Commands & Colors Crazy

Where in the heck has LTL Dad been lately?  He's been playing the Commands & Colors games by GMT.  I don't know if I've ever been this addicted to anything before.  Well, maybe when I was younger, chasing LTL Mom, but other than that...
These games are by Richard Borg, and are the final evolutions of a very fine game system starting out with Battlecry and Battle Lore.  You get to set up, play, and get this, FINISH a game in one to two hours, and maybe three or four hours for large multiplayer games when drinking beer and chatting too much.
The games come with high quality components.  Beautiful, well thought out charts, card decks, special dice,and rules.  The rules are written clearly and are simple and well organized.  Everything is very intuitive and after a few games you will rarely go for the rulebook or charts.  The games come with wooden blocks and you have to apply the stickers, the only down side for some people.

The heart of the game system is battlefield friction.  Each commander maintains a hand of cards, the quantity depending on the commanders skill level.  So historically better commanders will have more cards in their hand giving them more choices of commands and tactics.  The cards allow you to activate units based on sections of the battlefields or special conditions.  The card deck is the representation of command control/communications problems.  So the bottom line is you can do anything that the cards in your hands allow you to do.  This means that from turn to turn the commanders will have to react to a constantly changing condition and find ways to get their army to do what he wants despite the fortunes of war.

If you are the type of gamer who thinks he should have complete control of every unit in his army at all times, and that things should always go as planned, this game is not for you.  However, if you enjoy cursing the cards, the decks, the enemy, the game Gods, and biting your nails until the last turn of every game than this is the absolutely what the doctor ordered.

I had been eyeing this game for a long time but didn't try it till a few months ago.  I really wish I'd found it sooner.  Many of the modules are out of print but the good news is that GMT supports their stuff and they have a reprint system in place for game demand.  CCA and CCN look they will both be around for many reprints in the future so keep an eye on it at GMT and join the P500 list to help keep these games going.
In the meantime there are rules available for download and modules for vassal play.

Of course my group has already started to play this game with miniatures.  Finally found a use to drag all my historical armies out of the closet and get them some workouts.

I will post some of our miniatures battles here on my blog to give an idea what the game looks like converted to miniatures.

More Beer and Pretzels Punch Ups

Here are some shots from our "home brew" big battle skirmish rules we have been working on.  It is coming along pretty well and hopefully we will have it sussed out in another couple of months.  We've been on this project for a while but I am determined to get it done.  As with many insane gamers, we have way more figures than we can actually use in normal rules sets and I want to see lots of toys on the table!  These rules are also designed to allow a pretty wide variation of adversaries which is something we like because we have no issues with putting up odd match ups.
This was a King of the Hill game we threw down just to test some mechanics.

My Samurai.  These are actually Heroscape minis.  I like them a lot; they look decent and I didn't have to paint them!

Mike's Vikings start to appear through the trees.

Jil brought skeletons and Goblins.

Nick (my 12 year old) came with Orcs and Demons.  More Heroscape stuff here as well.

Mike's Vikings are pretty darned cool looking.  Right away he grabbed some cover and formed a battle line to keep an eye on my Samurai.

I sent my Ashigaru and Ninjas into the woods to scout the Viking position.

Nick played like a girlie man and kept dancing around behind the hills.  He couldn't decide who to go after and so his guys just marched around like morons.

Jil's awesome dark minions didn't waste any time getting down to business.  He grabbed the high ground and started harassing everyone with his archery.

Here's Nick's Orcs working up for a charge, but he chickened out when he saw my Samurai form a battle line.

Jil's Goblins being very annoying with ranged attacks in the center.

Caught between Jil's ranged attacks and the threat of my Samurai, Mike decided to close up and fortify.

My Samu line advancing!

Jil managed to get some Goblins around the rear of the Viking position and makes a charge from the woods.

About the same time my Samus start to assault the Viking laager.

Here are my Samus taking it to the Vikings in a sudden charge.  The initial impact was going well for the Samus.

The Samus were kicking some Viking butt!

The Samus were handily thrashing the Vikings in the open but things started to change as they attempted to eject them from cover.  Here are my lads trying to go over the walls.  BANZAI!

Jil took this opportunity to bum rush the Viking laager from the other side with his Goblins.  Those nasty little guys were quite formidable as well.

My Samus did a lot of damage but the Vikings have finally stabilized the situation at the walls.  They've managed to throw my attack back and my lads are milling around trying to gather their courage for another go.

Nick is still trotting back and forth indecisvely.  All he's managed to do is fire a few arrows in Jil's direction.

Vikings and Goblins are still locked in combat at the laager.

The battle is locked and neither side is backing down.  The Vikings have proven to be some tough hombres.  They took the assault from both the Samurai and the Goblins and are still standing.

My Samus and the Vikings have both blown their wad and are now just milling about skirmishing.  At this point I retire to regroup which gives the Vikings a chance to do the same.

And now the Vikings are on the move!  I think they want some payback on the Goblin King.

While the Samu/Viking battle was cooling down, Jil's skeletons with Goblin archer support have gone on the offensive and are assaulting the Demons.

Skeletons fear nothing, and they are very nasty adversaries in our games for that reason.  Our rules put a lot of emphasis on morale and the mental state of the troops.  Skellies have a huge advantage here.

My Samus are back in good order and getting ready for another go at being King of the Hill.

The Viking horde makes a mad dash through the trees in the center.  Where are they going?

Yep, I was right.  Mike is after some payback on Jil.  While Jil's Goblins and skellies are taking it to the Demons, the Vikings make a mad charge to their rear!  At this point the Vikings, Goblins, and Demons were all mangled and my Samus arrived in good order.  We didn't bother finishing it.