Post by Whiterook on Oct 4, 2023 17:15:51 GMT -5
By design, Commands & Colors Tricorne - The American Revolution is not overly complex. The game is based on the highly successful Commands & Colors game system, where the Command cards drive movement while creating a “fog of war” and the battle dice resolve combat quickly and efficiently. Commands & Colors Tricorne - The American Revolution, however, introduces many new game concepts, which will add historical depth and provide even the most veteran Commands & Colors player many new play experiences and challenges.
The scale of the game fluctuates, which allows players to effectively portray some of the larger American Revolution battles, as well as smaller size skirmish actions. In some scenarios, an infantry unit may represent an entire brigade, while in others a unit may only represent a few companies of soldiers. Still the linear tactics of the period, that you will need to execute to gain victory, conform remarkably well to the advantages and limitations inherent to the various American Revolution Armies of the day, and the battlefield terrain features on which they fought. To further emphasize the differences in battlefield doctrine between the British and Continental forces, each army has its own unique deck of Combat cards.
Players, that are familiar with other Commands & Colors games, will soon note that unit combat losses in a Tricorne game are typically not as great as other games covered in the Commands & Colors series. This is a direct result of the linear tactic fighting style of the armies that fought during the American Revolution. Unit morale is the main thematic focus in a Tricorne battle as it was historically. Knowing that an entire unit, that has only taken minimal losses when forced to retreat, may actually break and rout from the battlefield, will definitely keep players on the edge of their command chairs during an entire battle.
The 12 battles, showcased in the scenario section of this booklet, feature a stylized battlefield map that emphasize the important terrain features and highlight the historical deployment of forces in scale with the game system. These scenarios are a smattering of some of the better-known engagements of the American Revolution.
Bunker Hill -17 June 1775
Long Island (Grant's Attack) - 27 August 1776
Long Island (British Flank March) - 27 August 1776
Freeman's Farm - 19 September 1777
Bemis Heights - 7 October 1777
Bemis Heights (British Redoubts) - 7 October 1777
Monmouth - 28 June 1778
Camden - 16 August 1780
Cowpens - 17 January 1781
Guilford Courthouse - 15 March 1781
Hobkirk's Hill - 25 April 1781
Eutaw Springs - 8 September 1781
The scale of the game fluctuates, which allows players to effectively portray some of the larger American Revolution battles, as well as smaller size skirmish actions. In some scenarios, an infantry unit may represent an entire brigade, while in others a unit may only represent a few companies of soldiers. Still the linear tactics of the period, that you will need to execute to gain victory, conform remarkably well to the advantages and limitations inherent to the various American Revolution Armies of the day, and the battlefield terrain features on which they fought. To further emphasize the differences in battlefield doctrine between the British and Continental forces, each army has its own unique deck of Combat cards.
Players, that are familiar with other Commands & Colors games, will soon note that unit combat losses in a Tricorne game are typically not as great as other games covered in the Commands & Colors series. This is a direct result of the linear tactic fighting style of the armies that fought during the American Revolution. Unit morale is the main thematic focus in a Tricorne battle as it was historically. Knowing that an entire unit, that has only taken minimal losses when forced to retreat, may actually break and rout from the battlefield, will definitely keep players on the edge of their command chairs during an entire battle.
The 12 battles, showcased in the scenario section of this booklet, feature a stylized battlefield map that emphasize the important terrain features and highlight the historical deployment of forces in scale with the game system. These scenarios are a smattering of some of the better-known engagements of the American Revolution.
Bunker Hill -17 June 1775
Long Island (Grant's Attack) - 27 August 1776
Long Island (British Flank March) - 27 August 1776
Freeman's Farm - 19 September 1777
Bemis Heights - 7 October 1777
Bemis Heights (British Redoubts) - 7 October 1777
Monmouth - 28 June 1778
Camden - 16 August 1780
Cowpens - 17 January 1781
Guilford Courthouse - 15 March 1781
Hobkirk's Hill - 25 April 1781
Eutaw Springs - 8 September 1781
Part of the expansive Command & Colors (C&C) system by Richard Borg, this game is produced/published by Compass Games and is a blocks game. I first became aware of the C&C system with the miniatures boardgame, Memoir ‘44, and have since seen several publishers contribute to both the miniatures boardgame versions (i.e., Red Alert and The Great War), as well as the block games (i.e., Ancients, Napoleonics, etc.); the former includes great companies like Days of Wonder and PSC (Plastic Soldiers Company), and the latter includes Compass Games and GMT.
What I liked in discovering all these other games within the C&C universe is, the rules are basically the same throughout all of them; just tweaked for subject matter, military doctrine of the combatants, and to accommodate the miniatures vs blocks. It’s an elegant system, wonderfully adaptable to solitaire play due to being card driven and a very nice rendering of Fog of War. The innovative styled dice are awesome, which you assemble with stickers in indented faces work smoothly in making combat stylish, as well as a breeze!
Here are a couple examples of what the game looks like on a table…
The following is how I play the block versions, with the blocks vertical on edge; the stickers are on both sides so, it’s not a hidden system…
…however, some games play them with blocks lying down…
I love this system!!! …the only thing that makes the system a little difficult for many is the fact that you have to apply stickers to ALL those little blocks! …it takes a good deal of time, is difficult if you have dexterity issues, and if you’re a perfectionist, oh Baby…
I was a bit intimidated at first, stickering my first block game of Napoleonics…but after a quarter way through those, I had the technique down (figuring out the value of angle tweezers for the task at hand, no pun intended) and just got in my Zen space…by the time I did Tricorne, I was a pro! …I just had to put any perfectionist tendencies in the closet and accept the fact that some stickers are just gonna’ go on crooked-ish!