Review: Commands and Colors: Medieval

 

 

Commands and Colors: Medieval (GMT Games, 2019) seems to be regarded by some as the red-headed step-child of the Commands and Colors family. It was the only C&C version that met with open (and loud) hostility from some quarters when it first arrived on the scene. I want to say up front, I am not, and have never been, in that camp. 

Everyone has their own opinion of the Commands and Colors system, but nobody can deny it’s been popular (and I’d argue, ultimately good for the health of the wargaming hobby overall, but that’s a conversation for another post). Commands and Colors: Ancients (GMT Games, 2006) and Commands and Colors: Napoleonics (GMT Games, 2010) have sold out of their seventh and fifth printings respectively, and demand is still high.  C&C: Medieval is on its second printing, and at time of writing is still available from the publisher.

Set-up for the Petra Mountains Passes (Lazic War, 548 AD) scenario.

A number of years ago, before the publication of C&C: Medieval, there was a short note in GMT’s monthly newsletter penned by Richard Borg, C&C’s designer and godfather of system’s development into new subject areas, from Memoir ’44 (Days of Wonder, 2004) to Commands and Colors Tricorne: Highland Uprising (Compass Games, 2020). Here Mr Borg spent a paragraph of two on the projection for C&C: Medieval, which at the time, had either just been added to the P500 list or was added in the following month or so. At that time, Borg stated the intention of his development cohort was for C&C Medieval to cover the entire medieval period, from the dissolution of the Roman Empire to roughly the mid-fourteenth century, in broadly chronological order, beginning with the Eastern Roman Empire, and working up form there. The middle-ages cover a period of over a thousand years, beginning around 300AD (though some would argue for the Sack of Rome in 410 being a good marker) through to about 1500 and the birth of the Early Modern period.

There was some kickback about the choice of tackling the period chronologically, but since the game’s initial release five years ago, Commands and Colors: Medieval has received over 600 BGG ratings for an average of 8.2 out of 10 (I’m always wary of BGG numbers, but in terms of wargame-scale, 600 seems like a good sample size). For context, Command and Colors: Napoleonics rates and average 8.0 over nearly 3,300 ratings. With the impending release of C&C : Medieval's first Expansion set, The Crusades (GMT Games, ~2024 - at time of writing still available for pre-order on GMT''s P500 list), I thought this seemingly under-loved game deserved a second look.

A green and pleasant board. The vertical lines you can see are panel folds, not the
sector demarcation lines, which are dashed (each sector is roughly 4 hexes wide). 

 

Appearance

Command and Colors: Medieval has everything you’ve come to expect from a Commands and Colors game; lots of blocks (purple for the Late Romans/Byzantines and their allies, and a sandy colour for their enemies, usually Persian Sassanids in this the base set scenarios, but sometimes their hereto allies), sheets of stickers to go on the blocks, in this instance a combined Rules and Scenarios booklet, and some very nice laser printed dice (no more arduous placing of die-face stickers in the recesses of the old dice of Ancients and Napoleonics (we’d played so many games with my brother-in-law’s set of C&C: Napoleonics, I had to write to GMT and ask if they sold extra sticker sets to replace the faces of the then illegible dice (if you ever find yourself in the same situation, they usually do)). The blocks are of the same proportions used in other flavours of Commands and Colors, so nothing new to report there. The illustrations for the units on both sides are off the usual high-standard.

Unit types in C&C: Medieval. the purple are the Romans/Byzantines. while
the sand-coloured blocks are the enemies of the Romans/Byzantines.

The board is mounted, the background a grass-coloured green that sets off the block colours nicely, and presents the terrain tiles well. For those unfamiliar with the series, the board is essentially a featureless play area of indeterminate scale, superimposed with a hex-grid thirteen hexes wide and nine deep. The hexes are large as to accommodate a unit starting with four blocks (the blocks equate to hit points, and each successful hit against the unit will remove a block, but like C&C: Ancients and others, the unit operates at full strength until vanquished).

Geographical features, like forests, hills and rivers are represented by cardstock terrain tiles that ae placed on the board per the set-up map for that scenario (unlike most other Commands and Colors games, the scenarios for C&C: Medieval don’t appear in a separate booklet, but are incorporated into the rulebook. I like the illustrations on the terrain tiles as well. The tiles are produced on a good weight of cardstock (something that has varied from product to product in the Commands and Colors production queue but has definitely stabilised in the last six of seven years.

Reduced Sassanid medium cavalry holding the high ground. The hill rules are different
in C&C: Medieval, reflecting the evolved style of fighting and concentration on cavalry
as the primary offensive unit. No unit can roll more than two dice fighting up-
 or down-hill, or from hill to hill. 

The game also comes with two pairs of Player Aid Cards. Two present the units types and gives a rundown of their various strengths and limitations, particularly in relation to other units. The other two are duplicate cards presenting two sets of special orders that can be applied to a unit I some situations by spending an Inspired Leader token. I’ll go into a little more detail about these below.

All in all, the production on the game is very good, with an overall feel that manages to hark back to its sibling games from GMT, but also to carve out its own identity. If I could change one thing about the package, it would have been to keep the rules and scenarios in separate booklets, but that’s a fairly minor quibble.

Typical scenario set-up map, showing the positions of terrain tiles and both side's units.
A scenario will also offer a brief historical context for the battle, information for the
players (, i.e., hand size, who starts), and any additional rules peculiar to that
situation (such as fordable rivers or VP locations).

Play

If you’ve never played any Commands and Colors games before, here’s the Cliff’s Notes version. Commands and Colors: Medieval is a card-driven, tactical level wargame that uses blocks instead of counters to denote units of differing strengths and capabilities on a board divided into three sectors, Center and Left and Right Flank (relative to the player). Each side has a hand of cards with varying orders that can be played. The orders may allow the activation for movement and combat of one or more of units in a certain sector, or across sectors, or those close to a Leader, or anywhere on the board, so long as it matches the type (designated chape/colour).

Each unit can move and fight or just fight if adjacent to or in range of an enemy unit, If the target unit is adjacent, they’ll probably have a chance to fight back, which adds to the tension. The game is one by the side that accumulate the required number of victory points (marked in the game by the physical handing over of a Victory Banner chit to the opposing player); the scenario will specify the number of Banners required, but it’s usually between five and nine. This is handy if you have less time to devote to a game; you can choose a scenario with a lower banner-count. Banners are earned by vanquishing enemy units and leaders from the field, and sometimes meeting terrain or action objectives. First across the line wins.

From Top: Victory Banners (Sassanid in sand/ochre and Byzantine in
Purple/Gold). Bow markers for Cavalry (front and reverse). and an
Inspired Leadership token - in a scenario you'll start with two or more
of these and have a chance during the game to earn more
through card play.

The thing I’d heard people complain most about regarding the Commands and Colors system is how they can’t just do what they want when they want to do it like they can in other games (which leads me to ask what are these other games they’ve been playing that have no restrictions on a side’s actions), or they complain they never have the right cards for the strategy they want to pursue. To me, this is the game’s strength. Humans are predisposed to optimisation, achieving a goal with the least amount of effort. It’s what has led to most technological innovation. Sometimes people forget it’s the complications that make play so enjoyable. The card-order system in C&C games is meant to reflect the imperfect knowledge of the battlefield that any commander will have (fog of war), but it also there to provide complications to hinder the players efforts, forcing them to find ways to make do and to play, literally, the hand they’re dealt. Commands and Colors is often painted as a beginner’s game, or an entryway into the hobby, but I don’t think some folks give it enough credit as a proving ground for developing improvisational tactical skills in a dynamic, fluid environment.

If you’re familiar with Commands and Colors: Ancients, a lot of C&C Medieval will look and feel familiar. The same grades of Light, Medium, and Heavy troops and cavalry are present, with matching colour/shape markers to the earlier game, along with the white bordered Auxilia (light) and Warrior (medium) units. But there’s also another class on the block; the Super Heavy Cavalry (white bordered Red (Heavy) square marking). These function in much the same way as Heavy Cavalry, except they can ignore more melee (swords) damage than Heavy Cavalry, and in on a Cavalry Charge order, they roll with two extras dice instead of a single. They are still susceptible to Red Square rolls though, like any heavy unit; they are devastating, but mortal.

Inspired Action Reference Sheets. Just the edge you may need.

The main innovation to the game is the introduction of special orders for leaders. With the play of a Leadership order, the leader can give a special order or advantage in combat to a unit activated by the current order from a suite of options presented on the Inspired Action Army Reference Sheet (a double sided PAC, with Byzantine team orders on one side, with the Sassanid team’s set on the reverse’ not that some scenarios will require both players to use the Roman side, when the battle involves hereto allies of the crumbling empire), by spending an Inspired leadership token (the scenario notes will spell out how many of these each side begins with, and there are opportunities to gain more through card play during the game. The player is usually limited to spending just one in a given turn, but they can be spent to, say relocate a leader at the end of a players turn, or to add a die to a Close Combat or Battling Back roll. To be honest, I’m still getting used to this aspect of the game, and I don’t think I’ve ever made the best use I could of the Inspired Actions available in a single game yet. There’s always more to learn.

Bow markers. In the fifth century, apparently everybody wanted to be Legolas.

A game of C&C: Medieval will play out similarly to a C&C: Ancients game because the basic framework is so similar – the latter is the closest genetic match to the former. But it’s in no way a duplicate experience. There are different dynamics at play, such as the possibility of all cavalry on one side doubling as mounted archers; from around the Fifth Century, it was much more common for progressively heavier cavalry to carry bows as well as their melee arsenal into battle. Rather than duplicate forces (making the se both much heavier and more expensive), markers are included to define whether a cavalry unit is armed with bows or not. The scenario’s special rules will tell you if any cavalry units on either or both sides need to be treated thus. The cavalry bow capabilities are all treated the same – range of two hexes and two dice for stationary fire or a single die for moving, but I’ve played plenty of C&C games of all stripes when a single die could or has made a significant difference.

 

Appraisal

The full gamut of Medieval history (and arguably pre-Classical Ancient history) have been overshadowed in the wargamer public’s collective imagination by the sheer weight of games devoted to the much more sexy Classical antiquity (from Alexander through late Roman Imperialism), the same way the Napolenic wars tend to over-shadow the martial achievements of Marlborough, Gustav Adolph or Wallenstein. I studied mostly the Early Modern period at university, though I’ve tried to make up for that in my current reading. My point is this is all new to me. Each scenario or battle sequence (like the Lazic War, represented by five battles stretching over eight years) in C&C: Medieval is an education. Wargames in general tend to be the beginning of learning for me; I’ll play a game or a scenario, read the historical precis of the situation, get beaten (whether playing the historical losers or not), and go away to read at lease a Wikipedia page on the battle or its political and social context.

When two sides go to war (it can make for a diverting evening).

But exposure to history isn’t the only reason I enjoy C&C: Medieval. It’s also a lot of fun. This it has in common with all the Commands and Colors games I’ve played. I get it’s not for everyone, and that’s okay, neither is Country & Western music. The C&C family is planted firmly nearer the Play end of the Play/Simulation continuum, and it won’t scratch some folks’ itch for realism in a game. Play in any C&C game is swift and dynamic (well, once you’re accustomed to the way the cards, the units and the terrain interact, but it’s not a particularly steep learning curve either). Commands and Colors games tend to be both fast and good games, and there is an obvious need and desire for games like that in the wargaming space. Some scenarios seem weighted in favour of one or the other side, and that’s okay, as the historical situation depicted probably also tilted to one faction’s benefit. But the satisfaction of winning a game despite such hobbling is a sweet nectar form which to sup. As I’ve said in the past, if you really want balance, stick to chess.

Mid-way through the Petra Mountains Passes scenario. The Byzantines got the worst
of it that day (as evidenced by the purple pennants held by the Sassanids).

Commands and Colors: Medieval isn’t simply a different flavour of C&C, any more than any of the other iterations are. They all use a shared language, but each one is in a different dialect, And C&C Medieval is no exception. While the job is still to remove enemy units from the board (as with every other C&C game), subtle and not-so subtle differences make Medieval a different kind of challenge.