Miniatures Games: Battleground: Fantasy Warfare

First of all, let me apologize for the long delay between posts. The holidays snuck up on me.

The second miniatures game I'm going to discuss at length is Battleground: Fantasy Warfare from Your Move Games.

The first time I saw this game was at GenCon 2006. I'll be honest: it failed to impress me. It was a game that couldn't decide what it wanted to be. Was it a board game? A card game?

See, this game doesn't use plastic or metal minis: the units are represented by cards with their stats printed on them. They're also treated so that you can use a dry-erase marker on them.

A few months later, one of my local friends (and a regular opponent of two-player games) was ordering a few decks, and offered to order one or two for me.

I remember thinking to myself, If it sucks, it's not like I've spent a lot. The price is pretty good..

My first decks were Orcs and Elves. We met one Wednesday evening at our local game store, and played. It was ... okay. I know we missed some rules,and had a few other questions. It was enough that I was willing to play more.

It was about a week before I noticed that my decks had different versions of the rulebook. The Elves had the newer rules (if I remember correctly).

So I played a few times with several other friend as well - and started to like it.

Reading through the newer book, it felt more polished - and better. Every new deck has a newer rulebook. The Lizardmen have the newest book so far, and it's really well polished.

So here's how it stacks up:

Assembly Time: A
There is no assembly necessary. None.

Painting Time: A
Again: No work necessary.

Gaming Buddies: B
Even if you don't have any local buddies who are into the game, two starters are pretty cheap so you can get your friends involved.

Tournament Level Cost: A
Each army has a starter box and an expansion box. That's it. There are a few army-building restrictions, but most people will have no problem with just the starter and expansion for their army.

A category I left off my last entry (which was silly) that need coverage:
Rules Difficulty: B-
This game has a fe rules issues, and could be clearer in points. Don't get me wrong: I love the game, but there are a few rules which could use clarification. Thankfully, the designer is very active on BoardGameGeek, so clarifications are easy to come by.

Overall, I give this one a B+. It's a good low-cost way to dip your toes into the miniatures gaming pool.