Note: I started writing this post about a week before
the GMT Monthly Newsetter for July came out and was struggling to get it done in
time to get a link in the Content Creators’ section. Given the C&C news
that was announced at the head of the newsletter, I’m very glad I missed the
deadline, but as a result, I’ve had to rewrite more than a little of what I
already had down. Some of it still bore true, and I just wanted to say out
front that I think the new direction of the various C&C product lines will
be good for GMT and for the fans, both new and old.
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| Commands & Colors: Napoleonics, Grand Battles Expansion. Four inches deep, and chock full of Napoleonic gaming goodness. |
There
are a couple of reasons I wanted to get this set. Firstly, I have a
completist bent; if I like a game in a series, the games in that series
become like catnip. Or maybe Pokemon. I’m trying to work on that – I simply
don’t have the room for every game in every series I like. But I’ll always make
an exception for Commands & Colors, whatever flavour. Which brings
me to the next reason.
I
really enjoy Commands & Colors. I’ve played it a lot, mostly Napoleonics,
and mostly with my brother-in-law (the reasons for which I’ve talked about
previously, here and here). It’s a dynamic, fast-playing game
(usually), that sits right in the wheelhouse of A Fast Game. After an estimated
seven hundred or so games C&C Napoleonics (roughly forty-five games a year,
over the last sixteen years), I feel somewhat qualified to address this new
addition to the family.
Normally,
I wouldn’t write up an unboxing of a supplement or expansion; these just add to
the existing game rather than make it into a different beast. I wanted to take
a closer look at The Grand Battles, though, simply because there is SOOOO MUCH in
the box, and while the game remains essentially the same, this expansion opens
it up not only in scale, but also scope.
But first,
a note about the parameters of this expansion. The Grand Battles is designed to
be the apotheosis of the series, the capstone to all the components that has
come before it. But to get the full use from this expansion, you will really
need to own (or have access to) not only the core box, but the four National
Army expansions, the General, Marshals and Tacticians expansion (GMT
Games, 2015), and the EPIC Napoleonics expansion (GMT Games, 2016); each
expansion brought along extra units to fill out one or more of the existing
armies, especially the French. The good news is GMT have declared their
commitment to maintaining their support for all the C&C lines, and the
hereto out-of-print expansions will each receive their spots on the reprint
schedule over the coming months.*
Because
this is a really big expansion, and because everyone reading this will likely have
at least a passing familiarity with the game already, I’m not going to talk
about the Grand Battles expansion like I would a new game. This will be something
of a descriptive itinerary; I’ll go through the manifest printed on the back of
the box, more or less in order – doubling up on a couple of things where it makes sense
to do so – and discuss each parts place and merits.
1 Rule Booklet
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| Grand Battles booklet. |
The
rules booklet mostly covers new territory, which makes sense; if you’re new to
C&C: Napoleonics, you’ll be starting with the core box, which has a separate
Rulebook and Scenario Book. The National Army expansions and the Generals,
Marshals and Tacticians set each combined these into a single booklet, with
about eight or ten pages of additional rules, and the scenarios in the same
format at the core game. This changed with the EPIC Napoleonics set, with the
larger scenarios being printed individual, elongated cards, two scenarios to a
card. The Grand Battles set maintains this format for the scenarios, but we’ll
get to these in a bit.
Each additional rulebook introduces a mixture of new units, new situation-specific rules, sometimes some new terrain, as well as explaining any new counters. The Grand Battles rulebook follows this pattern. It runs to twenty pages (including the full-page front and back covers) and is printed on the same weight and quality of matt paper as all of the other as all the other rulebooks in the series, presented in full colour and profusely illustrated.
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| Grand Battles booklet (sample page). |
A page
is given over to the Introduction both (briefly) to the series and (more
extensively) to the present expansion. It also presents an apology from
designer Richard Borg for the delay in the latest expansion getting out the
door and to an adoring and patient public (and a brief explanation of what
improvements t the end product the delay allowed). Four pages are devoted to
the contents of the new expansion, briefly covering the differences between the
original, EPIC and Grand Battle boards (a pair of the last of which features in
his set, but more on them later), additional units, including some new ones,
additional Terrain Tiles, Victory Banners and other markers. The next page of
the rulebook covers the three newly introduced units – Austrian Militia
Cavalry, Russian Heavy Cuirassier Cavalry, and British Highland Infantry – and
their respective strengths and capabilities in the game.
Six
pages are devoted to the rules for EPIC battles, including guidelines for
playing with two, four, six, or eight players. Five pages cover the guidelines
and new rules for Grand Battle scenarios, and the final page (inside back
cover) presents a chronological list of the twenty EPIC and Grand Battle
scenarios presented in the set.
1 The Grand Battles Mounted Map Board
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| Grand Battle Maps (the two halves, when unfolded, butt-up together along the centre edge to create a double-sized play-space). |
Strictly, this is two mounted boards that meet in the
middle. The standard Commands & Colors board is thirteen hexes across and
nine hexes deep. The standard Commands &
Colors board is thirteen hexes across and seven hexes deep. This is the standard
across the whole extended family board, including Battle Cry (Avalon
Hill, 1999) and Memoir ’44 (Days of Wonder, 2004) Star Wars: Battle for Hoth (Days of Wonder, 2025) breaks with this format, going with a ten
hex wide and seven-deep gameboard for even faster play).
The
EPIC board introduced a larger play area, presenting a pair of mounted boards
that butt up together in the centre, allowing for a play area now twenty hexes
across and nine rows deep. The Grand Battles boards are of a similar
configuration, also running nine rows in depth, but spreading out to an
enormous twenty-six hexes across. We had a taste of this in the EPIC expansion,
with a set of cardstock Grand Battles maps to accommodate the two GB scenarios
presented in that set, Austerlitz and Vimiero (you can read my AARs
of these two scenarios by clicking on the links provided).
There’s
not much to report here, except that the boards offer a vast expanse of
playable area. People who own the EPIC expansion may already have had a taste
of the Grand Battle experience on the included heavy cad board-sections
(similar to the included preprinted Borodino/Waterloo boards included this
package, which we will get to soon enough – be patient).
Along
with the ten Grand Battle scenarios offered in this set (yes, we’ll get to
these in due course as well), you’ll have a dozen battles to reenact on these
sturdy new boards. I haven’t photographed them laid out because it would be a
particularly tedious endeavour to fit them into a single shot, and it would be
nothing you haven’t seen before. But to put it in context here’s a comparison.
As previously mentioned, your standard C&C board is thirteen hexes by seven
hexes deep. The EPIC scenario boards added to both dimensions, stretching the width
out to twenty hexes, from extreme left flank to extreme right, and added two
rows of depth to the play area. The Grand Battles boards are essentially two
regular boards placed together for a total width, like in the scenarios
presented for the Commands & Colors: Ancients (GMT Games, 2006) Expansion #5 – Epic Ancients II (GMT Games, 2009 – a reprint is available for preorder
on the P500 list), except for the extra two rows of depth.
Pro tip: The Grand Battles boards are nice in presentation, solid in
construction, and match up well together. Like most mounted GMT boards, you’ll
need to lay them out and place something weighty on the rising folds to help
flatten them out before you try to use them. I lay one board atop the other,
then place another game box in the centre of the rising folds (the point where
the four panels of that half of the map meet). Another GMT game rated at four
or five pounds is usually sufficient for each side and should be clean enough
not to leave marks on your new maps. I recommend game boxes because they are
flat-bottomed; despite your best efforts, random heavy objects may leave a
divot in your fancy new board.
4 Double-sided Grand Battle Scenario cards; 2 identical Grand
Battle Extended Scenario Historical Background and Battle Note cards
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| Grand Battle Scenario Cards (including the Extended Grand Battle Scenario Card, top). |
As mentioned previously, the scenario card concept for C&C Napoleonics was introduced in the EPIC expansion. Trying to reproduce the set-up map on a single letter-sized page would lead to a sharp incline in squinting-related eye injuries; better to broaden the printable area. The EPIC cards are an offset bifold #” by 11“. The new Grand Battle scenarios are numbered 3 through 10, keeping to the numbering schema of the two Grand Battle scenarios from the EPIC expansion. The Grand Battles featured are (in chronological order):
Eggmuhl (Day 2), 22 April 1809
Raab, 14 June 1809
Talavera, 28 July 1809
Bussaco , 27 September 1810
Salamanca, 22 July 1812
Mockern, 16 October 1813
Orthez, 27 February 1814
Toulouse (Heights of Calvinet), 10 April 1814
These
eight scenarios are played out on the forementioned Grand Battle mounted map
boards. Also included are two scenarios that will not fit on even the Grand
Battles boards. The Borodino, 7 September 1812, and Waterloo, 18 June 1815 are
played on the card-stock maps we’ll be looking at next. The manifest lists two
duplicate cards being copies of the scenario card for the Borodino and Waterloo
scenarios. I seem to have only received one in my set. For me, this not a
deal-breaker. One is sufficient for my needs, but if you’re short a copy, I
would recommend contacting the GMT Office Folks – they are good sorts and very
helpful.
The
Extended Scenario Historical Background and Battle Note card doesn’t feature a
complete map for either Borodino or Waterloo as these aren’t necessary – the
terrain and starting troop positions are already featured on the preprinted
map. That space is instead given over to extensive (in C&C terms) notes
about each battle, and all the specials scenario rules that come with a Grand
Battle-sized game.
1 Double-sided Grand Battle Extended pre-printed map (for two
battles)
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| Borodino Extended Battle Map (French Left). |
When I first read of the battles of Borodino and Waterloo being included on pre-printed maps (of the qualities presented in the light Grand Battles map included in the EPIC expansion, I thought it was mere a bit of a gimmick, something to help newbies dive into two of the most famous battles of the Napoleonic era, halving the set-up time before starting play (a noble ambition in itself, but not . What I didn’t understand is that you wouldn’t be able to play either of these battles on the standard Grand Battles board; as big as that map is, these battles are even bigger; twenty-eight hexes in breadth instead of the regular twenty-six for the standard Grad Battles scenarios.
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| Borodino Extended Battle Map (French Right). |
It’s a
real time-saver to have pre-printed battle maps, and I’m looking forward to
trying them out. To me, though, they seem a little gimmicky. In truth there
would probably be a big enough market to put on P500 a one-off printing of the
remaining eight Grand Battles scenarios (four sets of maps) pre-printed in the
same way.
We’re
all time-poor, and if you can save half an hour or more not having to set out
the terrain tiles for a big match, that would be a win. I just feel like, if
you’re all about the convenience, play the game on Vassal. Part of the joy for
me is the setting up of a game, but I may be in the minority on this.
Pro-tip: You might need to put your preprinted maps under plexiglass to stop unwanted puckering of the board seams. If plexiglass sheets are a luxury you haven’t yet availed yourself of, a lot of puckering can be banished with a slow, careful, and consistent (all the way along) back-fold against the crease (i.e., in the opposite direction) of 100° - a little further than perpendicular, no more. Lay the map flat on a table. Fold each panel against the crease to 90° (straight up, vertically, then just a little bit further. While you’re holding the upright panel there, just run the edge of your thumb along the outside fold of the seam, applying just a little pressure. Not too much or you may compromise the strength of the hinge. Then flip the whole map over and do the same thing to the other folds. Be gentle but firm. By the second or third play, the maps should be pretty flat without the need for plexi. Also, I use a couple of shallow bull-clips at the corners where the two maps meet, just to help keep them from drifting on the table.
5 Double-sided EPIC Scenario cards
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| EPIC Scenario Cards (these are double sided). |
Along with the new Grand Battles scenarios, another ten EPIC scenarios are included in the game. The Grand Battles were never mean to be a replacement for the EPIC set, and I for one am looking forward to diving into these a least as much as the Grand Battles. The EPIC-scale battles included in this set are:
Eylau, 8 February 1807
Heilsberg, 10 June 1807
Friedland, 14 June 1807
Medellin, 28 March 1809
Dresden, (Day 1), 26 August 1813
Dresden, (Day 2), 27 August 1813
Toulouse, 10 April 1814
Ligny 16, June 1815
Quatre Bras, 16 June 1815
Wavre, 19 June 1815
Like
the Grand Battle scenario cards, everything you need to know about a given EPIC
scenario is on one side of one side of a card. To play these scenarios, you’ll
need the pair of mounted boards from the EPIC expansion and the Tactician cards
from the Generals, Marshals and Tacticians expansion (as well as the national
army expansions).
 |
| Sample EPIC Scenario Card (Heilsberg, 19 June 1807). |
As
much as I enjoy the breadth and scope of a Grand Battle, I think the sweet spot
for me is the EPIC scale battle; it introduces tactical challenges similar to
the Grand scale, but doesn’t overstay its welcome. It can feel like a slog sometimes
to get to twenty banners to achieve a victory, but thirteen or so always seems
much more achievable in an evening’s play. As with all things, mileage may vary.
12 Double-sided individual National Unit Reference cards
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| British Army Reference Card. |
French Army Reference Cards.
Spanish Army Reference Cards.
Russian Army Reference Cards.
Austrian Army Reference Cards.
Prussian Army Reference Cards.
A huge
bonus with the Grand Battle set is the inclusion of a complete set of national
Unit reference Cards (two for each) in a consistent format of an easy to
navigate two-sided 11” by 8½“ card. Relevant information for all Infantry and
Foot Artillery units are presented on the front, Cavalry and Horse Artillery on
the reverse. These essentially present the information in the style of the original
bi-fold national unit cards (rather than the landscape-formatted units
reference cards seen in the Russian Army expansion†).
2 Terrain Effects summary cards
Comprehensive Terrain Effects Charts.
Also
provided are two copies of an exhaustive Terrain Effects Chart. These will, I
think replace all others in our personal use, and they incorporate every kind
of terrain or structure encountered across all scenarios (though it’s worth
keeping in mind that various scenarios will mention peculiarities of terrain in
their own context, such as rivers fordable for their full extent). While I am
loathe to throw anything away, even when it’s superseded, I’ll probably be
retiring all my other TECs and jut keeping these ones in the top of the box.
1 Terrain Tile Punchboard / 1 Counter & Marker Punchboard
I’m
addressing these two bits together as they are kind of co-joined, and to
address a problem that others may have or will face, or it may just be a me
problem. Before I started writing this piece, I went through the box and
photographed each component or set of components. When I was editing the pics
for uploading to the post, I noticed the Terrain Tile sheet said Sheet 2 of 2. And
I panicked. I checked through the photos I had taken – no second sheet of
Terrain Tiles. I pulled everything out of the box and went through it again –
no Terrain Tile sheet No.1. I was
putting everything back in the box – a chore in itself – when I noticed the
counter-sheet as labelled 1 of 2. At least I didn’t get to the stage of writing
a polite demand to the GMT Office Folks asking of my other Terrain sheet.
One
problem with being an early adopter of all the C&C Napoleonics expansions
was the inconsistency in cardstocks for the counters and Terrain Tiles. These
vary quite a bit between the early and later expansions. If you came to the
game late and only bought second or later printings, this probably won’t be an
issue for you. It’s not a big thing, big it sets off my OCD a little. I’m happy
to report the cardstock used for both the Terrain Tiles and the counters are of
a nice weight brown-core cardstock. Like the additional units/blocks included
in this set, the Terrain Tiles, Victory Banners and other markers are here to augment
everything that has come before. Every expansion has brought additional
components to the set, so I reiterate, to
get the most out of the game you really everything that’s come before it.
1 Cardstock Courier Rack assembly
The Courier Rack is used to display the Tacticians Cards available during a game. The 50-card Tactician Card deck was introduced (along with the expended 90-card Orders deck in the Generals, Marshals & Tacticians expansion. Each scenario offered each side a number of at-start Tacticians cards, and more could be acquired from those on display on the Courier Rack through the play of certain Order cards. A chart was also included to allow retrofitting the Tacticians cards to all of the previously presented scenarios. The idea is, when certain cards are played, the player may pick up a Tactician card from the selection of five on display, These cards allow a slight advantage in a very specific situation. The given situation may not arise during the game, but when it does, it can be a beautiful thing, setting aside your opponent’s plans or augmenting your own, though they rarely prove to be game-winners on their own.
The
original version of the Courier rack came with the Generals, Marshals and
Tacticians set (along with the Tacticians card deck). It is a single sheet of
card, scored along fold lines (a diagram and instructions on how to properly
fold the Courier Rack are included in the Expansion #5 rulebook). I’ve messed around
with various options for getting the folded card stand to remain folded and
standing, using elastic bands, tape, even Blu-tac. The best way I’ve found to
get it to work is to edge the front against one end of the board and the back leaning
against the game box. Others have taken the more sensible approach of foregoing
the Courier Rack for a card holder borrowed from another game. That also works,
I’m told.
8 Silk-screened Battle Dice
I think
the screen-printed dice for C&C Napoleonics were offered in the most recent
reprint of the core game. 400 extra sets were offered on pre-order, but given
the cost of shipping at the time I couldn’t justify the cost to get a set.
These dice are very nice. Leaving out the issue of stickering up the blank
cubes that came with the first printing, the near constant play with my
brother-in-law’s copy of the game meant we needed to buy a core-box sticker set
(yes, you can buy the stickers separately, but in complete sets only – talk to
the GMT Office Folks for details), to re-sticker the dice after they had become
illegible from wear. These are an improvement. I haven’t tried them in a game
situation yet, but I don’t anticipate these being any luckier than the existing
dice, so there’s that.
5 sticker sheets / 248 Unit Blocks
Lots of blocks. This is what greets you when you first open the box.
Sticker sheets 1 & 2.
 |
| Sticker sheets 3, 4 & 5. |
I’m
addressing these together because they are really a single component, or I
guess, a single set of components when they are married into usable pieces. If
you’re opening this box, there’s every likelihood you’ve stickered up a set or
two of Commands & Colors blocks before. Nothing new here. Well, that’s not
quite true. In the Prussian Army reprint, the blocks will apparently be moving
from their hereto gunmetal grey to something closer to a dark beige, roughly
half-way between the original Spanish Army block colour and the chocolate brown
of the Portuguese blocks from the core set. It makes more sense to match the
Prussian this set to the new colour scheme than the superseded one. I
Personally, I have obsessively kept all of my spare blocks (although some have
been used in building playtest sets of other games), and I have enough grey
blocks to outfit one of the two Cavalry units and the four-block Light Infantry
set.
Which
brings us to the other issue with the blocks. The stickers provided for this unit
were accidentally printed representing a Prussian Line formation rather than
Light troops. The absence of the single Prussian Light unit will adversely
affect only one scenario from the present set (EPIC Ligny), and a “patch” has
been supplied on the GMT product page, a downloadable pdf image of the required
stickers that you can print on to paper or adhesive, that you can stick on to the
existing blocks. An easier option might be to just mark a Prussian Line unit
with a blank counter or a tiny Post-It and agree between the players that that
unit will function as a Prussian Light unit for the duration of the game.
----
I said
at the start that I generally don’t write expository pieces on expansions. The
obvious exception to this was, another C&C family product, Commands
& Colors: Medieval – Expansion #1 Crusades Mid-Eastern Battles I (GMT
Games, 2024), for which I wrote both an unboxing and a review. In
the review, I tried to express how much breadth and depth the expansion brough
the Commands & Colors: Medieval (GMT Games, 2019) by comparing the
base game to the films The Godfather and its first expansion to The Godfather,
Part II. I’ve spent way too much time mulling over this while I’ve been writing
this post, but the closest relatable comparison I can come up with for my
likely audience is this; thin of the base game as one of those mid-series space
battles they’d rarely show in Star Trek: the Next Generation, with featuring a
couple of Federation ships and three or four Birds of Prey – impressive for its
time; both exciting and a lot of fun. The experience of playing the Grand
Battles scenarios is like the huge fleet-on-fleet actions from the Dominion War
in Deep Space Nine. It’s essentially the same game you already know and love,
but there is so much more going on. I’m not trying to be flippant (if I was,
I’d compare it to two super-sized Happy Meals). With the extra board real
estate comes more game depth; more Front to have to attack or defend, more
opportunities to exploit, but also more holes in your own lines you need to
watch. Both EPIC and Grand Battles increase the number and the texture of the
decision points that the Commands & Colors system so brilliantly presents
in every single game.
* There were also in the July newsletter hints at a new Commands & Colors game coming sometime in the not-too-far-off future. I have a suspicion regarding what this may refer to, but I don’t want to jinx it, so I’m not saying. We’ll just have to see what comes down the pike. Whatever it is, I’m pretty certain I’ll be ordering a copy.
† When
asked about why this style of unit reference PAC was discontinued, Mr Borg mentioned
that in situ playtesting at conventions showed new players were
depending on these cards – checking them in every instance of movement and combat
– rather than internalising the basic rules for themselves.
