Preamble.
Adding Call to Arms to my collection was a no-brainer. All good miniatures games need a customisable army building/deployment system, and Call to Arms fits the bill for Battlelore.

Components.
Call to Arms comprises a deck of deployment cards, specialist cards and summary cards, plus assorted Feudal levy tokens and new terrain tiles. There are also 6 additional banners. The rulebook runs to almost twenty pages, and includes 6 new scenarios.

This expansion retails for 15 Euros or about £10, which seems a little expensive for what you actually get.

Gameplay.
Call to Arms contains three sets of 7 deployment cards for each camp (pennants and standards). Each card depicts a generic section of battlefield with four units deployed in particular hexes therein. These sets of cards are used to construct armies and set up battle formations. Two modes are offered: Impromptu mode which is quick and easy, and Organised mode, which allows players to customise to their hearts’ content.

For Impromptu mode, players choose a battle map of their choice, laying out appropriate terrain hexes. Each is then given a camp and the corresponding three sets of deployment cards. Each player selects one set of cards, shuffles it and draws 4 cards. Three cards are picked as the left, centre and right wing of the battlefield, with the fourth held in reserve. Players deploy their troops as per the cards, keeping their reserve secret. Once finished, players tally their Green units (effectively scouts) and the player with the highest number becomes the starting player. Next, the other (out-scouted) player must deploy just two units from his reserve card onto vacant baseline hexes, before the starting player does the same. Players then select War Councils as normal.

Organised mode is similar but allows players to select two deployment card sets and shuffle them together. Occasionally this results in a situation where a player cannot deploy the correct banner figure, in which case a Feudal Levy token of the appropriate colour is placed in the board instead. These tokens are replaced with troops of matching or lower banner colour (mounted or infantry) after the reserves have been placed. The War Councils are then chosen and finally players can select and play up to two specialist cards of their choosing, deploying figures if applicable. Specialist cards allow various modifications to the rules etc, and offer a wide variety of different options including various tactics, use of lore or war council related abilities etc.

The extra terrain hexes cover cliffs, marshes, archers’ stakes, ramparts and stone bridges, all of which have effects that you would expect. The scenarios offer generic battle maps with matching command/war council information and hence form the backdrop for a wide variety of customisable games.

So, What Do I Think?
Call to Arms is a very elegant army selection and deployment system, and hence I score it an excellent 8 out of 10. It offers lots more variety and choice, both for quick sessions (Impromptu mode) and more serious gamers (Organised mode). The Feudal Levy tokens appear a bit clunky at first, but actually work fine. Although it is a little expensive, I think it is an essential purchase. As other expansions come out, adding more specialist cards, a great deal of richness is added to the basic game.