BLT V3.0 4x6 Booklet

8/13/2019 BLT V3.0 4x6 Booklet

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Battle Leader Tactics

Rules of Play

Version 3.0


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Questions & CommentsIf you have any questions or comments about BLT,

please feel free to contact me at [email protected] would love to hear your thoughts on the game and anysuggestions about its further development.

Robert M. Carroll


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Have you ever wanted to match the tacticalbrilliance of Napoleon versus the charismatic sheer willto succeed of Alexander the Great? Do you want to seehow Caesars ingenuity flourishes with the use of

mechanized infantry or missiles? How about seeingGenghis Kahn flying in low over the steppes to terrorizehis opponents with attack helicopters? Go into battlewith some of the most feared and successful militaryleaders of all time. Use the same tactics they used towin their battles. Fight with the military forces reveredthroughout history. All this is possible with the abstractwar game Battle Leader Tactics (BLT).

BLT serves as a basic game introducing playersto the interaction between army units, leaders andtactics. BLT allows players to command standard troops(e.g, infantry, cavalry, artillery and guard) and specialmilitary units (e.g., 300 Spartans, Panzer Army Afrika,etc.) with historic military leaders using real tactics andfog of war (all without any dice). The primary resolutionengine for the game is housed in the Tactics ResultsChart (TRC), which compares tactics used by the playersand determines losses, if any, of army units.


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Components 21 Leader Cards24 Tactics Cards (12 for each player)28 Army Cards (14 card deck for each player)10 Special Army Cards1 Tactics Results Chart (TRC)1 Rules Booklet1 Leader Card Explanation Sheet

Setup1. Each player takes one set of Tactics Cards and

Army Cards.2. Place the Tactics Results Chart (TRC) in between

the players in full view.

3. Shuffle the Leader Cards and deal out oneLeader Card to each player. That Leader Cardrepresents each players starting Leader. Placethe remaining Leader Cards face down near theTRC (the Leader Deck).

4. Shuffle the Special Army Cards and place themface down near the TRC (the Tech Deck).


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Area of PlayBattlefield The area where each player places theirchosen Tactics Card and commits their Army Cards to

Battle.Leader Deck Pool of available Leader Cards.Killed in Action (KIA) Pile The place where LeaderCards are discarded. Once discarded (either by a KIAresult on the TRC, the loss of Guard Army Card or by aplayer during Command Phase), Leader Cards cannot

re-enter the game.Battle Orders Each players deck of available TacticsCards based on the highest Tactics rating of the currentLeader Card. For example, if a Leader has a Tacticsrating of 8, he can use any Tactics Card from Infiltration to Double Envelopment .Reserves the Army Cards and Tech Deck cards notcurrently used in Battle. Every Leader can use any of theArmy Cards in Reserves.Casualty Pile the place where losses (as determinedby the TRC) are discarded face up. Each player has aCasualty Pile and may only draw from their pile whenusing a Leaders ability during the Muster Phase.Tech Deck Pool of available special Army Cards. Aplayer may draw from the Tech Deck each time they usethe Infiltration Tactics Card.


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GoalA game of BLT consists of 10 Battles. A player wins ifthey:

Won 6 Battles, or If neither player has won 6 Battles, then a playerwins if they have the most Army Cards in theirReserves, or

If there is a tie with the most Army Cards inReserves, then whoever has the highest ranked

Leader in play is the winner.

Turn Sequence(1) Command : Each player chooses whether to keeptheir current Leader or discard him. If you choose todiscard the Leader Card, then draw a new Leader Cardfrom the Leader Deck and reduce that Leaders ArmySize by one FOR THE CURRENT TURN ONLY. If you lost aLeader due to a KIA result from the previous Battle ordue to the loss of a Guard Army Card, you draw a new

Leader during the Command Phase. There is no penaltyif you are drawing a new Leader due to a KIA result from a previous Battle or from the loss of a Guard Army Card .

(2) Muster : Each player may choose to use the LeadersBonus (if available) of drawing any card from that

players Casualty Pile, BUT MAY NOT USE ANY OTHER


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BONUSES DURING THAT TURN. Note: This phase is moreimportant in a longer game (see variants below).

(3) Initiative : The player with the highest ranked Leaderin play declares which player will be the Attacker andwhich player will be the Defender for the current turn.

(4) Tactics : Each player chooses a Tactics Card andplaces it face-down on their side of the Battlefield.

(5) The Attack : The attacker chooses at least two ArmyCards (unless Withdraw is selected) that they want tocommit to Battle and places them face down on theirside of the Battlefield. The number of Army Cardscannot exceed the Army Size listed on the Leader Card.If the Attacker does not have enough Army Cards tocommit to Battle, THEN THEY AUTOMATICALLY LOSE THEBATTLE.

(6) Defender Withdrawal : Defender may change theirTactics Card and replace it with Withdraw [4] and only

needs to choose one (1) Army Card to commit to Battle.

(7) The Defense : The defender chooses at least twoArmy Cards that they want to commit to Battle andplaces them face down on their side of the Battlefield.The number of Army Cards cannot exceed the Army Size

listed on the Leader Card. If the Defender does not have


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enough Army Cards to commit to Battle, THEN THEYAUTOMATICALLY LOSE THEBATTLE.

(8) Attacker Withdrawal : Attacker may change theirTactics Card and replace it with Withdraw and move oneArmy Card back to their Reserves.(9) Orders Communicated : Both players turn over theirTactics Cards and Army Cards.

(10) Failed Orders : If a player does not have at least oneof the requisite Army Cards for the Tactic Card played(e.g., Cavalry for Enfilades or Artillery for Bombards ) thenthe Tactics Card is changed to Stand and Defend . If aplayer has committed more Army Cards than allowed bythe Army Size on the Leader Card, then THE OTHER PLAYER

MAY CHOOSE AND DISCARD ANY EXCESSARMY CARDS TO THECASUALTYPILE. If a player chooses a Tactics Card thatcannot be used by their current Leader, then the TacticsCard is changed to Stand and Defend .

(11) The Engagement : Players consult the TRC andresolve any losses. All losses are placed in each pla yersrespective Casualty Pile.

(12) Superior Leadership : The player with the highest-ranked surviving Leader may choose the first Army Cardof their opponent that is removed as a loss. The rest ofthe casualties are chosen by the player owning that


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Army Card. Note: This is one of the more powerfulprivileges of a higher ranked Leader.

(13) The Victory : After losses are removed, the CombatValue of the remaining Army Cards are totaled andsurviving Leaders may apply any modifying bonuses.The player wins the Battle if he: Has the highest total Combat Value, or If the total Combat Value is a tie, then the highest-

ranked Leader wins.

(14) End Battle : Each player removes any Tactics Cardsand Army Cards from the Battlefield and places them intheir Battle Orders deck and Reserves pile, respectively.If a player selected Infiltration , then he may draw a

Special Army Card from the Tech Deck.


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Special Cards & BonusesInfiltration Tactics Card When used, the player maychoose to either remove an opponents Leader (upon a

KIA result) or prevent the removal of his Leader (upon aKIA result). The player may also draw one Special ArmyCard from the Tech Deck and place it in their ReservesPile.

If both players selected Infiltration, then the player with

the highest ranked Leader chooses whether to preventremoval or let their Leader be removed. If this playerdecides to save their Leader, then there is no attempt toremove the opponents Leader.

However, if this player decides to let their Leader be

removed, then the opponent must decide whether toprevent removal or let their Leader be removed. Note:This provides another avenue for removing unwantedLeaders without incurring the penalty to draw newLeaders during the Command Phase.

Withdraw Tactics Card When selected, the playerneeds only to commit one Army Card to Battle instead oftwo. A player may replace any played Tactics Card withthe Withdraw Tactics Card during the Attacker/DefenderWithdrawal phase and remove one Army Card back totheir Reserves (Attacker Withdrawal Phase).


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Cavalry Army Cards In order to use Enfilade Right,Enfilade Left, or Double Envelopment a player MUST commit at least one Cavalry Army Card to the Battle.

Artillery Army Cards In order to use Bombard, a playerMUST commit at least one Artillery Army Card to theBattle.

Guard Army Cards If this Army Card is discarded fromplay, then the player MUST discard their current Leader.

Missiles Special Army Card In order to use the MissilesSpecial Army Card, a player must select the Bombard[12] Tactics Card. The Missiles Special Army Card isdiscarded to the Casualty Pile after use.

W.M.D. Special Army Card In order to use theWeapons of Mass Destruction Special Army Card,a player MUST select the Bombard Tactics Card. TheWeapons of Mass Destruction Special Army Card isdiscarded to that players Casualty Pile after use. W hen

using the W.M.D Special Army Card, the TRC is notconsulted and the All (all opponents Army Cards arediscarded) and KIA results are applied.

Leader Bonuses If a Leader has a bonus that allowsdrawing from the Casualty Pile, then the player may

draw that number of Army Cards from their ownCasualty Pile during the Muster Phase. If a Leader has a


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bonus that modifies an Army Card (e.g., +1 Infantry, +2Cavalry, etc.), then the player may add that modifier tothe Combat Value of any Army Card committed to Battlemeeting that criteria. A Leader may only use one bonus

during a turn, however the modifier affects all ArmyCards meeting the criteria.

Variants

Chosen for Command : If the players are of unequal skill,select a higher ranked Leader for the lower-skilledplayer and a lower-ranked Leader for the higher skilledplayer to start the game.

Open Draft: At the start of the game, conduct a draft

whereby each player selects the Leaders from the poolof Leader Cards. Then each player shuffles theirselected Leader Cards and uses those decks as the onlyavailable Leaders for the game.

Pool of Leaders: At the start of the game, conduct a draft

whereby each player selects the Leaders from the poolof 21 Leader Cards. Set a cap on the total value of theranks of the Leaders (e.g., 40) and use that pool ofdrafted Leaders as the ONLY available Leaders for thegame. You can choose to have the players randomly pullfrom their own Leader Deck or freely select their

Leaders during the game. If a player cannot field aLeader at the outset of a Battle, THEN THE OTHER PLAYER


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AUTOMATICALLY WINS THE GAME. Note: This variantstrengthens the utility of the Infiltration Tactics Card.

100 Years War : You can play a longer game byincreasing the total number of Battles and the targetnumber of Battles to win--for a 12 Battle game thetarget is 7 and for a 15 Battle game the target is 8. Also,if a player cannot field a Leader at the outset of aBattle, THEN THE OTHER PLAYER AUTOMATICALLY WINS THEGAME. Note: The longer games tend to be more of aresource (Army Cards) management game.

Underdog : For any Battle won by a lower-ranked Leader,that player gains the difference in rank as Victory Points.IF A PLAYER REACHES30 VICTORY POINTS, THEN THEY

AUTOMATICALLY WINS THE GAME.

El Cid: If a Leader dies in combat (either by a "KIA" resultor a Guard Army Card being discarded), a player maystill use that Leaders modifying bonus (if available ) forBattle.

Blind Draw : Each time an Army Card goes to theCasualty Pile, shuffle the pile and place it face down.During the Muster Phase, a player using a Leadersbonus draws randomly from the Casualty Pile.

Run Away!: If Withdraw is selected, your Leader canchoose to be immune to the effects of the Infiltration


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(i.e., he may ignore a KIA result). Note: This variantstrengthens the utility of the Withdraw Tactics Card.

. . . and Hide: If Withdraw [4] is selected, youropponent cannot draw from the Tech Deck uponselecting the Infiltration [1]. Note: This variantstrengthens the utility of the Withdraw Tactics Card.

One M ans Garbage : The players use a common

Casualty Pile. Each time an Army Card goes to theCasualty Pile, it is placed in a stack that is shared byboth players.

BLT V3.0 4x6 Booklet

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