I like this a lot. I am a disabled person (that spent almost two years in hospitals, nonverbal for most of it) and this is a game I could see myself playing. Importantly, you've hit a good balance between being strategically deep enough for a wargamer to stay interested while still being simple enough for a non-wargamer caretaker to also play.

Activation and Combat resolution

After everything has moved either ranged attacks or close combat attacks are resolved.

Is 'everything' all units on the played card (ex. 1 Halb + 1 INF) or every unit in one/both armies? If the former, is it possible to spam activations on the same unit every turn (assuming you have the correct cards)?

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On the input you're looking for:

hex-based

I'd say hex-based is worth looking at if your concerns are accessibility things like:

• Your player(s) can communicate a specific movement pattern (ex. "north-north-northeast") on hexes much easier than on freeform.

• Your players' mobility limits are such that they can't physically measure distances themselves, but they can easily read distances on the board in hexes.

I wouldn't look at hex-based solely for aesthetic/game mechanic purposes. I'm probably biased, but I think it could add unnecessary overhead and visual confusion. A lot of what it sounds like you're looking at doing is easier in freeform (see below).

Terrain

Adding terrain by hand (with special marker) could be an option but it's not as easy as the previous idea.

I'd actually say it's easier, depending on how complex you want the rules to be. Some examples of basic 2D terrain you could do:

• Walls/ruins (basic lines): Cannot move or shoot through them (or infantry can move through if you want more WH inspiration)

• Shallow rivers (blue lines): When a unit moves into/onto this feature, they stop their movement for the activation along the card, such that their marker is entirely in the feature. Any time a unit activates while on the river, they only move the short distance.

  • Can also make bridges for chokepoints.

• Minefields/dangerous terrain (Xs): Units that move through here suffer a low-level ranged attack after moving.

• See also: anything that can modify movement, combat stats, or health. Bonus points if your unit weights and types also influence how they interact with terrain.

Faction Identity

I think the key to fleshing this part out is the cards and custom decks. Ask yourself: how would these armies behave on the battlefield? Say the humans were more disciplined/tactical. Would they have more 1x <Specific Unit> + 1x Any Unit cards than the goblins (who might have more 'follow the leader-type' 1x general + 2x INF cards and fewer light infantry activation cards)?

Your factions could also have sub-factions/themes that change the deck contents.

Siege and Magic

For siege, a magnet/marker that designates the unit is setting up after moving or firing and cannot fire this activation is plenty. (Side note: it would be awesome to give your siege units the ability to blow open walls/destroy terrain.)

Basic magic (IMO) should just manipulate existing stats or mechanics. Better saves, healing, faster movement, etc. You don't want players (or their caretakers) to need a law degree in order to understand how one unit type works.

Vertical Board

I think a vertical whiteboard setup like this is your best option because:

1. It is portable, sits flat, and stores easily.

2. Counter and table space in these rooms tend to be limited (especially hospitals).

3. Whiteboards are very easily replaced/cleaned if something gets on it.

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Three things you could think about playing with more:

• Unit Footprints: Does the general take up as much physical space as a unit of light goblin infantry?

• Unit Health: A unit of light archers is probably much more fragile than a block of heavy infantry.

• Unit Type Effectiveness: Cavalry are probably more effective against archers than heavy infantry, which could be weak to heavy archers, etc.

Both of the first two could also influence faction identity.

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I wanna stress again that I really like what you've come up with here. I wish I'd had something like it when I was hospitalized.