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After finishing up our latest ASL game, Patch and I spend a couple weeks with our usual between-games round of Commands & Colors: Ancients. This time was the Battle of Paraitacene from Expansion #1. Both sides have a core of Heavy Infantry, and Eumenes has plenty of supporting infantry (and the Silver Shields), a little cavalry and two Dlephants, while Antigonus has only one Dlephant, and a decent cavalry force. A few hill hexes are impassible, constricting one flank, and both sides are at 5 Command with Eumenes going first in a long (7 banner) battle.

Patch led off with getting a couple units up, while I Ordered Lights to get into archery range, and did one block to an Elephant. Patch Out-Flanked to move forward, and did a ranged banner to my Elephant, who didn’t damage the one adjacent unit before retreating. Move-Fire-Move let me position a little better, did a block to a Light, and drove off his LC and forced an Elephant out of his line (two banners), who did a block to the Silver Shields.

Patch engaged with an Order Four Left to do a block to a Light, drive off an Aux, and three blocks to another Aux. Battle back did a block and banner to his Elephants, who did a block to his MC before leaving. I used I Am Spartacus to order a Light, Aux and and MC on my right, and a Medium and LBC on my left, driving the Elephant back two hexes, doing a block to a Light, and drove off his MC after a failed First Strike. Patch Ordered Lights to drive off my MC, and lost a block on his LC. I Ordered Three Right to bring up heavier units, while Patch used Coordinated Attack to knock out my weak Aux and do a block to my LBC.

Line Command finally shifted my center away from the baseline, and I knocked out a LC and did two blocks to a Light. Patch Ordered Two Left to move out his Light, and pick on my Aux, who took two hits and eliminated his MC. A second Line Command let a Heavy engage, doing a block and three banners to an Aux, while also forcing the wounded Light to evade. Patch Ordered Mounted to do a block to a LC, and his Elephant did one block to my Heavy (!), while the battle back got it. Leadership Any Section, followed by Mounted Charge, moved my right up and finished off his wounded light, then wiped out an Aux (forcing a leader to evade off-board), while my Elephant wiped out a Medium, and did three hits on a Heavy on momentum, but was eliminated on battle-back.

Double Time let Patch protect his wounded Heavy and get the Silver Shields into action, who promptly eliminated a Medium. I Counter Attacked to bring my Heavies into contact, and eliminate the Silver Shields in two attacks, after they nearly wiped out another Medium. 7-3

My opening was nearly identical to Patch’s, while he Ordered Three Left to hit my flank with cavalry, and shift his leader from a LC to a Medium, and did a block to my Elephants. Order Three Center got me into archery range, and I did a block to his LBC. Patch moved up with Order Lights and drove off one of my Lights, and did a banner to my Elephants, who did a block to my LBC on rampage. Inspired Left Leadership got that flank in motion, with everyone protecting my Elephant there, and I drove off his with a banner. Patch advanced with Order Four Right, eliminating a Light for one block. Order Lights drove off one of his LC and did a block to an Aux, while Patch Darkened the Sky to do a hit each on two Lights and a MC, and did a banner to the Elephants (who did another block to my MC before retreating). I Out Flanked to pull back and re-form that line while driving off a LBC, and force a LC to retreat (losing a block at the baseline).

Patch Coordinated Attack to bring up another LC who forced a skirmishing Light back (losing a block when his retreat was blocked). Line Command got most of my army forward, and I drove the LC back to the baseline, as well as a hit to an Aux. Patch Ordered Lights, and that LC charged my flank to be sent back to the baseline on a banner again, while he caused a block by another blocked retreat of one of my Lights. I reworked my center, and Patch Ordered Mediums to finish off a Light.

I Ordered Heavies and the Silver Shields drove off a Med with two losses, and my Elephant finished off an Aux and then completely muffed a momentum attack on a Heavy (two banners, and he could ignore both); the Elephant only took a banner, and did nothing in four rampage attacks. Patch then Ordered Heavies to infiltrate my broken up flank, and his HC did a block to an Aux, forcing it to retreat, and advanced to take on my weak MC who First Striked for two blocks before he killed it. His Elephant did nothing to mine, and I Ordered Two Left to move my leader (from the MC) to my Aux who forced the HC to evade away.

Double Time got most of his Heavies in play, and he knocked out one of mine and did two to another and a block to a Medium, but he lost a Heavy in return as well as two hits to another. Clash of Shields ordered four units, and I did a block to a Light, two blocks to a Heavy (also forced to retreat), and my Elephant finished off his HC, but was killed during Momentum, as well, my LC took two hits while trying to attack his Elephant. Line Command moved him up, and I lost a block on a Medium on another blocked retreat, but they finished off his Heavy; an Aux did a block to the same unit, who then did three back and forced him to retreat. He also did two blocks to the Silver Shields, who did one back and forced a retreat.

Line Command brought me center back into contact with his, and ranged brought a Medium down to a block. I did a block to an evading Light (which also got his leader out of range), I then finished off a two-block Heavy and his one-block Medium. 7-5

Afterword

It’s an interesting battle, as both sides have Heavy Infantry and Elephants, but the rest is fairly different. It’s certainly one of the better, and more even battles, but between seven banners, and the fact that both armies start fairly close to their baselines, it will take longer than normal.

Patch had very poor cards the first game and couldn’t really use his center and right. In the second game, I started with First Strike and Clash of Shields, which while nice, meant I was playing with a three-card hand for the first several turns until they could become useful. I made decent use of what I had, but I couldn’t put together anything coherent at first.