Commands & Colors: The Great War

Worst game I've ever bought on Steam. I am a fan of the original board game, but this one is simply unplayable. The AI freezes in the middle of the majority of games I've played. It's unforgivable that it is still in this condition so long after release. Avoid like Capt. Blackadder and going over the top.

The game is awesome, but there are a number of bugs and it seems this game is no loner supported. I cannot finish the second scenario because there is always a moment where the game freezes.

The game is mostly well done, but there are some bugs that simply destroy the fun. For example: I already tried to play scenario 4 three times, and I cannot finnish the scenario because there is always a moment where the Germans simply don't attack. It's their turn, but they don't do anything, it doesn't matter how many times I quit the game and come back.

It's a single bug, but it destroys the entire game

It's a turn based card game with graphics and the outcomes are never the same. You are at the mercy of Lady Luck with what cards are drawn and the roll of the dice. I find it very fun. Give it a try!

The game is ok. Having a great interest in WWI helps attract my attention. However the AI sucks. Also I found that the achievements are not awarded at least for not for the games I played!!??

I've had this game a while and it is totally not worth the money. I play the board game version and this computer version makes the rules up as it goes. None of the steam achievements are working and never have been since I've owned it and I would say that has been ditched by the developers. Makes me wonder why steam are still selling it. Criminal.

Christ knows how we managed to win the Great War if the German Army was this well-led, equipped, armed, supplied, fast, and lucky. What a shower of unrealistic one-sided overblown crap.

I have tried very hard liking this Steam version of The Great War, because I am a huge fan of Command and Colors system. But I have come to the conclusion that this adaptation is a disaster. From no respecting the rules of the board game, notably the retreats rules, to offering a mediocre AI challenge.

I consider myself an average player; however it is almost impossible to lose a game against the best AI (Field Marshall) if you have a minimum knowledge of C&C tactics and strategy. Let me list some of the most commons mistakes the AI make:

- Sending troops out of the trenches and let them stand in the open for some turns, even if they are facing direct fire from machine guns.
- Pretending to use combat cards… then not using it at all, like it forgot why it took the card from its “hand”.
- Abusing of artillery fire against units protected by trenches and failing once and again to do some damage… as it used to happen in WW1.

Maybe the AI is trying to reproduce the incompetence of so many WW1 officers, who were incapable of leading their troops and just sent them to carnage.

The game has also some errors, like not letting you advance when you have got the opportunity by eliminating an enemy unit. A glitch that will be assuredly fixed in the future I hope, even if the game seems to have been “abandoned” by its developer since June 2017.

I love the Commands & Colors boardgames. However I cant recommend this as there are too many bugs. Several times the cards dont work. The UI has visual bugs. On top of this the graphics and sound are not very good. The price is too high for a product of this quality.

Will you prove to be a lion or a donkey? COMMANDS AND COLORS: GREAT WAR puts you in the driver's seat for tactical level combat in the trenches of the Western Front during World War I, playing as either British/Commonwealth or Germans, from the Battle of Loos in Autumn 1915 through the Somme in Summer 1916 and Vimy Ridge in April 1917. The turn-based action takes place on a hex-grid map with unique terrain for each scenario, using an unspecified game scale -- probably platoon/section -- in which both ranged and close combat occurs, including off-map artillery and four unit types: infantry, bombers, machine guns and mortars. Navigate barbed wire, occupy craters blown by your artillery and miners, and claw at enemy trenches as you "bite and hold." Win by acquiring Objective Medals for occupying enemy terrain, destroying enemy units, exiting units off the enemy's edge of the map, or using the right cards. Play by utilizing HQ Tokens, Command Cards and Combat Cards, which limit your choices while providing unique capabilities to your units. Success depends on the luck of the draw and combat dice throws, but more importantly, your ability to construct a winning strategy for the battle at hand using your available resources. Mindlessly charging the enemy quickly results in defeat. Victory requires identifying your strengths and executing your battle plan step-by-step in response to your enemy's maneuvers and the HQ tokens and cards you acquire. The result is a game in which you must think and re-think your plan as the battle develops, often frustrated by your inability to use all the resources theoretically at your disposal.

As an amateur Great War historian, I like this game a lot, especially because it puts you at the infantry battalion level of decision-making, dynamically responding to an ever-changing battle front using a range of options limited by factors beyond your control. In every scenario you occupy the front trenches, facing enough unknowns that you will have to forge a bespoke method in order to accomplish your objectives. Re-playability is high and there are variable AI controls. Recommended!

I love the board game Command and Colors Napoleonics. But I was not sure about a computer version and much less how it would work in a WW1 setting. But as I have an interest in WW1 I took the plunge.
I am very glad I did. A well thought out and challenging game.
The variety of tactics and decisions you are presented with are well thought out.
I was surprised that WW1 tactics are so well represented. Assault over no mans land into wire could lose you the battle.
Edging up trenches is costly.
Use mortars to blast away the wire, rush troops into a gap, and then support them, if you do that you might pull it off.
Excellant game!

The graphics are passable for a board game. The controls are clunky and feel slow. Things like unit and terrain information is only accessible via a hover and not at all times (like when moving the unit). The graphics also make it hard to see at a glance what units are on the board. The cards are not easily read.

Overall it could be a much better game if the UI was refined a bit. As it is, I find it too cumbersome to deal with, so I will be deleting it.

Good game but still too many bugs (Some Combat cards doesn't work properly and sometimes cards remain fixed in the middle of the screen). It's the second time I buy a Hexwar game and second time I'm disappointed by the quality of the product (the firts was Nuts! Battle of the Bulge) The question is: Not enough time/persons for playtesting before scheduled release? I know that this year more Commands and colors game are coming: Come on HexWar! Let's improve!

i really love the c&c games and so i didn´t hesitate to buy the pc-conversion.i must admit that the bugs (cards not properly played or even ignored) and the fact that there is no multiplayer were a bit of a disappointment, but i hope that this will be improved in the future.
even in this state this is one of the best pc-wargames out there.buy it...that´s an order!

please please implement multi-player guys

Although my preference is for Ancients and Napoleonics, this is a very impressive port of the board game.

Nice graphics and a decent UI.

Would prefer the virtual dice not to bounce all over the shop but to be more contained so as to be easier to read.

The AI is pretty good but, ocaisionally, moves units to less than optimal positions.

Not sure if it is a bug but the 'Box Barrage' combat card can always be played even when it is not applicable to the Command card being played and, in those circumstances, that combat card is wasted.

Overall, very pleased and a good omen for the GMT games due out later this year.

One of the best hardcore representations of tabletop wargaming i have ever seen in digital form. From the visual dice rolls to the perfect implementation of cards for giving commands to the movement and combat of units everything feels spot on perfect. Even artillery is handled with tabletop excellence with setting up one's target on a different screen before giving the order to fire into enemy trenches or the open battlefield.

Oh and did i mention the very boardgame centric rich visuals of intro screens and gameplay giving one flashbacks of opening freshly purchased wargame boxes with that smell that says minty new.

Music is very well done adding a sense of tension and heroic conflict as one can just imagine infantry rushing the open ground in hopes of not being taken down by a fuselage of enemy fire or a artillery barrage.

COMMAND & COLORS: THE GREAT WAR a exhilarating tabletop experience with the guiding intuitive hand of modern technology as your game master and host. Hexwar Games has truly delivered a priceless masterpiece with the amusing price of what we would probably have paid at a gaming shop.

COMMAND & COLORS: THE GREAT WAR, BUY IT! PLAY IT! and enjoy the rare taste of wargaming excellence.

I'm enjoying it but it's quite buggy. The UI has loads of glitches and I've had a couple of unusual situations where the game logic breaks (such as a unit moving, then playing the card to send them back to their original space, but in the interval the AI has moved another unit into that space, so the game breaks and you have to quit).

It's not too bad overall but I can't recommend it for the price until they fix some of the many bugs. It looks like the developers are doing some patches, so hopefully I'll be able to change this to a thumbs up soon.

Needs alot more information on screen. Selecting a unit should explain its range and number of dice rolled, however, currently it does not. Tutorial information is paraghs of fluff, that explain the design decisions and then proceeds to give very little detail on what the things are.


The one upside is the game quickly put me out of my missory when it crashed. Did not even make it through the first turn. It may get better but i couldn't find out.

Come back in a couple of weeks.



Edit: 23 Jan 2017: Devs have responded here to interface concerns, and interface is a personal thing so we will see where it goes. Im sure if you know the game well it is sufficent.

Also I do have an in progress ticket going re crashing issue and the devs have been very responsive. So that certainly is a good thing. They mentioned a patch will probably come out in a week or so...

I can recommend the game, just not the present build.

As a long time fan of all of Richard Borg's Command & Colors games this one is a real pleasure to play for me. The lingering deficiencies of the system have been addressed by HQ tokens and some clever command cards with variable activations. So no more whining about how you only lost because you didn't draw the card you needed. Plan ahead, manage your hand and strike where and when the time is right. Good digital adaption from HexWar.

Since it's developed in Unity I hope that eventually it comes to mobile devices too. I like this very much better than the digital version Days of Wonder made of the original C&C game, Memoir '44.

hmm.. i havent ragequited so far, so good comp roll vs. bad player rolls isnt that much of a factor until now. thats always my worst fear with C&C games.. like it pretty good so far.
but i just encountered some strange card bugs as it seems.. hadnt those in intro 1 (or didnt notice) but intro 2 just ignored my infantry assault commandcard.. and a one of the cc cards (battle fury i think) didnt work either. not sure if its more of a "sometimes" thing or if its an persistent issue, time will tell.
the thing that anoyed me the most so far, was the sometimes strange behavior of the dice.. terrain and units sometimes stop them suddenly (seriously, no boardgamer would roll dice into the midst of the set up stuff... we'll use a free space to roll.). sometimes they seem to still roll, but the comp picks sides already. i'd like a separate area for the animated dice, or an option to turn the rolling animation off.
still feels a bit wonky at times, but at least the comp wasnt spared from strange happenings. i'm sure that will be sorted out over time.
overall i like it so far and look forward for the tank expansion stuff..