Battle Line

Get ready for a tactical showdown in Battle Line, a two-player card game that puts you in command of military formations. The objective is simple, but the strategy is deep: conquer the majority of the nine flags on the battlefield, or secure three adjacent flags before your opponent. Each flag is contested with three-card formations, reminiscent of poker hands like straights and three-of-a-kind. The strongest formation on each side of the flag secures victory!

Originally a re-themed version of the classic Schotten-Totten, Battle Line brings some interesting novelties. The cards now range from 1 to 10 (instead of 1 to 9), you manage a hand of seven cards (instead of six), and the possibility of claiming flags at the start of your turn is presented as an advanced variant. The big innovation of Battle Line is the tactics cards, which introduce twists and additional strategies, something that was only incorporated into later editions of Schotten-Totten.

With six colors of cards and numbering from 1 to 10 in each, plus the ten tactics cards, the game demands a lot of logic and good planning to assemble the best formations. The production quality of the cards was a point of discussion in the first editions, but the second edition from GMT Games brought significant improvements. If you enjoy direct duels, with a touch of bluffing and a lot of strategic decision-making, Battle Line is an excellent addition to your collection!