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Author Topic: Whats on Your Table?  (Read 173620 times)

thecommandtent

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Reply #870 on: May 12, 2022, 07:46:01 PM
Yeah. I have a sneaking suspicion the gig is up - but I'm determined to play this superb game to the end.

I think this is one of those games that is still fun to play to the end evening if it looks like its going one way.



judgedredd

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Reply #871 on: May 23, 2022, 07:44:17 AM
I was within a gnat's baw hair of giving up on this. It's sat on the table and I haven't played it since my last update (doing models and racing F1 on my computer)

I've just been thinking so much about Fields of Fire and the draw to get that back on the table is sooooo strong...

But I've decided not to. I'm half way through (turn 10 of 20) - so I'm going to slog it out.



judgedredd

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Reply #872 on: May 24, 2022, 05:35:45 AM
Nope. Couldn't do it. It's off the table.

Fields of Fire baby.



BanzaiCat

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Reply #873 on: May 24, 2022, 09:37:46 AM
 :applause:

At least you tried. I've yet to get my copy to the table. Meanwhile I added Salerno '43 and Normandy '44 to my collection a few months ago.  :idiot2:

I have Secrets of the Lost Station on my table right now; did an unboxing for it. I need to do one for my TMNT Adventure Game All The Loot bundle now too, but there's so much stuff to it, I don't know where to begin. More than anything I'm excited about the Stan Sakai pack in there, which has a Usagi Yojimbo mini. :)

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judgedredd

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Reply #874 on: May 27, 2022, 04:22:32 PM
Nirvana




Tolstoi

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Reply #875 on: May 30, 2022, 05:46:31 PM
Nirvana

JD, is Fields of Fire like Up Front? The Korean scenarios sound interesting and challenging. I'm curious to get your thoughts on the game, or direct me to past posts in which you discuss it. Thanks!



judgedredd

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Reply #876 on: May 31, 2022, 02:23:32 AM
I've never played Up Front so I can't compare.

What I do know is Fields of Fire is my number one solitaire game. It's simply superb. The actual game mechanics are pretty easy - but in order to get them into your head,  you have a long fight with the manual. It's poorly written and poorly laid out imo. Everything is there, but there's no index (very badly needed for the game because you are constantly looking things up for fringe rules) and some things that you think should be referenced somewhere in the manual are referenced somewhere else.

Manual aside, it's superb. I think it comes in at £70 or there abouts, but there's a huge amount of gaming in there. 3 theatres and so much randomness in setup that you'll never play the same game again.

I posted recently on YT that I stayed away from this game for over two years because it was card driven and - worst of all - it had cards as maps. But those aspects actually ended up being two of the strong reasons why I look forward to playing it all the time.


Map
You randomly draw cards to layout your terrain. This is an excellent mechanic because you just never know what terrain your troops are going to be fighting on.

Each card has an inherent cover value (sometimes two - a higher value for a dark border and a lower value for a light border). They can also have values for vehicle movement and may be more dangerous for incoming artillery (for example woods - you'll be in extra danger in woods from artillery).

On top of that, each card has intrinsic cover. This cover your troops have to find by expending commands. Find some and life becomes a bit safer. Some cards have strong cover (villages, farms etc) others have softer cover (gully, bocage)


Command System
Genius.

From Battalion to Platoon, you get commands. Each step in the hierarchy gets the chance to pull a card for orders and then use those to pass down. In my game, the Company CO pulls a card for orders. There are two order values on the cards. A higher one (generally) for a unit activated by an HQ and a lower one used for when a platoon isn't activated and is operating on it's own initiative. It's depressing when you need to get so much done and your CO pulls a card with 1 command point on it.

Command is affected by experience. Green commanders get -1 command points to what has been drawn and Veteran get's +1. On top of that, if there's no contact they get an additional one and when in contact, they get one less. This was excellently explained in a video where the guy said the commanders have more time to think when not in contact (+1 command) and when in contact, are under pressure (-1).

An HQ will pull a card and get his (modified) commands. He will then use those to do something himself or pass those orders onto his subordinates (HQs and staff). They in turn will pull a card and get their modified commands and use those to order their platoons to do something...scout forward, attack an enemy, rally...there's a plethora of commands that can be issued.

On top of all that, there's an initiative phase where a card is pulled and the lower value is used for initiative. These orders can be assigned to any unit - in command or not - to do something. So that assault team you sent forward to scout an area who is now out of contact may use his initiative to find cover...or launch a grenade at a known enemy position.

It's an excellent system.


Enemy
You never know what enemy are going to show up on the map. The map - in my game - is covered with Potential Contact Markers. These have 3 different values - A, B and C with A being the deadliest and C being less so. As your units scout a map area with a Potential Contact Marker, you resolve it using a random number on the cards between 1 and 10. These can be incoming mortar or artillery, HMG Nest, Squads - they can even manoeuvre behind you if I remember correctly. They may show up on your map - but they often end up at maximum line of sight to the front, front left or front right. And Maximum LoS could be the extent of the map and even can extend the map...depending on the card borders (light border means you can see through that card etc).


Combat
Each enemy unit (as well as yours) exert a Volume of Fire...from light weapons to automatic weapons, heavy weapons and bombardment. They also exert a  Primary Direction of Fire (PDF) if they are not on your card. These combats take place simultaneously and use a Net Combat Modifier (NCM).

A NCM is worked out adding up the inherent cover, intrinsic cover, state of the troops and Volume of Fire. So for example I have a squad moved forward onto a map area. They are marked Exposed (-2) because they're moving. The area is a Gully (Inherent cover +2). They do manage to find intrinsic cover (standard cover +1). They are under fire from mortars (a forward Observer two cards away) with a VoF of -3. Because they are in a Gully, there's a modifier of -1 for burst VoF...and mnortars are most definitely burst VoF. So you add all those values together
Exposed -2
Inherent Cover +2
Intrinsic Cover +1
Mortar Fire -3
Burst Fire -1
You now have a NCM of -3. You pull a card and see what -3 means. Generally it's bad - but these cards are random and I've seen a +6 give a hit and I've seen a -4 give a pin. If you're pinned, you're no longer exposed but your pinned. If you're hit, you pull another card and see what the damage is.

One additional thing is if you're pinned, you get a +1 for your NCM next time - because you're hunkered down. You also get a +2 to your VoF (because your not really shooting with any degree of accuracy - you are spraying and hoping because you're hiding. Negative numbers are better for Volume of Fire - so pinned isn't great...but as I said, I've seen hits on +6 before - so they're not useless




There's so much more I could say. So much more to this game than I've managed to write here. Every card pull is full of tension when you're looking for that cover or you're launching a grenade attack or you're determining what enemy is present or you're seeing how many commands you can pass around.

It's simply an excellent game.

I'm on holiday this week but maybe when I come back, I'll do a detailed AAR of a turn to give an idea of how it plays.

I hope this helps. This guy does a four video short intro (4 turns) to the game and does an excellent job of explaining things...he fleshes out why he's doing what he's doing which shows the difficulties he comes across making decisions. He makes some mistakes and picks some up - but overall, he does an excellent job of relaying the game mechanics and most of all, the excitement of game play.




judgedredd

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Reply #877 on: May 31, 2022, 04:11:23 AM
To any literally scholars out there, I may have used intrinsic and inherent incorrectly. Don't be mad.


@ Tolstoi - regarding your question on Up Front and this, as I said I haven't played Up Front so I can't compare but I believe the game I have coming soon (hopefully) is a descendant from Up Front - it's called Point Blank V for Victory. You may want to look at that if you're looking for an Up Front game.

But I would urge anyone with £70 burning a hole in there pocket, who loves solitaire gaming and who doesn't mind a wee bit of extra brain activity to get this game when you can.



Tolstoi

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Reply #878 on: May 31, 2022, 03:58:45 PM
JD, that was brilliant! Brant is right, you should be writing articles for ACD. Either that, or GMT needs to hire you to sell their products. After reading your post I started looking for the game.

Thank you for taking the time to share your insights and providing an overview of how Fields of Fire plays. I hope you have a wonderful holiday and yes, if you have time and are willing to write up an AAR for us, that would be much appreciated!  :bigthumb:



bob48

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Reply #879 on: May 31, 2022, 05:09:09 PM
Absolutely I agree with that.  :bigthumb:

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'


judgedredd

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Reply #880 on: May 31, 2022, 05:12:10 PM
Thank you very much - I'm glad you liked it.

The videos I linked to are so good. Like I said - some errors, but honestly, there's so much stuff going on in the game, I think the designers would even make mistakes.



BanzaiCat

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Reply #881 on: June 01, 2022, 10:16:41 AM
I just received my preorder of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. It came via UPS very late last night, close to 10pm. Very odd but it's here at least.


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Doctor Quest

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Reply #882 on: June 01, 2022, 02:18:12 PM
I dunno. The timing sounds good for The Batman!

"Everything you read on the internet is true." - Benjamin Franklin

"Something so addictive about the whole kill and loot dynamic, though." - Gusington


bob48

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Reply #883 on: June 01, 2022, 02:23:54 PM
Its almost that time of year again, so I'm waiting for this to arrive;

https://www.vaevictismag.fr/en/first-empire/210-waterloo-1815.html

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'


BanzaiCat

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Reply #884 on: June 01, 2022, 02:38:07 PM
Isn't Vae Victus in French, though?

I bought one from Fine Games recently, as it had a good-looking game in there that mirrorerd the helicopter assault on a Vietnamese village from 'Apocalypse Now.'

Imagine my surprise when the mag is completely in French.  :silly:

I dunno. The timing sounds good for The Batman!

Fair point!  :2funny:

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