Battleground Fantasy

Battleground: Fantasy Warfare is a point-based miniatures game – but without the miniatures. Battleground uses cards rather than painted models to represent your forces. This means a much lower price as well as easier transportation and setup, but don’t be fooled – this is not a “light” war game or a CCG. Battleground is a serious, award-winning wargame that will challenge you at every step, from army design and deployment to tactical maneuvers and command decisions until battle’s end.

What you Get

Each Battleground army comes in two different decks.
•    Army Starters contain eighteen unit cards, a thirty-card Command Deck and two quickstart reference cards, plus the basic rules. This gives you all the cards you need to get started – in play terms, each unit card is the equivalent of a boxed set of miniatures.
•    Army Reinforcement decks each contain fifty unit cards – enough for almost any army you can imagine – and the advanced rules.  Reinforcement decks also include two unit types not available in that army’s Starter.

All you need in addition is a flat surface, an opponent, some dice and a couple of dry-erase markers.

Basics of Play

As the general of a fantasy army of Men, Orcs, Elves or whatever faction you choose, you will muster your forces and command them in battle.  You will have an agreed-upon number of points to spend on your army, which will determine the size of the battle.  You and your opponent will then take turns deploying your forces on the battlefield.  Finally you will give them their orders and the battle begins.

During play you will have a limited number of Command Actions each turn – one for every 500 points available for building your army.  These Command Actions represent what you can do as a general.  You can spend them to change a unit’s orders or take direct control of a unit for a turn, rally routed units, draw cards that can provide small combat bonuses or to use your special army ability.

Unlike most tabletop wargames where you have complete control over every soldier’s actions, Battleground puts you in the role of a true general.  Your troops are loyal and will obey your orders but you can’t be everywhere so you have to spend your resources carefully!