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After delivering a pair of Surprise Packages, Patch and I turned to Commands & Colors: Ancients (actually, the first round happened between the two playings of the SFB scenario, so they happened a couple months apart). We’re up to Caesar’s invasion of Britain in Expansion 3. It’s even more speculative than normal, with the Romans just disembarked from their ships on the board edge, while the Britons are just in front of a set of hills in the middle of the board.

I had the Britons the first time, and led with Move-Fire-Move to mostly solidify my line, while flanking LC took potshots to do one block to a LB. Patch moved up with a Line Command, which got the 10th Legion into contact to do three hits to a Warrior, while taking one, and pilum fire did a block to a MC. I used Clash of Shields to activate the Warrior and an Auxilia to take out the 10th while losing two blocks on the Auxilia.

Patch Ordered Mediums, taking out a fresh Auxilia, the weak Warriors, and the damaged Auxilia while losing one block on a Medium. I Ordered Right to do four blocks across two Mediums, but lost a BCH in the process. Patch Ordered Mediums again, and knocked out an Auxilia, but took two blocks in the process. I Ordered Three Center, and took out two Mediums. Patch Doubled Timed more of his center into contact, and forced two Auxilia to retreat with losses. I Ordered Two Right, and did a block each to two units, but lost a Warrior outright. Patch Outflanked and knocked out an Auxilia that he had chased to my baseline. 3-7

Patch started the second game with Order Lights, and sent the BCHs against the LBs, getting three hits against one. I used a Coordinated Attack to start moving Mediums up, and Patch Counterattacked to hit my LBs again, finishing off the first one, and reducing the second to one block. Order Three Left let me chase off a BCH and LC. Patch built a solid mass with Order Three Center, and the 10th Legion hit it with Line Command. I did two hits to an Auxilia with pilums, but the 10th only did one hit to a Warrior… but took out the only British leader and forced a double retreat with three banners (after support).

Patch Ordered Two Center to regroup, and I Ordered Four Center, knocking out two Auxilia, and forced another and MC to retreat for no losses. Patch Ordered Mediums to do five hits across three units, but lost two MCs and four hits on two Warriors in return. 5-1

Afterword

Patch conceded at that point as his center was a collection of weak units and I’d barely been dented. I’d rather that he’d gone on another turn to see what damage he could do before I got the last two banners, but he had obviously been pretty distracted all night.

The Romans had good hands in both games, which just added to their better troops to dominate the battle. As the Britons I ended up with a technically flexible hand, but they were all Order Two cards by the end, so I couldn’t do much. My dice in the second game were fairly hot, and the early loss of the barbarian leader hurt since there were a lot of helmet rolls after that. Game two’s hands were somewhat ironic, as Patch had three Line Commands, but couldn’t easily use them, especially once I punished his center. I had Mounted Charge (with no cavalry) and Order Heavies (with the 10th being the only Heavy in the entire scenario).

The biggest problem for the Romans is being on their own baseline. The LBs can’t evade and can’t retreat, and aren’t supported, so if the Britons can get at them, they’re in trouble. Everything else is better supported, and the 10th Legion is a more mobile than a standard heavy. There’s no Roman cavalry, which could be a card problem, but since there’s nowhere to retreat, it’s just as well.

It’s decidedly balanced towards the Romans, but still a pretty fun situation.