A major complaint of the game is the dice that are included, but for me it was a minor issue. They aren’t the best dice, but they are usable. If they really don’t work for you, you can apply the stickers to other dice or even just draw up a quick conversion chart for the the symbols to numbers.

This is a simple, fast wargame. It is supposed to be a tactical representation of the Rome vs. Carthage wars. It accomplishes this only to a limited extent, at least as much as the rules will allow it. C&C:A has a listed “Medium” complexity on the back of the box, but I think most players will find it to be of “Low” complexity once they start playing. There are a couple of rules that need watching, but once you learn to use the Player Reference sheets, you’ll rarely need to refer to the rulebook.

The mapboard is a simple desert-style map with oversized hexes and three areas, left, right, and center. Provided with the game are terrain tiles that can be used to modify the setup of the map to include rivers, trees, encampments, etc. The artwork on the map and the pieces is average with a few exceptions.

The core mechanic of the game are the Command cards. These cards determine when and where you can attack your opponent. In addition to normal Left Attack, Right Attack, and Center Attack cards, there are also numerous special cards that allow you to do different actions. All of these special cards are explained in the card text, so you don’t have to look them up in a rulebook.

The Command cards lead to one of my biggest complaints about the game and that is the lack of “control” in the game. Now, as a rule, a player shouldn’t be reliant on something like cards to bear through their strategy. However, it is distinctly possible that you could have an ironclad victory on your hands, but at a crucial time your units may be immobilized by your inability to draw a Left Attack card. Not being able to control your units in this manner reduces the realism and feel of the game in my opinion.

The rules are simple to follow and make sense for the level of wargame. There aren’t a lot of exceptions that players will need to memorize and most questions about unique situations can be answered either via the normal rulebook or the online FAQ which is also very helpful. At 20 pages with plenty of illustrations, it will take far longer to apply the stickers to the blocks than it will to read through the rules. As I mentioned earlier, the invaluable player reference card will be a sufficient rules reference for the majority of games.

Each type of unit in the game has prescribed attack, movement, and range values, with each side sharing these values amongst the type of troops. For example, a Light Infantry unit on the Carthaginian side moves and acts the same way as a Roman Light Infantry unit. This is another of my complaints about this game, the homogenization of the pieces amongst the armies reduces the historical significance of the armies.

Finally, a scenario book is also included, and I feel this is one of the greatest downfalls of the game. With the terrain tiles and the variety of army units in the game, I think it would have been a good idea to include a much more diverse set of battles, even if they were “what-if?” type scenarios. As it stands, of the nine of the fifteen scenarios are played on what is essentially a blank board. There are other scenarios available online, and should probably be hunted down if you really want to exercise the game.

Ultimately, Commands & Colors: Ancients is a light wargame that whets the appetite, but doesn’t go deep enough to really provide a taste of what wargaming is like. Don’t mistake my criticisms as a condemnation of this game, I will freely admit that I had fun playing it, but I don’t think it will be something I play on a regular basis unless it is at someone else’s request. It’s a game I would recommend to people who want to get a gateway wargame before they leap into the serious material or Euro boardgamers looking for something a little heavier, but wouldn’t recommend it to many others.