Commands & Colors: Medieval

GMT Games recently began shipping the latest addition in Richard Borg's Commands & Color stable.  That game is Commands & Colors MEDIEVAL.  Kevin, a big aficionado of the CC system, had MEDIEVAL on pre-order so was one of the first to receive his package late in the week.  Anxious to give this new treatment our treatment, he quickly stickered the blocks and deployed forces for a game to set our first impressions.  

Arriving for a Friday afternoon gaming session, Kevin had the game set up and ready to go.  The battle to tackle today was the first scenario featuring the Battle of Utus, 447CE.  Utus pits the Byzantine Empire against Attila the Hun.  Utus is a large battle with victory determined by the first player to take nine banners.  I am not sure if I have ever played a game requiring nine banners for a win.

Having read through the rules beforehand, Kevin provided a rules' introduction, review of the QRSs, and a battle synopsis.  Kevin opted to play the Romans.  First a word about the rules. 

MEDIEVAL seems to be heavily reliant on its ANCIENTS predecessor.  Many of the rules, herein, would be recognizable to those familiar with ANCIENTS.  There are some important distinctions, though.  A few of those important changes follow:

• Heavy Infantry has been downgraded.  Rather than fighting with five dice, heavy infantry now fight with four.
• Cavalry has been upgraded.  Rather than three blocks per cavalry unit in ANCIENTS, cavalry in MEDIEVAL has four blocks.
• A lot of bow-armed cavalry has the ability to fire during an evade move and throw two dice in their withdrawal.  This represents the Parthian Shot.
• Leader tactical options are expanded.  In addition to the commands on the cards, leaders have the ability to play Inspired Leadership Actions through the play of an Inspired Action token.  These actions vary dependent upon army.  Leaders may also spend an Inspired Action token to affect the outcome of battle.  These include, Move a Leader, Battle Bonus (+1 in Close Combat), and Bravery (ignore one flag).

How does the game play?  Well, we managed three games in a short afternoon session so it still plays quickly.  With heavy infantry receiving a downgrade and cavalry receiving an upgrade, cavalry becomes a powerful weapon in defeating the enemy.  As in ANCIENTS, units to not degrade in capability with the loss of blocks as they do in NAPOLEONICS.  A unit with one block remaining is still as deadly as a block at full strength.

In Game 1, the Huns softened up the Romans with a combination of ranged missile and probing attacks.  Once suitably softened, a series of deadly attacks were launched against the Romans.  Great swaths of Romans fell under the hooves of the Hun cavalry.  Victory to Attila 9 Banners to 2 Banners. 

In Game 2, Kevin opted to stick with commanding the Romans while I reset the Huns for a rematch.  Attila used the same tactic and ended up with the same result.  That  is 9-2 Attila.

Game 3, saw Kevin determined to bring the might of the Byzantine Army to bear in a rematch against the Huns.  While marginally more successful, the Huns still dominated the battlefield with a 9-3 victory.  Three games to the Huns!

Game 3: The end of the Byzantine Army (in blue)

The trio of games was really good fun and the margin of victory decisive.  Good to see much of the rules and tactics learned in ANCIENTS present in MEDIEVAL.  A few twists but the core rules are still recognizable.  We did not employ the Inspired Leadership Actions until Game 3.  I bet we see these played more frequently in following games. 

Thanks to Kevin for hosting and being a good sport in defeat.