WARFALL: Field Command-No dice tactical card Wargame

Jerusalem, 1187. Command the leaders of the Crusades in a tactical card-wargame where your mind is the greatest weapon. 

The concept

Warfall: Field command is a 1v1 historical tactical card game that blends the depth of a wargame with the accessibility of a card game. There are no dice rolls and no mana systems. Victory is determined by hand management, positioning and the psychological ''fog of war''

Key features

• Tactical 7x7 grid: No measuring tapes or complex terrain. Use a standard poker deck or the provided border cards to create your battlefield boundaries (cross or L-shaped). The Saladin warband contains the border cards
• Recruit your units (20-point warband): Choose your soldiers. Will you go for a swarm of regulars (5 pts) or a hospitaler knight (15 pts). You have 20 points to fill your ranks. Your unit cards are the physical pieces you move on the grid
• Craft your influence (24 points): Your 36-card deck is your tactical arsenal. You have 24 points to spend on influence cards (priced 0-3 pts). Trait synergy: Your cards must match your commander's personality. 
• The ''fog of war'' system: Units and traps start facedown. Bluff your opponent, set ambushes, and force them into mistakes
• Total strategic freedom: Build your perfect warband: Each battle pack comes with a pre-selected core units, and influence cards.  As you expand your collection with the Baldwin IV and Richard the Lionheart releases, you will unlock new units (like hospitalers or Mamluks) and new influence cards. Mix and match influence cards and units from the different pre-cons to build the ultimate 36-card influence deck and 20 points of units to match your playstyle.
• Tactical Action economy: Each unit has a fixed set of actions (strike X, guard Y). You always know their base power, but the outcome is never certain
• Dynamic buffs: While a unit is activating you can play influence cards from your hand to buff the action or debuff your opponent, boosting damage, adding range, or changing the positioning. Your opponent can respond with their own influence cards to counter. 
• No dice, pure skill: Because you know the base values, you are calculating risks based on your opponent's hand size and the unit's abilities on the battlefield. for Mana or roll for success. 
• The influence cards are the resources (no Mana): To play an influence card, you must discard another, so the cards serve as a tactic and a resource.
• Historical commanders: Choose from leaders like Saladin (Witty/resourceful) or Guy De Lusignan (Bold/Schemer). Each commander grants unique traits and deck-building options.
• Lead from the front: Your commander isn't just a face on a card - they are a unit on the grid. The commander is your strongest unit, boasting high attack and defense, and unique commander abilities, but they must be on the battlefield to exert their influence, and losing them can lead to your demise. 

What's in the box? (The PnP download)

This free Print-and-Play Battle pack includes everything you need for the Saladin vs. Guy de Lusignan duel:

• 2 pre-constructed deck of 36 influence cards
• 1 commander and 3 unit cards of the commander's faction for each warband
• 2 trap unit cards for each warband
• Historical terrain cards (Desert and Warcamp)
• Rulebook 1.0 (open beta)

How to play

1. Print the influence cards, units, traps, and terrain for each warband (6 pages total per warband)
2. Setup: Lay out 13 poker or border cards in an ''L'' or cross shape to define your 7x7 grid
3. Command: Deploy units facedown. Alternate activation. Strike, shoot, guard, peek, bolster to eliminate the enemy warband

Flow of command (the turn order)

Warfall: Field command uses an alternating activation system. There is no waiting for a long ''opponent's turn'' - you are always in the action

1. Strategic draw: Both players draw back to 8 cards
2. Alternating activation: Starting with the player with the first order card, players take turns activating one unit at a time
3. The unit's choice: An activated unit can perform two different actions:
   1. Move/Dash: Traverse the 7x7 grid
   2. Strike/Shoot: Attack an enemy (value vs Armor/guard)
   3. Peek: Trace line of sight from an adjacent space to reveal a facedown card without triggering a trap
   4. Reinforce: Bring a unit from your reserves onto your baseline
   5. Guard: Gain a guard to protect your unit
   6. Bolster: Gain an extra different action the next time this unit activates
   7. Special actions. Some units have access to special actions

4. Influence cards: Play cards from your hand to affect the units and the battlefield. Boost attacks, give extra activations, displace a trap on the enemy units, etc. Play the right card at the right moment by discarding another card

5. The pass: When you have no more units to activate (or choose not to), you Pass. The first to pass takes the first player order card for the next turn

The commanders of 1187

Inspired by the cinematic tension of the era, each leader brings a unique tactical identity to the battlefield

• Saladin (Witty & resourceful): The sultan plays the long game: Use his witty influence cards to outdraw your opponent and give extra actions to your units and his resourceful influence cards to heal and enchant your units to make them more powerful
• Guy de Lusignan (schemer & bold): Aggressive and unpredictable. Use bold influence cards to lauch high damage strikes and schemer cards to force your opponent to discard cards, or have less actions. He is a high risk, high reward commander

The road ahead

This is a living card game. Every 2 weeks, I will release new historical battle packs.

Upcoming: Richard the Lionheart, Baldwin IV, Reynald De Chatillon, Al Adil, Emperor Musek, each with new influence cards and new units (hospitalers with the Baldwin set, and the Mamluks with the Al adil set. 

Eventually Mongol hordes, Aztecs vs conquistadores, and Roman legions

Customization: Once you have multiple packs, mix and match influence cards and units to build your ultimate warband

Feedback: Want to help balance the next battle pack? Looking for a match? Share your builds? 

Join my discord to share balance feedback and vote on your next historical commander

https://discord.gg/RyXR8WKY

Artist: Saad Irfan

Texture & background: Pixabay standard license

Legal notice

@2025 (Benoit Plante/strike forge games)

Warfall: Field Command is a work of historical fiction. All rights reserved

This game is intended for entertainment purposes. Historical figures and locations are used in a fictional context.

Warfall is a trademark of Benoit Plante/Strike-forge-games

Note on history: While Warfall features real historical figures like Saladin, and Baldwin IV, it is a narrative game first. I have strived to present these leaders with respect, and tactical depth they deserve from a historical perspective.