The Puzzle of Julius Caesar -- The Boardgaming Life examines Block Wargaming

The Boardgaming Life fires off another super-blog post/battle report studying the many facets of wargaming. This time around, it's a look into Columbia Games block war game Julius Caesar (designed by Grant Dalgliesh/Justin Thompson) written by established wargaming author and editor Russ Lockwood. Lockwood explains a block war game

For those unfamiliar, a block game is basically an “upgunned” Stratego where the blocks serve as units, standing upright with their backs showing nothing but the color of the army. If you want to find out what’s in a space, you move in for a battle. Movement restrictions limit the number of blocks that can enter a spot, with those coming ‘via alternate routes’ entering battle as a reserve and only available on the second and third rounds of combat. Three rounds maximum for a battle.

Lockwood takes the role of Pompey the Great and faces off against Julius Caesar's forces during the period of the the Roman Civil War. Along the way, he discovers both the strengths and weaknesses of block-style war games and Julius Caesar in particular. The analysis, combined with an exciting back-and-forth recounting of the actual game play makes this post a must-read for anyone even mildly interested in this sort of thing. Close games are the best kind, and you won't know who's going to triumph in this report until the last turn.