Battle Cry After playing Avalon Hill-Hasbro's Battle Cry, designed by Richard Borg, many times, I have reached one clear conclusion: it is a great game. This Civil War game is simple, fun, and plays quickly. What's Inside? The very large Battle Cry box comes with over a hundred little plastic figures- Infantry, Artillery, Cavalry, and Generals- in place of cardboard counters. The figures are grouped into "units." An infantry unit starts out with four men, a cavalry unit with three, and an artillery unit with two. This system allows for easy strength reduction; simply remove a figure when a unit takes losses. The mounted board is a 13x9 hex grid, with each hex providing enough room to accommodate an entire unit. The board is split into three sections, giving each player a Left Flank, Center, and Right Flank. However, no real terrain (except for open ground) is depicted on the map, because the other terrain comes in the form of cardboard hexes. For each scenario, these hexes are placed on the map in different configurations to represent the terrain of that battlefield. The terrains are: Woods, Buildings, Rivers, Bridges, Fields, Hills, Fences, Rough, Orchards, and Fieldworks. Eight neat-looking battle dice are included. The rulebook has fifteen battles, but the modular nature of the game-board and terrain means that virtually any battle can be simulated. And indeed, many additional battles can be found on the Internet. The final component of the game is the deck of Command Cards. Most of them activate a certain number of units in a certain section. For example, the Probe Left cards allow for 2 units on the left flank to move, while Assault Right cards activate all units on the right flank. The other cards allow for special events, such as cavalry charges, force marches, and entrenchment. How does it play? Each scenario in the rulebook comes with a pictorial representation of the board, which allows for easy setup of the units and terrain. The notes may also include special rules pertaining to that battle. The notes specify which side moves first and the hand-sizes of each side. Battle Cry uses alternating turns. Each turn, the player plays one card. Most cards activate a certain number of units. The player can then move and/or fight with those (and only those) units. Infantry can move one hex and then fire; artillery can either move one hex or fire; cavalry units can move three hexes and battle; generals accompany the units to which they are attached, while lone generals have a movement rate of three. A few terrain types affect movement. For example, a unit entering a woods hex must stop moving. Battles are resolved using the battle dice. A certain number of battle dice are rolled in each attack based on several factors. Range is the most important factor: infantry fire four dice at point-blank range, three dice at two-hex range, two dice at three-hex rangeā€¦ and so on. Artillery fire five dice at point-blank range, four dice at two-hex range, and so on. Cavalry can only attack adjacent units, and get three dice. Other factors that affect the number of battle dice are terrain effects and the presence of a general. The battle dice have little pictures on the six faces: 2 infantry, 1 cavalry, 1 artillery, 1 cross-sabers (wild), and 1 flag (retreat). A die roll only cause casualties if it has the same picture as the unit being fired upon, or if it shows cross-sabers. A flag forces the defender to retreat one hex. Thus, each dice rolled against an infantry unit has a 3 in 6 chance of hitting, and 1 in 6 chance of forcing a retreat, and a 2 in 6 chance of causing no damage. At the end of the turn, the player draws another card to refill his/her hand. Then the next player's turn begins. Victory is based on casualties. You must completely eliminate (not just damage) any combination of six units to win. Assessment The game is usually quite fun to play, even when you are losing. It is visually quite appealing, the terrain hexes and various figures creating a great-looking battle. The rules are simple and well-written, and the game is easy to teach to others. Finally, Battle Cry doesn't take very long to play. Setup usually takes about 5-10 minutes, and the average game only lasts about an hour. However, true wargamers will probably find this game a bit simplistic. But after all, it makes no claim to being an accurate simulation, just a fun game. And it does accomplish that. Also, the luck factor can be a bit overwhelming, with dice rolls and card draws sometimes stopping even the best strategy. Overall: 9 out of 10. Although I own over twenty wargames, this one is the game I play most often. Variants Finally, for those who want to reduce the luck factor and add some more strategy, many variants can be found on the Web. I find the following three to be both quite good and easy to implement. 1. A unit that is forced to retreat off the board loses one figure and stays in place instead. Now, a lucky shot can't destroy an entire unit. However, the edges of the board still remain a fairly dangerous place, forcing both sides to advance. 2. An infantry unit, when activated, can move one space and battle OR move two spaces and not battle. The Force March card is unchanged. This choice adds more strategy to the game: will you slowly advance while firing, or charge across the open? Also, it allows infantry units in reserve to march twice as quickly to the front. 3. Instead of drawing just one card each turn, you draw two. Choose one to keep in your hand and place the other in the discard pile. This variant increases the importance of skill over the luck of the card draw. Although some choices will be obvious (ex. a Left Skirmish and a Left Assault), you will be faced with many agonizing decisions over which card to choose. However, this variant does make the All-Out-Offensive card show up more often, so you may want to remove it from the deck. -Matthew I., Dec 2002