I love the whole series, but C&C Ancients is definitely my favorite. Really, though, it comes down to theme, aesthetics, and complexity. In order of my personal preference.
C&C has an ancients theme, which wins about a zillion points from me. Complexity-wise, it's probably the highest, but it's not at all complicated and most anyone could pick it up. Aesthetically, I think it's the nicest, as the wooden blocks do a good job of replicating the look of massed ancient armies. This one also depends much less on terrain than the others. Memoir is WWII, but I don't hold that against it. :-) It's pretty much on par with Battle Cry for complexity, which is to say that it's really simple. It's also a pretty game, with nice plastic units in different colors (although the base set includes dark blue and dark green, which I have a tough time telling apart). Lots of terrain effects, and a much larger emphasis on ranged combat than C&C or Battlelore. Battlelore is fantasy, which I can't help but hold against it. It's pretty complex, but more importantly, it's a ridiculous pain to set up (even compared to the rest of the series, which has an annoying setup time). The Lore cards (basically magic and special abilities) really complicate everything in my view. It's also my least favorite aesthetically. It uses gray minis for both sides, with ownership signified by flags. There are a bunch of unit types, many of which look quite similar, and it's overall quite bland-looking. Battle Cry is the oldest, and it shows. While it's certainly a perfectly serviceable game, there's really no reason to recommend it over the others, especially since it's currently OOP and way overpriced. It's got gray plastic minis, too, but many fewer unit types. It's the simplest in the series by far, but it's also the least refined. It's not balanced particularly well, and there's a very good possibility of getting a "dead hand". Unless you're really into the ACW, I wouldn't recommend this one, and even if you are an ACW nut, it's not terribly historical. Personally, I'd go with C&C or Memoir, depending on the theme you prefer. PS. How's the snow situation? Have you been able to make it out of the house? On Dec 30, 4:02 pm, ColtsFan76 <[email protected]> wrote: > I own them all, play them all, like them all. While they are mostly > similar and have something in common, they are their own games. > Battle Cry and Memoir are the most similiar to each other while > Ancients and BattleLore are more similar to each other than to the > other two. > > My preference is > 1) M44 > 2) BL > 3) BC > 4) C&C:A > > It mostly boils down to theme though I prefer the streamlined > mechanics of M44. BL and C&C:A get a little too clunky for my with > all the unit types to remember and the battle back options (which, > ultimately are very fun in face to face games, but a pain in PBEM - > where I play most of my games in the series). So I have to agree with > those that say let theme dictate to you what you want. You will get > the most enjoyment out of the game if you do. > > One note: Battle Cry is out-of-print but is scheduled to be redone in > 2010 or 2011. So it's not worth paying the high eBay fees to get a > copy. Best to just get one of the 3 in print titles. > > On Dec 30, 2:51 pm, Guantanamo <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Yup. > > > Which is why I didn't list the ones I thought in order. I personally > > own them all and like to play them all (well maybe not one of them). > > > What do you want out of the game? > > > On Dec 30, 3:44 pm, Trump <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Everyone's going to be touting their favorite and telling you how they > > > are slightly different, but the bottom line is you'll be just fine > > > with only one of them. I'd base your decision on theme. That's why I > > > went with Battlelore. > > > > There are always some maniacs who say get them all because they're all > > > good. :) OK, if you have that much disposable income and you play > > > the games to death, then go for it. Me... I bet I don't get to play > > > one of these games better than 6 times in a year so it just doesn't > > > make any sense to buy the related games. I only buy games that I'll > > > play. > > > > On Dec 30, 2:34 pm, Howitzer_120mm <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Battlecry, Memoir '44, battlelore - all games that have card play > > > > where you get to act based on the cards, usually you get to act in one > > > > of the sections. Am I right? > > > > > The question is, should I get all of them? Or is only 1 good?- Hide > > > > quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BGG Down" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/BGG_down?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
