have always tailored our battle designs to work within these parameters. Perhaps, some time in the future Hasbro/AH will release a supplement dealing with the "Greatest Cavalry Actions of the Civil War" and we may need to deviate from the current army mix. But for now, you have everything you need in this one game box, to refight the 15 scenarios included in the game and more than forty other battles we have worked up for future release.

COMMAND

     Other historical games handle command control in a variety of ways. I have always preferred the elegance and intuitive play of cards. Now remember, this game was developed before Collectable Card Games were in vogue. So my card game experience comes from your more standard types of games like pinochle, cribbage and poker. Actually, in the mid-eighties we were playing a miniature Ancients game that used a standard deck of playing cards to activate units. How the BATTLE CRY's activation works had roots in this system.
     Over the years, the command card deck has stayed fairly intact, except for some Special Order cards fine-tuning. Both players always drew from the same deck and as a battle unfolds, if one player holds a hand of order right flank cards, probability would have it, that his opponent should have order left flank cards to counter. (I'm no mathematician, but most games seem to play out this way.)
     How important is the number of command cards you hold... In some battles you will note that one side may have fewer command cards. Historically, more competent commanders will have a hand of more cards than their poorer counterparts. With more cards, you have better options and should be able to coordinate and maneuver more effectively. For example: we must have played the first battle scenario, First Bull Run, well over 50 times. The Union won more often than not. Now we were not opposed to letting players change history but not in almost every play. So we went from 5 cards for each side, to the current command card numbers, 5 Confederate and 4 Union. The Confederates are now winning about 60-65% of the time. Your results may vary, but it appears that one command card can impact heavily on the outcome of any contest.
     BATTLE CRY's command card activation system, we believe, creates a true battlefield fog of war. Like many historical games, all the miniatures/counters are in full view, so both commanders should be able to make the optimum maneuver each turn. But with the command card activation system both commanders have limits. Battlefield limits on where and how many troops are activated. During play, you can never be sure that your flanking moves when unchecked mean he is out of cards or he is just "laying in the weeds" waiting to crush your probing force.

LUCK

     We acknowledge that there is a high degree of luck in BATTLE CRY. The drawing and playing cards, by its very nature, contains a high degree of luck. Furthermore, if you are like me when rolling dice, although you should be able to determine the probability of a certain outcome, with my luck, what I need to roll is never probable.
     Luck has made for some very wild and exciting games. Just the sort of contest that makes it exciting and fun for new players. I believe Mike Hirtle of Hasbro product acquisition recognized this and this factor was instrumental in the decision to produce BATTLE CRY.
     For the experienced gamer on the other hand, certainly drawing good cards and having lucky dice are a seemingly unbeatable combination. Yet I personally know two players, Roy Grider and Pat Kurivial, who have over the years, minimize this luck element. They play BATTLE CRY Cry at a much higher level and are always the odds on favorite.

COMMANDS & COLORS

     By design the ACW from the outset is the most basic game in the entire COMMANDS & COLORS franchise. The American Civil War, with very similar opposition armies, made up of basically three type of units, (Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery) was the perfect historical setting for this type of bare-bone, fast action game play and was the type of game that Hasbro/AH was looking for at the time.
     Other COMMANDS & COLORS historical periods are more complex as we attempt to create a unique feeling of historical command and battle for each. They range in complexity from the American Civil War, American War of Independence, Mexican American War, Napoleonics, Fantasy and Ancients. But even the Ancient game is still not very complex or difficult.
     We truly believe the system requires many decisions, has some luck elements and is one where you are constantly battling your opponent, not the rules.
     During the past few months a number of good comments and suggestions have been directed at BATTLE CRY. Many of these rule modifications will work and they will not break the system... I know this because similar play ideas are already working just fine in other COMMANDS & COLORS historical

period games. Once more, it is not that we did not like certain concepts, it is just that we chose not to include them in the ACW game, because in our opinion they help give another historical period more depth, detail and/or the proper historical feel.

THANKS!

     I wish to thank Mike Gray, Stephen Baker and the entire design team at Hasbro/AH, who had the foresight and understanding, to allow BATTLE CRY to retain all the exciting elements and features of its predecessor COMMANDS & COLORS. Furthermore, I want to congratulate Hasbro/Avalon Hill for bringing to market a product with exceptional attention to production detail and quality, coupled with historical artistry. We all believe it is a very unique game which can bridge a number of game communities and plays well as an introductory game or on a more competitive level.

Richard Borg is the designer of BATTLE CRY , HERA & ZEUS and other games.

WHAT TO DO WHEN TWO PLAYER MONOPOLY
IS LESS FUN THAN WATCHING
THE WEATHER CHANNEL
by Craig Massey

     It's a rainy Sunday afternoon. You and your roommate, sibling, significant other, parental unit, or pet is sitting around, bored to tears. The ensuing conversation goes something like this. "What do you want to do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?" "I don't know, how 'bout a game?" "No all the good games need more players and the two player games are too long, too abstract and too boring." "Okay. Want to watch TV?" "Sure. What's on the Weather Channel (sigh)?"
     Sound familiar? I'm sure that everyone out there has experienced this grim scenario at one point or another and came to a similar resolution that many of the two player games available are too long, boring, and/or abstract. CHESS and GO are certainly abstract and long to boot not to mention hard to master so a difference in skill levels can make for a miserable experience for all involved - especially if you pet is better than you. There are a host of other quicker two player games from the abstract scene, but often times players want a little flavor with their game and these just don't have the fun factor. Finally, one could always drag out a two-player war game to get the desired flavor and move away from the abstract, but you'll need more than one rainy afternoon to accomplish this feat. So what is a gamer to do given that more often than not, it is easier to scare up one opponent than multiple opponents for an impromptu game or two. Those of you with two pets don't have this problem.
     Well, Dave Bernazzani provided some excellent suggestions in a recent Game Notes column on good multi-player games that work great for two players and he wasn't referring to MONOPOLY either (Game Notes #6). But what about games that are designed for just two players? I would like to point to a number of excellent games designed with this in mind that are simple, have theme and flavor - albeit sometimes a thin one, and are fairly quick to play. .
     The best place to start looking for two player games is the Kosmos mini-box/two player line, several of which have English editions produced by Rio Grande Games. In general this line of games have simple rules, play in 30-45 minutes, and they all have flavor beyond your standard abstract two player game giving them the elusive fun factor. So without further delay, let's examine the contenders for you rainy afternoon pleasure.
     LOST CITIES might be the most well known game in the Kosmos/Rio Grande Games two-player line. Designed by Renier Knizia, this is a card game that has extremely simple rules. Players attempt to invest in five different expeditions using their cards. Invest over 20 points in an expedition and you'll score positive. Invest less and you'll score negative and would have been better off not investing at all. The tension in deciding what cards play is very high and best of all a game takes less than 10 minutes which means you can play several hands quickly. Whenever I get this game out I'm often heard saying, "Let's play just one more round," over and over again. LOST CITIES is already an all-time classic and a game that is easily enjoyed by gamers and non-gamers alike
     KAHUNA, by Gunter Cornett, is another fairly quick tactical game. Here players are vying for control of an archipelago of islands. Using cards, players build bridges between islands. Control the majority of bridges to an island and you control the island, but control is tenuous as your opponent can remove a bridge and cause you to lose the island. Points are scored at the end of each of three rounds based upon the number of islands each player controls. This game has a great ebb and flow to it. One minute you control several islands, but lose a key bridge or two and everything shifts giving KAHUNA a great ebb and flow between players. Again, the rules are easy to pick up in less than five minutes and the game moves along at a quick pace finishing in 30-45 minutes.

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