Battlelore

MARVELLOUS WARGAME.

A big box game replete with quality components, cards, rules, and board. Also comes with a funky set of coloured battle dice, similiar to the ones used in M44.

The game plays quickly and easily, with surely the prettiest rulebook ever to grace this land helping out with any sticky points in the ruleset.
BattleLore is a great deal of fun to play, with enough room for tactical maneuvring to quench the thirst of a wargamer, and light enough to appeal to any other gamer with a hankering for this type of thing.

I will not be buying C&C:Ancients now - there simply is no need: Battlelore fills the gap between miniature wargaming and boardgaming nicely. Also plays well solo.
The morale rules are a neat idea, and battleback is very nasty indeed. The lore magic system is also well implemented, but I have simply played too few games using them to fully get to grips with all of their effects upon the battlefield.
The game is powered by cardplay, and the tactical playing of these cards will make or break your strategy during a battle. The winner is always the player who manages their pool of cards the best - make the most of what you're dealt, to coin a phrase - rather than the player who rolls lucky on their battle dice.
Big monsters spice up the stew wonderfully, and these MUST be handled with care by the opposing force, because a loose cannon like the giant spider can reap terrible damage upon the flanks of a goblin army, etc. You have been warned!
I must say that the game's design is quite brilliant, IMO. Count me in as a fan of THE SYSTEM!

Some gamers ramble on about the luck factor in the game. Ignore those people. Large-scale combat is a messy business, and unpredictable too - not that I've fought in any wars, but you know what I mean (though I have handled a sword and shield in battle against hordes numerous; the delights of LARP). What I'm trying to say is this game is a blast, and the luck involved is all part of the fun. To the naysayers I declare: have some cheese to go with your whine!

I shall certainly buy some of the expansions for this scampy little puppy, though I haven't figured out yet what type of extra units I'd like to see. A guess a dragon or a gaggle of trolls could go down a storm.