Final Round allows you to play small encounters with infantry forces and support weapons (tanks and guns). Both players will field a force of roughly platoon size.
The basic unit of the game is the Infantry Team. It is a stand of about 4cmx4cm mounting roughly 3-5 miniatures (the actual number of miniatures has no effect on the rules - its just for optical reasons). The game is playable with about 10-30 playing pieces per side of which most will be infantry.
The rules have been designed to handle about three tanks or gun pieces in addition to the infantry forces. Using more is not prohibited by the rules but the best "gameplay" is achieved by using that number. Using neither tanks nor guns is, of course, no problem.
The length of the game naturally depends on the scenario played (i.e. size of the opposing forces and number of turns). It is of course also influenced by your personal playing speed.
It can generally be said that a game will last about 2 hours on average.
The phases are as follows:
Final round is turn based with a game lasting about 10 turns. Each game turn is structured into 3 or 5 phases (there are two tank phases which are required only if tanks are used).
In each phase both players' units may act. The players take turns in 'activating' their units which may then perform any kind of action. Generally, units can only be activated once per game turn but tanks may activate in both tank phases.
The smallest building block of the game is the 'activation' of a single unit. This is where the action takes place. To allow for a more fluid game play, the actions of a unit are resolved "on the spot". After the action is completed, all results will have been applied and are in effect. No action lasts longer than a single activation of a unit.
While tanks are activated automatically in the two tank phases, infantry requires either a "command" or a special activation test (a dice roll). Infantry can thus be activated in two ways: on command or off command
The focus of the game is the commanded activation for two reasons: it does not require a diceroll and players may activate several units en bloc. A commanded activation is initiated by designated "Command Teams". You may activate a command team which in turn activates up to three other units nearby (and after that performs actions himself).
The overall effect of the game structure is a fluid gameplay. As players take turns in activating their units the 'monolithic' turn structure is dissolved into the single actions - during play you will definitively need a turn marker to remeber which turn you are in.
The game nicely splits up into two interdependent layers - the infantry layer and the tank layer.
With the tank actions dispersed on two phases tanks become slower (or cumbersome) and require planning ahead while infantry is highly flexible and can immediately react upon enemy actions.
The difference between "Command" and "Off Command" means that to be successful players need to establish some coherency among their troops. Not only numbers nut also leadership is of importance (the position of the "Command Team" is key to the game).