Stats:
No. of players: 2
Amount of time to play: 60 min
Age requirements: 12+
Set-up time: 10-20 min

Greece vs Eastern Kingdoms is the first expansion for Commands and Colors Ancients. This expansion adds new armies, some new units and 21 new scenarios.

C&C Ancients: Greece vs Eastern Kingdoms Rules Description:

Commands and Colors Ancients is a war game that I previously reviewed. If you do not know the basic game play of the series, read my review of the base game here. The rest of this post will talk about the new things added in this expansion.

The new units added are light bow cavalry units and camels. Both armies get the cavalry units but only the Greeks get the camels. Light bow cavalry units hit one green dice, may move up to four hexes before firing with a three hex range and may follow up once in close combat. Camels are medium units that hit on blue results they may move up to three hexes and attack only in close combat with three dice. They may advance after a successful close combat attack and attack again. When in position to battle back they only roll two dice and can ignore one hit from cavalry or chariot units.

Special unit blocks are included too. These represent elite units that are present in specific battles and scenarios. Each scenario will give the rules for the special unit it adds to the battle. Most of them hit on a leader result and may ignore one flag.

The new scenarios take place from 490 BC to 190 BC. Each scenario includes its set up and victory conditions as well as a paragraph on the historical background of the battle.

Quick Review of Commands and Colors Ancients Expansion Pack 1:

C&C Ancients Expansion 1 adds Greek and Eastern Kingdom armies. The 21 scenarios span a long time period and require you to adjust your tactics as history marches on. There may not be a lot of new rules in this expansion but the amount of additional material it adds to the base game is noteworthy.

The components are top notch. Everything looks nice and is well laid out. The rules are easy to read and even contain examples and clarifications on things in the base game. You will need to sticker the hundreds of cubes before you can play this game, but it helps knowing that in advance.

The amount of additional content added in this expansion is impressive. There are more scenarios than there were in the base game. The rules overhead is almost non-existent and fans of the original game will enjoy the amount of replay value the expansion adds.

The new units are not groundbreaking but add some variety to the units from the original game and are nice to have.

Throughout the new scenarios there are different unit configurations and ways they begin on the map. This forces you to evolve your tactics and figure out how to react to the changes on the battlefield.

If you own Commands and Colors Ancients and have played through the expansions you should pick this up. The amount of new content in the Greece vs Eastern Kingdoms expansion is worth the investment. If you have not tried out this series you start by looking into the base game.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 6 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6