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With the latest ASL game done, Patch and I went for another round of Commands & Colors: Ancients. Since we polished off the last of the Truceless War scenarios last time, and several of the Expansion #1 scenarios were modified in Expansion #6, I thought it’d be good to just start doing the scenarios in historical order. First up: the Battle of Hysiae, 669 BC, from Expansion #6.

This one introduces the hoplite rules, which are just regular medium infantry that can be ordered as if they were mounted units. The bulk of the Argive army is MH, while the Spartans just have regular mediums and one heavy unit. I had the Argives for the first round and never saw an order mounted card all game. In fact my hand was fairly poor all game.

Things started off slow, with the centers stubbornly immobile while the flanks engaged. Patch moved up with two Line Commands, but there was still a two-hex gap between the bulk of the lines. I hit his right flank, and managed to take out a Med for no loss. Patch then Double Timed to engage the rest of the line, and knocked out a Light and a a MH for two Med and two Heavy blocks. I had Inspired Right Leadership to continue the melee, and knocked out his weakened units at the cost of a weakened unit of MH, then the MC chased down the leader who’d been with his heavy and picked him off.

Patch used the Mounted Charge card that I’d really been hoping to have for my hoplites. I cost him three blocks across his two MC, but nearly lost my MC in the process. I used Leadership on Patch’s left, and only caused light damage, but it broke up his line. Patch countered with Order Mounted, and eliminated my weakened MC.

I reformed my center, and Patch used a third Line Command to move his right flank up and picked of another MH. Then followed up with Order Four Right, and nearly took out another. The best I could do was Order Two Left, which picked off a unit, before following up with Order Three Center to pick off a Med for the win. 6-5

That one had gone a bit slow and long, so the second round waited for next week. I had a better hand this time, but it turned out that Patch still had the really good cards.

It took a while to get into contact again, but the first skirmishing was over on the left flank, where I drove his Lights off with some damage. Patch got lucky on an Order Three Right to knock out my MC on that side while it was in the hills.

I used a Line Command to get the opposing lines to one hex away, and drove off his MC. Patch answered with a Mounted Charge that activated the bulk of his hoplites that killed a Med and my Heavies and reduced another Med to one block at a cost of three blocks across two units. I Double Timed to tighten up the line, and took two hits to zero. Patch then used Clash of Shields to activate three units, and knocked out another two units of Med.

A second Double Time closed that gap and picked off his MC and leader, and got a MH, though the leader there survived to evade back to an intact group of three MH. Patch answered with a Order Medium (with command of six…) to finish the game when he picked off a one-block Medium. 3-6

The first game was very even all the way down, and we both didn’t have much of an army left at the end. The second game really went over to Patch fast with two very successful bonus die cards. Both times I tended have have substandard hands, and Patch really got some good cards.