Field of Battle ?

Started by Si Tyler, 23 May 2014, 03:49:17 PM

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Si Tyler

Okay,
looking for something a bit different and someone recommended Field of Battle.  Found the Blunder on the Danube blog which seems interesting.  How many of you have played it and what are your impressions.

Regards

Si

Leman

I have used Field of Battle 2 for later C19th games. It is card driven and out of the same stable as PIQUET but is much better as the system is smoother, both sides get to pull the same number of cards  and there is a greater chance of conducting opportunity play, whilst at the same time you still have to make decisions about using or discarding cards. It is very much a division based game and would not handle multi-corps battles ver successfully. I enjoyed it enough to order three packs of period specific cards for France, Austria and Prussia from Arts Cow.
The artist formerly known as Dour Puritan!

Si Tyler

What would you class as a division ie number of bases per unit and how many units ?

kustenjaeger

Greetings

Commonly 4 bases per battalion/cavalry regiment and historical number of battalions etc.  If memory serves some of the scenarios in Blunders on the Danube reduce the number of units available to have a manageable game.

Regards

Edward

Leman

Quote from: Si Tyler on 23 May 2014, 04:13:40 PM
What would you class as a division ie number of bases per unit and how many units ?
I usually play in the later C19th when generally a division was made up of twelve battalions of line, one light battalion, a couple of attached batteries and two or three supporting cavalry regiments. FOB 2 are the sort of rules that handle Charles Grant's Wargames Scenarios really well.
The artist formerly known as Dour Puritan!

Si Tyler

Got this back off the author.  Interest is piqued :)

QuoteField of Battle WWI
These rules are written to allow the players to recreate Corps and higher level battles of WWI. They use battalions as the combat element, brigades or regiments as the maneuver element and divisions as the command level. While designed with 6mm figures in mind the rules will work well with any size of figure. The ground scale is 1" to 100yds.
This set of rules started life as an attempt to simply modify the Field of Battle WWII rules to reflect conditions some 25 years earlier. However, the troop density and the change in technology, military thought and tactics during WWI means these rules have many differences to the WWII set, while retaining the overall concept.
Innovations in these rules include the use of battalions as the combat element in open field operations but company level units within trenches. There are also simple but effective pre-offensive bombardment rules that may make all the difference to the success or failure of an assault.
Organization Tables, that are segregated by nationality and year of operation, are supplied for the main protagonists.
There are also a large number of examples and designers notes to help the players pick up the rule mechanics.
The rules are supplied as a pdf and the contents page and internal references are all hyperlinked allowing easy rule reference finding. While the rules have been produced so that they are convenient to use on a tablet computer they can also be printed as a hard copy.