1805: Sea of Glory

1805: Sea of Glory had sat in my pile for some time, wearing the particular expression of a game one approaches with respect and a little dread. A full game asks for seven to nine hours, the rules require proper reading, and before the first move you feel inclined to clean the plexiglass, trim the sails and load the guns. This is not something you casually open on a weeknight; it puts on a whole production across the table.

I would not quite call it a wargame, though. It is a simulation of a particular situation, joined by historical what-if scenarios, and its asymmetry is the whole point. Britain begins with a fleet capable of crushing almost anything, yet the weather is often a greater enemy than France; the French task is to unsettle that naval supremacy and put cracks in the blockade.

There are no grand fleet actions here, nor a detailed tactical contest. The game lives in fog of war, in the damage blockades inflict on ports, and in containing the consequences when a French fleet slips free. Its random system for rendering ports unusable from turn to turn captures the French irritation rather well: the British blockade has become routine, and routine can be intolerably effective.

We reached only about a third of the game, just as the blockades began to loosen and Portsmouth started filling with battered British ships, but there was already plenty waiting beyond it. The victory points are as asymmetric as the forces: Britain may sink French ships with relative ease, while France can take points back painfully if it breaks the blockades. It needs a full day and companions willing to find their way back through the rules, but 1805: Sea of Glory feels quietly excellent.