Battle Cry (game)

Last updated

Battle Cry is a board wargame based on the American Civil War, designed by Richard Borg and published by Avalon Hill in 2000. [1]

Contents

Description

While superficially similar to conventional board wargames, it borrows from miniatures wargaming with its use of plastic figures and its simplified rules. [2] The map is initially composed of blank hexes, although additional cardboard hexes can be placed to alter the printed terrain and recreate a wide variety of battles, as per scenario instructions. [2] The game manual includes fifteen official scenarios (battles) and Avalon Hill published three extra scenarios, called The Jackson Campaign, for the Origins 2000 and Gen Con 2000 conventions.

Players command a variety of units: infantry, cavalry, and artillery. Each unit is composed of a varying number of plastic figures. During each turn, players alternate playing cards from their hands. There are Order and Special Order cards. Order cards allow a player to activate a number of units on a specified section -left flank, center, or right flank. [2] Special Order cards provide specific unique manipulations of game mechanics that are detailed on the card. Attacks are made by rolling a number of dice, depending on the attacking unit and any defensive terrain. Each six-sided die is labeled with each unit symbol; if the rolled symbol matches the target's unit type, a single figure is removed. A flag roll on the die forces the unit to retreat one square.

Scenarios might also use a number of the included General figures. The supplied General figures are physically identical but the scenario setup identifies each one as a historical person. The General moves separately but can be co-located in the same hex as another unit; this is the only unit stacking allowed in the game. Generals provide the benefit of allowing an advance after combat when the enemy has been either forced to retreat or completely eliminated, and they also allow a defending unit to ignore the first flag (retreat) dice rolled by the enemy.

For each opponent's unit entirely removed from the board a player receives one victory point. The player who scores the required number of victory points, as determined by the scenario instructions, is the winner.

In November 2008, a licensed online version of the game was released by GameTable Online. The online version can be played live against other online players or against a computer opponent. The game includes all of the scenarios of the original tabletop board game but lacks the ability to create unique scenarios. This version of the game is free to play.

The same game mechanics were later used in Memoir '44 , published by Days of Wonder, Commands & Colors: Ancients , published by GMT Games, and Battle Lore , published by Fantasy Flight Games.

A new, updated version was published in 2013 by Wizards of the Coast for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

Reception

According to reviewer J.C. Connors "Battle Cry's simplicity means that grognards who cut their teeth on past Avalon Hill games ... will probably find themselves unsatisfied. It's not a historical simulation ... a particular strategy that worked in real life might not be possible. But Battle Cry isn't meant to reflect those things -- it's meant to be a fast battle game with a historical flavor." [2]

Battle Cry won the 2001 International Gamers Award for General Strategy, 2-Player category. [3]

Milton Bradley game

The title, Battle Cry, was also used for a 1961 Civil War board game produced by the Milton Bradley Company as part of their popular American Heritage series, which was reprinted in the 1970s.

Related Research Articles

<i>Advanced Squad Leader</i> Tactical-level board wargame

Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) is a tactical-level board wargame, originally marketed by Avalon Hill Games, that simulates actions of squad sized units in World War II. It is a detailed game system for two or more players. Components include the ASL Rulebook and various games called modules. ASL modules provide the standard equipment for playing ASL, including geomorphic mapboards and counters. The mapboards are divided into hexagons to regulate fire and movement, and depict generic terrain that can represent different historical locations. The counters are cardboard pieces that depict squads of soldiers, crews, individual leaders, support weapons, heavy weapons, and vehicles.

<i>Memoir 44</i>

Memoir '44 is a light wargame or war-themed strategy board game for two players. It was created by Richard Borg and published in 2004 by Days of Wonder. Illustration done by Julien Delval and Cyrille Daujean. The game can be played with up to six players if played in teams and up to eight players in the "Overlord" scenarios. However, "Overlord" requires two copies of the game. It received the 2004 International Gamers Award for General Strategy, 2-Player category and The Wargamer 2004 Award for Excellence. The game is published in English and French by Days of Wonder.

<i>PanzerBlitz</i> World War II board wargame published in 1970

PanzerBlitz is a tactical-scale board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1970 that simulates armored combat set on the Eastern Front of World War II. The game, which was the most popular board wargame of the 1970s, is notable for being the first true board-based tactical-level, commercially available conflict simulation wargame. It also pioneered several concepts that would become industry standards.

<i>1914</i> (game) Board wargame published in 1968

1914 is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1968 that simulates the first few months of World War I on the Western Front.

<i>The Russian Campaign</i> Board wargame published in 1974

The Russian Campaign is a strategic board wargame published by Jedko Games in 1974 that simulates combat on the Eastern Front during World War II. Avalon Hill later bought the game and produced several editions.

<i>Napoleon</i> (board game) 1974 strategy board wargame

Napoleon, subtitled "The Waterloo Campaign, 1815", is a strategic-level block wargame published by Gamma Two Games in 1974 that simulates the Battle of Waterloo. A number of versions of the game have been produced by Avalon Hill and Columbia Games.

<i>1776</i> (boardgame) 1974 board game

1776, subtitled "The Game of the American Revolutionary War", is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1974 that simulates the American Revolutionary War. Its release was timed to coincide with the bicentenary of the Revolution, and for several years was a bestseller for Avalon Hill.

<i>Battle of the Bulge</i> (board wargame)

Battle of the Bulge is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill (AH) in 1965 that simulates the World War II battle of the same name. General Anthony McAuliffe (ret.), who had been commanding officer at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, was a consultant during the game's development. The game proved popular and sold more than 120,000 copies, but was dogged by criticisms of historical inaccuracies, and was finally replaced by a completely new edition in 1981. A third edition in 1991 was released as part of the Smithsonian American History Series.

<i>Gettysburg</i> (game) American Civil War board wargame published in 1958

Gettysburg is a board wargame produced by Avalon Hill in 1958 that re-enacts the American Civil War battle of Gettysburg. The game rules were groundbreaking in several respects, and the game, revised several times, was a bestseller for Avalon Hill for several decades.

BattleLore is a strategy board wargame for two players, created by Richard Borg and initially published by Days of Wonder in 2006. The game is based on the same mechanics as Battle Cry, Memoir '44 and Commands & Colors: Ancients, but has a fantasy and medieval theme.

<i>Britannia</i> (board game) Strategy board game

Britannia is a strategy board game, first released and published in 1986 by Gibsons Games in the United Kingdom, and The Avalon Hill Game Company in 1987 in the United States, and most recently updated in late 2008 as a re-release of the 2005 edition, produced by Fantasy Flight Games. It broadly depicts the wars in, and migrations to, the island of Great Britain in the centuries from the Roman invasions to the Norman Conquest.

<i>Stalingrad</i> (wargame) 1963 board wargame

Stalingrad is a strategic-level board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1963 that simulates the first 24 months of the war between Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II. As one of the first board wargames it was extensively played and discussed during the early years of the wargaming hobby.

<i>Tobruk</i> (game) Board wargame that simulates tank combat

Tobruk, subtitled "Tank Battles in North Africa 1942", is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1975 that simulates tank combat in North Africa during World War II.

<i>Bismarck</i> (board game) Board game, variant of "Battleship"

Bismarck is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1962 that simulates the hunt for the Bismarck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Board wargame</span> Wargame played on a printed surface or board

A board wargame is a wargame with a set playing surface or board, as opposed to being played on a computer or in a more free-form playing area as in miniatures games. The modern, commercial wargaming hobby developed in 1954 following the publication and commercial success of Tactics. The board wargaming hobby continues to enjoy a sizeable following, with a number of game publishers and gaming conventions dedicated to the hobby both in the English-speaking world and further afield.

<i>War and Peace</i> (game)

War and Peace, subtitled Game of the Napoleonic Wars: 1805–1815, is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1980 that simulates ten years of Napoleonic wars.

<i>Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steel</i>

Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steel, the second installment of the Conflict of Heroes board wargame series by Academy Games, was published in 2009. The game simulates the Battle of Kursk on the Eastern Front during World War II.

<i>Dreadnought</i> (naval wargame)

Dreadnought, subtitled "Surface Combat in the Battleship Era, 1906-45", is a naval board wargame published Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1975.

<i>Air Force</i> (game) 1976 board wargame

Air Force is a board wargame published by Battleline Publications in 1976, and subsequently re-released by Avalon Hill in 1977, that simulates air combat during World War II. Several expansions for the game were also published.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heroscape</span> Miniature wargaming system

Heroscape is an expandable turn-based miniature wargaming system originally manufactured by Hasbro subsidiaries from 2004 until its discontinuation in November 2010. Geared towards younger players, the game is played using pre-painted miniature figures on a board made from interlocking hexagonal tiles, allowing for the construction of an interchangeable and variable 3D landscape. This system and the relatively high production quality of the game materials have been lauded by fans even years after the game was discontinued.

References

  1. ↑ Hickman, Tracy (2007). "Battle Cry". In Lowder, James (ed.). Hobby Games: The 100 Best . Green Ronin Publishing. pp. 21–23. ISBN   978-1-932442-96-0.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Connors, J.C. (2000-06-30). "Pyramid Pick: Battle Cry". Pyramid (Online). Steve Jackson Games . Retrieved 2008-02-18.
  3. ↑ "2001 International Gamers Awards Finalists and Recipients". Archived from the original on 2007-09-13. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.