Review: Commands and Colors: Napoleonics

  

  

  

This is the review I never intended to write. I feel a particular fondness for Commands and Colors: Napoleonics (GMT Games, 2010) for several reasons. While it’s not the first of Richard Borg’s Commands and Colors series I ever played – that appellation goes to Commands and Colors: Ancients (GMT Games, 2006) – it is the one game in the family with which I’m most familiar. It was, I think, the first game I bought within a month or two of its release (thank you, Noble Knight Games).

My wife was in hospital for about three-and-a-half months in 2010; in that time Jess’s eldest sister and her husband would have me around on a weekly basis to make sure I was getting at least one home-cooked meal a week, and one night I brought the game along and taught my brother-in-law how to play. The following week we played it again, and the one after that. After a couple of months, T wanted his own set, which saved me from dragging it over each week. That weekly Napoleonics game helped keep me sane while Jess was healing and convalescing. After she came home, we kept up with our weekly game, most weeks at least, and we’ve been doing it since. But in those first few months, this game helped keep body and soul together.

For the first nine or so years, we played C&C: Napoleonics almost exclusively (toward the end of year six we had to get a replacement board from GMT – the fold-hinges start to give out sometime north of 300 games – and about a year later, a new set of stickers because some of the faces had worn off the original dice set). We’d play the scenarios in order from the book twice over consecutive weeks, taking turns as the French. Not long after we’d finished the last scenario and begun replaying them from the beginning, the Spanish Army expansion (GMT Games, 2011) was released, offering a new army to get to know, and a suite of new scenarios to try out.

And this happened for another three nation expansions, roughly a year apart from memory. Each time we were reaching the end of a new army box, another would be released, with a completely new set of scenarios to try, and a new army with its own strengths and foibles to get to know.

While I was writing this review, we played the Quatre-Bras scenario from the core
set at T's house. Note the under-strength Guard Grenadier units on the British Right
flank. In our shared parlance, this is called "doing a Peter," an instance where
one makes a (probably) innocent but personally beneficial mistake.

We played C&C: Napoleonics without interruption for the better part of nine years before I could convince T to try some other different games. These days we play a lot of other games, including many of the other flavours of Commands and Colors, but we still play C&C: Napoleonics probably half a dozen times in a year. We keep coming back to it. I did some calculations a couple of years ago and estimated – conservatively – that We must have played somewhere well north of 450 games together, just of C&C: Napoleonics. We’ve played through all the scenarios in the four Army expansions at least twice, all but two, I think, of the scenarios in Expansion 5: Generals, Marshals and Tacticians (GMT Games, 2015), and about two-thirds of those in Expansion 6: EPIC Napoleonics (GMT Games, 2016). Which brings me to my hereto reluctance to review the game.

After this duration and with my level of familiarity with C&C: Napoleonics, I’ve always felt too close to it to be objective. I wasn’t sure I could trust myself to examine the game through a critical lens, or to not gloss over its shortcomings. What motivated me to write this review was the number of times I’ve heard complaints or condemnations of the game that really just boil down to personal preference or a dislike for a particular mechanic (and if it’s on a forum, Dunning-Kruger sets in if somebody calls them on their grievance not being a legitimate fault with the game, but I digress).

This was my opening hand for the aforementioned Quarte Bras game. A pretty solid
start. Alas, this tends to be the exception rather than the rule, but that, as a player,
is what keeps you on your toes.

Appearance

I’ll start out like I’m talking to someone who has never played a C&C game before, so bear with me. When you open your new box, you are confronted with a huge bag of wooden blocks painted red, navy blue and mission brown, of varying sizes. These are blank. If you’ve read the back of the box, you know about the sticker sheets – each block needs a matching sticker applied to both sides, in matching orientation, before you can start playing the game. Even if you did read the back, the sheer number of these blocks is daunting. You may have grumbled to yourself before about having 400 counters to punch and sort, but this is next level prep, and not for the faint of heart. You’ll find out for yourself just how tricky it can be to get those stickers to apply square to the block-face, without any overhang.

Opening rounds. The majority of cards are discrete section or combination
activation cards like these. The special activation cards usually offer
something a little extra, like +1 die to combat roles (Cavalry Charge,
Fire and Hold), or an additional movement space for that turn
(Bayonet Attack).

(Pro-tip: I use a cheap little Kiwi-Brand knife from the local Vietnamese grocers to gently lift the corner of a sticker that’s gone on crooked, or hanging over an edge, then re-apply it more carefully. Be careful not to cut the sticker itself, as these knives are thin-bladed and pretty sharp out of the box. If it’s done immediately, even if it takes a couple of attempts to get right, you shouldn’t have any problems with the sticker re-adhering. Finger-and-thumb pressure is enough to too get a good bond, but apply some pressure to all the edges to make sure they’re stuck down all round You’re welcome.)

There are two booklets in the box, as well as two Player Aid Cards (PACs) and a couple of Terrain Effects Charts (TECs). The PACSs and TECs are printed on a nice weight cardstock and wear well. You’ll be using both quite a bit for your first few games, at least (I think it took us about four or five games when we began playing before we only needed to check these for things that hadn’t come up yet in the game, but I still go back to them sometimes for the really obscure things, like sand pits). The first booklet is the Rulebook. The C&C Napoleonics rules are clear and well laid out, probably because there’s a legacy of nearly half a dozen other games using essentially the same system to build on. In fact, if you’ve played Memoir ’44 (Days of Wonder, 2004), Battle Cry (Avalon Hill. 1999), or C&C: Ancients, the movement and combat rules and the card-driven actions will seem very familiar. The other booklet contains the scenarios, of which there are fifteen in all.*

The board is a plain, grass-green hex-grid, and the hexes are probably larger than any you’ve seen before. The green makes a welcome change from the limestone-coloured board from C&C: Ancients, but this is your first game, so you probably don’t know that yet. The board is divided into three roughly equal sections by two dashed lines. The divisions are called the Left and Right Flanks and the Center. This distinction of areas will come into play with some of the Command Cards used in the game, which may order units from a particular section. You’ll notice the dashed lines bisect some of the hexes; for the sake of section orders, these hexes can count as either a Center hex or a Flank hex (this will  make more sense when we get to talking more in depth about the Command Cards).

There are several sheets of cardstock, but only a few flag counters on some of them (the Victory Banners for tracking your success in the field), as well as eight Square markers yellow with blue or red borders (we’ll come back to these later as well). The rest are hexagons with hills, forest groves, river segments and towns. These are terrain tiles; these go on the otherwise featureless map to transform it into an approximation of the historical battlefield on which the represented battle was fought. The scenarios each feature a set-up map which tells you where to place the terrain tiles, as well as the placement of the French and Anglo-Allied units.

The French Right make their move. The French are always blue, the British Red. The
Brown blocks normally represent the Portuguese, Britain's ally in the Peninsula, where
most of the scenarios in this set are set. Here the brown blocks represent Coalition
troops from Nassau, Hanover, and the newly independent United Netherlands. 

Play in C&C: Napoleonics is driven by a 70-card Command Card deck**. Players take turns playing a cad from their hand to order their troops to move and/or attack their opponent’s forces. There are two narrow boards, each with four card- and four counter sized silhouettes. These are unique to C&C Napoleonics, and we’ll look at them more closely when we consider how the game is intended to be played.

In the bottom of the box are the six label (sticker) sheets. Not only do all the blocks need to be stickered-up before you can play a game, but in my day, the eight dice that came with the game had recessed faces which each had to have an adhesive label applied to them as well. In the most recent printing, these have been replaced with complete dice with etched and coloured faces. I hear they’re nice.

Play

Once you’ve labelled two entire armies** (and eight dice), punched the terrain tiles, Victory Banners, and Square counters, and availed yourself of the rules, you’ll be ready to embark on your first game. The first couple of scenarios are a good entry to the system, introducing the most common unit types and offering the chance to see how the terrain elements work (hills, woods, a fordable river, and impassable terrain), as well as the concept of map locations that offer victory points to one or both sides.

To someone coming to Commands and Colors from a regular hex-and-counter wargame background, some things might seem to be handled differently. The first thing is the blocks. These represent full-strength units at their capacity (usually four blocks, but there are exceptions, e.g., British Light units have five blocks at full strength (this is something I’ll circle back to later), while the Portuguese Light units only have three blocks, as do all of the Anglo-Allied cavalry). Something else you’ll notice about the blocks, is they present a representative picture – say a soldier or cavalryman – and the name of the type of unit represented, but no values: no Movement Allowance, no Strength Points, no Defensive value. What gives?

All the information regarding the different unit types for each side are listed on the inside of that faction’s Player Aid Card. The number of different unit types and their varying capabilities, strengths and weaknesses can seem daunting, but by the end of your second or third game, you won’t have to refer to the PACs for the more common unit types at least. As a rule of thumb, when engaging in combat, each unit rolls one die for each block. There are exceptions to this. Light units roll an extra die in ranged combat (a distance of two hexes), but one per block in melee (adjacent hexes), while some infantry units (French Line, Guard units) and heavy cavalry roll an additional die in melee.

Crooked tiles and a French Line block on its side (left); two indications that I didn't set 
up this scenario (I'm much more OCD about the tile placement, though I do screw
up the block-placement occasionally). 

The dice are specialised, with the faces exhibiting symbols instead of numbers. The faces are colour-coded, with Infantry (blue, with a soldier silhouette), Cavalry (yellow, with a charging steed), Artillery (red, exhibiting a cannon), crossed sabres, and a flag (these are both white on black backgrounds. When you roll for an attack, you compare your results to the unit you’re attacking, keeping in mind the nature of the attack. At range, the only results that will count are any symbols matching the type of unit you’re attacking, and the flag symbols. The unit- matching faces will result in the elimination of a block, one for each successful die-roll. The flags indicate a retreat, which will force the unit to move back one or more spaces. Sometimes a unit can ignore a flag or two; it the unit has an attached Leader, it can shrug off a retreat result under the officer’s steadying hand. If the target unit has two or more friendly units in neighbouring (adjacent) hexes, they can also ignore a flag. In the case of both, they can ignore two flags, but the roll of a third will push them back regardless.

In melee, things get bloodier. Die-rolls hit for effect on symbols but also on the crossed-sabre rolls, retreats still apply, but are only taken after you apply any hits and find out what’s left of the target unit. If the defending unit survives at least in part, and is not forced to retreat, it can retaliate and counterattack with their remaining unit strength. This is where C&C Napoleonics differs from other flavours of Commands and Colors, where units fight at full-strength regardless of their disposition. But everything is done for a reason in C&C: Napoleonics; the diminishing fighting strength reflects the nature of Napoleonic-era combat with the fighting proficiency of a regiment or squadron being worn down by a combination of exhaustion and demoralisation on top of the casualties sustained. Combat can be chaotic, and success is never assured. A well-planned attack is no guarantee of victory, but playing without any regard for the enemies intentions is a sure path to failure and defeat.

Okay, this was a dice roll form a game we played last year, but I really wanted to put it in.
It was prompted by a First Strike card-play on my part, T attacking a British Line unit with
his French Line (who get and extra die in melee). A roll of four soldiers wiped out his unit,
and he failed the survival check for his attached Leader. Two banner for me! Good times.

Contributing to the battlefield chaos is the activation system. C&C: Napoleonics uses a deck of Command Cards to regulate what each player can do on their turn. Players each have a hand of cards, and play involves the players taking turns to play a card from their hand, performing the actions allowed by the play of that card, then replacing it at the end of their turn with another card from the deck. A given scenario will spell out which side begins the game and the hand-size of each side. The hand-size will often vary, to reflect hampered communications or logistical difficulties inherent in that side’s situation.

Each Command Card allows the player to order a unit or units, based on certain limitations built into the command. Most cards order a unit or units of the player’s choice, but limited to a particular sector, while others will allow one or two units to be activated in each area. Other cards will offer special manoeuvres, like Fire and Hold (standing ranged fire infantry/artillery fire) or Cavalry Charge, each offering an extra die to attack rolls for that activation.

To avoid a possible comprehensive loo of an infantry unit from a cavalry attack, the defending player has the option of having the unit form square. This involves the sacrifice of a random card from your hand (not permanently, only for the duration of your unit being in square), which is placed on one of the spaces on the Form Square panel; the marker token is placed atop or next to the unit that has formed square as a reminder. Forming square reduces the assailant cavalry’s attack to a single die. Plus, it allows the defender single die defending roll before the cavalry attack. While a cavalry unit is adjacent, the infantry unit must remain in-square, but an activation order will allow it to break square again and act normally (breaking square will return the purloined card to your hand).

About six rounds into the game, and I had gained four French banners to T's two British.
We start with our own banners in front of us, and hand them over to the opponent as
they are earned (often with some muttering about lucky rolls).

Victory goes to the side that reaches the quotient of Victory Banners required in the scenario instructions. A Victory Banner is earned with the annihilation of an enemy unit or the killing/capturing of an enemy leader, and in some scenarios, with the taking and holding of particular locations on the board, usually a hill, structure, or town of strategic importance. The first to reach the required Victory Banner quota wins the game, and that won’t necessarily be the active player; a lucky defensive action or two can and has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

Like all good historical games, a lot of research as gone into each scenario. While the battlefield is by necessity an approximation of the distances and topography of the actual landscape, efforts are made to make the situations both realistic and challenging approximations for the players.

Appraisal (and Apologia)

Commands and Colors games are purely tactical in nature. The situations portrayed usually took a few hours at most to be resolved. A Commands and Colors scenario will often play out in a similar amount of time; of all the multitude of C&C Napoleonics games I’ve played, only a handful have gone over the two-hour mark, and these have usually been eighteen or twenty banner EPIC-scale games.

There is a lot of talk about Commands and Colors being a good introductory game for people new to wargaming. I think in some cases, at least,  this is a back-handed compliment, dismissing the system as not being a real wargame. As for the voracity of the statement, I think it might be a good introduction to wargaming if the fresh recruit already has an interest in the Napoleonic era. Pound for pound, I think C&C: Ancients or Memoir’44 might be a better general gateway to wargaming, given the lower rules exceptions overhead.

On the Simulation-Game continuum, all of the Commands and Colors flavours are firmly and unapologetically placed closer to the Game end. C&C: Napoleonics is no exception in this respect, and only the most one-eyed fanboy would try to argue for it to be nudged any further to the left. As I mentioned earlier, the parameters of the game only allow an approximation of a given conflict, lacking the granularity of, say, an Eagles of France or Vive l’Empereur series game. One of the strengths of the Commands and Colors system is that it doesn’t pretend to be more than it is. C&C: Napoleonics offers a fast-playing, dynamic tactical engagement that, remarkably, rewards the use of period battle doctrine.

C&C: Napoleonics has an aggregate rating on Boardgamegeek.com of a touch over 8 out of 10, across over 3,200 submissions. That said, the game has its share of critics. Some criticisms are fair, while others just sound petulant. Some peoples’ issues with the game boil down to the Commands and Colors system simply not meeting their expectations of what a Napoleonic wargame should be. That’s fine; you probably already have a go-to game to scratch your Bonapatean itch. Go play that.

The set-up for a Grande Battles-scale game of Vimiero, from the fifth expansion:
EPIC Napoleonics. A long game (a battlefield 26 hexes across and a duration of
well over two hours),nut not at all unruly to play. Dare to dream.

Mostly people seem to complain about what they perceive to be a lack of player agency; “I never have the cards I need to do what I want,” or, “The cards make it too random.” I think people confuse player agency with personal preference, or simply try to legitimise their personal preferences by giving them a fancy label. It’s okay to not like a game. It’s okay not like a game mechanic, like card-driven games. It’s okay not to like games with blocks (“Some assembly required”). But these things don’t make the game inherently bad or unplayable.

As I’ve already said, everything in a Commands and Colors game is there for a reason. Like in most wargames, both players can see where all the units are and their relative strengths. Like other facets of the game, using a hand of cards to limit your command options is a way to approximate both fog of war, the unreliability of communications between headquarters and individual formations, and the apprehension of some generals to engage the enemy. If you don’t like randomness in your games, there’s always chess.

Block games aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, I can respect that. They are usually hard to play solo – this isn’t an issue using Stuka Joe’s CDG solo system (available in a kit from GMT or as a downloadable print-and-play kit from the product page). The stickering-up of hundreds of blocks (340 in the base game, but less in successive expansions as you’re only labelling one army and some French extras), will take a few hours and it’s done. No mounting and painting of miniatures necessary.^†

I’d be loath to try to pick a favourite game, or even a Top 10. If I did, though, I’m not sure Commands and Colors: Napoleonics would make the short-list. In spite of this, it remains one of my got-to games. There are a couple of reasons for this:

Familiarity. After so many years of near-weekly games, playing is second nature now. It’s like picking up a favourite book again, except the ending it different every time.

Satisfaction. While familiar and – let’s be honest here – not particularly mentally taxing, the game is time and again a very fulfilling experience. Win or lose, the experience of playing the game is almost always a tense one, with a natural ebb and flow of battle developing as the narrative unfolds. Some of my most memorable games have been when both sides are one Banner away from victory, but neither can seem to get over the line, until one finally does. It probably helps that, after this long, T and I are fairly evenly matched (though if asked, he’d say I win all too often).

Brevity. Most of my gaming opportunities come on school nights (this blog’s appellation comes from our informal, oft-quoted Monday-night motto). Knowing that, when set up, nearly any scenario should play out inside of an hour-and--half makes any flavour of Commands and Colors a natural choice for a weeknight.

Hanoverian Line troops take a pounding from the French artillery. Attacking at range is
twice as effective against infantry as other unit types.

Coda

Alas, the Commands and Colors: Napoleonics base set is currently out of print. The fifth printing was always meant to be a stop-gap measure for people who wanted to get the individual boxes (the national army expansions have now all been through reprints recently, and the Russian Army (GMT Games, 2013), Austrian Army (GMT Games, 2013), and Prussian Army (GMT Games, 2014) expansions are now also out of print).

The good news is that out-of-print does not mean forever. Publisher Gene Billingsley has alluded to re-packaging the series into two or three big-box editions, in much the same way that Combat Commander: Europe (GMT Games, 2006) and the Mediterranean (GMT Games 2007) expansion have been combined for pre-order on GMT’s P500 list. Commands and Colors: Napoleonics may not be my absolute favourite game (all contrary evidence aside), but it definitely deserves to be in print for a good while yet.

 

Final turn of our Quatre Bras game. Coalition win, 9-4.

* Fifteen scenarios isn’t a bad count – that’s thirty games if you and your buddy take turns as the French just once through (and who doesn’t want to play the French sometimes?) but some of the expansions come with twenty or more. And then there is C&C.net (www.commandsandcolors.net/), a repository for fan-constructed scenarios that cover battles not portrayed in the official scenarios, and sometimes even revisit those that are featured in a sort of, “But have you considered this?” manner. And it covers all the historical flavours of Commands and Colors (as well as Red Alert (PSC Games, 2019)) Well worth a visit.

** A new, expanded 90-card Command Card deck comes with the fifth expansion, Generals, Marshals & Tacticians (GMT Games, 2015).

*** Okay, this was written for effect. To be honest, I don’t mind stickering up C&C blocks, and at least four or five other people in the Commands and Colors Fans group on Facebook have declared they find the process “relaxing”, “meditative”, or even “therapeutic”.

† I’ve always through of the blocks in Commands and Colors games as the poor man’s minis. In truth, the plastic miniatures in Battle Cry and Memoir ’44 always put me off trying the game. But this doesn’t stop hard-core tin-pushers from co-opting the C&C: Napoleonics rules for their miniatures games, as a scroll through the Commands and Colors Fans group on Facebook will demonstrate. Now that I’ve played maybe half a dozen different Napoleonics minis rules-sets, I think I can say that the C&C would work at least as well as or better than several of them.