Command and Colors System: Comparative Review of BattleLore, Memoir ’44 and C&C:Ancients
Introduction
Before I begin, I must state my bias. I am a fanboy. I greatly enjoy <PERSON> system, and I have enthusiastically taught a number of individuals all three games, which all parties have greatly enjoyed.
I would have loved to include Battle Cry in this comparative review. But as it is OOP, I haven’t been able to get myself a copy to play enough games to do it justice.
My logged plays for the three systems are currently, which are the minimum number of plays for each game (as I sometimes forget to log!):
BattleLore: 13
Memoir '44: 24
Commands & Colors: Ancients: 9
A short description of the Command and Colors System can be found in the wiki at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Command_and_Colors_Sy...
Availability
Both BattleLore and Memoir '44 are readily available at most online and local game stores. These are both published by Days of Wonder and consequently are quite easy to find.
Commands & Colors: Ancients is published by GMT Games and is therefore only available at selected game stores. It can also be found at the GMT Website. Commands & Colors: Ancients is now in it’s Second Edition, and this comparative review has been completed using this Second Edition.
Review:
As I often do, I’m actually going to start with Componants, as this is the first thing you get exposed to.
Components:
Overview
As mentioned, being published by Days of Wonder, both BattleLore and Memoir '44 have exceptional component quality. The board is thick, the dice are wooden, the figures are plastic and the cards and counters are made of good stock.
Commands & Colors: Ancients, being a GMT product, has wooden blocks, board is made from cardboard, dice are plastic and the cards are of good stock.
Board
BattleLore – The Board is thick, solid and double-sided. The reverse side is made specifically for “epic” (double-sized) battles.
Memoir '44 – The Board is thick, solid and double-sided. The reverse side is used for beach scenarios.
Commands & Colors: Ancients – Many have griped that Commands & Colors: Ancients board is too thin, is hard to get flat and requires plexiglass to use. Personally, being the owner of plexiglass, I do not have a problem with this anymore. But I do admit that this is a legitimate gripe, as my first couple games without plexiglass was prone to sliding blocks.
Best to Worst: Memoir '44 – BattleLore - Commands & Colors: Ancients
Figures
BattleLore – Nicely detailed and moulded plastic. There are also many different moulds for light, medium and heavy infantry, different cavalry, goblins, dwarves, archers, monsters etc. 299
Each piece has a flag holder, whereby the appropriate plastic banner is attached to show which side the unit belongs to. This leads to the first gripe against BattleLore which is the generic and numerous pieces. BattleLore can take a while to set-up in the attempt to find all the correct figures and a storage solution like the below is highly recommended.
Also, being used for both sides, all the pieces are a dull grey. For those with time and painting skills, this creates a blank canvas for some wonderful work, but for the majority of us, simply makes the figures seem a bit dull and generic.
The second gripe against the BattleLore figures is that many of the figures are a bit ‘bent’. A guide for fixing these is dropping them in nearly boiling water then shocking them in ice water. url has been kindly supplied by <PERSON> here: http://blog.battlelore.com/bent/en/
Memoir '44 – Nicely detailed and moulded plastic. Memoir '44 figures come in two different colours and the different sides have different moulds. This gives each side it’s unique look, which again has been improved by meticulous painters. Because there are only a few different moulds per side, set-up is quite quick.
The one gripe is again that some of the guns are bent, particularly on the artillery and tanks. This can apparently be remedied following the guide above.
Commands & Colors: Ancients – Wood blocks. I love the feel of the wood blocks. The stickers have great artwork as well. You will need to spend a few hours putting all the stickers on though, which is a negative. Have I mentioned they are wood? On the negative, you will need a storage solution such as below to make set-up proceed smoothly. 581