brittanica were the maps and counters; both are very nice. The two maps fit together with little overlap, which makes them ideal for securing with tape but less so with paper clips.

The board is richly colored in blues and earth tones, and is untroubled by a hex grid; instead, area movement is used. The map is detailed and should be studied a bit by all participants prior to play; as an example of what to look for, note that the Congo can be reached by Sea Movement.

Next are the counters, which are quite interesting. They come in four shapes and ten colors. Square counters are for map/play information, round counters represent political and economic status, hexagonal counters depict ownership, and triangular counters represent armies and fleets in varying denominations. For the most part, the colors serve their purpose in drawing attention to their presence and location on the map, but some color combinations are a bit hard to read. Overall, though, the whole thing is quite nicely done. In fact, it would be nice to see a deluxe edition with extra tough maps and plastic tokens.

And then there are the rules. 1 don't think I've seen a set of game rules featuring verse by Kipling, but two poems appear in their entirety (The White Man's Burden and Recessional), and a portion of a third (Tommy) graces the rules for war. Unfortunately the rules are not numbered, but this is mitigated by a well-organized game in all other respects. The components speak to one another and sort of steer you right into play; our group was playing within forty-five minutes of the time we opened the box, and most of the players had never seen the game before.

Each turn equals four years of activity, beginning in 1880, and advances (with luck) until 1916. The turn sequence proceeds as follows:

    1. Random Events
    2. Administration
    3. Minor Powers
    4. Movement/Status Change
    5. Colonial Combat
    6. Marker Adjustment
    7. Negotiation
    8. Congress of Europe
    9. Chinese Resentment
    10. War
    11. Victory Point Record

During Random Events, the U.S. player (who makes the Random Events rolls) throws one six-sider to determine the number of random events that will occur during that turn. Each event is then determined on the Random Events Table or possibly on one of four tables that might cause Unrest just about anywhere on Earth (more on Unrest in a moment). The Random Events results are pretty interesting, too; "Italian Irredentist Agitation" and "Serbia Defies AustriaHungary" are a couple of the more amusing possibilities.

Administration involves a roll of the die for each player. Players are crossindexed by nationality on a table on the Administrative Record Sheet, yielding the number of pounds available for expenditure. From there, each player determines how many pounds are incoming, how many will be paid out for maintenance, and the final balance. All of this is kept on the Record Sheet, and roughly resembles a 1040 Short Form, but is for various reasons much easier to do. Players soon learn that it is very expensive to keep military forces abroad, and this will mean shuffling military units around. But before the players can implement noble plans and spend their money they must stand by when the Minor Powers have a chance to compete.

Minor Powers are not always active, have no Administration, and are controlled by any player who has an ax to grind but no other way to do it. The Minor Powers are usually just strong enough to cause problems, but for the most part they do not interfere greatly with play since it is easy to plot against a nonplayer. However, it is easy to see that external support for a Minor Power could be handy, if one wished to prevent an unscrupulous interest from taking root.

Then comes Movement/Status Change, a flurry of movement and expenditure, with no set sequence of play. This sounds a little chaotic, but there were never any conflicts over who got to move first. It doesn't make any difference who moves first; units may be moved any way seen fit, within some general restrictions. You can even watch your opponent move and then respond if you like. Status represents the efforts of the players to expand and stabilize their control of Areas, in four successive grades: Interest, Influence, Protectorate, and Possession. The greater the level, the higher the monetary return, and the more expensive and time-consuming to establish. When Movement/Status Change is completed, it's time to make the world safe for Democracy.

Colonial Combat is the process by which Areas (of which there are 104) are brought into the sphere of interest of a country, and thus milked for profits. Each Area has a Combat Strength that must be defeated by a player's military units in order to claim Protectorate status in that Area. Unorganized and Chinese Vassals may be subjected to Colonial Combat, and attempts to subdue Unrest occur at this time also.

In fact, Unrest is a standard excuse for inviting oneself into another country's Area, which almost always provokes controversy (or gunfire). Otherwise, one must attempt to exert Interest or Influence and hope for the best. In any case, it's good policy to have one's Interest in as many Areas as possible; one can draw profits without having to pay Maintenance, although an Interest must be present for five turns to meet costs.

When Colonial Combat is finished, Negotiation begins. The rules suggest that a time limit be set on Negotiation, and we found that twenty minutes is just about enough. Another option is that if the game is to be played over several sessions, Negotiation makes a good breaking-off point, and allows the players plenty of time to get things settled. There isn't much else I can say about Negotiation, except that it works in this game system as it does in other games of the genre, but with a new twist; there is a European Tensions Index, and the player who pushes the Index point total over 100 triggers World War I, the end of the game, and also suffers a massive penalty in Victory Points. So, the name of the game is to try to avoid war with another player if at all possible.

Following the various low tricks and underhanded behavior that occurred in Negotiation comes the Congress of Europe. This is a chance to expose the perpetrators of skulduggery and plead one's case before the other players. I'm sure most gamers are aware of the effectiveness of this sort of appeal; if not, let me set you straight: if you don't have a treaty with another player, and don't have any money with which to bribe someone, you are pretty much on your own.

Most turns will pass without convening the Congress of Europe, but it will be convened more frequently in the latter part of the game, when there are more territorial disputes, a larger point total on the European Tensions Index, and a corresponding desire on the part of the sane players to avoid war.

Next comes the Chinese Resentment Phase, which is similar to the European Tensions Index but not quite as ominous; the worst possible event if Chinese Resentment is triggered is an uprising of rather substantial proportions. This means that the player controlling this area would be wise to keep an army nearby just in case.

Last but not least comes the War Phase, and it needs little description other than that the threat of war is sometimes enough to accomplish one's aims. This is an interesting innovation; it seems so many games take up where talk and sabre-rattling stop and shooting begins. In Pax Brittanica both are valid tactics. Another thing to keep in mind when drawing up those mutual defense treaties is that the increase in Tension will go up again (and you will be responsible) if you do not honor the treaty in time of war, and will go up a third time if you try to make a separate peace. Also, any war involving four or more Great Powers (excluding Japan) will trigger World War I, end the game, and assess a large penalty against the player or players who were responsible for ending play.

The game begins with the British in the lead by a good margin, but there is room for everyone to expand a little before running into one another. The key to successful expansion is secure lines of Communication, traced over land or sea, from the colony to its parent country; Communication is necessary to receive Income. Another hint is that it is costly to maintain large groups of military units abroad, so ship excess units home. Last, negotiation is an art; if conducted with care, one can often avoid tragedy, or better yet bring it upon a deserving player.

Pax Brittanica is a very good multiplayer game. The broad variety of possible events and actions, coupled with the multi-player format, will provide many hours of entertaining play. For those of you who enjoy but have grown bored with Risk or Diplomacy, this game definitely deserves a try.

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© Copyright 1985 by Dana Lombardy.
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