New Years Showdowns: Chaos Vs. Empire (BattleMasters)

[Kurgan]

So we played our first games of Battle Masters NOT using the campaign rules.

We played two games... each time choosing different "sides" of the battlefield.

We discovered that you can use a rather large background matte for a surface to extend out the corners on a table that is long enough (but not wide enough) for the battle surface. Here, although cheaper options are surely available. Playing on a pool table might also work if you have a full size one available.

Used two sets of dice (EU and NA) and a reprinted deck (linen finish).

We gave each player two of the "Hex tiles" and two of the plastic "barricades" to place where they wished. We placed the tower roughly in the middle in both cases.

One time when I played as the Imperials, the river was in front of me and this proved to be a disadvantage. My brother was able to get me to divide my forces and destroyed me by wiping out my cannon and knights.

Even though I had added seven "reinforcement" homebrew cards to the deck (meaning if that unit is dead, he comes back in the starting row and then can move the next time he's drawn) but on the second playthrough we realized this could potentially extend the game forever. So if we play this way in the future, shorter games will have these cards removed OR only allow them to be drawn once (then remove from deck for the re-shuffle when we come to the end of the regular 59 card draw).

We also worked on setting up the 3d printer, hopefully for future repairs (one bow and halberd are broken... and 3d printed bases would allow some more potential variety with miniatures).

A fun time! The first game lasted 98 minutes, the second (against my brother-in-law) was nearly 2 hours so we called it a draw. I played Empire again and lost all my knights (but got them back) to the enemy Ogre before wiping him out along with several other units but no side was really close to losing and reinforcements kept arriving just when needed.

I'm only five games in and my record 3 losses (two as Chaos once as Empire), 1 win (Chaos) and 1 draw (Empire). I've decided I'm not any kind of ace player at this game, but it appears that keeping your army together, concentrating attacks, getting the initiative (attacks are deadly and defense is weak), as well as putting your weak units on top of the tower are good strategies. If using the cannon, try to take shorter shots for better success. There's a lot of luck involved but still some strategy of course, and the worst part of the game is the setup/put away time.

[SirRick]

How did the battle with your brother-in-law end in a draw? Was it because of your reinforcement cards?

Anyway I love reading stories like this. It reminds me of our Thanksgiving Day ​and Christmas Eve games of Risk.

[Kurgan]

Yeah, we would wipe out several units then get a reinforcement. Had we limited or eliminated them we probably could have wrapped it up.

[Nlinindoll]

I just got my complete, mostly on sprues and unpunched, nearly prestige box of battle masters in the mail yesterday! I’m very excited to assemble this weekend and play my first game. I never played this as a kid, so it’s new to me, but once I get the hang of it, I plan on introducing it to my HeroQuest players. Any tips for a new player of the game?

[Kurgan]

"Your turn" and referring to the hexes as "Squares" are hard habits to break. Also, forgetting the names of units (hint: the names of the units are written on the bases).

Careful when trimming the figures, trimmed bases won't fit as well (the wolf riders are supposed to have a little "nub" that helps them fit into the saddle but it isn't as well defined as the one the knights/lord knights have). It's hard for people to remember that each unit has only 3 body points (except the Ogre) and that any unit mentioned on any card drawn get to move, not just the one that has the same shield design.

Check the stickers on the rim of the box to make sure they are aligned correctly. Yeah, I almost didn't get this game, but found it for the right price, listened to those who said the miniatures were worth it (actually the whole package is interesting, the miniatures alone don't sell it for me when I already have HQ). I had never played it until this past year.

PS: Sticky tack (aka Poster putty) can cover a lot of issues with the figures staying on their mounts/bases and is a lot better solution I think than glue (you can remove the putty and use it again later as needed and comes in a variety of colors).