Commands and Colors Anyone?

[Ioannes_Ahenobarbus]

Ah, thank you much.

[Ioannes_Ahenobarbus]

Ah, thank you much.

[BigRedBat]

Hi,

C&C Ancients is a game I'm passionate about. I play as the standard boardgame, the epic game and the epic game using miniatures (up to 1000 at a time) on a 4' x 10' table.

Its deceptive simplicity has quite spoilt me for wargaming rules. I don't play even DBA any more.

Simon

[Magnus]

Can you only play 1 vs 1?

What else is this game comparable to? Are there any games similar to this that support say...2-8 players? What price range?

A game like that could be fun at my legion meetings.

[BigRedBat]

We've often played the standard game with 3-4 players.

The Epic game suits 6-8 players, 4 per side. To play the Epic game you really need the main game and the 3 expansion boxes, as mentioned above. Alternatively a 12'x4' hex mat, a deck of the Combat cards, the special dice and a mate with a couple of thousand wargames figures will sort it. ;-) )

As a game, the nearest thing I think it compares to is big-battle DBA, although it is, in my personal view, very much better. There are a lot of reviews on the web for it, and I understand it's one of the most popular ancient boardgames.

Simon

[Ioannes_Ahenobarbus]

I actually received this game recently as a gift...it is great fun. The trick for me is finding someone who will play it with me!

[BigRedBat]

I've seen people play it over the net, but I've not done this myself. It's a very accessible game; my son picked it up OK when he was 13, and we've introduced players into games after only a 15-20 minutes crash course.

Simon

[Narukami]

I actually received this game recently as a gift...it is great fun. The trick for me is finding someone who will play it with me!

Yes, finding opponents is always a challenge. Fortunately I have a grandson who is turning into an avid player and as Simon rightly points out, this is a very accessible game making it somewhat easier to introduce (seduce or dragoon) new players to the game. The rule set allows you to spend more time on tactics and actual game play and less time on being a rules lawyer.

Now, here is a question for the Group Mind:

Does there exist (somewhere) a detailed TO&E of Julius Caesar's invasion force for his aborted Parthian campaign?

Having that information might allow someone of enterprise and skill (and with some time on their hands) to put together an army list for the GMT C&C Ancients game system and allow us to game the invasion and see just how well Caesar might have done had he lived past the Ides of March.

I have checked the C&C Ancients site which contains a vast array of scenarios but nothing on Caesar's planed invasion. It is the kind of "What if..." scenario that could prove to be fun to play.

I'm not the one to create this army list but perhaps one of our Forum members who plays C&C is both capable and interested in trying their hand at creating such a scenario. :?:

I have also posted this query in the Romany Military History thread in the hope that such a TO&E exists. However if a gamer has already constructed a scenario for this campaign I would love to have a copy.

:wink:

Narukami

[BigRedBat]

Hi Narukami,

Re Parthia, I've been very tempted to refight Carrhae with C&C, but for all its strengths, I'm not convinced that the rules models light horse very well. In C&C when foot charge light horse they often inflict heavy casualties, even when the latter evade; sometimes heavier casualties than the horse can inflict by shooting.

I've considered how this might be addressed and have in mind a fairly simple fix that would sort it. I would also want to introduce a system to model the fatigue/water deprivation that played a major part in the destruction of Crassus' army, and Curio's army in North Africa.

[Narukami]

Greetings Simon,

Your points are well taken.

That has always been the struggle in war game design: Either the Avalon Hill approach where game play is paramount at the cost of historical accuracy, or the SPI mantra that historical fidelity trumps playability. Of course SPI turned out some great games in their day, but I remember their early game on the Battle of the Bulge that was so faithful to history that is was almost totally unplayable. You spent the majority of you time fighting traffic jams -- accurate? Yes. Fun? No.

I think C&C strikes a pretty good balance but weighted heavily towards ease of play, and thus the problems you rightly identify.

With regards to fatigue and logistical support (or lack there of) I wonder if a reduction in Command Cards might help to simulate this. The Romans might start out with an equal or greater number of cards (giving them more options) but as the game progresses the number is reduced thus limiting their tactical flexibility as the troops tire.

The light cav vs. infantry is a tougher problem.

And of course, with all these games, the luck (or skill) of the dice matters. My grandson has amazing luck with his dice and my armies suffer for it be it in C&C, or Conquest of the Empire, or Space Hulk.

There is a scenario on the C&C web site for the battle of Carrhae -- I have not played it yet so can not render an opinion on it. We are still working through the basic game scenarios and putting stickers on blocks for the expansion sets. It will be awhile before we venture on to try the third party scenarios.

:wink:

Narukami

[BigRedBat]

Hi Narukami,

Actually the LC fix isn't too difficult; we have a house rule where faster troops evading slower take a single dice; and equivalent speed troops 2 dice.

Cheers

[Historylover]

You know in all the times Ive played now (I finally got the rest of the expansions) Ive never evaded, Im too tempted by the battleback losses I can inflict LOL. :lol: :twisted: All the best, Jonathan

[BigRedBat]

I often evade, especially if I'm not supported. Then I can clobber the opponent in my next bound!

Sometimes if you don't evade, they wipe out your unit and stuff another unit through a momentum advance.

cheers

[Ioannes_Ahenobarbus]

I suppose I should put an update here; since I have made a few friends at grad school I now know more people with similar interests and am able to play a few games now!

[BigRedBat]

Hi,

Here is a link to the website with pictures of my miniatures (Website was down but appears to be fixed).

There are pictures of several C&C battles in the gallery section, and pictures of quite a lot (but by no means all) of my Roman miniatures, too.

http://www.displacedminiatures.com/BigRedBat/index.html

Cheers