Battle Line FAQ
58 questions players ask · Updated Nov 11, 2026 · Full rulebook
Preparation
Objective
Troop Cards
Formations
Flags
- Can you claim a flag with only two cards on it?
- Can you claim a flag against an opponent who has fewer than three cards there?
- Can cards in your hand, or unplayed Tactics cards, be used to prove a flag cannot be beaten?
- Can you claim a flag at once when you prove the opponent cannot beat your formation, even if they could still play a Tactics card?
- If you have no legal play on your turn, can you still claim a flag?
- If the formations on a flag are tied, or could at best tie, who gets the flag?
- Can you claim a flag against an empty opposing side with a completed 8-9-10 Wedge of one colour?
- Can you claim a flag with a Phalanx of 8s if the opponent could still complete a Phalanx of 10s or a Wedge?
- Can you claim more than one flag in the same turn?
- Can you play a card to a flag that is already claimed, or to one the opponent has proven they will win?
- Can a claimed flag be taken back or reversed later?
Tactics Cards
- How many Tactics cards can you play compared with your opponent?
- If you play the first Tactics card, can your opponent then play two in a row?
- Does playing Fog or Mud count toward the limit on how many Tactics cards you may play?
- Can more than one Tactics card be played on the same flag?
- Are Tactics cards one-use, and do their effects last?
- Can you play a Tactics card when you still have a playable Troop card?
Morale Tactics
- What colour and value can a Leader take, and can it be 11?
- When is a Leader's or Companion Cavalry's colour and value fixed?
- Can a Leader or wild card take the colour and value of a card already on the table?
- Can you play a second Leader after your first one is discarded or removed by Deserter?
- Does a Tactics card played as a Troop card count toward the three cards on a flag?
Environment Tactics
- Can Deserter or Redeploy target Fog or Mud?
- Where do you place an Environment Tactics card, Fog or Mud?
- Can Fog and Mud both be played on the same flag, and by the same player?
- How is a flag decided once Fog is on it?
- Can you play Fog or Mud on a flag where your opponent already has three cards, or on a claimed flag?
- How does Mud change the number of cards needed to claim a flag?
- Do Fog or Mud count toward the three cards needed to claim a flag?
- If Fog makes the two sides tie on a flag, who wins the flag?
- Which flag can Fog be played on, and does it settle the flag right away?
- With Fog on a flag, what value does a Leader count as?
Guile Tactics
- Which cards can Deserter discard, and can it hit a Leader or Cavalry?
- Where does a card discarded by Deserter go, and can it be drawn again?
- Where can Traitor place the Troop card it takes, and what if there is no empty slot?
- Can Traitor take a Leader, Shield Bearer or Companion Cavalry?
- How does Scout change your hand and the draw step?
- Can you play Scout when fewer than three cards are left, and do you still return two cards?
- Does playing Scout end your turn, and does its effect last only that turn?
- Where can Redeploy move a card, and can it move a Guile card?
Game End
- Does the game end immediately when a player claims three adjacent flags?
- Can Battle Line end in a tie, with no flags claimed or equal flag counts?
- Does holding a fourth flag on your side change a three-adjacent-flag Breakthrough?
- If I complete a winning flag and my opponent is about to win too, who wins?