Command and Colors Medieval Crusades Game - Nicaea 1097

 

Command and Colors Medieval Crusades 

Original CCM board game and rules

Nicaea 1097 scenario

Seljuks win easily 5-2 Victory Banners

Yesterday I received my long awaited copy of the new GMT Games board game Command and Colors Medieval Crusades. This is the first expansion on the original 2019 Command and Colors Medieval game and you need a lot of the components, including the board, cards, terrain hexes, blocks and tokens from the original game to play it. After putting on all the stickers on the wooden blocks and reading the rules and scenarios yesterday, I decided to play Nicaea 1097, the first scenario in the booklet out in the shed this morning. This scenario sees the Seljuk Turks under Kilij Arslan 1 attempting to disrupt the Crusaders' siege of Nicaea outside the South Gate in 1097. Both sides have six command cards and four inspired actions tokens.

There are a number of new troop types and special rules, so there is quite a bit to absorb and get used too, including combined arms tactics such as the Light Cavalry Swarm attacks. In my solo game the Seljuks won fairly easily 5-2 Victory Banners, making good use of the Darken the Sky card. There are twenty scenarios in total (three of various stages at Dorylaeum and four of Hattin) so many hours of fun gaming with the early Crusades up to 1187. I like to play these games with figures where possible so I'm keen to paint more figures for my Crusader, Seljuk, Fatimid and Ayyubid armies.

We've been away on holidays for a couple of weeks down on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. We did a popular five day, 66km bushwalk, the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail, on the western part of the island in the Flinders Chase National Park. Below are some photos of our walk.

Female koala trying to get away from a male koala

Starting out Day One

A goanna

The Cascades Rocky River

Footbridge Snake Lagoon

Walking to the coast Day Two

Rocky River reaches the sea

Maupertuis Beach at low tide

Amazing vegetation on the limestone outcrops

Coastal garden

Fly collection

A few showers blow through on Day Three

Remarkable Rocks

Cape Younghusband

Fur seals play in the rock pools

Hanson Bay Day Four

Plush camp kitchen 

Wild coast

Boat crossing on Hanson River

Melaleuca Gibbosa

Track on tree stumps

Rest stop

Bottlebrush

Finish of the walk

Petra Mountain Passes - Lazic War 548 AD - Command and Colors Medieval Game

 

Forces deployed from the Byzantine side

From the Sassanid side

Sassanids move first, cavalry advances

Byzantine archers are exposed

Sassanid cavalry look to force the mountain passes

Byzantines play a Scout card

Byzantines evade and retreat on the left flank

Byzantines retreat on the right flank

Last Tuesday morning I played a solo Command and Colors Medieval game out in the shed. The scenario was from the Lazic War in 548 AD with a Sassanid relief force commanded by Mir-Mihroe, heading for the besieged city of Petra, while a small Byzantine force tried to defend the mountain passes. The Sassanids outnumbered the Byzantines two to one, moved first and had an extra Inspired Action token, and both sides had five command cards. This turned out to be an interesting game where the Sassanid attempt to force the passes actually back fired on them.The Byzantines took a cautious approach evading, retreating and relying on shooting and defending in difficult terrain to counter the Sassanid numbers. The Byzantines actually managed to hold the mountain passes with a hard fought 5-3 victory.

Byzantine horse archers attack

The game is level pegging

Sassanids attack in the centre

Byzantine infantry fight off a cavalry charge

Sassanid infantry are vulnerable

Sassanids try again to break through

Byzantines hold the mountain passes
with a hard fought 5-3 victory

Open Battle at the Siege of Rome 537 AD - Command and Colors Medieval

 

Initial deployment from the Goths’ side

Opposite end

Byzantine right flank commanded by Belisarius

Byzantine centre commanded by Principius

Byzantine left flank commanded by Valentinus

City Militia and ballista on the walls of Rome

City Militia and ballista on the walls of Rome

Initial deployment from the Byzantine side

Opposite end

Goths’ right flank

On Monday morning I played a solo Command and Colors Medieval game out in the shed. The scenario was an Open Battle at the Siege of Rome 537 AD. The Byzantines commanded by Belisarius, taking on the besieging Ostrogoths commanded by Vitiges, in the fields just outside the walls of Rome. Quite a lot is actually known about this battle as Procopius in his Gothic Wars 1.28.15 - 29.45  gives quite a detailed description of it. Both sides had four command cards and two inspired actions tokens and the Byzantines moved first. I have an early Byzantine army (mainly the superb Aventine miniatures range) but only have  a unit of horse archers painted to date, so used my Late Romans and even some Nikephorian horse archers to make up the Byzantine numbers.

The Byzantines advanced and shot effectively with their horse archers on both flanks. The Goth cavalry charged on their left flank but both units were eventually destroyed. The Goth warriors in the centre attacked and drove the Byzantine infantry back to the very gates of Rome but suffered heavy casualties themselves. Principius the Byzantine commander in the centre was then able to lead the Byzantine infantry to a very convincing 6-0 victory. A really fun scenario but a very one sided game where the Byzantines had all the luck with their dice and cards.

The new GMT Games' board game Command and Colors Medieval Expansion 1: Crusades Mid-Eastern Battles 1  looks really interesting and is currently at the printer, so will probably be shipping in the next couple of months, I'm really looking forward to that!

Goths’ centre commanded by Vitiges

Goths’ left flank

Byzantine horse archers advance and
shoot on the right flank

Same thing on their left flank

Goth cavalry charge on their left flank

Byzantines destroy Goth cavalry

Goths attack in the centre

Byzantine infantry retreat to the very gates of Rome

More shooting on the left flank

Principius leads the Byzantines
to victory in the centre 6-0