Hi guys, it's time for another 5 new scenarios from Jim Duncan.

Hi guys,

now CCAncients.net website fully supports HexBattle Scenario Designer (developed by Derek Hohls).

You can find the Quick Start Guide HERE.

You can also receive support in the Forum, just ask if you need help!

DOWNLOAD HERE.

Recently Bill Bennet posted an incredible new module about C&CAncients EPIC, to play online using VassalEngine.

And now you can finally play it with a fully functional Italian Cardset!!! (you will see Italian cards and other players will see original English cards)

You can download it here: C&CAncients_EPIC_ITA .

Commands & Colors: Ancients online EPIC game experience will be easier for "Italian Wargamers".

Hi guys,

recently Jim Duncan reviewed some of his "old scenarios" about Mauryan Empire.

...when looking afresh at the Mauryan battles I made changes to all of the battles, some of them quite substantial... I also took the opportunity to update the historical backgrounds with the full text from the GBOH module. I was also hoping that the scenario special rules/notes could be presented separately as with the Jewish battles...

Finally I've updated all of them as noted by the author.

Click Here to see these battles, and a big "Thank You" to Jim for the update.

Recently Bill Bennet posted an incredible new module about C&CAncients EPIC, to play online using VassalEngine.

You can download it here: C&CAncients_EPIC .

Thank you Bill for your great work! Commands & Colors: Ancients online EPIC game experience is finally "real" with your new Vassal module!!!

I've also updated all Official scenarios about Epic Ancients II.

HAPPY NEW 2010

Just published 5 new maps taken from C3i Magazines #21 and #22.

Recently Jim Duncan posted loads of new scenarios so I've decided to create a new CCA Vassal Module Extension to group them all and easily get them played online.

Here you can find his full module list:

• UserMaps JD01-JD20 (v3)
• UserMaps JD21-JD40 (v3)
• UserMaps JD41-JD60 (v3)
• UserMaps JD61-JD82 (v3)

Unzip the files into an extension folder named for the v3.2 module, as appropriate to your system (i.e. subdir "C&CAncientsv3_ext").

Thank you Jim for your hard work!

Hi guys, this time Jim Duncan surprised us with 8 new maps that can even be played as a campaign: Judas Maccabaeus.
You can read some scenario notes here.

Moreover with these maps we have broken 4 hundreds scenario limit: our scenario archive now counts 405 MAPS!!!!!

On left menu under "Rules" you will find "Expansion 4" with full details about:

• New Unit Type
• New Game Mechanics
• New Special Rules
• New Terrain Hexes

Moreover you will also find a complete scenario list HERE.

Many thanks to GMT Games LLC and to Mr Tony Curtis (GMT Games LLC manager) for granting permission to publish all these materials.

An online tournament using the Vassal C&C Ancients module.

The Game:

Commands & Colors Ancients is a board game designed by Richard Borg and published by GMT Games (http://www.gmtgames.com/), which allows you to re-fight epic battles of the ancient world.

The Vassal Game Engine:

Vassal (http://www.vassalengine.org/) is a free software utility that allows you to play board games in real time over the internet. A module for playing C&CA is available from the Files section of its webpage on the Vassal website.

The Tournament:

The tournament is hosted on the C&CA Vassal Players Yahoo group (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/ccavassal/). It features two phases of play. In the first phase, players will be organized into a Swiss system draw for match play (playing both sides of a scenario against their assigned opponent in each round). In the second phase, the top eight players will be seeded in a single-elimination quarterfinals bracket to determine the ultimate champion. The full rules for the tournament can be found in the Files section of the Yahoo group.
To sign up for the tournament, you will need to join the C&CA Vassal Players group and go to the Database section where you will enter your information in a tournament player database.
Registration is open until October 25, 2009.

Recently Bill Bennet posted on CCAvassal Yahoo Group! some news the new version (v 3.2) of famous C&CAncients module to play online using VassalEngine.

Extension files fully compatible with version 3.2 of the C&C Ancient module are also available.  In order to simplify downloading, you will find them assembled into a single archive file, named "CCAv3_ExtensionPack.zip".

Unzip the file into an extension folder named for the v3.2 module, as appropriate to your system (i.e. "C&CAncientsv3_ext").

You should find all extension files contained in the archive file:

• Expansion1.mdx
• Expansion2.mdx
• Expansion3.mdx
• Expansion4.mdx
• RandomScenario.mdx
• ScenarioX.mdx

You can download it here: CCAncients_V3 and also Extensions.
If you are searching for the "Italian Cards"... I'm working on it! Stay tuned.

Thank you Bill for your great work! Commands & Colors: Ancients online game experience is even better with your new Vassal module!!!

Just published 5 new maps by Jim Duncan.

Just published 4 new maps by Jim Duncan!

Aaron Bell (a.k.a. bestbandis on BGG) is back, publishing his hexless variant for Commands & Colors: Ancients!!!

This is pretty much a straight conversion from the board game to a hexless, tabletop version. Use the normal unit stats and rules as written unless there is anything here that supersedes them.
These rules are intended to keep the flexibility of the boardgame while making it look and play a little more like a classic tabletop rule set.
For play you will need appropriate figures based on DBx-standard elements. Units should be four elements in double-line if foot, three elements in wedge formation if cavalry, and two elements side by side if elephants, chariots or war-machines. Elements are not removed as casualties. Use markers to keep track of losses.

For easier reference, HEXLESS VARIANT RULES has been added to "Variants Menu" on the left (CLICK HERE).

In Download Area you will also find the original PDF by the author (CLICK HERE).

In these days Miguel worked a lot on a restyle for his MM01 Thermopylae map.

Here you can find his work report:

I have been working on a new Thermopylae (once more!!!)... It was after the remarks of Bevan on BGG on my Thermopylae scenario, and having a closer look I realised that I didn't like it...

The other two ones, from Joe (X18) and Don (A10), treat the fighting on the wall in a too small scale to my taste, and the flanking around the mountains distracts from the battle itself. I made mine with the wall diagonal because I was afraid of doing a too big scale, with the wall going along the whole board. But then the retreat paths were awkward, the fighting was left-to-right, and the flanking force, though treated as the official ambushes, sometimes arrived too far from the Greeks.

I made some tries, solo, with my brother, and sending some tests to Bevan, who tried it with his group and sent feedback! I have kept the starting cards, but left out the deck "clock", removing 20 cards was complicated (specially in VASSAL!), I wanted only a few special rules but that gave the right flavour to the battle.

The ambush is now very effective; "300 Spartans vs 100 Nations" centers the fight around the Spartan HI, gives a better chance to the Persian, gives more importance to "Rally", and conveys the overwhelming Persian numbers without filling up the starting board. "Go Tell" introduces interesting choices at the beginning of each Greek turn. And no more elephants, Bevan thought that that was too "300 the movie" and that it introduced a too random element in the fight!

Mr. John Foley (Author of the very first official website dedicated to CCAncients - http://www.thewargamer.com/ccancients) recently contacted me to congratulate about the website and, after my request to publicly quote his comment he elegantly replied:

“You are free to post my comments - I did not write them to call any attention to myself - you deserve the highest praise for such a beautiful and useful resource. Thank you and my very best wishes, John“

You deserve much more than this, John.

“I have been so busy designing and developing other games that I have been out of touch with this beautiful game, C&C Ancients.
Your web site is magnificent.
Thank you for using any of my previous materials and classifications and pulling them together in this simply SUPERB resource.
Bravo, bravissimo!
John Foley“

I want to THANK YOU, because your meticulous work gave me the impetus to start this adventure.

Thewargamer.com is the First Attack, CCAncients.net the Momentum Advance.

I've recently seen the sticker art for the purple Roman army and wanted to report a "nice touch" that is being included... if players do own the rest of the system (likely most purchasers) and want to do a side shuffle of sorts.

The victory banners here are Roman eagles, with a gray background.

If you remember, the base game Roman VBs had a red background. The Red Romans of RvB had VBs with a purple background. By giving a gray background VB to the purple Romans, those who wish for a little more literal alignment can swap VBs around in their armies-- so that each Roman army has VBs of it's own particular army background color.

Base Game Rome vs Carthaginian
Expansion 2 Rome vs Barbarian
Expansion 4 Imperial Roman	PURPLE BLOCKS	Eagle + Grey Backgound

Base Game Rome vs Carthaginian		Eagle + Grey Backgound
Expansion 2 Rome vs Barbarian
Expansion 4 Imperial Roman	PURPLE BLOCKS

That's nice under any circumstances, but might be particularly nice if you're doing RCW type battles with two Roman armies fighting each other.

I've created 2 new sections:

1. Under RULES MENU you will find a new ink called UNITS, where you will find detailed unit statistics plus some strategy guidelines.
2. Under VARIANTS MENU you will find a new ink called CAMPAIGN SYSTEM, a system that lets you play multile scenarios linking them together (derived from an original idea by Leo Tischer).

Comments and feedbacks are always welcome.

Enjoy playing CCA.

Alessandro

In Download Area you will find 2 new files:

1st Edition corrected Dice symbols
For those who still find a "1st Edition" CCA for sale somewhere, the original game had the dice stickers slightly too large to fit into the recessed portion of each dice. GMT quickly posted these as replacements.

The Phalanx V1
Unofficial variant for scenarios featuring Macedonian/Successor Heavy Infantry. (by BradyLS) 

For easier reference, The Phalanx has been also added to "Variants Menu" on the left (CLICK HERE).

I've published 5 new maps by Jim Duncan.

Hi guys, recently I've created some USERBARS to be used wherever you like:

• Forum signature
• Profile decoration
• Website backlink

- I support CCAncients.net website

- I prefer Carthaginians

- I prefer Romans

- I prefer Greeks

- I prefer Eastern Kingdoms

- I prefer Barbarians

- I prefer Marian Romans

If you like them, please, ask me for creating your own personalized UserBar. It's FREE.

30.000 unique visits and 200.000 page views!

To celebrate this great event I would like to propose an unique scenario, written by Jim Duncan and set in Issus (333 BC): JD60 The Thirty Thousands (333 BC).

It's also available a new Extension that groups Jim Maps from JD41 to JD60. CLICK HERE to download it.

Nowadays our Maps Archive counts 358 different Scenarios!!!!!!

Many thanks to all Scenario Designer for help our map database growht.

I've published 4 new maps by Jim Duncan.

I've published 5 new maps by Jim Duncan.

Miguel

READ MORE for detailed infos.

I've published 5 new maps by Jim Duncan.

This is the complete list of all Scenario incuded in Commands and Colors: Ancients Expansion 5 (Epic Ancients).

CODENAME: all these maps will be named 5xx, where xx represents the progressive number.

From now on, at the page-bottom of each map, you will see a new module titled "OTHER BATTLES...".

Over there you will see battles involving that specific WAR/CONFLICT.

Hope this new feature will improve your surifng all around CCAncients website.

I've updated 4 maps by David Gorman (about Third Mithridatic War).
Here you can find them.

I've updated 5 maps by me. Here you can find them.

I've published 5 new maps by Jim Duncan.

I've published 5 new maps by Jim Duncan.

(all about GREAT BATTLES OF THE MAURYAN EMPIRE)

I've published and/or updated 6 maps byJim Duncan.

GMT has chosen to include reference cards for all units, which they have upgraded with each Expansion. Surprisingly, none for the terrain, which is not very much used in the first scenarios but that appears progressively in the different Expansions and C3i scenarios. Someone at BGG made a one-page summary for the terrain.

When I have introduced other users to the game, they felt a bit overwhelmed when they saw me laying on the table the board, the cards, one page for the terrain, two double pages for the units... and sometimes got lost in front of all the columns and rows!

I wanted something simpler, if possible with symbols (not all of my opponents speak english), and avoiding things like "See Note 1" or cross checking a row and a column to find out that the column does not apply to that unit ("--"). And including terrain (yes, I know terrain does not appear very often, but when it does sometimes I've forgotten the details...).

The file can be downloaded HERE (linked to original file on BoardGameGeek).

"Read More" if you would like to see how it looks like and how to create it by yourself!!

Christmas Holidays

Hello everybody, here they come... Christmas Holidays!!!

Best whishes for New Year 2009, full of fun and C&C:Ancients playing.

Stay tuned for a 2009 full of new scenarios, downloads and latest released CCA expansions 4 & 5.

Alessandro

I've updated 5 maps by me. Here you can find them.

I've updated 10 maps by me.
Here you can find last 10 additions.

I've published a specific page for every Maps/Scenarios Designer, for easier reference and for giving the right tribute to each contributor!

CLICK HERE to see the right page.

Today has been released a Vassal Module extension to show ALL ScenarioX ArmyList (graphical edition) inside Vassal, for easy reference during tournaments or even for fast skirmish setup.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE

One of my biggest disappointments when I first went through the scenarios in Exp#1 (besides the absence of Thermopylae and Chaeronea) was seeing Spartan armies with the suggestion of using Persian blocks... I could understand it for Successors battles, after all they were being "Easternized", but Sparta???

You will say "well, there are just a few battles", if I remember well Leuctra and Mantinea, but the problem became bigger for me as most of the 15 scenarios I have designed (Greek Tragedy, Hellenica and Sacred Band) involve Spartans. Or at least other Greeks.

I began using the gray Roman army for those scenarios, better looking than the Persian but I was not fully satisfied... And then I found a cheap solution. I'm using glass stones as generic Victory Banners, and small plastic shields as Special Unit markers. This leaves me with 56 Black blocks (yes, I have all expansions)!!!

I've used them to build a 7th "Black Army": Sparta. The "only" thing I had to do was work on new, Spartan-like labels for these blocks (GET IT HERE).

I've updated 15 maps by Miguel Marqués, creating the relative CODENAME.
From now on all maps by Miguel will be named MMxx, where xx represent his progressive number.

I'm also working on a VASSAL MODULE EXTENSION to play all of these scenarios online (Yes! with Spartan Army). Stay tuned.

In Download Section you will also find 3 separate PDF that groups these scenarios.
Click here to downlaod them: HELLENICA, GREEK TRAGEDY and SACRED BAND.

Thank you Miguel for these great maps!

Hi guys,
I've just ended creating "vassal maps" for all Greg Blanchett scenarios available.

Some maps were already present in our map database and some other are new. I've renamed existing maps to fitting storage into MAP DB, so you will find every map named like GBxx (where xx is the map creation progressive number).

Every map has got the original PDF available in download area. At the bottom of each page you will find a direct link to it.
If you prefer browsing everyGBxx PDF, you should go directly HERE.

• GB01 Cabala (377 BC)
• GB02 Tunis (307 BC)
• GB03 Bagradas Plains (255 BC)
• GB04 Cirta (203 BC)
• GB05 Caralis (215 BC)
• GB06 Third Nola (214 BC)
• GB07 Acrillae (213 BC)
• GB08 Numistro (210 BC)
• GB09 Lilybaeum (276 BC)
• GB10 Erigon Valley (358 BC)
• GB11 Elis (208 BC)
• GB12 Lamia (208 BC)
• GB13 Clastidium (222 BC)
• GB14 Cunaxa (401 BC)
• GB15 Po River (203 BC)

I am proud to announce that our site has just broken the 10 thousand unique visits!

And these visitors have browsed more than 76 thousand pages since June 2008!

This has been based on the game about the Battle of Cunaxa designed by Richard Berg, and of the same name. I hope some of you enjoy the scenario and that you will all continue to enjoy the other many battles, articles and resources available on the site.

Please feel free to send me any items you have concerning this beautiful game so that the site continues to grow.

Recently I've added 9 new armies ready to use with Don Clarke's ScenarioX Variant Rules.

Don told me that he will add them in the next ArmyList "text edition" (maybe v9.0). Hope you like and enjoy.
Regards.

GMT Games published some news about expansion set #4 and #5.

Here you will find direct link to GMT website pages:
EXP #4 - Imperial Rome,
EXP #5 - Epic Ancients 1.

C3i Magazine Issue #21

With the new C3i Magazine (#21) every Commands and Colors: Ancients player will enjoy three new scenarios by Richard Borg:

• Umbria, 217 BC, Maharbal’s masterful ambush of a hastily marching Roman cavalry force;
• Agathocles’ Tower, 204 BC, Scipio’s ambush of a large, overconfident Carthaginian mounted formation;
• Cirta, 203 BC, a swirling desert battle between Syphax on one side and Laelius and Masinissa on the other, that decided the fate of Numidia.

Commands & Colors: Ancients is already a great game, but ScenarioX makes it even better, by allowing players to challenge each other with a wide range of armies from throughout history.  Alessandro's great work in providing a graphical reference for the ScenarioX armies was a good start, but it was still a complex process figuring out which army blocks one could use from CC:A to build these armies, and even harder to quickly see which two armies could be built to face each other on the battlefield.

Recently Bill Bennet posted on CCAvassal Yahoo Group!  some news about a new version (v3) of famous C&CAncients module to play online using VassalEngine.

Here you can find a list of changes (quoted directly from the author's original message):

As Richard Borg says "We actually have a number of very interesting Commands & Colors: Ancients expansions in the works. One expansion is near completion, just need to finish playtesting a few more scenarios."

In the following link at Consimworld you will find some info about the next Expansion about "Commands & Colors: Ancients" mew Expansion.

CLICK HERE