Maps

Boards and Movement

Maps (or boards) in The Banner Saga: Factions are made up of approximately 16×16 square-tiles that form a rectangular chess-like board. Human units occupy one tile while larger Varl units occupy a 2×2 block of tiles. Units can move in a distance of 3-7 tiles, depending on their class, Exertion and available Willpower. They cannot move through tiles occupied by other units (allies or enemies) or blocked tiles likes posts, pillars or tables. There is no line-of-sight (LOS) for ranged attacks. Finally, diagonal movement is not allowed, i.e. it is equivalent to a 2-tile movement.

This article refers to the battle boards available in The Banner Saga: Factions game. For the world-map of the single player games, refer to this artcile.

There are currently 5 playable maps (boards) in The Banner Saga: Factions. In Friendly Matches, the players can choose which map to play on, while in Ranked, Tournament or Quick Matches, the map is selected at random.

During the initial-deployment stage of a Battle, both players are given 60 seconds to place their 6 units anywhere on the designated blue-colored tiles. The two teams are deployed facing each other with a NW-SE or NE-SW orientation. The player that deploys on the top of the map (NW or NE) is selected at random and is always given the first turn.

Legend:

• Blue: Deployment zone of player that gets first turn
• Red: Deployment zone of second player
• Light grey: Walkable tiles (all red and blue tiles are walkable)
• Dark grey: Blocker (unwalkable) tiles
• Orange: Burning Coals (walkable, 1 Strength damage per Turn)

Beach

The four posts (blockers) in the middle of the Beach map can greatly hinder Varl movement and thus demand for strongly positional play.

Statistics
Map Size	Deployment Zone Depth	Distance Between Deployment Zones	Blockers	Fire Pit
16 x 14	4	6	4	None

Trivia

This is the only Factions board not used in the single player games.

Great Hall

Probably one of the most controversial maps, due to the 6-tile long fire-pit that divides the board in two. The burning-coal tiles deal 1 point of Strength damage to any unit that passes through them or starts its turn on them; Varl (2×2) units crossing the fire-pit will take only 2 damage. Most players prefer to deploy on the right side of the Hall because it is slightly wider and the vision is not obscured by lower pillars.

Statistics
Map Size	Deployment Zone Depth	Distance Between Deployment Zones	Blockers	Fire Pit
16 x 14	5	6	None	1 x 6

Trivia

The tutorial battle of Factions as well as the first Saga game is played on a slightly different version of this board.

Mead House

A warm map, that offers 'turtling' possibilities at the tables that occupy the north and south corners of the board.

Statistics
Map Size	Deployment Zone Depth	Distance Between Deployment Zones	Blockers	Fire Pit
16 x 14	5	6	None	None

Trivia

The first real battle of The Banner Saga takes place in this Mead House, called The Nobleman, where Eirik, Valgard and Gunnulf take upon some drunken Skalfings.

Proving Grounds

One of the most 'open' maps of the game, having just one blocker (a post) on each side of it.

Statistics
Map Size	Deployment Zone Depth	Distance Between Deployment Zones	Blockers	Fire Pit
16 x 16	5	6	2	None

Trivia

A slightly different version of this board (with different background) serves for the final battle of the first part of The Banner Saga.

Wall

This was the first map available to the game. Its particularity is the very small distance between deployment zones (just 4 tiles) that can lead to fast-paced matches reducing engaging rounds. Don't place your fragile units in the edge of the deployment-zone, especially if the opponent has a high Strength unit (e.g. Warrior) acting first!

Statistics
Map Size	Deployment Zone Depth	Distance Between Deployment Zones	Blockers	Fire Pit
16 x 14	6	4	None	None

Trivia

This board is used in the battle at Frostvellr, in Chapter 2 of the first part of The Banner Saga.