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Battle Masters is a fantasy miniatures battle game by Milton Bradley, presumably licensed from Games Workshop. The sizeable game box comes stuffed with tons of plastic miniatures, a deck of combat cards and some dice. Players move and fight their armies based upon what card is turned over from the deck. Combat is held on a large vinyl mat 4.5 ft square (Actual Measurements: 55 inches by 57 inches).
From the back of the box:
Welcome to the world of Battle Masters - the epic game where you command mighty armies locked in a legendary conflict of good versus evil!
The noble Imperial Army is ready to meet the Forces of Chaos. You and your opponent must strategically guide 25 army units, featuring over 100 finely-detailed figures, across the gigantic 4 1/2' X 5' Battle Mat. Beware! Ditches, marshes, river fords and the great Border Tower lie before you.
The battle unfolds as each turn of a Battle card tells which army units can move and which can attack. Will your army be victorious, or will your opponent destroy you? Who will survive the battle and win the game? The fate of the Empire is decided by you, the Battle Masters!
Card Deck:
3 Goblins and Orcs
1 Goblins, Beastmen and Wolf Riders
2 Goblins and Wolf Riders
5 Champions of Chaos and Wolf Riders
2 Champions of Chaos Charge
1 Chaos Archers and Champions of Chaos
2 Beastmen, Orcs and Goblins
1 Goblins, Champions of Chaos and Beastmen
4 Choaos Warriors, Champions of Chaos and Chaos Archers
1 Choaos Warriors, Beastmen, Orcs, Chaos Archers and Goblins
5 Wolf Riders Double Move
1 Whole army move (Chaos)
5 The Ogre Champion
4 Imperial Knights
2 Lord Knights
2 Imperial Archers
6 Imperial Knights and Lord Knights
1 Men-at-Arms and Imperial Archers
4 Men-at-Arms, Crossbowmen and Imperial Archers
4 The Mighty Cannon
1 Whole Army Move (Imperial)
1 Lord Knights and Imperial Knights Charge
1 Lord Knights Charge
Ogre Champion cards:
3 Ogre Moves
3 Ogre Attacks
Mighty Cannon Tiles:
1 target tile
4 flying cannon ball
3 bouncing cannon ball
2 explosion
Note! The following cataloged from an open game. They should be considered minimums!
Four Terrain Tiles, Large Hex
1 Ford/Lake
1 Two Sided Wall/Spoiled Lake
1 Ford/Three sided Wall
1 Cannon in Muck/Four Sided Wall
Six Red Combat Dice with Skulls and Shields
Large plastic battle mat
Bits of Cardboard
50 Skulls tokens on black background, square
22 Axe on yellow background, rectangular (could be more)
15 Coats of arms on grey background, rectangular (could be more)
11 Coats of arms on red background, rectangular (could be more)
3 Rubble tokens, irregular shape
Imperial Army - 11 bases
9 Imperial Knights consisting of 9 horses (3 each of Blue, Red and Yellow) and 9 riders (gray)
3 Lord Knights consisting of 3 horses (gray) and 3 riders (gray)
1 Cannon and 2 crew - red
10 Imperial Archers (red)
5 Crossbowmen (red)
15 Men-at-Arms (gray)
Chaos Army - 14 bases
1 Ogre Champion in black with large mace (in two pieces that snap together)
3 Champions of Chaos consisting of 3 horses and 3 riders
10 Chaos Warriors (dark gray, with halberds)
10 Chaos Archers (dark gray)
10 Orcs (green)
10 Goblins (green)
6 Wolf Riders consisting of 6 wolves (dark gray) and 6 goblin riders (green)
10 Beastmen (black)
Other Plastic Bits
4 Hedges, green
25 Banner poles
5 Grey tower pieces
11 Beige bases and red labels (could be more)
15 Brown bases and black labels (could be more)
11" x 17" single sheet assembly instructions (C) 1992
- High quality prototype components.
- Epic feel with Titans and troops.
- Cinematic moments with rage cards.
- Strategic depth with resource management and troop support.
- Occasional destruction of buildings is questioned thematically.
- Need to upgrade commands to strengthen abilities.
- Titans and their human counterparts battling for dominance as king of the monsters.
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area movement — Troops and Titans move around the board.
- Character cards — Character cards can be gained for powerful one-time abilities.
- Dice rolling — Dice are rolled for attacks and defense.
- Energy/Command System — Titans gain energy and use it to choose commands from a command board.
- Health tracking — Titans have health, and the game ends if a Titan has 10 or less health at the end of a round, with the highest health winning, or if a Titan is destroyed.
- Initiative cards — Initiative cards dictate which player activates and when.
- Rage/Evolution Track — Titans gain energy based on their evolution track and can gain rage.
- Resource gathering — Players gain resources from buildings.
- Rubble Placement — King Gadora gains and places rubble around the map.
- Titan Dice — Special Titan dice can be rolled to add advantages to attacks.
- Unit Abilities — Each troop type and Titan has unique abilities.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Can we quickly talk about how the fact that for like 50 years Godzilla has been an absolute advocate and poster child for thick thighed beauties.
- We all need to remember out here like the thighs of Godzilla literally bring the thunder.
- Why do they always fight in the city? Go to the desert. Go fight in a field, please.
- So, anything and everything can change, uh, including rules between now and its final production.
References (from this video)
- Pits giant monsters against each other in epic battles
- Build up your monster and increase stats
- Roll dice for attacks and defenses
- Move armies to corner opponents
- Giant Godzilla monsters battling each other
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area movement — Players are 'moving around these giant armies to try to corner and defeat your opponents'.
- Card Play — Players are 'playing cards, increasing its stats'.
- Dice rolling — Players are 'rolling dice to do attacks, rolling dice to do some defenses'.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- We're going to show you some cool things to check out on the floor.
- They literally brought a fully functional tattoo booth with professional tattoo artists.
- We love Crokinol.
- This game is so satisfying
- This is the new game that pits giant Godzilla monsters against each other in big epic battles.
- This is coming out at Gen Con, but we got a hands-on preview of this really, really cool dexterity game with kind of a sad theme.
- which is sad, but the game is awesome.
- It's really kind of a board that can be used in a lot of different ways.
- This is a brand new game about making board games with this awesome component in the middle that actually kind of spins to unlock new placement spots for your forklifts.
- They licensed all of your favorite board games
- So, that is everything we have to show you on the floor here at Origins.
References (from this video)
- Simple yet incredibly fun set of wargaming rules.
- Great sculpts and illustrations.
- Table presence is totally off the charts.
- Creates a ton of drama and narrative at the table.
- Adds to and bolsters dramatic events through randomness.
- Turns are fast.
- Fantastic special unit mini-games add flavor and drama.
- Simple, approachable fun.
- Severely limits tactical and strategic planning due to battle cards dictating movement and attack.
- Warhammer Fantasy Battle
- HeroQuest
- Warhammer Fantasy Battle
- Space Crusade
- Space Hulk
- Advanced Space Crusade
- Talisman
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- battle cards — The deck of battle cards controls the entire flow and rhythm of the game. In Battle Masters, there is no initiative and the players don't even get to choose when their units move and attack. Activation consists of a move and attack action. The entire flow of the game is set once the cards are shuffled.
- Campaign play — The game comes with a five scenario campaign. There is a small amount of progression from one scenario to the next in the form of awarding surviving units an elite status which allows them to roll one extra die in combat.
- Dice combat — Attacking unit rolls dice equal to their combat value, usually between two and five dice. The dice are marked with symbols for hits, misses, and defense. Defender rolls dice equal to their combat value, looking to block those hits. Any hits left over cause damage, and most units can take three hits before being wiped out.
- Special Unit Mini-games — Each of the two armies also has a single special unit, and each of these units is governed by a fantastic little mini-game.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Battle Masters presents a very simple yet incredibly fun set of wargaming rules pitting the men of the Imperial Army against the onslaught of the Chaos forces.
- And the table presence is totally off the charts, especially when everything is painted.
- The most interesting thing about Battle Masters is also the most contentious and that is the deck of battle cards that controls the entire flow and rhythm of the game.
- While I understand the hardcore tactical players argument against this mechanism, for me it's not a problem at all. In fact, it's a huge win because of how this creates interesting drama and narrative at the table.
- I love how the randomness of unit activation added to and bolstered this dramatic event.
- Each of these two special units adds a ton of flavor and drama to the game, and I can't help but wonder about the possibility of expansions that were never realized.
- At the end of the day, while Battle Masters might lack the kind of tactical and strategic planning some gamers might crave, its focus is clearly on one thing, simple, approachable fun. And I think it nails that target with style.
References (from this video)
- Iconic Godzilla and Kaiju IP potential for broad appeal
- Opportunities for diverse monster roster with unique abilities
- Expansion-friendly design with modular monsters and special decks
- Licensing complexity and rights management with Toho and other IP holders
- Ambiguity around exact game mechanics and balance until official rules are released
- Possible scope creep with many configurations and expansions
- Kaiju combat with potential cross-media integration and dynamic monster abilities
- Global kaiju showdowns and battles with giant monsters on a tabletop battlefield
- Party-based tactical skirmish with possible one-versus-many elements and modular monster decks/miniatures
- Cthulhu Death May Die (Godzilla addition)
- Unmatched
- Battle Masters
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area movement — Monsters with flight or extended range move across the board and interact with terrain or obstacles.
- asymmetrical combat — One player controls a kaiju against multiple players controlling other monsters or forces, creating a one-vs-many dynamic.
- Combat: Damage Based — Each monster has a health dial or deck-based representation to track vitality, potentially using standalone or solvable decks similar to Unmatched expansions.
- Environmental interaction — Certain monsters can alter or affect the terrain, creating dynamic board states and strategic considerations.
- external IP integration — Licensed monsters and cross-media references require licensing and rule handling to balance gameplay while preserving IP identity.
- health dial / deck-based health — Each monster has a health dial or deck-based representation to track vitality, potentially using standalone or solvable decks similar to Unmatched expansions.
- range and flight — Monsters with flight or extended range move across the board and interact with terrain or obstacles.
- variable size / scale effects — Monsters can change size or have form-based abilities influencing range, strength, and durability.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Kickstarter for Battle Monsters starts today. Go support it now.
- And in the meantime, doing it now will get you a free collector's coin.
- Jet Jaguar... I'm an absolute massive fan of Jet Jaguar from 1973's Godzilla versus Megalon.
- If you want to talk about any of our suggestions or ideas or tell me some of your own things that you'd like to see in the game, please put it in the comments.