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Patch and I did our usual pair of Commands & Colors: Ancients games between bigger things recently. This time was the Battle of Cronium from the second bonus pack from GMT. Set during the Tyrany of Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse, it’s very different from the Greek/Spartan contests we’ve gotten used to lately. There’s no hoplites (possibly this should get an Ex6 update), but there is a wide variety of everything else. Both sides have light, medium, and heavy units in both infantry and cavalry, and both have a unit of Warriors, and the Carthaginians have a Heavy Chariot unit. There’s a lot of units, and the goal is seven banners, so its a pretty big scenario as well.

I had the Carthaginians in the first game, so Patch went first with Order Three Left. Both of us then used cards that could order units all over to bring things up and dress the line. I used Move-Fire-Move to move light units up, and got my LC into archery range before pulling them back a bit, but did no damage. Patch used Coordinated Attack to move forward two Heavies, and got a LB into range who then did a block to an Aux on his first die roll. I used a second Move-Fire-Move to do a block to a Heavy, and forced his LB to retreat, taking a block in the process. Patch moved forward with a Line Command, burying his LB behind the rest of his line in the process. I then Darkened the Sky to do two more blocks to the same Heavy, a block to another Heavy, and two hits to a Medium.

Our armies finally came into contact as Patch Ordered Four Left, wiping out a Light and reducing a Heavy to two blocks, while I was only able to take a block off a Warrior and force them to retreat. I Ordered Four Right in turn, knocking out the weak Heavy and forcing his LS to evade out of line. Patch continued with Order Three Left, doing a block to my HCH who forced his MC back to the baseline in turn. He also did two blocks to an Aux, but they did two in return to his Warriors. And I continued the action with an Order Three Right, finally getting my leader on that flank in play, but my weakened heavies muffed their roll, and were wiped out by battle back from the Syracusan Warriors. The Leader-led Heavy forced an Aux to take a block and retreat, and used Momentum to finally knock out the Warriors. Patch used Order Lights to order two of his remaining four units on the flank, and moved his LB over there. An attempt on my HCH backfired with them wiping out a LC, but then they were eliminated by the LB. While his Aux did two damage to my remaining Heavy, they in turn the Aux out, forcing his leader to run back to the MC still on the baseline (and that leader’s third change of command). On his right, he did two blocks to my LC, who forced one of his to run back to the baseline. I continued the main confrontation with Order Two Right to use my LC to pick on his LS, but but while I forced an evade to the baseline on the first, the only damage from the second battle was a hit to my LC.

Patch used Out Flanked to continue switching the action to both flanks. He knocked out the Heavy and the Aux left on my Right, forcing my leader to run towards the baseline alone, but couldn’t finish off the wounded LC on the other flank. I used Order Three Right to move the leader up the remaining center line, and my LC made another attempt to knock out units, but only managed to take a banner in battle back with one of them. Patch Ordered Mediums to make his center active, and did two hits to my newly-led Aux, and forced them back two hexes, though they did do a hit to a Medium in the first combat. I then used Double Time to get most of the center in action, forcing his MC to evade, and knocking out two Mediums, while one of my units was forced back a hex. Patch then mopped up with Mounted Charge, knocking out my weak LC, and then using momentum to take out my HC. 7-6

In contrast to the first game, when I started as Syracuse I had no Left Flank cards in my hand at all, started with Order Four Center and took a pot shot at his HCH to no effect. Patch Ordered Lights to start bringing up units, and picked on my LC with his to no effect. I Ordered Four Right to do a block to his LC (they evaded in the face of Heavies, and then lost a block to a banner from archery). Patch moved up with Order Three Left, and I did the same with Order Two Center. Patch Ordered Two Left, and did a block to my LC as they evaded. I used Line Command to bring up everything other than my left flank, but scattered archery had no effect; Patch Ordered Two Center with similar results.

I Ordered Three Center to finally get us in contact, and knocked out an Aux in return for taking two blocks. Patch used Coordinated Attack to dress his line a bit, and I Ordered Mediums; on the right, we traded three blocks each on Mediums, and Patch knocked out my weakened Medium in the center with a First Strike. Patch Ordered Two Left to knock out the weak Medium and do a block to the Heavy next in line. I Ordered Three Right and knocked out his weak Medium, and on momentum did two blocks to his Warriors, who also lost a third block on a two-banner retreat. Patch Out Flanked me, and got his leader up to his HC to knock my HC down to a block and force it to retreat, using momentum to take my Heavies down to a block and force them to retreat. I used Leadership Any Section to move up the remaining right flank, and made his LS and HC evade away.

Patch then did a Mounted Charge, which allowed his HC to finish off my Heavies and HC on my right, and did a block to my Warriors on my left by making them retreat, and did two blocks to my remaining Heavy in the center, though they then knocked out his HCH. I Ordered Light to drive off his HC and do a block to a LC with archery. Patch Double Timed to bring parts of his right flank up the rest of his line, while I used Inspired Left Leadership to finally get that flank in motion, and drove off his LC, though I couldn’t do any damage, and I lost mine on a two-banner battle back. Patch used Line Command to move his entire center and knocked out my heavies, killing Dionysius for the win. 3-7

Afterword

With the variety of units all mixed together, this is a much more chaotic battle than most, and the lopsidedness of where the action happened only added to it. The first game had us trading units constantly after a slow start, and I thought I had it until that Mounted Charge. The second game was much more uncertain, though we started trading ranged attacks a lot earlier, but again, Mounted Charge came up for Patch, and smashed me. I had plenty of things I could do after that, but I just couldn’t get the time for them. Especially for moving my left flank up which had been abandoned by the cards for most of the game. Interestingly, we were both holding a Counterattack at the end of the first game.

After going a couple rounds in Up Front, Patch and I went back to Commands & Colors: Ancients for a quick pair of games. This time was the Battle of Coronea from Expansion #6 (and as a part two of Anabasis). Unusually for this period, the Greek army has three Heavy units, while the Spartans (the 10,000) have two units of ‘Veteran’ Spartan MH that get an extra die as long as they’re in command range of Herippidas. The lines start relatively close, and there’s two hexes of fortified camps behind the Spartan left, which the Greeks can loot to gain banners. Also, this fight goes to eight banners, promising a long, hard fight.

I had the Greeks the first time, and started with Order Light Troops, close a gap in the center of my line and bring my flanks into archery range. Patch Ordered Three Left, doing one block of damage, and taking one each on two units in return. I Ordered Three Left to bring up a leader who was behind the line without being attached and move up some of my hoplites, before doing a Line Command. That brought most of my heavies in contact on my right, but I refused to come into contact on my left as his line was much heavier there. I knocked out an Aux, and picked off another block.

Patch Ordered Mediums to bring the entire center into contact, and wiped out a Heavy with attached leader, while breaking up my hoplites, doing two blocks to one, three blocks to another while driving it back a hex, and one block to a third, which also retreated three hexes. In return, he two two blocks to a MH, three to another, and three blocks to one of his veterans. I Ordered Three Right to finish off two of his MH and drive off another without damage, after which my MC charged into the gap and drove off another unit without doing damage. Patch Ordered Two Center to finish off one of my units, and drive off another.

I Ordered Three Center to go after his camp, and failed to do more than one block to his remaining MH on that flank, while taking a block on a Heavy, and two on my MC. Patch Double Timed his center over to this fight to knock out my MC and Heavy, but only took one damage when he tried to pick off a MH. I issued a Line Command to bring up my entire right flank, but most of what I faced was now his Spartan hoplites. I only did two blocks to one unit, and in return had two units reduced to one block and forced to retreat. Patch used Leadership to get his solid section in motion, and wiped out three units to finish the game. 3-8

Patch lead off the Athenians with a familiar Order Light Troops to close up the hole in the middle, and I Ordered Four Right to bring that side up. Patch used Line Command, which brought both flanks into contact. No units were eliminated, though one of my MH was reduced to a block, and two of my Spartan hoplites took damage. However, Patch had three units reduced to a block, as well as taking a block on two more, and a couple units were forced back, breaking up his left flank.

I Ordered Three Center, wiping out an Aux, and damaging and driving off a MH for no damage. Patch Ordered Heavies to finish off a MH and do three damage to one of my Veterans, taking five blocks across two of his heavies in return. A Line Command brought the centers into contact, but the right simply flowed around a forward weak Athenian MH, with the rest of the Athenian left out of range. I wiped out four weak units, and reduced his remaining Heavies to a block before driving them off. Patch Out Flanked me to drive off the left end of my main line, and knock out a unit in with Momentum after driving it off with the losses the first time. He also attacked my LC with his. I decided to take his two dice without evading, but he got a banner to cause it to rout off the field.

I Double Timed my left flank up to combat, and while Patch drove off my Lights with no damage to either side, I knocked out two weak units, and reduced a MH to a block. Patch used Clash of Shields to try and use that unit (the only one in contact) to finish off my MH+leader, but a First Strike got him first. 8-3

Afterword:

Both plays were surprisingly fast, with the total playing time being just a bit over an hour and a half on Vassal. The second game was particularly fast thanks to some powerful dice from me, but in general, the 5-dice units on both sides helped promote some aggression that sped things up. In both cases the Athenian army came apart with an ease that seems unlikely given that it’s a pretty good force. The real problem is that they have two leaders to the Spartan’s three, and in my play, the Athenians lost a leader early, and Patch never actually used the unattached one the second time.

Well, Patch and I did another round of Commands & Colors: Ancients between bigger games. This time, it was River Centrites from Expansion #6 (and the Anabasis). It’s a very unusual scenario, with the Spartans caught between two forces, who retreat towards both of the regular board edges (the Armenians towards one edge, and the Carducians towards the other), while the Spartans retreat towards a river in the center of the board. There’s a lot more Persians than Spartans, and they start on hills, but they’re spread out, and generally not as good as the Spartan units. (Certainly, they have no hoplites.) The game goes to seven banners, but if the Spartans can get their entire force on the Armenian side of the river, they win.

I had the combined Persian forces for the first game, and drew all three Line Commands straight off. Patch started with Inspired Right Leadership to press on the Carducians on that side, doing one damage to two units while taking three blocks across two units. I attacked in the same corner, but only did one block. Patch then Out Flanked to continue to retire a depleted unit and do three damage to a Warrior, while moving is left force towards the river.

I used Line Command to engage the few Spartan units in the center with the Armenians, but only did one block to a Spartan Hoplite in return for taking a loss on Warriors, and nearly having an Aux wiped out. Patch Ordered Light to knock out a Carducian Warrior and force my leader there off board while getting a LC behind my line in the center. I used Line Command on the Armenian line again, knocking out the Spartan Hoplite, forcing his LC back to the river, and did three damage on an Aux, but I lost the Warriors and a block on a Med in the process. Patch Counter Attacked to activate his center, and knocked out a Med while doing two more blocks to the damaged one while doing a block to another Spartan Hoplite.

I used Leadership any Section to move my right side Carducians forward, and ended with a Spartan Hoplite and my Warriors reduced to one block each. Patch used Inspired Left Leadership to move the stricken Hoplites out of the way and finished off the warriors, while also getting my wounded Med and picked off a loose leader with archery. I used Order Two Right two move up a LC and finished off an Aux. Patch then Ordered Two Center to pick off a depleted Aux. 2-7

For my turn as the Spartans, I started with Order Three Right to try and press on the same force that Patch had good luck with, but no damage was done. Patch then used Leadership Any Section, to activate that entire corner, wiped out a Spartan Hoplite, and did three damage on a second while I did one damage each to a Warrior and Aux. I Ordered Four Center to attack the Armenians, and start moving forces over the river, doing three blocks to a Light, while taking one in return. Patch Double Timed to get the rest of the Armenian center into play before I could force the hills, and reduced two Spartan Hoplites to two blocks while taking one damage on each of two units (with help from a First Strike that also drove off an attacking Med).

I used Order Mounted to get more forces towards the river, and traded a weak Spartan Hoplite for a Med plus leader, but took one hit for no gain on a momentum attack. Patch used Order Three Center to finish off my remaining Spartan Hoplite, and got my leader. I used Out Flanked to get a new Spartan Hoplite across the river, and wiped out the Carducian Warriors that had given me trouble, while also doing a block on a LS with a momentum attack.

Patch Ordered Light to kill a LC on a banner (no place to go  in the river), and reduce my right-side Spartan Hoplite to a block. I Ordered Two Center to move up, and Patch yelled I Am Spartacus to order a Med, Warrior, and an Aux to finish off the wounded Spartan Hoplite. I used Line Command to move almost my entire remaining force towards the Armenians, and knocked out a Med at a cost of one block. Patch forced my abandoned right-side leader off-board with an Order Two Left (well, assuming you count the river as a normal board edge, in which case he Leader Evaded “off-board”; if you call it a blocked evade, then the game ended right here; I think the former is right though).

I Double Timed up to the the center hills, did a block to a LB in exchange for a block on an Aux, did a block to an Aux, in exchange for three on Spartan Hoplites, did two banners to the same Aux to force it to lose a block on the board edge, and then did another hit to it in momentum, when he did a hit back. Patch Ordered Two Center, but couldn’t get a hit on my 1-block Spartan Hoplite. I Ordered Light to very nearly get across the river (only two units still on it), and did a hit each on a LB and Aux, and also did two to a Light. Patch Ordered Two Center again, but only did a banner to the weak Spartan Hoplite (who took it to get out of the way), and a hit to an Aux. I used Coordinated Attack to wipe out a 3-block Aux, and then get wipe out a 1-block Aux on momentum, I then finished off a LB by forcing them off the board. 7-6

Afterword:

It’s a very interesting scenario. The Spartans are surrounded, but the Persian forces can’t really go toe-to-toe with them. Patch had fairly good dice in both games, and I was thinking I was going to go down hard again in the second game when I started breaking up the Armenians. Since they’re also the effective ‘goal line’ for the Spartan army, the pair of Mediums just doesn’t last long, even with hills.

Over the last couple of weeks Patch and I played a couple Commands & Colors: Ancients games of the Munychia scenario from Expansion #6. Set right after the Phyle scenario, the Athenians surprise the Spartan-supported oligarchs and drive off their army. Well, at least in history; here, not so much…

I had the Athenians in the first game, with compact formation set up on a line of hills, while the Spartan army is in two disjointed wings. I deployed the flanks of the army with Out Flanked, and got a banner on Patch’s LC to cause it to take two losses from bumping into the baseline. Patch responded by Double Timing the Spartan Hoplites up to the rest of the line. I kept skirmishing on the flanks, and kept forcing his left-flank Auxilia to retreat, but couldn’t cause any losses. He slowly advanced while skirmishing, and caused a loss on my leader-led MH.

I then pressed harder on my right with an Order Three Right, coming off the hill, with both of our Aux taking two hits and my right-most MH retreating back to the hill. Patch Ordered Light to cause another block of damage to my Aux while driving it back a hex. We then skirmished for another round before I swept down off the hill with a Mounted Charge. This broke my line, as I rolled lots of red results (there’s no heavy units in the scenario). I did knock out his damaged Aux, and did two blocks to two allied MH in return for losing two MH outright and taking two damage on another that then retreated back to the hill (where my leader joined them as his unit was wiped out).

Patch then chased me with a Line Command, and forced all three MH still forward of the hill to retreat back to it, two of them with damage, while only taking one block himself. He also attacked the unit my leader had joined, and eliminated it (but not the leader) while losing a MH himself. I partially consolidated my army with Order Mediums, and knocked out his leader-led MH and got the leader with it.

Patch countered with his own Order Mediums, and drove off three of my units while doing two damage to a MH, while taking 1 himself. I used Leadership to get all my MH into a line but lost a two-block unit while doing 3 hits to a Spartan MH. Patch then used Inspired Center Leadership to swarm onto the hill and pick off a remaining MH. 4-5

Similar to my opening, Patch deployed his flanks with a Coordinated Attack, but didn’t get a lucky roll against my LC. I used Order Mounted to move up the Spartan MHs, and then Out Flanked to bring the MC up as the ends of the line continued forward a little. Patch then used Leadership to bring part of his center down off the hill towards the my center. I used Order Mediums to finally get the Spartan MHs up to the rest of the line, and Patch used Move-Fire-Move to rework his flanks, but couldn’t get any hits.

I then used Line Command to come into contact with him across the board. The left flank was separated from the rest, and didn’t do too well, doing two hits to his Auxilia while taking one hit each on two units, one of which was forced to retreat to the main line. After that, hot dice took over, wiping out his leader-led MH in one attack (and driving him away before doing any leader-influenced rolls). Two attacks reduced another MH to two blocks and retreated it for one block, another MH was driven back with two losses, his Aux took three hits while doing one, and then my leader-lead Spartan MH wiped it out and then traded one block each with a retreated MH, while accepting a banner to retreat back into my line.

Patch used an Order Two Center to pull his forward MH I hadn’t attacked back to the hill. I Ordered Lights, but only took a hit on my Aux for my trouble. Patch then played Line Command to shift most of his units one hex to his left and close a gap in his line. I used Out Flanked to pick on the ends of his line, and got single hits on both of his LS, as well as finishing off a 1-block MH. Patch pulled a LS back, and then I advanced my right flank with a Leadership any Section. I finished off one MH, and drove another off with two hits (and taking one in return). My leader then used Momentum to get into the hills, and drove his LS off with a hit.

Patch countered with Clash of Shields, which only gave him two units, and did one damage and two banners to my Aux, and got three damage on a Spartan MH, and took only one block in return. An Order Three Center allowed me to continue to press forward, and I finished off a two-block MH. 5-0

Afterword:

Both of us had trouble with the Athenians. We were in a good position on top of a hill, and had a hand full of good cards. Why go anywhere? But we had to do something, and ran out of ‘little’ cards. The theory would seem to be to charge off the hill and defeat the left line of the Spartan army before the Spartan MHs come up. But both times the other half of the army came up pretty fast, and the Athenians have a hard time of it. I kept it fairly close in the first game despite the worst Mounted Charge I’ve seen, but Patch didn’t have a chance in front of the amazing die rolls I got in the second game.

Last night, Patch and I did our usual between-games round of C&C:A. Up this time was “Anapus River 415 BC” from Expansion #6. This deals with the beginning of the Athenian campaign on Syracuse, so while it features orange blocks, they’re not Spartans. (Being Greek colonists, I suppose the orange set is more apropos than the brown Carthage set.) The Syracusans are at a decided disadvantage, with four cards to six, only one leader, and one of their MH stuck behind the line. But they do have the first MC we’ve seen in a long while, and if they can (somehow) get into the Athenian camp, they can loot it for banners.

I had Athens the first time, and we started out skirmishing on my right (near the camp), before I used a Line Command to bring my entire army up. Annoyingly, I was concentrating so much on my right, that I forgot to do ranged attacks with the bows on my left. I did eliminate an MC by rolling four triangles as it evaded.

Patch used Mounted Charge to get his main line into contact, and did seven blocks damage, not knocking anyone out, but killing a leader, and forcing two units to retreat, so I only did three damage to one unit in return. I Counterattacked, and wrapped around his line, and managed to wipe out the forward line (3xMH), leaving his leader’s unit intact, while reducing a Auxilia and taking six blocks myself.

Patch used Order Medium to get his leader in action with his two remaining MC while bringing the rear MH up, and knocked out my two weakest units while only taking one block in return. I played Mounted Charge, and knocked out the Auxilia while forcing of the MC to evade, and forcing a Light to the baseline. Patch Counterattacked to knock out another two MH while I weakened his MC and drove them to the baseline.

Since Patch had the only good MH units left, I started trying archery to whittle a few things down, while trying to figure out how to get at all the juicy targets at his baseline. Patch got his two MH together and moved his weak units out of the way before assembling together. I got his leader-led MH from four blocks to one, but just couldn’t get hits on the weaker units in range. Patch moved up the MHs with a Light in support, and finished up the game in two turns. 5-6

Patch opened the second round with Order One (Order Heavies…), and did a point of archery damage to an Auxilia. With four cards, my hand was not great, but I had two left cards, so I started with sending my MC against the light units on his flank. They evaded across the river into the camp, and I followed into the river, and nearly knocked out his Light.

Patch used Double Time to bring half of his MH over to deal with this, and knocked one MC out. I used Leadership to bring the bulk of my MH into range, and then Ordered Light to straighten out the flanks. Patch knocked out the other MC and forced my Light to evade before I used Line Command to head for the gap in his line, and knocked out one unit in return for two blocks. Patch Out Flanked me to eliminate an Aux, while reducing the other to one block and forcing it back.

I Ordered Mounted to attack two detached MH, but a bad sequence of rolls saw me lose a MC (took two banners) and a MH while only doing three blocks. Patch Ordered Three Center (only had two left there), and traded three blocks for three on one side, while doing one block and forcing a retreat on the other. Center Leadership killed both MH of Patch’s MH on the right, but failed to get his leader.

Line Command got Patch’s remaining MH in motion, and he killed a separated MH. 3-6

Afterword:

The first game was brutal. The end dragged out a bit as we were both at five banners and didn’t have a lot left. Patch should have moved a bit faster with his intact MHs, but archery just wasn’t enough for me to finish him off. The four cards for Syracuse is bad, but the one leader just makes it worse. Half of my hand was Left/Right Leadership. Outside of that, they technically have a decent force, with just as much MH as the Athenians and three MC, but it starts in poor shape, and I was never able to move the MH on the baseline (I certainly wanted to bring it up before using the Line Command!).