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How to Play

Battle Line

2-2 players 30-30 min 7.4 Board Game Geek Rating

Players compete to capture flags along a battle line by creating poker-style formations using numbered cards. Each flag requires building three-card hands on both sides, with stronger combinations like straights and flushes winning. Victory comes from claiming five total flags or three consecutive ones, combining tactical card play with strategic positioning.

Published 2000

Battle Line

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Prepare location cards
Mix the location cards and spread 9 of them in a line between players, with one card facing each player
2
Create the draw deck
Shuffle all troop and tactic cards together into one deck
3
Deal starting hands
Give 7 cards to each player from the shuffled deck
4
Distribute reference cards
Give one quick reference card guide to each player

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Play a card
Place one troop or tactic card under any location to send forces there to capture it
2
Replenish your hand
Draw a card from the main deck after playing
3
Alternative action - Discard
Waste a turn to discard a card from hand and draw a new one from the deck
4
Resolve location claims
Once 3 cards have been played on both sides of a location, resolve the score to determine the winner
5
Claim early if provable
If a player can prove the enemy cannot win without a tactic card, they may claim the land even with fewer cards played
6
Secure claimed locations
Once a claim is confirmed, move the location to the winner's side; it becomes immune to any troop or tactics cards
7
Overpowered
Same house, consecutive powers, and highest sum beats three of a kind
8
Three of a Kind
Three cards with the same power number (with sum as tiebreaker)
9
Full House
Same house with consecutive powers
10
Flush
Same house with highest sum
11
Straight
Consecutive powers with highest sum
12
Run
Consecutive powers only
13
High Card
Highest sum of power values

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Control majority
Win by controlling 5 lands out of 9
2
Control adjacent territory
Win by controlling 3 adjacent lands
3
Control four lands
First player to capture 4 lands wins
4
Control adjacent territory
First player to control 3 adjacent lands wins
5
Easy mode
Remove Tactics cards and ignore special requirements on land cards
6
Medium mode
Play with Tactics cards but ignore special requirements on land cards
7
Hard mode
Play with Tactics cards and comply with all special requirements on land cards

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

Battle Line // En bon québécois

Battle Line // En bon québécois

Instructional

BATTLE LINE 南北戰線｜天鵝不只開箱

BATTLE LINE 南北戰線｜天鵝不只開箱

Instructional

MORE VIDEOS

FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

PDF RULEBOOK

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