JENA!

About this board game

JENA! is a two-to-three-player historical campaign game about Napoleon’s decisive 1806 victories, with an approximate playing time of 300 minutes.

Five scenarios trace the opening engagement at Saalfeld through the French victories at Jena and Auerstädt. The game places players in the conflict between the forces of revolutionary France and the heirs of Frederick the Great, with Russian allies and Saxon interests shaping the wider situation.

The Campaign Game begins as the French emerge from the mountains of Franconia and Thuringia, driving toward Leipzig in the hope of knocking Saxony out of the opposing alliance. French cavalry probes ahead while the army searches for the Prussians and their Russian allies. At the same time, Brunswick directs three Prussian armies across the supposed French line of communications.

As flank guards skirmish, the opposing armies discover that they are moving abreast of one another in opposite directions. The result is a race to adapt to an unexpected situation, with Napoleon’s advantage represented by La Bataillon Carré, a distinction between the warfare of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

• Five scenarios covering Saalfeld, Jena, Auerstädt, and the surrounding campaign.
• A Campaign Game focused on uncertainty, army movement, reconnaissance, and rapid adaptation.
• Scenario maps ranging from one to three 34-by-22-inch maps.
• Rules that can be learned in fewer than 12 pages.

Like its predecessor L’Armée du Nord: the Belgian Campaign 1815, JENA! combines a compact rules presentation with a substantial playing surface. It includes one and a half sheets of elegant, state-of-the-art playing pieces for recreating this landmark campaign.