Duncan and Fenris decide to play BattleCards. They rock-paper-scissors, Fenris wins because he knows Duncan always picks good ol’ rock, and he chooses to go first. They each put ten pennies in front of them, representing each base’s ten hit points, and draw cards to start the game:
Fenris: A, 2, 8, 10, J, K
Duncan: 2, Joker, 5, 5, 7, 8, Q, K (Note: two extra cards for going second)
Turn One: Fenris
Fenris has six cards and thus doesn’t need to draw any during his draw phase.
He has no ships in play, so has no upgrade phase.
During his deployment phase, he lays his King down in front of him.
During his attack phase his King can’t do anything, but he plays his 10 card as this turn’s attack card. Duncan has no ships in play to block it, and no Ace to negate it, so his base takes three points of damage and is down to seven. The 10 card is placed in the discard pile, and Duncan separates three of his pennies to represent the damage.
During his discard phase Fenris sees that he only has one ship in play right now, and thus next turn can’t use more than one upgrade. He keeps the 2 and discards the 8. He now has A, 2, J in his hand.
Turn One: Duncan
Now it’s Duncan’s turn. He still has more than six cards, so he doesn’t have to draw any.
He has no ships, so he doesn’t upgrade.
For deployment, he lays down his King.
Now it’s time for Duncan to attack, and while his ship can’t do anything, he plays one of the 5 (megamissile) cards in his hand. Fenris has a ship in play, but rather than lose it or have his base take damage, however, Fenris plays his Ace (time travel commandos) — even though it’s not Fenris’s turn the Ace is an anytime card so he can do that. The Ace negates the 5 and both are put in the discard pile.
Duncan can now discard. But this turn hasn’t been very good news, so to cheer himself up he first decides to play his Joker (it’s an anytime card). That repairs three points of damage to his base, bringing him back up to ten, the maximum. He then discards, choosing to get rid of the 7 and the 8 that he knows he won’t be able to use next turn. He now has 2, 5, Q in his hand.
Turn Two: Fenris
Fenris’s holding three cards, so he draws three to bring himself back up to six. He already had 2 and a J, and he draws an A, 4, 5, and Q.
He has a ship in play, so he can upgrade. Since the only upgrade in his hand is the 2, it’s an easy choice, and he places the 2 under the King card, with it sticking out a little so it’s clear that they’re connected. The King (dreadnaught) still can’t attack, but it now has a defense value of 1 and it’s protected from attack cards.
Now it’s deployment time. Again this is an easy choice, since he only has a Queen (cruiser). He lays it down next to the King.
It would be time to attack now, but Fenris has a plan. He throws down his 4 (cloaked mine), playing it before his attack phase, and using it on Duncan’s King (dreadnaught). Since the 4 is an anytime card, Fenris can do that, and because Duncan’s ship has a defense value of zero, it’s susceptible to an 4. Fenris’s 4 and Duncan’s King both go to the discard pile.
Now Fenris declares his attack phase. His ship still has an attack value of zero, but he throws down his 5. Because there’s no ship in the way now, Duncan’s base takes a point of damage, and is back down to 9 total.
He ends his turn holding an A, J, discarding neither.
Turn Two: Duncan
Duncan’s holding three cards, so he draws three to bring himself back up to six. He already had 2, 5, Q, and he draws A, A, 4. That’s a lot of anytime cards!
Fenris destroyed his ship, so there’s nothing to upgrade. That 2 (shield) he saved isn’t very useful where there’s nothing left to use it on!
Now it’s his deployment phase. He lays down his Queen (cruiser). But not content with that he plays an Ace so that he can also upgrade that new ship with the 2 (shield).
Now would be his attack phase. But first, he’s taking a cue from his opponent, and playing the 4 (cloaked mine) to destroy Fenris’s Queen (cruiser). He can’t harm Fenris’s King (dreadnaught) with it because it has a 2 (shield) upgrade, and thus a defense value of one (which is greater than zero). Fenris, however, plays his Ace to negate the 4. Duncan, not to be outdone, plays his last remaining Ace to negate Fenris’s Ace, meaning that the 4 goes through. Fenris’s Queen and Ace and Duncan’s 4 and Ace all go to the discard pile.
Now, finally, for the actual attack. Duncan’s ship has an attack value of zero, so it can’t do much. However, he has a 5 (megamissile) and plays that. Fenris’s only remaining ship is his King (dreadnaught), which has a 2 (shield) which means it can withstand this attack. Fenris blocks the megamissile with his ship, so Duncan’s 5 and the 2 connected to Fenris’s King both go to the discard pile — the King itself does not.
Duncan doesn’t have any cards left, so there’s nothing to discard.