Commands & Colors: Ancients (7th Printing)

Commands & Colors: Ancients allows you to re-fight epic battles of the ancient world. Here the focus is on the two rivals for power in the Western Mediterranean – Carthage and Rome. Will you, as Hannibal, triumph over larger Roman armies; or as Scipio Africanus, will you beat Hannibal with newer tactics of your own?

Units in both armies can only move and fight when ordered. The command playing cards supply those orders, providing an element of luck that creates a fog of war and presents players with both challenges and opportunities. You must maximize your opportunities by playing your command cards judiciously. How well you handle the diverse units, their weapons, and the terrain, will determine victory.

Commands & Colors: Ancients contains the battles of Akragas, Crimissos River, Ticinus River, Lake Trasimenus, Cannae, Dertosa, Castulo, Baecula, Ilipa, and Zama.

"Commands & Colors: Ancients" depicts warfare from the Dawn of Military History (3000 BC) to the opening of the Dark Ages (400 AD). Quite an ambitious undertaking for one game, yet Commands & Colors by design is a unique historical wargame system which allows players to effectively portray stylized battles from this time in history. The 15 battles, showcased in the scenario booklet, although stylized, focus on important terrain features and the historical deployment of forces in scale with the game system. The battles include Bagradas, Cannae, and Zama."

"The scale of the game fluctuates from battle to battle. For some scenarios, an infantry unit may represent a legion of fighters, while in other scenarios a unit may represent just a few brave warriors. But the tactics you need to execute conform remarkably well to the advantages and limitations inherent to the various units, their weapons, terrain and time."

"Unlike its older brother, Battle Cry by Avalon Hill, Commands & Colors: Ancients is moderately more complex and contains additional historical details without the battlefield clutter. Most scenarios will still play to a conclusion in less than an hour."

"The command card system, drives movement, creates a true fog of war and presents both challenges and opportunities. There are four types of command cards: Leadership cards, Section cards, Troop cards and Tactic cards."

"The battle dice system resolves all combat efficiently and quickly. Each battle die has one Light, one Medium, one Heavy, one Leader, one Flag and one Swords symbol."

"The game mechanics, although simple, will still require strategic card play, historical tactics, timely dice rolling, and an aggressive yet flexible battle plan, to achieve victory."

AWARDS & HONORS

• 2007 Golden Geek Best Wargame Nominee
• 2007 Golden Geek Best 2-Player Board Game Winner
• 2007 Golden Geek Best 2-Player Board Game Nominee
• 2006 Origins Awards Historical Board Game of the Year Winner
• 2006 Golden Geek Best Wargame Nominee
• 2006 Charles S. Roberts Best Pre-World War II Boardgame Nominee