Battle Line

Battle Line is a vintage Reinier Knizia card game: highly challenging and only loosely related to the theme of the game. Two players are in command of opposing armies of the ancient era, and the objective of the game is to break the enemy line. This is done by claiming five of nine flags, or three consecutive flags. Flags are claimed by playing cards in front of them, representing commitment of forces.
There is a single deck containing cards numbered from one to ten in six colours. Each number corresponds to a unit type, from skirmishers and velites at the lower end to phalanx and cavalry to elephants. Players take turns playing a card, and then drawing a new one. Each flag can hold three cards from both sides, and a flag cannot be claimed until you have established a force which your opponent cannot beat, no matter what cards he plays. Different combinations of cards have rankings based on number and colour, so the game feels like playing nine simultaneous hands of three card poker. There are also special cards that can be played that have effects like causing a specific flag to be played to four cards, or forcing your opponent to remove one of the cards they’ve played.
Battle Line is a must for anyone who enjoys games that are a true intellectual and mathematical puzzle. Those gamers looking for ancient warfare may be disappointed as the theme brought across only superficially. Though the illustrations of the cards and the concept match the period very well, the feel of the game remains generic.