Command armies. Make decisions. Live with the consequences. Ranks of Steel is a fast-playing tabletop wargame designed to put the decisions of battlefield command ahead of complex rules and constant calculation.
Box Hill Town Hall
Saturday, 15 August 2026
10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Public Playtesting Begins
Ranks of Steel has entered active playtesting. The rules will continue to evolve through practical tabletop play, observation and player feedback.
Development announcements and future opportunities to play will be posted on this page.
Victorious ’26
See Ranks of Steel on the tabletop and take command for yourself during its first public playtest.
The Philosophy
Ranks of Steel is built around a simple idea:
Decisions Before Detail
The game concentrates on the choices that matter: where to commit troops, when to attack, when to hold, and how to react when the battle stops following the plan.
Fast to Learn
Core mechanisms are deliberately consistent and easy to understand. Players should begin commanding armies quickly rather than spending their first battle searching through tables and exceptions.
Friction Matters
Command is never perfectly predictable. Orders, battlefield conditions and enemy action create uncertainty, forcing commanders to adapt rather than simply execute a predetermined plan.
Armies, Not Accountancy
Units represent bodies of troops rather than collections of individual statistics. Combat focuses on battlefield consequences while keeping bookkeeping to a minimum.
Morale Wins Battles
Battles are not simply contests to remove enemy models. Resolve, cohesion and battlefield pressure matter. An army can lose its ability to fight long before every warrior falls.
History Creates Character
Troops behave differently because of how they fought, not because every historical detail demands another rule. A small number of distinctive traits gives armies their character.
Difficult decisions.
Battles that tell a story.
The Road to Release
Ranks of Steel is currently a game in development. Public and private playtesting will refine its command system, troop characteristics, scenarios, balance and presentation.
Development announcements, new public playtest dates and information about the eventual release of the game will appear here.