From 1,000 to 2,000 points

A 2,000-point game is the same game as a 1,000-point one, just with twice the stuff on the table. Almost every rule you've learned carries straight over. What changes is how much there is to keep track of, and how long it all takes.

What changes

• The battlefield. Border War suggests a 44" × 60" battlefield with 8 terrain features at 2,000 points, against 30" × 44" with 4 at 1,000. If you settle on a limit in between, scale the table and terrain to suit. The Game Assistant shows the bigger size in setup when both armies come from 2,000-point lists.
• Your army. You get twice the points, so expect around twice the units. The rules for building it don't change, but you'll use more of what they allow:
  • You can still field at most 5 regiments, each led by a Hero with up to 3 other units (4 in your general's regiment). At 1,000 points you may only fill two or three; at 2,000 it's easy to reach the cap, so think about which Heroes lead what.
  • No more than half your points can go on one unit. At 2,000 points, that leaves room for bigger centrepiece models than you could take at 1,000.
  • Auxiliary units (anything outside a regiment) matter more as armies grow: if your opponent has more of them than you, you get an extra command point every battle round.
• Deployment. More regiments and more auxiliary units mean more drops. Count them before you start, as you would at 1,000 points; the player with fewer still tends to finish setting up first.

What stays the same

• One Regiment of Renown at most, and none of its units can be your general.
• The 50-point rule. If your army comes in 50 or more points under the limit, you get an extra command point in the first battle round, whatever the size of game.
• Command points, the priority roll, objectives and battle tactics all work exactly as they do at 1,000 points. The battleplan, not the points limit, decides how you score.

How long it takes

Budget a lot more time than you think. Our first 1,000-point game got through two battle rounds in two hours. Double the units and there's more to move, more dice to roll and more abilities to remember each turn, so leave a whole afternoon or evening for your first 2,000-point game.

A few habits that keep a bigger game moving:

• Move a regiment at a time. Moving units that fight together as a group is quicker and easier to follow than jumping around the table.
• Say your once-per-battle abilities out loud before you use them. With more units there's more to forget.
• Keep your army's reminders in the Game Assistant so they come up in the right phase, in your own words.

Bigger armies in the Game Assistant

Typing 15 or more units in one at a time gets old quickly. If you build your list in Sigdex, use its text export and Paste a list in the Game Assistant instead:

1. 01

   Step 1

   Export your list from Sigdex

   Copy the whole export as text, from the line with your list's name and points down to the end.

2. 02

   Step 2

   Paste it in

   In the Game Assistant, choose Paste a list next to Add unit, paste, and choose Read the list. It's read on your device and isn't sent anywhere.

3. 03

   Step 3

   Check the review screen

   Every unit is matched to a name we know, with anything unclear marked "Check this". The points are added up and checked against your list, so you'll know if a line was missed. Enter how many models each unit has (units you've used before fill themselves in).

4. 04

   Step 4

   Add to army

   Your units arrive in their regiments with your general marked, and the drops step is filled in from your list. Then add each unit's numbers from your battletome, as you would for any unit.

In a game, a big army's unit cards sit under their regiment headings, each of which folds away, and a Find a unit box takes you straight to the one you need.