Playing BattleLore Category

Basic strategy & tactics for new players

1. Get your troops bold/supported as quickly as possible. Ignoring the first retreat flag can keep your line together. Battleback allows you to damage enemy troops even if you don’t have cards to activate them. Use some Cavalry in reserve to quickly mend a breach in your line.

2. Put green troops in forests, blue troops on hills. These units can attack at full strength from this terrain but limit the dice that can be used against them.

3. Use Command cards for specific sections of the battlefield (center, flanks) before the more generic Command cards (blue troops, foot troops). This allows you to adjust to battlefield changes more easily. Maneuver troops onto the hexes that belong to two sections to allow more Command cards to activate them. If necessary, look at your hand of Command cards and move troops into the sections you have Command cards for.

4. When attacking, keep your troops in supported formation. Try to have at least two Command cards for the troops you want to attack with before launching the attack so you can keep pressing or fall back as the situation demands. Either focus on the opponent’s unsupported troops or find a place in their line that you can hit multiple times where killing or pushing back the unit will leave multiple units unsupported.

5. If you get in trouble in one section of the battlefield and don’t have the Command cards to respond, apply pressure on the opponent in another part of the battlefield. Try and get them to change their focus so you can buy some time to get a Command card that’s useful.

6. Don’t give in to the temptation to advance your cavalry too far away. Cavalry units are better used as opportunists who can fall upon enemies left behind or isolated to finish them.

(These notes by EvanMinn originally appeared on the DoW forums and incorporate suggestions from BGG members aristarco, thesama, Kris and tstapp1026)