Apologize for the long hiatus. My father in law continued to age poorly and finally passed in his sleep two weeks ago. As we take care of him and his demented wife this took a lot of time and quite an emotional toll. I just haven't felt like wargaming since spring. I read some and played tabletop baseball games.
I played one game of SAGA
Recently I decided maybe if I played a company level game instead of a battalion level game I could become more inspired. I saw that Fields of Fire was releasing a 3rd edition rulebook. Perfect timing as I really felt like reading more than gaming. For those of you that aren't familar, Fields of Fire is a Solitaire infantry combat game where you are the company commander; it is a board game so has some limitations. It is quite innovative but had a horrible rulebook. I reviewed it back in 2013. It had some good points but frankly wasn't worth the energy to make it into a top notch miniatures game. [ I reviewed it Feb 2013 if your are interested.]
I played around with it for vietnam
and thought it showed potential.
So here is a report of a game using one of my Force on Force platoons I rolled up using Platoon Forward. It focuses on Sgt McMann's squad of the 10th Mountain in Afganistan in 2011. There last battle was posted Aug 2021.
Capt Ross looked across his desk, " Ken, I am asking you to go on foot. This way you will rub shoulders with the people. They are why we are here, remember?" Yes Sir but we will be more exposed to those same people and I don't want any more casualties. " Look LT, I don't want casualties either but it is 2011, we are now diplomats AND soldiers- you go on foot." Yes Sir!
Fields of Fire [FOF] uses a card deck to determine the board. You move from card to card. Movement and distance is thereby somewhat abstracted. It can be realistic as you don't always know the terrain you are in. However, in 2011 there would few surprises for this FOB. Instead of drawing cards I rolled up a board as per Platoon Forward setting a village in space 2,3.
This is what I got. FOF uses area movement so this is actually a 4x4 board. As an example, the left side of the board has a pond, then crops followed by small building then woods. Lt Richards route is going to take him up the left side to say hello to the farmers, check out the woods at the top left them visit the market and fly the flag. Finally he will check out the river and head back to the FOB. Humvees will pick them up at the river.
Lt Richards Comes from wealth. Volunteered to make a difference and to tick off his family. Mercurial temperament. average leader
1st squad Sgt McMann Average leader but well respected in the company and his squad. His squad is veteran. [ FOF only has 3 grades of troops]
2nd squad Cpl Adams Recently of 1st squad. Took over 2nd squad with the death of their SL. Still learning the ropes Poor leader/ NL squad
3rd Squad Sgt Gonzalez Average leader who is very scholarly. Average squad
The NCOs were as excited about the plan as Lt Richards was but it was decided that 1st and 2nd squads would hoof it out to the woods. At that point the 3rd squad would meet them in Humvees as cover. 2nd squad would poke around in the woods then they would all make nice in the market and go home. There was a movie tonight.
2nd squad leading the way.
Squads are normally made up of 3 steps. Each step represents 2-3 men. It can be clunky sometimes but overall it works. As stated, this is a solitaire game. When you enter a new area of a potential contact you roll to see if you encounter something and if you do what is it and where. I have to say the solo enemy is the strongest part of FOF. It is well thought out. For the miniature gamer it isn't very generic though. You really would have to craft a new opponent for almost every scenario I think.
A shot rings out from somewhere almost killing Cpl Adams. The rearward part of the squad if pinned by the sniper and Adams is frankly terrified. Fortunately Sgt McMann's squad saw the shot from across the road and drive the sniper off. Lt Richards picks up Adams, dusts him off and sends 2nd squad on their way.
First squad leaves the crops and comes by the small farm. Pvt Shaw nods to two women and is smart enough not to say anything. Here we have another potential contact...
suddenly mortar shells erupt near the farm catching Shaw and the point team dead on. They fall while the rest of 2nd squad is pinned down. The 2 women flee in panic.
FOF uses "orders" to simulate the C +C of warfare. You draw a card to see how many orders you get [ between 2-6 but normally 3-4] then you issue orders to your men to make things happen. What sets this apart from games like O group is that you need an order for pretty much anything except to fire. Troops will fire at the closest enemy. In fact they need an order to stop once he is dead or retreated. It reads clunky but once you have tried it a few times it works well and feels realistic. [ You have to use common sense sometimes, for instance, if I want a squad to move through the crops to the small farm I would not use two orders for that. I would use one order and tell the squad to move through there to the farm.]
Lt Richards day just got worse. He has unseen mortars hitting his lead squad and has at least 2 men down. He orders McMann to find that mortar [spot] while he radios back to 3rd squad to come up now and bring the medics. [Radio]. After McMann's experienced squad finds the mortar on the riverbed Richard's orders him to detach a half squad [ detach] and advance him [move] into range of the mortar to pin them down [ don't need an order to fire. Once in range [ center of picture in open terrain] they will open up.] If Lt Richard had a fifth order he could try to call down some US mortars on the enemy mortars.
Next turn [ about ten minutes for all of the above to happen] Lt Richards gets contact and soon the enemy gets a taste of their own medicine!
3rd squad shows up with doc in toe and Pvt Shaw is stabilized and taken back to the FOB. Sgt Gonzalez sends 1 Humvee back with the doc while he stays in support.
The platoon arrives at the woods. Lt Richards decides that 2nd squad has been roughed up so 1st squad enters the woods. Another potential contact...
The woods are clear but there is movement in the village. 2nd squad fires and the enemy quickly retreats.
One of the neat things about the potential contacts is that they rarely are in the same area; they most often are only nearby and able to shoot into the area just entered. Occasionally, you surprise the enemy like we did here though we didn't really take advantage of it.
At this point it is clear that the village will not be friendly.
I am sure you are surprised by all the red markers on the board in the picture above. Remember that troops open up as soon as they see the enemy and vice versa. The markers are showing strengths of primary direction of fire. Troops become target fixated unless ordered to change. Also, fire is at the entire area rather than at a specific target unless at point blank range. This seems odd to most wargamers but I like it alot. The thought here is that on the modern battlefield you will rarely get a good look at the enemy. Most troops will fire at flashes, shadows or just in the direction that everyone else if firing at. [ unless at point blank range] Hence fire it not at a specific target nor is it cumulative. These two rules make this a very different game from any I have played. I think the concepts are sound and it jives with my limited experience and what I have read from SLA Marshal, One Bullet Away, The Thin Red Line, Company Commander ect. Like any model it suffers at the extremes and I am modifying it a bit but I think it sets FOF apart in a good way. I think in the future I will replace the markers with small bits of colored pipe cleaner; should look better.
The point team for 1st squad are directed to find cover in the village. [ order expended]. Normally a leader needs to be with troops to find that one or two places in a terrain piece that will provide great tactical cover. I think in villages that idea falls apart but I do think it should count as an action.
Each turn you get 0-2 orders that the troops themselves can accomplish with their own initiative such as seeking cover or picking out targets. This represents your lower NCOs. There are never enough of these!
While fire isn't additive and affects the whole terrain piece; leaders can spot individual targets and have units concentrate fire on them. Concentrated fire IS additive and other than thump guns, the best way to bring large number of guns into play.
Meanwhile back in town...
Several men make a break for the woods. Our LMGs that have been providing crossfire into the town shift fire automatically onto these new targets. Unfortunately, all we do is pin them.
At this point we are well into an hour into the mission. Capt Ross wants to know if the patrol is wrapping up. Lets review:
1st squad is pinned down in the west end of the village.
2nd squad is pinned down just outside the village proper with Lt Richards. He has been unable to rally anyone.
3rd squad that came up to help has been firing into the market to relieve pressure on 2nd squad when...
Lt Richards admits that he is facing 2-3 platoons and could use either some artillery [ not allowed in the village] or the QRF. Ross states he is dispatching them now and he is coming up to see what is going on.
Lt Richards extracts 2nd squad and briefs the boss. Ross nods and shows little emotion either way. He has a plan within 60 seconds. "Ken, you take your platoon and secure McMann and the west side of the village. Tony will take the QRF and assault the east side. We can still make the movie" he says finally cracking a smile.
With the company commander on the board he obtains his orders and then activates his subordinate platoon leaders. They in turn activate their squads. It really does feel like you are commanding a company.
Lt Richards goes over to the humvee and has them shift fire from the marketplace to the west side of town. [ Yep, two orders; one to get there and one to show them where to fire.]
Meanwhile...
As 57mm rockets start to hit the eastern buildings the Taliban leader sees the cougar approaching. At this point he has bloodied the infidels and suffered only 6 casualties. He decides it is time to withdraw. There will be many more opportunities to catch the americans napping.
Final battlefield.
I hope this report gives you some idea of the gameplay. I think many of the concepts are new and refreshing. I went back and pulled my thoughts from my review in 2013:
I still agree with all the above except adding something for weight of numbers. Concentrating fire takes care of that.
Downsides
Rules still aren't perfect and it takes some effort to learn.
I have already mentioned having to carefully write scenarios. While this is a great solitaire sandbox system it will take planning before hand to get the most out of it.
There is a fair amount of fiddle in having to order your men and breaking down squads which would only work in a solo game with a gamer who has a fair amount of time.
In short, I think this game rewards those looking for a solo experience of being in command of a infantry company in combat if you are willing to put in some time to learn some new concepts and go with them in a leisurely manner.
Enjoy
Joe
