Month: October 2022

A Fair Battlefield is a free print and play boardgame set in a

pseudo-Napoleonic era. To win, you must push the opposing army back or outmaneuver it, so that your own army can advance and eventually carry The Flag into the other player’s territory. Meanwhile, the opponent can engage you in battles to stop your advancement and try to take control of The Flag.

In A Fair Battleground, skillful deployment and maneuvering is more important than raw impact, but typical winning tactical moves of the era like attacking the opposing armies from behind are forbidden. Asymmetry between players is given not by a different mix of forces or objectives, but rather by the interplay of two pairs of opposing roles (Advancing vs Contending and Attacker vs Defender) that the two players take and exchange during the game. These roles determine both what the players can do and when they can do it, as well as which of the different armies are more useful to each of them.

Battle resolution is basically luck-less, but a simple optional rule that adds a random factor is provided for players who prefer luck-based systems.