Commands & Colors: Ancients FAQ
123 questions players ask · Updated Nov 9, 2026 · Full rulebook
General
- What is the turn sequence, and must I play a card each turn?
- When is the command deck reshuffled?
- What does adjacent mean in Commands & Colors: Ancients?
- What changed between the editions of the rulebook, and which is current?
- Are light chariots an official unit?
- When does the game end, and can it be a draw?
- Do I score a banner for an attached leader killed along with his unit?
Order Units and Leaders
- Can I pass or play a card that does nothing?
- Can I order fewer units than the card allows, or leave ordered units idle?
- Can a lone leader start a Leadership card's chain or be ordered by it?
- Can Order Mounted Troops order a lone leader?
- Must ordered units stay in formation after moving?
- Can I play a Section card with no units in that section?
Movement
- Is there a zone of control, and can units move backwards or away from an enemy?
- How far can Auxilia and Warriors move and still battle?
- Can a unit move or retreat onto a lone friendly leader, and does it stop there?
- Can light foot units pass through friendly units?
- Can a unit that entered a river or forest momentum advance out of it?
Battle
- Can an unordered unit fight in the battle phase?
- Do you declare targets when you order units, and in what order are attacks resolved?
- Does a unit roll fewer battle dice as it loses blocks?
- Is there a bonus for attacking a unit's flank or rear?
- How many dice does a foot unit on a hill roll attacking an adjacent unit on another hill?
- Does Spartacus's extra battle die apply to ranged combat?
- Must a Warrior unit's forced close combat target still be adjacent when its combat is resolved?
Ranged Combat
Close Combat
- When can a defending unit battle back?
- Can a unit battle back against every attack made on it in one turn?
- Can the defender battle back against a bonus close combat?
- Can a unit that battles back take a momentum advance or bonus combat?
- Can the attacker momentum advance or make a bonus combat after the defender evades, even if the evader is eliminated?
- Can an attacker momentum advance if the defender stood its ground, or could not retreat?
- How does a cavalry unit's extra hex after a momentum advance work, and can it move any direction?
- Which units can make a bonus close combat, and must they attack the same enemy?
- Which units can evade, and can Auxilia evade?
- Can a unit evade through woods or a ford, or with only one free hex behind it?
- Can a unit attack a unit that just evaded or retreated next to it, and can that unit evade again?
- How do an elephant's crossed-sword re-rolls work?
- How many dice does an elephant roll against a unit in a fortified camp, or against another elephant?
- When do leader symbols on the battle dice score hits?
- Does light bow infantry that moved one hex still roll two dice in close combat?
- Does a Warrior unit keep its extra die when battling back after being hit?
- Do cavalry ignore the first sword hit from infantry?
Retreat
- How far does a unit retreat, and in which direction?
- What happens if a unit cannot complete its retreat?
- Does terrain affect retreating or evading units?
- Can I pick a retreat hex that blocks my next retreat step?
- How does a lone leader in the retreat path affect a retreating unit?
- How does ignoring flags work: support, leaders, and choice?
- If a defender is attacked repeatedly, when are retreats applied and does an adjacent retreat stop?
- How does an elephant rampage work when it must retreat?
- What happens if an elephant's retreat path is blocked?
Special Actions
- When must a defender declare an evade, and does it have to move the full two hexes?
- If a unit is eliminated while evading, how many banners does the opponent get?
- Can medium cavalry evade elephants, and can light units evade cavalry?
- Can a war machine evade, and what happens?
- Does terrain limit momentum advance and bonus close combat?
- Do card bonus dice carry into the bonus close combat?
Leaders
- When does an attached leader face a casualty check, and how many dice?
- What happens to a leader when his attached unit is eliminated?
- How is a lone leader attacked, and can flags or momentum affect him?
- Can a leader evade or retreat through a hex with a lone enemy leader or an enemy unit?
- Can a leader move away from his unit, and how many orders does it take?
- Does a leader moving onto a unit order that unit, and can the unit then attack?
- Does terrain slow a leader moving alone?
- What do leaders give units: helmet hits, flag ignoring, adjacency?
- Is a leader worth a victory banner, and do leaders count for exit banners?
- Can a lone leader rally units or be rallied?
Command Cards
- Can Double Time let medium or heavy infantry move two hexes and still battle?
- Which units can Double Time order, and can they fire or separate afterwards?
- Under Double Time, can Warriors move two or three hexes without attacking?
- What counts as a group for Line Command, and how many foot units can it order?
- How far can Line Command units move, and do they get momentum advance and bonus combat?
- How does Move-Fire-Move work, and which units can it order?
- How many dice does a unit roll when it fires after moving under Move-Fire-Move, and can Auxilia fire after moving two?
- Can a light unit stop in woods or at a ford on its first Move-Fire-Move move and then move again?
- How does First Strike work, and what can the attacker do afterward?
- Can First Strike be played in response to a battle back, a bonus combat, or against several adjacent enemies, and can Counter Attack copy it?
- How does Counter Attack work: which orders, which section, and can it copy another Counter Attack?
- Who does Clash of Shields order, and can the units fire or move?
- What does Mounted Charge order, and what if I have no mounted units?
- How does the Rally card work, and who can be rallied?
- How does Darken the Sky work?
- How does I Am Spartacus work?
- How does a Leadership or Inspired Leadership card pick units, and must they be in the leader's section?
- Can a Leadership, Order Mounted or order-one-unit card move a leader on its own?
- When can a card's order a unit of your choice fallback be used?
- Did the 2nd edition command cards change any rules, and can Epic be played with one deck?
Terrain
- How many dice are rolled in or out of forest, broken ground, hill, river and marsh?
- Which terrain makes units stop, and can they still battle?
- Can a unit that enters a fordable river momentum advance out of it?
- What does a fortified camp or rampart do for the defender and the attacker?
- Which terrain blocks line of sight?
Special Units & Rules
CDG Solo SystemExpansion
- Do I refill an empty card display slot after a card is played in the CDG Solo System?
- How big is the card display in C&C Ancients when a side has a larger hand size?
- What counts as the lowest order count card for a Fate Die result?
- Can a Tactic card be chosen on a Fate Die result, and what does for any allowable purpose mean?
- How does the CDG Solo System handle Epic Ancients II turns with three Field Commands?
- How do random selection, e< results and hand sizes work in CDG Solo for C&C Ancients?
- Can the CDG Solo System run games with more than two sides?