Three pieces make up a unit: a Base, Unit Card, and Figure.
A base is the rigid piece of plastic that the unit card will sit on and the figures fit into. A base can be formation (rectangular) or sortie (square) size.
- Notch: Notches are used for measuring. Whenever a distance is measured from (or to) a unit, it is measured from (or to) a notch.
- Peg Holes: Figures have pegs on the bottom of their footpad. The pegs will fit snugly into the peg holes on a base in order to hold that figure in place.
The basic unit of measurement in Arcane Legions is the step. A step is the length of a sortie base, which is also the length of the short side of a formation base. (The long side of the formation base is two steps.)
A unit card is the thin piece of plastic that sits between the figures and the base. It has openings custom-cut that will reveal certain peg holes on the base behind it. The unit card displays all the information about the unit.
- Name: The name of the unit.
- Types: Units have multiple types that describe what kind of unit it is. (See keywords)
- Codex: The codex describes a unit's movement costs, facing, and side strengths. (See codex)
- Slot: Each figure is put into a slot, though not all slots may have figures at all times. A slot can have a circle color, peg arrangement, figure special abilities, figure number, and icons associated with it.
- Figure number: A slot with a figure number on it is a starting slot. A figure with a matching figure number must start the game in this slot.
- Circle-color: This dictates what type of figure can go in this slot. Figures may only be repositioned between slots with matching circle-colors. A figure may never be put in a slot with a circle-color that doesn't match that figure's circle-color.
- Peg arrangement: Only figures with a completely matching peg arrangement may be repositioned into this slot.
- Icons and Figure Special Abilities: These are associated with the nearby slot and are considered ready if the slot has a figure in it.
- Unit Special Ability: These are always considered ready while the unit is in play.
- Faction: This image corresponds to the unit's faction. (See factions.)
- Point cost: How many points this unit costs towards the build point limit.
- Rarity: The unit's rarity. Currently this has no gameplay implication. (Visit www.arcanelegions.com for more about the various rarities.)
- Unit #: The unit's unique reference number. Official units created by Wells Expeditions consist of two numbers separated by a dash. The first number corresponds with which set the unit is from, and the second number is that unit's collector number within that set. Custom units have a different number that can be used to check its authenticity using a verifier at www.arcanelegions.com.
A figure represents a warrior in your army.
- Sculpt: This is just how your figure looks and has no gameplay relevance.
- Base: Has a size and shape, both of which must match the circle size and shape of any slot that figure is placed in.
- Pegs: Figures have one hit point for each peg on their base. The number of pegs and their arrangement must match whichever slot the figure is placed in.
- Figure number: Unique to the figure, the figure number must match the slot the figure starts in. The first number is the set number the figure was released in. The letter is the faction the figure belongs to. The remaining number is that figure's collector number in the set.
Each slot on a base has a circle-color. There are four different circle-colors:
- White: basic troops of all shapes and sizes.
- Green: arcane figures.
- Red: martial figures.
- Yellow: commander figures.
Figures may only be reorganized into slots that have a matching circle-color.
