Stats:
No. of players: 2
Amount of time to play: 90-180 min
Age requirements: 12+
Set-up time: 5-10 minutes

Combat Commander: Mediterranean is the first expansion for Combat Commander: Europe. It adds new nations, scenarios, maps and more. See if you should add this expansion to your collection.

Combat Commander Mediterranean Description:

If you have not played Combat Commander: Europe before, you can read my overview of the game play and the rules here. I will assume you have a general idea of how to play the base game and only talk about what Combat Commander: Mediterranean adds.

Three new nations are added in this expansion, Britain, France and Italy. The new nations play differently based on their historical military prowess. The British have fewer, but more accurate shots to represent their marksmanship. The French may only discard one card per turn and the Italians have more jam results and are more likely to surrender once broken.

Twelve new scenarios are introduced too. Each uses at least one of the new nations and most require one of the nations from the base game. There is even a new random scenario generator for creating your own games.

Each scenario has a new map which can also be used when creating random scenarios. The maps are fairly diverse, featuring thick woods, vacant deserts and everything in between.

Quick Review of Combat Commander Mediterranean:

Combat Commander: Mediterranean adds more stuff to the base game. There are no new rules to learn, just more units and replayability. I have heard that this expansion and the base game were created at the same time. They were split for a better price point.

The components for this game are in line with those in the base game. It continues the same look and feel and the games blend together well. The rules are updated but basically the same as the originals. The extra copy is nice so that each player may have a copy while playing.

The new nations can be harder to play with and win but add nice variety to the game’s landscape. Combined with the new random scenario generator they put a lot of game in this box.

If you like the Combat Commander series and are looking to add more units and scenarios to it, pick this up. It is almost a game unto itself. It is nice to have an expansion that adds replay value and variety without adding a bunch of new rules.

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