Review
Battle Line: Medieval
Battle Line: Medieval is trick-taking with knights: quick to teach, brisk to play, and far tenser than its plain premise suggests. For two players wanting half an hour of direct conflict, it is an exceptionally honest choice.
- Published
- 2017
- Designer
- Reiner Knizia
- Publisher
- GMT Games, Lavka Games, Pixie Games
- Players
- 2
- Playing time
- 30 min
Battle Line: Medieval does not pretend to be elaborate. It is trick-taking with knights, and that is precisely why it works. You can teach it in under five minutes; then the person across the table starts looking at you as though they have already worked out your next move.
The two of you face off through the cards, and that is the whole language of the duel. Turns move swiftly, choices arrive without fog, and the game keeps the pressure on without burying either player under a pile of exceptions.
The tactic cards are where the trick-taking grows teeth.
TheCuttlefish
The tactic cards are where the trick-taking grows teeth. Once both players know how to use them, the proper paranoia begins: you hold back, you worry, you bait, and you try not to hand your opponent the thing they were waiting for. The terrain expansion is a genuine extra rule, not a decorative add-on included because the box had a spare corner.
Very few two-player games can fill half an hour while holding attention this firmly; Radlands is the only clearly stronger one that comes to mind. Battle Line: Medieval is the compact, sharp little duel you bring out effortlessly and never because you have settled for less.
Battle Line: Medieval is the compact, sharp little duel you bring out effortlessly and never because you have settled for less.
TheCuttlefish
Source: BoardGameGeek
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