BattleLore Discussion

[Grungebob]

That's alot of scenarios!!

[RichardD]

I've played all the officially released Command and Colours games so far.

Battle Cry was the first. Good when there was nothing else available, it has the simplest rules. A touch too simple; everything feels a bit bland. And the command deck was seriously unbalanced. For that reason, I'd hesitate before recommending it.

Command and Colours:Ancients is the most recent (at least until Battlelore arrives). It's complicated, and deep. The wooden blocks instead of plastic figures work very well - they're easier to move, and give the impression of being more troops than a couple of plastic men manage. The game is *almost* a bona fide wargame, but betrays its boardgame origins from time to time. There are lots of different troop types, you have to think about using the right ones for each job, and there are lots of little rules to remember to give each unit the right sort of abilities. The complexity means that I wouldn't recomend it to a casual player. I already have the first and second expansions on order, although I'm debating the wisdom of that move with Battlelore on the horizon. Ancients is *my* favourite in the series, but it's probably not the best for most people.

Memoir '44 is just a little bit more complex than Battle Cry, although the units still feel a bit generic. The deck is much better balanced, and more nicely presented, than BC; in fact the whole game looks nicer than Ancients. It's also very easy to play. The various expansions have added a lot of options, but it remains pretty simple. The World War 2 theme works well for most people - when you drop in at Pegasus Bridge, you have bits of The Longest Day playing through your mind as you roll the dice - a good sign. Ultimately it leaves me feeling a little flat, though, because the units are still quite bland, and the scale really doesn't work well for me. Ancients pretty much rewards historical use of the various troop types and formations; Memoir feels like you can have unconnected units just bombing around as suits the cards you're drawing. I'd recommend it over the other two, though, unless you knew that you'd be able to handle - and would enjoy - the complications of Ancients.

Battlelore looks like Borg has tried to find a happy medium between Ancients and Memoir; I don't know where it leaves his Medieval version, as the Days Of Wonder interview mentions Battlelore being set in that sort of time period. Fingers crossed that it will be the best yet - I can see some similarities with Ancients in the different troop types, but there are less of them and they've promised that no reference sheet will be required, so it shouldn't be as complicated.

[Logrey]

Keep an eye on the official site:
http://www.battlelore.com

It's only been up for a few days but they're pumping some nice content onto it. Today had some new miniatures pictures and an explanation of the banner system.

[netherspirit]

If I can ever get the official page to load...I will check it out.

I have been trying for days and no dice.

[Logrey]

And since I'm in a link posting mood tonight - here's an interview with Days of Wonder:

http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/9292.html

And the first Battlelore fan site:

http://www.battleloremaster.com

(nether - that battleloremaster site copies the info from the official site, so you can check it out there if you're having problems)

[aaron444]

That’s a real good interview on icv2. The one thing I just can’t get my head around is that Hautemont says “…you will have 200 miniatures on your side…” during play. In the comments on the official blog, it has been confirmed that the board and hexs are the same as Memoir ’44. I own Memoir ’44, I don’t see how one can utilize 200 figs per side on that size board, or even a board twice the size. There must be a lot of scaling in the scenarios. I’m assuming that Hautemont really means that there are scenarios that are written utilizing multiple boards (which he does allude to later in the interview) that result in a player controlling 200+ units.

It looks like multiple copies of the base game are going to be quite useful, just like with Heroscape. It’d be nice if they would sell just the board. At $50 a pop online for the base game, that’s going to hurt. Any DoW two for one sales next year?

[Su-Bak-Na]

Sound like a good game but i don't have enough time to paint 210, small minitures. Plus the price tag looks a little large.

[netherspirit]

Originally Posted by Su-Bak-Na

Sound like a good game but i don't have enough time to paint 210, small minitures. Plus the price tag looks a little large.

You don't have to paint them. They will look fine without it.

[Kenntak]

I really like Commands and Colors: Ancients and Memoir '44. Days of Wonder really produces some high quality games, and I am sure BattleLore will be no exception.

In the interview, Eric of Days of Wonder described what he sees as the differences between BattleLore and Heroscape. He indicated that BattleLore is more of a mass combat game, while Heroscape is essentially a squad level game. Thus, you can play and enjoy both!

I am looking forward to BattleLore's release in November.

[skyknight]

I was just going to pass this by when I noticed Kenntak had posted, What's up my main Shizniggle???

[Kenntak]

Hey Skyknight, I understand from your other thread that things are going well with you. That's nice to hear.

[Grungebob]

Originally Posted by skyknight

I was just going to pass this by when I noticed Kenntak had posted, What's up my main Shizniggle???

Kenntak only pops in to discuss C&C or BattleLore now.