
- BGG rank
- BGG #4,657
- BGG rating
- 7.6
Battle Hymn
- 1 player
- 240 min
- Complexity 3.3/5
- 1986

Rules assistance for Ambush!: Purple Heart
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Ambush!: Purple Heart is an expansion for Ambush! released in 1985 for 1 player, 240 minutes per game, and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Joseph Reiser and its main mechanics are Dice Rolling, Grid Movement, and Secret Unit Deployment.
Purple Heart is the second expansion for Ambush! It adds six new scenarios along with new weapons, vehicles, enemies and maps. The scenarios are designed to be challenging for experienced characters. Instead of being limited to France in 1944 like the base game, Purple Heart also takes you to: - The Ardennes, December 1944 - South of Caen, July 1944 - The Rhone Valley, 1944 - Western Germany, Spring 1945
Ambush!: Purple Heart supports 1 player according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for Ambush!: Purple Heart is 240 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Ambush!: Purple Heart for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Ambush!: Purple Heart has a complexity rating of 3.2 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-weight game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Ambush!: Purple Heart belongs to these categories: Wargame, Exploration, and World War II. Its main mechanics are Dice Rolling, Grid Movement, and Secret Unit Deployment. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Ambush!: Purple Heart are: Joseph Reiser. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Ambush!: Purple Heart as an expansion for Ambush!. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need Ambush! to use it. Check that your edition of Ambush! is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.