Commands & Colors: Ancients is a board wargame

Board wargame

A board wargame is a wargame with a set playing surface or board, as opposed to being played on a computer, or in a more free-form playing area as in miniatures games. The hobby around this type of game got its start in 1954 with the publication of Tactics, and saw its greatest popularity in the...

 designed by Richard Borg

Richard Borg

Richard Borg is a game designer.Games Richard has designed or co-designed include:*2000 Battle Cry *2001 Wyatt Earp...

, Pat Kurivial, and Roy Grider, and published by GMT Games

GMT Games

GMT Games, probably the most prolific of the wargame companies in the 1990s and 2000s, was founded in 1990. The current management and creative team includes Tony Curtis, Rodger MacGowan, Mark Simonitch, and Andy Lewis...

 in 2006

2006 in games

This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 2006. For video and console games, see 2006 in video gaming....

. It is based on Borg's Command & Colors system using some elements similar to his other games such as Memoir '44

Memoir '44

Memoir '44 is a light wargame, or war-themed strategy board game, created by Richard Borg, for two players. The game can also be played with up to six players if played in teams and up to eight players in the "Overlord" scenarios that require two copies of the game...

and Battle Cry

Battle Cry (game)

Battle Cry is a board wargame based on the American Civil War, designed by Richard Borg and published by Avalon Hill in 2000.While superficially similar to conventional board wargames, it borrows from miniatures wargaming with its use of plastic figures and its simplified rules.The map is initially...

designed to simulate the "fog of war

Fog of war

The fog of war is a term used to describe the uncertainty in situation awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding own capability, adversary capability, and adversary intent during an engagement, operation, or campaign...

" and uncertainty encountered on real battlefields.

Commands & Colors: Ancients focuses on the historic period of 3000 BC - 400 AD.

Components

The core game includes several hundred high-quality wood blocks in two colors for the Roman/Syracusan armies and Carthaginian army. Sheets of stickers representing different unit types must be affixed to the blocks prior to initial play. 16 small wooden blocks representing "victory banners" and 7 larger plastic dice must also have stickers applied. Extra stickers are included for use as replacements. The game also contains a full color rule book, color scenario book, and two colorful two-page double-sided "cheat sheets" for players to reference during play for dice results and unit statistics. The board is a folded card stock which is laid flat for play. Hexagonal terrain pieces are laid on the board when called for by a scenario. A deck of command cards is included.

Gameplay

Units are arranged on the board according to maps and scenario descriptions in the scenario book. Players are dealt a number of command cards equal to their "command value" for the chosen scenario. Often players have different command values and therefore different amounts of cards. Players take turns playing their cards to "order" units, generally allowing the ordered units to move and conduct combat. Cards often refer to a section of the battlefield, either left, center, or right, or some combination of these.
There are also many special cards that allow very specific actions. Play continues until one player earns the requisite number of victory banners for the scenario. Victory banners are earned each time a player completely eliminates an enemy unit or leader.

Expansions

Five expansions have been released for Commands & Colors: Ancients.

• Ancients Expansion #1: Greece & Eastern Kingdoms
• Ancients Expansion #2: Rome and the Barbarians
• Ancients Expansion #3: The Roman Civil Wars
• Ancients Expansion #4: Imperial Rome
• Ancients Expansion #5: Epic Ancients II

Awards

Commands & Colors: Ancients won the 2006 Origins Award

Origins Award

The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...

 for Historical Board Game of the Year,
the 2007 BoardGameGeek

BoardGameGeek

BoardGameGeek is a website that was founded in January 2000 by Scott Alden and Derk Solko as a resource for the board gaming hobby. The database holds reviews, articles, and session reports for over 45,000 different games, expansions, and designers. BoardGameGeek includes German-style board games,...

 Golden Geek Award for Best 2-player Game,
and was a nominee for the 2006 Charles S. Roberts Award

Charles S. Roberts Award

The Charles S. Roberts Awards are given annually for excellence in the historical wargaming hobby. It is named after Charles S. Roberts the "Father of Wargaming" who founded Avalon Hill. The award is informally called a "Charlie" and officially called a "Charles S...

for Best Pre-World War II Boardgame.

External links

• CCAncients.net a web database and community for the game.