Toy Battle · Strategy and opening plans
Read the map as a network opponents can cut. Strength decides covering; abilities change the resulting state. Medals stay permanently, so final territory size is not the goal. Check medal and headquarters routes every move.
Toy Battle · 2025
2–2 players · 15 minutes
2025 base game; lessons use the original Castle Field without special-base effects
Repos Production official rules and Chinese player aid
Opening plans and decisions
Read the map as a network opponents can cut. Strength decides covering; abilities change the resulting state. Medals stay permanently, so final territory size is not the goal. Check medal and headquarters routes every move.
Cover/remove troops, change connections, race medals, and threaten headquarters. Visible top controls; enemy rack hidden. Stack order may be inspected but never changed.
Start here if you are new
Identify opponent's next-move victory threats
Opponent nears headquarters or needs few medals.
First check legal placements blocking that path or key enclosure.
Ordinary expansion may pay too late.
Defense spends troops and your turn.
If you can win immediately, verify that route first.
Treat the sole connection as a key resource
Several rear outposts depend on one friendly top troop.
Check enemy covering/removal threats before deployment and seek another path.
One outpost changing hands may restrict many later placements.
Another path costs turns and may delay medals.
If you can reach the medal target now, compare immediate victory with long-term defense.
Before drawing, check if the board can wait a turn
Few hand options; rack has space.
Rule out immediate wins for either side before drawing.
Drawing adds choices but gives opponent the next move.
Unknown troops may not solve the current problem.
If a legal placement answers an urgent threat, consider deploying first.
Comparing two choices
Draw troops or secure the connection?
Rack holds 2, supply remains; one troop can protect the sole current path.
Draw now
Increase next-turn options.
Board unchanged this turn; path may be taken.
Deploy now
Keep path and future placements.
Fewer troops in hand; need supply later.
Check whether opponent can block or win during that turn before valuing a draw.
Take a medal or defend headquarters?
You can gain one medal, but enemy path reaches near headquarters.
Take medal
Advance map target.
Below target, it may leave an immediate loss.
Block attack
Gain time for future turns.
Forgo current medal opportunity.
Check whether the medal wins now; otherwise verify enemy's legal headquarters attack next move.
Details that are easy to miss
- Treating strength as total value, ignoring draws, chains, removal, and bypass.
- Mistaking disconnection for removal; disconnected troops still control their top outposts.
- Guarding emptied medal regions instead of headquarters or new scoring regions.
- Inspecting only tops and ignoring public stack order, exposing enemy troops after removal.
- Ignoring four secretly removed troops and assuming exact knowledge of enemy leftovers.
Headquarters are not bases; Hook cannot ignore connections and jump straight into headquarters. Check exceptions for troops, maps, and victory conditions first.
A decision example
Original exercise: you need 1 medal; a medal-bearing region lacks one outpost. Another move reaches beside enemy headquarters but cannot capture now. If both legal, completing the region wins immediately. Find immediate endings before distant attacks.
Is there a guaranteed opening to copy?
Adapt to map, hand, and secretly removed troops. Reuse this checklist: win now? enemy wins next? placement serving medals and connections? next-turn usable troops? Start Castle without special effects as recommended; add maps after learning troops.
Permanent medals and vulnerable headquarters
Region medals are banked rewards, while headquarters always face sudden defeat. Two victory routes repeatedly shift priorities between connections, regions, and defense instead of simply stacking strongest troops up front.
Returning medals after lost control would encourage guarding old regions. Permanent medals permit moving elsewhere after scoring, while old positions still matter for paths and headquarters.