By MICHAEL ERB

www.newsandsentinel.com

For years I have been fascinated by miniatures wargaming, but have been unwilling to take the plunge.

Though I loved the idea of seeing armies of figures arranged across a mock battlefield, the reality of my life always kept it a fantasy. For one, those little figures add up in cost. Quickly. They also take up a lot of space, and can be difficult and unwieldy to transport.

Add in my inability to color within the lines in a coloring book, much less paint tiny details on dozens of white metal figures, and miniatures war gaming seemed destined to remain a dream and nothing more.

‘‘Battleground Fantasy Warfare’’ by Your Move Games solves almost every problem that has kept me out of miniatures gaming, and, even better, is a great game to boot.

‘‘Battleground’’ is a miniatures game without the miniatures, or at least without the 3-D metal and plastic pieces associated with traditional miniatures gaming. Instead ‘‘Battleground’’ uses cards which depict fantasy military units as 2-D models from a top-down view. A single deck, or one army and the base rules of the game, costs about $15, so you can field a large army or have two smaller armies for around $30, and the only extras you need are some dice and a dry-erase marker.

Armies are built on a point system, with each unit having a point cost, which helps determine the size of the armies allowed and keeps forces balanced. Each card represents a single unit and lists stats for movement (measured in inches), ranged attack, close combat attack and defense. There also is a number for the power of the attack and the unit’s ability to resist damage. All die rolls are made with six-sided dice (D6), and each unit has an attack rating that determines how many dice it rolls. The more powerful and well-trained a unit, the higher its attack rating, with most units rolling between 4-6 dice.

An attacking unit takes its Offensive Skill and subtracts its opponent’s Defensive Skill. It then rolls its attack dice, and each die that meets or is lower than that number is a successful attack.

The unit then takes its Power rating, subtracts from that the defending unit’s Toughness, and rolls the dice again. Each die equal to or lower than that number is registered as damage and those hits are marked on the defending unit’s card. Get enough hits and the unit becomes weakened. Too many hits and the unit is destroyed.

That is the basics of the game. There also are advanced rules for using terrain, adding and subtracting different modifiers and using tactical movements like Charge and Flank to give bonuses or penalties.

Each player also has Command Cards that can be played during the game to execute special maneuvers to gain bonuses. Each player begins with a limited number of Command Cards and players gain them at a rather slow rate during the course of the game, so you have to decide when playing a card will give your units the greatest advantage.

Each player also has a limited number of commands they can give each round, and there are more units on the field than you can command at one time. However, you have the ability to give Standing Orders, commands that a unit will follow round to round until their objective is achieved or a new command is given. You can mark the standing order on each unit using a dry-erase pen, so you could order a unit to move forward or attack when the enemy comes within range, then spend subsequent rounds giving commands to other units while the first continues to act.

This is a really fun aspect of the game, because it forces players to think ahead while planning, and better simulates the chaos of the battlefield where a commander can’t micro-manage all of his or her units at the same time.

There are a variety of fantasy armies currently available, from elves to orcs to humans to undead. Each army has a base set and a reinforcements set.

‘‘Battleground Fantasy Warfare’’ is an excellent miniatures game without all of the usual road blocks of a miniatures game. It is relatively cheap to field an army or multiple armies, and the cards are very durable and portable. Your Move Games also offers a scenario book that has some interesting setups for different battles, and it comes with cards for two smaller armies. The company also has a terrain pack that uses the same material as the cards to create 2-D terrain segments you cut out and lay on the field, instantly changing the landscape and challenge level of the game. The game and its supplements make excellent gifts and stocking-stuffers this time of year and are ideal for those wanting to try out miniatures war gaming, but who might not have the time or money to invest in the traditional games.

For more information on ‘‘Battleground Fantasy Warfare’’ or other Your Move Games products, visit www.yourmovegames.com. For more game reviews and discussion, visit my blog at http://merb101.livejournal.com.