From the publisher...
Ancient Battles were fought in organized formations. The leaders of both sides directed their forces along the battle line to gain tactical advantage in order to overwhelm their opponent in the center, breakthrough one of his flanks, or hold their position until the time came for a decisive move. How will you muster your battle line? Your objective is to create powerful formations on your side of the nine Flags, in order to beat the formations on your opponent's side of the respective Flags. The first player to win three adjacent Flags (a Breakthrough) or any five Flags (an Envelopment) achieves victory. Based on Reiner Knizia's original design published in Germany as Schotten-Totten, Battle Line enhances and expands the game system to give players more tactical options and fun.
Battle Line is a two-player card game built around the theme of warfare during the age of Alexander the Great. Battle Line features 60 full-color Rodger MacGowan/Mark Simonitch cards depicting the prominent formations of the period (War Elephants, Heavy Cavalry, Phalanx, etc.) and 10 full-color tactics "wildcards" that give players extra flexibility and choices and help make each new battle wildly different from the last.
Battle Line takes about 30 minutes to play. To win, you must create powerful formations along your side of the line of battle that are superior to those of your enemy. Victory goes to the player who wins 5 of the 9 battle flags (an envelopment) or three adjacent flags (a breakthrough). Based on Reiner Knizia's original design published in Germany as Shotten-Totten, Battle Line enhances and expands that game system to give players even more tactical options and gut-wrenching decisions.
How will you muster your battle line? Will you use your elephants to trample a hole in the enemy front, or send Alexander to the front to win a critical flag? Maybe you'll dispatch the Companion cavalry to lead or reinforce a crucial point in the line, or perhaps you"ll rely on your spies to determine the enemy"s strengths and weaknesses before committing your best forces. You'll always have plenty of choices. With every card play, you'll determine the strength and direction of your attack while plotting to fend off your enemy's advances.
In Battle Line, you and your opponent lead the combined arms of the greatest units of the era. Will you, like Alexander, reign supreme? Play Battle Line, and find out.
User Reviews
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Posted by: Anonymous
Date: 2008/10/02 Time: 5:45pm
Battle Line is a 2-player card game with a military theme, but don't let that scare you off. Behind the imagery is a tense little card game that will have you saying, "Rematch!", and it's one of the favorite two-player games of my wife and I.
Using a special deck, with cards numbered 1 to 10 in six different colours, Battle Line challenges each player to control any 5 of 9 flags (or 3 in a row). You control a flag by having a better "formation" than your opponent. A formation is nothing more than a set of three cards, played by a flag, which have poker-like strength (e.g. a one-colour straight will beat three-of-kind).
Each turn you simply have to play a card to a formation and then draw a replacement. But as flag formations start to take shape, you soon realize that you have to "pick your battles" and evaluate which formations you have the most confidence in.
If you are looking for a great two-player game that you'll be happy playing for years to come I can highly recommend Battle Line! 4 1/2 stars.
