Blocks of War III: C&C:Ancients (part 1 - the dice of Commands and Colors)

Before starting, let me state two things.

1. I know that the C&C series, even when it uses blocks (like Ancients, and the upcoming Napoleonics) isn't a traditional Block game (like the gems from Columbia and other companies). But in some fora it is considered to be part of the block games universe, just because of the physical implementation of the pieces (being, well, "wooden blocks").

2. Even if you accept C&C:Ancients as a Block Game, then this article may prove to be a bit off because it is not an overview, replay, or review of the game. Rather it is analysis of one piece of the game.

Okay, what is this article about? In brief I will try to compare the various odds of causing a casualty within the different implementations of the C&C system that we have access to, today (that is, October 2010).

Okay, first lets identify our quarry. The C&C system has, as constituent games (each implementing the system somewhat differently):

Battle Cry! (from Avalon Hill)
Memoir '44 (from Days of Wonder)
BattleLore (from Fantasy Flight Games)
C&C: Ancients (from GMT)
C&C: Napoleonics (due out from GMT)

In each case, there is a dice spread that is rolled (on situationally varied numbers of dice). The symbols of the dice then give you the results of that combat round (dead or retreating units, usually).

But each one does it different.

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The oldest game in the series is Battle Cry! It has dice with the following faces:

1. Infantry
2. Infantry
3. Cavalry
4. Artillery
5. Flag
6. Wildcard

The three types of units in the game are: Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery. The other pieces involved are Generals.

Infantry (killed on Infantry and Wildcard symbols) - 3/6 or 1/2 per dice
Cavalry (killed on Cavalry and Wildcard symbols) - 2/6 or 1/3 per dice
Artillery (killed on Artillery and Wildcard symbols) - 2/6 or 1/3 per dice
Generals (killed only on the Wildcard symbol) - 1/6 per dice
(by the way, here is a picture of the New 150th Anniversary edition of Battle Cry coming next year)

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The next game in the series to come out is Memoir 44 - the excellent game of WWII combat. It has dice with the following faces:

1. Infantry
2. Infantry
3. Armor
4. Star
5. Flag
6. Grenade

The three types of pieces in the game are Infantry, Armor and Artillery. There are lots of modifiers to the basic types, but that type determines which dice faces cause kills.

Infantry (killed on Infantry and Grenade) - 3/6 or 1/2 per dice
Armor (killed on Armor and Grenade) - 2/6 or 1/3 per dice
Artillery (killed only on Grenade) - 1/6 per dice

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This brings us to BattleLore - the great game of Medieval and Fantasy combat in the series. This is a great game, originally from Days of Wonder, but later on (currently) from Fantasy Flight games. Terrific scenarios (although I really like the historical scenarios that popped up on the Days of Wonder support website, before they were taken away with the move to Fantasy Flight), and lots of cool published supplements. The dice in this game have the following symbols:

1. Red Shield
2. Blue Shield
3. Green Shield
4. Sword/Shield
5. Flag
6. Lore

In this game all the many unit types are all given a quality color, called the Banner Color (Red, Blue or Green). Each of those units is killed on their respective dice faces (red units are killed by a red shield).

In addition, the Sword/Shield marker works like the Grenade marker from Memoir 44 (i.e. it kills all units), however there are specific times when it works and when it doesn't (based on the Weapon being used by the unit attacking). It does pretty well for almost all the hand-to-hand weapons, and half as well for missile weapons (some it just doesn't work for, like the common or short bow, as well as the cavalry reflex bow and the slingshot). Some target types get to ignore the sword/shield hits form some weapon types (i.e. - knights).

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The most popular, so far, in the series has been the GMT offering, Commands and Colors: Ancients. This is the first time the series name has been used (except on some of the Memoir 44 game literature - but it is never referred to as "Commands and Colors: WWII").

The dice here are similar to those in Battlelore.

1. Red Shield
2. Blue Shield
3. Green Shield
4. Sword/Shield
5. Flag
6. General

The results are similar as well, with colored units taking hits from corresponding dice. Rather than weapons affecting the extra dice side, it is determined by unit type (of which there are a lot - light infantry, auxillia, medium infantry, barbarian infantry, heavy infantry and so on. For instance, light infantry never hit on the Sword symbol. Some units are immune to some hits (i.e. - heavy infantry and heavy cavalry).

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Okay, the last game of the set - Battles of Westeros. Fantasy Flight Games put out this lovely boardgame about the battles of the George R. R. Martin fantasy novels, the Game of Thrones. It is based on the Richard Borg system, however there are some modifications. Chief amongst those are two - first, the command cards are not based on different sectors of the battlefield (unlike all of the other games in the series , so far). Second, the dice are eight sided. This is because of this dice spread:

1. Red Shield
2. Blue Shield
3. Blue Shield
4. Green Shield
5. Green Shield
6. Green Shield
7. Valor
8. Flag

Okay, so with this spread we have interesting results - first Green units are killed 3/8 of the time. Blue units 1/4 of the time and Red units 1/8 of the time. That makes Red units very strong, in my opinion, but I have yet to play the game (I am only judging this by what is in the rulebook, and from my understanding of the dice odds). Also, unlike some of the other games, there is no wildcard symbol in this version. Interesting.

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Okay, so where does all this take us. First - I think the most tactical of the games are BattleLore and Ancients. I suspect that the upcoming Napoleonics release (which I have pre-ordered and which is due next month) should also be quite high-granularity in its tactical details. But most importantly, in the games where there is little in qualitative difference among the troop types (i.e. - Memoir 44 and Battle Cry) there is a big difference in the odds of basic types (like infantry) vs. the stronger types (cavalry, armor, etc) being killed. Fair enough - without the differences of different grades (or weapons, etc) you have to introduce some tactical difference.... Now, I have to see Westeros to see where the interesting bit is there, I suspect it may be amongst the different leaders and their abilities, but it is not in my clutches yet!

Okay, so that is what I have to say on dice. Curious that in some the difference in odds is driven mainly by attacker difference, and in some others the difference in odds is driven mainly by defender differences. In all cases, the dice pool size being rolled is a function of attacker type. Regardless they all play somewhat different because of these variations, and that is what makes the whole series appealing, rather than just one or two of the titles.
Tags: boardgames

Battles of Westeros

Battles of Westeros - a new game from Fantasy Flight Games.


FFG has announced the new game they are going to produce in the BattleLore series.

This is a whole new standalone game, but based on the BattleLore system. It is called "Battles of Westeros" and is based on the world and armies of George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series of novels. Very Cool.

The base game comes with two armies (representing the households of Stark and Lannister), hard mounted board, 138 miniatures, and lots of cards and markers. It is similar to BattleLore, but with some differences. Much less emphasis on magic (and Lore). The dice are a bit different. In the standard BattleLore/CC system there is a 6-sided dice with a Red banner, Blue Banner, and Green banner (along with retreat, wild, and lore). In this one there are 8-sided dice, with 3 Green Banners, 2 Blue Banners, and 1 Red Banner (so Green Troops are much more vulnerable than Blue troops and Red Troops, etc), and two other sides (retreat and wild).

It sounds quite cool.

A forum article on the differences

And a nice FFG article announcing the news

Tags: boardgames, BattleLore

BattleLore grows and grows and grows

BattleLoreMaster - a Fan site for Battle Lore, has pointed out that Fantasy Flight Games (the publisher) has announced three new supplements coming out before the end of the year.

First - Heroes - out now. Comes with figures (foot and mounted) for four different heroes, and rules to use them (along with artifacts and equipment cards).

Second - Dragons. Out this fall - covers three different types of dragons, and comes with minis. Looks real good.

Third - Creatures. Will also include cards, rules and minis. Also out this fall. Will cover Giants, Elementals, and a Hydra (at least). Apparently the Hill Giant and Earth Elemental (previously available as special releases) will be present, but also with a new Giant and a new Elemental.

Tags:

Cold Wars 2008

This past weekend was a great time. I got to attend Cold Wars, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

This gaming convention is one of the oldest in the country, this being its 25th year. I haven't been going since the first one, but pretty close. I began attending the HMGS conventions (which now include Cold Wars in March, Historicon in July, and Fall In in November) sometime around 1985, and have been going ever since.

The convention is a great time for me. First, it is a sort of vacation for me from all the responsibilities of life. I get to go and hang out with friends and indulge my hobby almost completely, if just for a weekend. This includes gaming, talking about gaming, hosting games, playing games, shopping for games, and buying games.

Miniatures, of course, are the focus of these conventions - appropriate as they are sponsored by the Historical Miniature Gaming Society. These conventions were once almost purely historical miniatures, but over the years more and more non-historical games have crept in. For me, and my friends (both in and out of ODMS), these conventions have always been about playing games together in the evening. These evening games have long been, as often as not, card and board games, rather than miniatures games.

This year was no exception. Having gotten to the convention on Thursday afternoon, I spent Thursday Evening playing a couple of games of Memoir 44, followed up by a long game of the new Struggle for Rome (a Settlers of Catan-based historical game). The Memoir games were with Chris - we played the scenario Ste. Mère-Église a couple of times. Good scenario. The first game, Chris clobbered me. This is pretty true-to-form for this scenario, as the Allies have a win-ratio over the Axis of approx 593 to 367 (according to the Days of Wonder scenario ranking page). The second run-through of the game, we were joined by a friend of the Designer, Richard Borg, who was at the show. This fellow, who was quite friendly and helpful, gave me key information and tactical tips when I was using my German Armor against Chris, and it lead me to victory. Groovy. Without the assistance, I never would have won.

Friday was a busy day. First, there was the traditional breakfast at the Lancaster Host Resort - the hotel that has hosted Cold Wars and Historicon for many-a-year (since it left the Penn-Harris in Camp Hill, PA). We used to eat breakfast at the Lapps restaurant next door, but have been in the Hotel for a long time. Then, there was some shopping in the flea market, which officially opened at Noon - no, wait, there was a screw up (typical) - One o'clock. This gave me just enough time to buy used copies of Heroquest and Medina. Then I had to rush off to the New Holland room.

At 2:00pm on Friday, I was hosting a game of The Sword and the Flame. The game was called the "Heights of Jasani", and is based on a scenario that is due for publication (hopefully soon) from a to-be-announced publisher (just as soon as we find a cartographer to finish up the maps for the scenarios...). The game was excellent, and featured six really fine players - five of them being long-time veterans of TSATF (including Tom Anderson, Nigel Clarke, Rick Norton, and Steve Winter - all of the ColonialWars group). All of the gamers were gentlemen. I have been running TSATF games like this with Chris Borucki (I am his co-GM) at the HMGS conventions since 1999. Almost every one of our games have been quite successful with good gamers and good games. The scenarios aren't always balanced, and sometimes (doh! - Historicon 2007 comes to mind) I try some knuckle-headed new rules that don't always work - but the games almost always turn out to be quite fun anyway.

Friday night was no less excellent than Thursday night. More board games, including more Memoir 44 - this time with me losing to Odin Bazely. I played the French Resistance and got trounced. I really like this game. So much so, that I purchased the Eastern Front expansion, and the Terrain Pack expansion at the convention. Cool - now I can do loads more maps and scenarios (there are something like 1200 - yes, one thousand and two hundred - scenarios posted on the Days of Wonder web page).

Saturday came. More breakfast. This time, I loaded up on some rather explosive combinations of food - more about that later. The day was spent shopping and also catching up on some homework(!) - grad school is never off limits. The evening drew nigh, and I wandered down to the Dealers hall with Jon Krigbaum. We walked around (what a wonderful thing the dealers hall is at an HMGS convention) for about an hour, and all of a sudden a storm blew through and knocked out the power at the hotel convention center. We were in the dark! Thousands of product-starved gamers, and a few measly dealers who had nothing to stop the hordes but their own measly bodies. Luckily the forces of justice prevailed, and there wasn't a riot. Good thing too, cause we were guarding the treasures to be found at the Miniatures of Chesepeake booth, run by fellow ODMS member Carl Sciscio. Chris, Odin and I left and went to get some Chinese food for dinner, and afterwards realized that the power still was not turned on, so we journeyed to the nearby town of New Holland (named for the room that the Colonial Gamers inhabit at the convention), to visit one of the best game stores I have ever been in - Six Feet Under Games. Wow, what a cool place.

After a while (the group couldn't take the nasty effusions that were bubbling out of me from my explosive breakfast), we returned to the hotel. I voided my defiled bowels, which left a stain in that corner of Pennsylvania, and we left for the open gaming area.

During the day Chris played in a singles tournament of Warhammer Ancient Battles. He did well in his first game - against a Crusades army - but fared quite poorly against some really tough Norman Armies in his second and third games. We got to the dealers hall just ahead of my own noxious cloud, and proceeded to play some games of Battlelore - wow, what a game! I played first Odin and then Chris in Battlelore - we played the battle of Agincourt, and I got to be (lucky me - this is a wet dream for me and I bet those guys didn't even know - one of my favorite battles, and me playing my favorite side) the English. We few, we happy few! Well, I lost and then I won. This was too much for Chris, who had already been slaughtered by Normans. Too much was too much, and he took a break as we progressed to more refined gaming fare.

We next played (Jim Russell joining Jon Krigbaum, Odin Bazely and myself) Family Business. Dead Gangsters Everywhere! Dead, Dead, they're all Dead!!

Finally, late Saturday night, Chris rejoined us and we played (oh boy) a five player round of Web of Power. This was awesome, with me and Chris tying for first place.

A great convention. I shopped for some new miniatures (but didn't buy any). I played lots of great miniature and board games. I bought some classic used gaming stuff. I hung out with the best friends a gamer ever had, and it was a really fun time. Mission Accomplished.

ps- I know I didn't mention the Pirate theme that the convention had this year. Suffice it to say that after about 10 minutes of watching paunchy balding white guys dressed in bad pirate costumes and hosting bad pirate skirmish games all the while ranting "arrgh" and "shiver me timbers" and "that it be, Jim me lad!" was too much for me, and I pretended it wasn't happening.

Tags: miniatures, board games, hmgs, cold wars, memoir 44, battlelore, web of power, the sword and the flame, wargaming,