At Game Store Tony's request we have started a series refighting the battles of the American Civil War in roughly chronological order using the new Battle Cry game system, Our first battle was the little-known action on July 2, 1861 at Falling Waters, W.V.
It's well-known that the first major battle of the Civil War was fought at First Bull Run later in July, but apparently there was some fighting before that, including this battle where Thomas Jackson (not yet "Stonewall") attempted to delay a federal advance. It was basically two Union brigades against Jackson's one brigade, although the Rebel force also included the cavalry regiment led by the also-soon-to-be-famous Jeb Stuart.
Unlike the historical action, however, Tony's rebels were decidedly disliked by the dice, which didn't match well with his aggressive approach to the scenario. Before long Stuart found himself cavalry-less and was reduced to leading some of Jackson's infantry. Even the appearance of another artillery unit as reinforcements was unable to stem the blue tide and the fedearls ran up an early 4-1 lead in flags. The Rebs battled back with two more flags as the Union closed to try to finish the gray fellows off and eventually the deed was done for a 5-3 USA win.
Tony managed to get some revenge later, however, as his French narrowly edged my Germans 6-5 medals in the Battle of Hannut-Merdorp scenario from Memoir '44. This wasn't a very remarkable fight really. It was mostly a back-and-forth melee between two evenly matched forces amidst a scattering of villages and woods.
Here's my question: I bought a new copy of the original Battle Cry last year (from The Man™ himself). Is it worth dropping money on the new one, or is it essentially the same game with a few different cards?
ReplyDeleteI think the changes are significant, but don't amount to making the old game completely obsolete. I think you'll still be able to enjoy the "classic" Battle Cry.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I think the new version will soon be the standard that everyone plays, the new cards correct some flaws in the original design and the new presentation is better. I don't regret buying it and I think it's a good value for the money, but I'm not sure what else is competing for those dollars in your budget. I wouldn't call it a "must have."