Tide of Iron

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