# Anybody else playing Anachronism, the History Channel card game? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2005, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-playing-anachronism-the-history-channel-card-game/302163 "2005-05-03T02:17:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-playing-anachronism-the-history-channel-card-game/302163/1 "2005-05-03T02:17:24Z")
Yeah, I know, it sounds like a joke, but it’s actually a fairly nice little mano-a-mano miniatures-style card game. For about $5, you get five cards, a historical warrior and four cards of, uh, stuff. You get a weapon card, an armor card, an inspiriation card (featuring a divine figure or an idea) and a special item card. The cards are non-random. E.g. Every “Herakles” comes with the same set of cards. The gimmicky CCG angle is that you can buy a bunch of warriors and mix and match cards, so you could give your Greek warrior a Japanese katana, or whatever. Hence the name of the game, I guess. I’m waiting with the dude with the submachine gun. 😉 The two warrior cards face off on a 4x4 grid (play mat provided with the starter set). A game consists of up to 5 rounds. During each round, a new special card is revealed and each player gets some number of actions per turn (3 or 4, it looks like, depending on which warrior you play) and you can use the actions to move, or attack, or use other special powers from your other cards. Facing is important; you have a certain “firing arc” for basic (unarmed) attacks, and a different one for when you’re using a weapon. A full game takes less than 15 minutes, so it’s a nice quick filler game. The hubby roped me in and bought me a warrior. My choice was “Milo of Croton,” but I call him The Flesh because he’s _super_ strong . . . and _super_ naked.[sup]\*[/sup]. [sup]\*[/sup] A million geek points to whoever gets the reference. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-playing-anachronism-the-history-channel-card-game/302163/2 "2005-05-03T02:53:37Z")
I’ll take those points. Kablam! Anyway sounds interesting. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-playing-anachronism-the-history-channel-card-game/302163/3 "2005-05-03T04:23:08Z")
To be more specific, it’s from Action League, Now! ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-playing-anachronism-the-history-channel-card-game/302163/4 "2005-05-03T11:24:13Z")
Excellent, Kablamoids. A million geek points to both of you, redeemable in the giftshop at Alpha Centauri National Park and Interstellar Recreational Area. But I guess nobody’s playing the game, eh? ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-else-playing-anachronism-the-history-channel-card-game/302163/5 "2005-05-03T20:55:33Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > But I guess nobody’s playing the game, eh? No, but I have the power to…um…melt. Ouchies!