Chapter 3 · Lesson 5 of 5

Holding Ground

Units stay where they are between turns. A unit at a battlefield stays there until it moves (or is beaten in a fight, Chapter 4).

You control a battlefield as long as you have units there (and nobody has beaten them in a fight). Exhausted units count: being there is enough.
If your last unit there leaves, you lose control of it right away, and it belongs to nobody.
A battlefield you control lets you play units straight onto it, not just to your base.
Controlling it at the start of your turn scores it for you: that's a Hold.

So before your last unit marches off somewhere, ask what keeps the battlefield it's leaving.

Quick check

You control Battlefield B with one unit. You move that unit to A. The opponent has no units at B. What happens to B?

Words from this lesson

Control: A battlefield is yours as long as you have units there. You lose it when your last unit there leaves.

From the Core Rules (2026-10-09): 188 — Control · 349 — Playing Cards · 318 — Cleanups (losing Control)

2 drills

1Leave One Behind

You're on 7 and B is already scored; A is empty. Laurent Bladekeeper is your only unit at B: if it leaves, B stops being yours. This drill asks you to take A and keep B (in a real game, a battlefield you still hold scores again next turn): send Shipyard Skulker from your base to A and leave the Bladekeeper on B.

Need a hint?

Leave the Bladekeeper at B; drag the Skulker from your base to A and Confirm.

Start drill 1

2Reinforcements

You're on 7 and B is already scored; A is empty. Only Laurent Bladekeeper can reach A, and it's alone at B. You can play a unit straight to a battlefield you control: play Shipyard Skulker onto B, then gank the Bladekeeper to A. Take A and keep B.

Need a hint?

Play Shipyard Skulker onto B first, then move the Bladekeeper from B to A.

Start drill 2