Commands & Colors: Ancients

About this board game

Commands & Colors: Ancients is a two-player historical wargame with a 60-minute play time, depicting warfare from 3000 BC to 400 AD. Its scenarios portray stylized battles while focusing on important terrain features and historically scaled force deployments.

The game includes 15 battles in its scenario booklet, including Bagradas, Cannae, and Zama. The scale changes from battle to battle: an infantry unit might represent a legion of fighters in one scenario and only a few warriors in another.

At the heart of the system is a command card mechanism that drives movement, creates a true fog of war, and presents both challenges and opportunities. Players must make strategic decisions while adapting their plans to the strengths and limitations of different units, weapons, terrain, and historical periods.

• Leadership cards
• Section cards
• Troop cards
• Tactic cards

Combat is resolved efficiently with battle dice. Each die features one Light, Medium, Heavy, Leader, Flag, and Swords symbol, providing a straightforward way to settle engagements.

Compared with Battle Cry, Commands & Colors: Ancients offers moderate additional complexity and historical detail without battlefield clutter. Its mechanics remain simple to use, but victory depends on well-timed card play, historical tactics, fortunate dice rolls, and an aggressive yet flexible battle plan.