Tide of Iron
From: Fantasy Flight Games
Reviewed by: Ron McClung
Tide of Iron is a new Board Game from Fantasy Flight Games.
Tide of Iron (ToI) is another big-box board game by Fantasy Flight
that revolutionizes squad-level war gaming. It is a World War Two
combat game that can be used to simulate many different battle scenarios.
The immense box includes enough minis and map boards to play a multitude of
battles in the European theater.
From page # 1 :
“June 6th, 1944. D-Day was heralded as 'the longest day' of the war, yet it
was but the opening salvo for the Allied offensive into western Europe -
an offensive that would last for almost a year before the Allies could declare
victory in the European theater.”
First off, I can not express to you just how huge this game is. Over
200 figures are included in this box set and there are an uncountable number of
counters. It is an impressive sight and can be somewhat
intimidating. Days of Wonder released a game called Memoir '44,
which many compare ToI to. I have played both and I can say there are
similarities but there are also stark differences. I will not approach
this review as a comparative, however. I will leave that up to those that
know Memoir '44.
The aspect that is the biggest innovation in this type of
game is the customizable squads. The game comes with 216 figures, divided
up into Allies and Axis, and each side includes a variety of troop
types. These include regular troops, machine crew, elite infantry,
officers and mortar crews. All of these can be placed in a variety of
combinations in the provided stands. This allows for a variety of
strengths and abilities for each squad. There are also special unit
counters that slip into the hook in the rear of the stand. These can be
anti-tank, engineer, flamethrower, and medic. Each have special abilities
listed in the rulebook.
Vehicle units include different types of tanks (Shermans,
Panzer IVs, and Tigers Is), transport trucks, and half-tracks. These are
stand-alone units and do not have stands.
ToI is one of those games
that can take a while to set up, but in my opinion it is well worth it. It
is a scenario-based game, and there are 6 scenarios supplied. Of course,
each has a different setup. The game supplies you with 12 map boards with
maps on both sides of the board. These can be laid out in a variety of ways
to create the battle map. There are also hex overlay map elements that
include forests, bridges and hills, as well as other map elements like bunkers,
pillboxes, razor wire, and tank traps.
Once the map board is laid
out, the divisions are made based on the scenarios. If there are 4
players, each player can play a division, as there are two different shades of
color for each side. For the Allies, for example, there are two different
shades of green. Each player builds their squads as they see fit and all
units are laid out in the positions defined by the scenario.
Another very interesting and powerful aspect of
the game are the Strategy Cards. There are several different decks of
Strategy cards and the scenarios use a different combination of decks.
These decks include reinforcement, ground support, air support, supply,
artillery, and morale. These cards are drawn during play, laid out in the
command area and can be activated by command points at specific points of the
game. Also, there are Operation Cards allocated based on scenario.
Usually, a side gets one or two and they define special abilities or bonuses
they
might have for the scenario.
There are a ton of tokens in this game.
Command Point tokens are important in the game. There are used for
initiative and activating strategy cards. You gain a set amount during the
game and can get more with Strategy cards. To perform actions, you use
Activation Tokens and those are fixed and do not change (at least in the game
scenarios I have played). Each side has an amount defined by the scenario.
The
other tokens include Damage tokens for vehicles, Condition tokens such as pinned
and disrupted, Command Objective markers, Control markers and Victory Objective
markers. These come into play in a variety of ways, as per the scenario or
combat action.
Each scenario also defines the number of rounds it is supposed
to take and the victory conditions for each player. Victory is usually
defined as taking certain positions (usually marked with Command Objective
markers or Victory Objective markers), or holding a position until the end
(usually in the case of the Germans).
From the page # 1:
“The objective of the invasion: to dismantle Hitler's Wermacht, the once
mighty German armed forces; liberate occupied countries in western Europe; and
ultimately subdue the threat of Germany and the Nazi regime that rules it.”
Game play is in 3 phases - Action Phase, Command Phase, and Status
Phase. Action phase takes up a bulk of the turn. It is broken down
into Action Turns, where the player takes a number of actions defined by the
scenario. For example, if the scenario calls for players to take three
actions each action turn, then one player performs three and then his opponent performs
his three and so on, back and forth until all units have taken an action.
These
actions can be one of 8 choices - Advance, Concentrated Fire, Prepare Op Fire,
Fire and Movement, Activate Strategy Card, Assault, Fatigue Unit, and Special
Action. All actions are fairly intuitive and straight forward. Some
are combat actions for units to take while others are actions the player can
take to affect the game. Once a unit has taken an action, it is marked as
Fatigued.
Once all units have taken actions and the players have
nothing left to do, they head into the Command Phase. In the Command
Phase, a player receives his Command Points, checks for victory and spends
command on either more Strategy cards or initiative. After Command Phase
is the Status phase where the player does a number of different things to close
out the turn and prepare for the next. This includes drawing more strategy
cards, removing activation tokens, squad transfers and consolidations, and
placing units on Op Fire. Then the next turn begins.
Combat involves
rolling a number of dice equal to attack strength vs. a number of dice equal to
the defense strength of the target. The system uses the old-stand-by
6-sided dice and can use a good many of them in one volley. The number of
dice rolled depends on attack or defense strength, and other factors included
are line of site, range, and cover. Cover and terrain play a big factor in
overall strategy. Depending on the situations, units can take Concentrated
Fire action, Assault action or a Special Attack action. Effects of combat
can be straight damage hits, Disruption, or Pinned. The latter two
options have their own benefits and risks.
Range and the type of
unit determines the numbers on the die that count as a hit for the
attacker. For instance at close range, 4s, 5s, and 6s hit. Every
unit has an attack strength and some number of armor that adds into their defense
strength. An infantry squad standing out in the open has no defense
strength. The defender always succeeds on 5s and 6s. Both sides roll
their dice. If the attacker has more dice that succeed than the defender,
then the target takes hits equal to the difference. There are several
types of fire one can take - regular, suppressive, combined, opportunity and
assault. All have slightly different approaches giving you a wide variety
of options for strategy.
In conclusion,
I do not think there is any doubt that I love this game. For a war game,
it flows very intuitively and smoothly. It is an elegantly devised system
that is very satisfying for a war gamer like me. The replayability is
extensive, as one can imagine, and the strategy is varied for every
scenario. Fantasy Flight Games also has several expansions planned, one of which was just
recently released. These will add even more options, units and strategies.
If
I had to complain about the game, there are two areas that bugged me. The
infantry units did not always fit in the stands, but you are bound to have that
happen in a game this intricate. Also, there seemed to be not enough
variety within each deck of Strategy cards. At times, we ended up with
several copies of the game type of card in front of us and no real way to use
them. Do not get me wrong, though. When used, the strategy cards do
have a strong effect on the game.
Overall, this is a great game. I felt
very satisfied after playing it and plan to play it more in the future.
For more details on Fantasy Flight Games and their new Board Game “Tide of Iron” check them out at their website
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com, and at all of your local game stores.
Tide of Iron
From: Fantasy Flight Games
Type of Game: Board Game
Game Design by: John Goodenough
Contributing Authors: Christian T. Petersen, James D Torr, John Grams
Developed by: John Goodenough & Christian T. Petersen
Cover Art by: Kurt Miller
Additional Art by: Rick Drennan
Number of Pages: 47 page rulebook, 16 page scenario book
Game Components Included:
- 1 Rulebook
- 1 Scenario Guide
- 216 Plastic Figures
- 48 Squad Bases
- 2 Player Reference Sheets
- 12 Map Boards
- 28 Map Overlay Pieces
- 20 Dice
- 1 Round Track
- 1 Round Marker
- 2 Victory Point Markers
- 110 Cards
- 1 Initiative Token
- 88 Activation Tokens
- 32 Damage Tokens
- 36 Condition Tokens
- 24 Specialization Tokens
- 6 Victory Objective Markers
- 24 Command Objective Markers (various values)
- 16 Control Markers
- 51 Command Tokens (in 1s and 5s)
- 8 Concealed Squad Markers
- 16 Transport Markers
- 16 Off-Board Indicator Tokens
- 38 Fortification, Obstacle, and Cover Markers
- 1 Target Token
- 1 North Directional Marker
Retail Price: $ 79.95 (US)
Number of Players: 2-4
Player Ages: 14+
Play Time: 1+ hours
IBSN: Type IBSN-Number
Website: www.fantasyflightgames.com
Reviewed by: Ron McClung
