Customer Reviews

Battle Cry

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a long time wargamer who loves Axis and Allies, Risk and History of the World. Battle Cry is far superior to all of these better known games.

It is a simple, and challenging 2 player game that simulates basic civil war tactics in realistic recreations of actual battles. Best of all, a game takes less than 1 hour each. So you can play a best 2 out of 3 and switch sides and battles before you could even finish setting up most strategy games.

Because of the various elements, die rolling, terrain, 3 different types of armies, etc. there is never 2 games that go the same way. I have found that with 2 fairly equal players the game will almost always be close. It is a very tough game to dominate at.

The greatest part of the game is the cards that allow you to only use men on a limited field of battle. The board is spit into right flank, center and left flank, and most of the cards allow you to move 1,2,3 or all the units on one of these fields at a time. Often your main army is ready to attack from one flank, but you find that you have only center cards. Furthermore there are special, rare cards that allow you to make unorthodox moves. Some allow you to move 1 unit from each field, others allow you to do double moves with cavalry or allow you to march all of your infantry units on the board. Then there is 1 awesome card that allows you to move all of your units at once. This game is so balanced that I have sometimes used that card and been unable to cinch a victory with it.

These variables not only make this game infinitly replayable (unlike axis and allies or risk games where you can win with 1 refined strategy nearly every time!) it also makes the game realistic. The civil war battles were often won by terrain and often resulted in stalemates for long periods of time until complicated and successive tactical moves could gain momentum in specific areas od battle. Communication was key, and it was difficult at best for the generals of one side to coordinate attacts on more than one area of the battle-field. The cards in this game simulate this factor very well.

This game of course is not totally realistic. There is no hospitals, sickness, slaves, resources etc. But it gains enjoyment in its simplicity. It accomplishes its intentions - that is to simulate tactics within a single piece of a single battlefield of the civil war, not the entire war. If you're a gamer like me, this will be the funnest game you've ever played and you will play it over and over with glee.

I picked up this game on a whim, hoping to get some of my family and friends interested in wargaming. I've been playing serious hex-grid and die-cut cardboard pieces wargames for 15 years, and I had some misgivings about playing a game with toy soldiers.

The pieces in the game are made of a flexible plastic that has proved very resilient. The terrain tiles are printed on a nice heavy cardboard. The cards, with proper care, show little wear.

Battle Cry uses a unique system of activiation. The battlefield is divided into thirds, with players issuing orders through their deck of cards. Orders vary from moving one or more units in one sector of the field, to more powerful cards that allow for more balanced movement. Only the player whose turn it is conducts fire, and only those units which have been activated by cards may fire.

After reviewing the rules for 10 minutes my father and I played our first game. I was immediately struck by the fluidity of the battle. Fortune ebbed and flowed as each player's deck of command cards changed. Spent units rallied, reinforcements appeared at critical points of the field. Attacks bogged down as command control waned with the depleted decks. At the end of my first game I was struck by how much our contest had resembled a real Civil War battle. Over a year later I'm still hooked! This is not only the best beginner-level wargame I've played, it is one of the best PERIOD.

Hasbro makes a great new addition to the old Avalon Hill line with Battle Cry. It is an excellent choice to introduce young people into the world of gaming.

Unlike the old Avalon Hill we get plastic figures instead of counters. The figures add something to the game. Owners of minatures can substitute them for these counters at their discression.

The game consists of 14 scenerios each of civil war battles. Unlike its unplayable namesake from the 60's this game flows. Using hex pieces you can build a variaty of maps and battlefields from the bridge at Anthetim to the Angle at Gettysburg.

The object is to capture 6 of your opponents flags, this is done by eliminating units of infantry, calvery, batteries or commanding generals. Movement and combat are achieved by playing of command cards Play ballence is achieved by the size of each players hand and can be adjusted.

Unfortunately for at least one scenero one less tile then needed is provided. It is a pain but not enough to spoil the game.

Its design leaves things wide open for DYO scenerios, and several are available online.

A fine job, not as good as their HISTORY OF THE WORLD UPDATE but very little is.

I played this for for the first time today, and was very impressed. The manual contains numerous, historic scenarios based on actual battles, with lots of background information to set the scene. Pick a scenario, use the accompanying diagram to deploy your units and terrain on the hex-based game board and you're ready to play in less than 5 minutes. Players draw and play cards that indicate which units can move and attack, which adds a nice element of luck to the game: you can have a great strategy planned, but can't deploy it without the right combination of cards. Battles are resolved using a unique set of dice. Rather than pips, the D6 uses symbols (infantry, cavalry, artillery, retreat and "wild card"). The attacker rolls a given number of dice, and the defender loses the number of attacked units rolled. For example, Norths's 4-unit infantry attacks South's 3-unit cavalry. North rolls 4 dice and gets 1 Cav, 2 Infantry and 1 Retreat. South loses 1 of his cavalry and the remaining 2 must retreat (the 2 Infantry rolled have no effect). Since the defender doesn't roll, and there are no pips to tally, battles are resolved very quickly, and the game moves along at very nice pace. Depending on the scenario and the skill (and luck) of the players, a game can be over in 30 minutes or extend to over an hour. The flexibility of the game system also leaves open the possibility of custom scenarios, should the players get tired of the ones in the manual. This is definately one you'll come back to again and again!

I was hooked from the minute I saw this game being demonstrated at a recent game convention. I would like to think I would be a great strategist, but I have yet to win against any of my foes. Still the game mechanics are very simple to learn. After the second or third game there is little if any referrring to the manual except for which scenario to set up and play. The combat system is extremely easy to understand, yet the play is complex enough to satisfy most veteran wargamers. I highly recommend this game as an introductory wargame.

Let me just start by saying, that the first day my friend got the game, we played it for about six hours... that's how much fun it is, and how easy to learn! Battle Cry is a two-player strategy game, that plays similarly to that of Risk. The scenerios that you can set up are actually those from the Civil War. Pickette's Charge, and First Bull Run, are just a few of the playable scenarios. The actuall gameplay is determined by the cards, and this is where the fun comes in. With the right cards, you'll have the oppurtunity to knock out some serious enemy units, or gain better position for your own. I like Risk, but this game is way better and makes more sense. The only complaint I have is that it is only a two-player game.

Battle Cry is a simpler strategy game than old timers will have come to expect from Avalon Hill, but it has a charm all its own. Although the rules are simple enough to teach a pre-teen, the game has tactical depth. Granted, it's quick, and luck does play major a role, but serious strategy gamers who write this little game off as a Beer & Pretzles game are doing themselves a disservice. Fun for kids and adults.

I'm a hard-core gammer... been one since I was 14. I started out with the original [$] games from Avalon Hill and went on to SPI and other games.
When Avalon Hill got bought out, I felt cheated and lied to. I was worried that a whole chapter of my life was over.
"Battle Cry" is not as captivating as many of the board games of my former years, but the designers have done a good job putting together a game that is accessable, easy to play and full of lots of options.
The board is great... sturdy and with cardboard chits to alter the terrain, and vary scenario play. The miniatures make the game very personable and fun to play.
I bought two copies to increase the counters and options... in case I wanted to create a new scenario for myself.
I'm only hopeing that they will continue to present other games just this well. The price isn't cheap... but it's a terrific value for the money.

This is a game for two players only. It's incredibly fun to play. The game recreates battles from the Civil War. One interesting thing about this game is that it seems, based on my experience, to be a war-type game that women really like to play. It has great components and is just great fun. It takes about an hour to play. The only bad thing I can say about it is that (a) it requires a lot of time to prepare for the first game because there is a lot of assembly; (b) set-up time, even after that, is a bit long; and (c) the rules are a little tricky at first. But it's definitely worth the effort. If you often have just two players, this is a good deal.

You can taste Victory, just as you can taste the smell of blood and gunpowder hanging in the air.

It is July 3rd, 1863: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The horse breathes heavily beneath you, chafing from the bit and saddle; you remove the broad-brimmed officer's hat and wipe the sweat from your brow. The hills and forest and field stretching before you lie heavy beneath the lash of humidity; morning mist piles about the woody bottoms and thickets, and lolls about the gates to a nearby farmhouse. The ground around and about you has already been consecrated with the blood of warriors, Yankee and Confederate alike. The battlefield steams and smokes.

In a minute---perhaps less---the air itself will roar and seethe with the screams of your artillery. The Federals have no idea and no hope: Lee and Longstreet have moved the Confederate cannon in position hours ago, pounding the Union on Culp's hill while the cavalry under J.E.B. Stuart and infantry under General George Pickett have arced east, circling nimbly to hit the Union line on its flank. This time General Meade's force will be crushed; the Yankees routed. There will be nothing to stop the Confederacy from roaring on to Washington DC, seizing the Capitol, and ending the accursed War. This time it will be different. This time.

That, my friends---the ability to turn great battles on their head, to drive your opponent screaming from the field---is the glory of "Battle Cry", a magnificent, prodigiously simple, consumptively entertaining little wargame in which you take the side of the Union or Confederacy in more than 15 great battles that defined the course of the Civil War and determined American history.

"Battle Cry" is a marvellous little game. There are hundreds of more detailed, complex, and arcane wargames dedicated to the Battle between the States (many moldering in my attic), but none so enjoyable, so brilliantly simple, as "Battle Cry".

The battlefield is divided into three sections: right flank, center, left flank; the units divided into those governing the military of the day: infantry, cavalry, artillery. The geography here is modular, with hills, forest, field, farm, bridge, fenceline & ditch, and river hexes provided on sturdy die-cut---and competently illustrated---counters; counters, in turn, are assembled on the gameboard. You can easily switch out Gettysburg for Pea Ride, or the horrors of Shiloh or Antietam, merely by shuffling and assembling the hexagonal terrain counters. All of this adds to playability: you can recreate any Civil War battle, or up the difficulty level and design your own less forgiving terrain, upping the Butcher's Bill!

Play is equally concise and brutal: draw up to 5 cards. Your hand determines your options: keep troops in every section---right, left, center---it's easy to draw a hand confined to just one flank, and if you concentrate your forces you can find yourself bogged down and stalled. Dice determine movement and the efficacy of fire. Cavalry is fleet but vulnerable; infantry sturdy but slow; artillery has range but is relatively immobile and susceptible to an aggressive enemy advance.

Buttressed within these confines is a world and a wealth of glorious martial gameplay. Nothing is so fine as braying defiance in your opponent's face as your cavalry sweeps in on his undefended left flank, your infantry, having advanced, opens up from across the river, and your artillery---situated on the forested heights---pounds his line mercilessly! And make no mistake, "Battle Cry" simulates the wild and ruthless fortunes of war: from a heady advance and crushing victory, your infantry can find themselves overextended, their hand overplayed: a hardy rush can be gutted by withering fire from troops that have dug themselves in.

Best of all, "Battle Cry" is a handsome game: the Confederate and Union plastic molded figures are of the highest quality, and nothing is so fine as seeing infantry wielding Old Glory advance across a bitter field to do battle with the Stars and Bars. Cry havoc---heave to!---and consecrate these fields with the blood of heroes. Mine eyes have seen the Glory---indeed!