My copy of the newly released Field of Battle, 3rd edition, by Brent Oman arrived a couple of days ago. It is a substantial book at over 180 pages, but more than half of that is period specific rules, QRS's for each major period covered, and the associated Army "lists" (In FoB, these are more very broad guidelines than any rigid set of lists). There are also full col.or version of the card fronts for both Season of Battle of Field of Battle which can be photocopied and printed onto card stock or similar. The spiral bound format is new for Piquet/Field of Battle, and is really nice. No broken bindings from thumbing through the rules again and again (although really that is seldom necessary after a couple of games) , and the rules will lay flat on the table
A bit hard to read with the glare, but specific period rules, play sheets, and Army guidelines are provided for:
The English Civil War
War of Sp[anish Succession
Great Northern War
Jacobite Rebellion
Seven years War
American War of Independence
Napoleonic Wars
Mexican American War
Anglo-Sikh Wars
Crimean War
Frabnco-Austrian War
American Civil War
Austro-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
Russo-Turkish War
Anglo-Zului War
Anglo-Sudan War
Plus the Season of Battle simple Campaign System.
I also got the professionally printed cards. These are my rules of choice for the Napoleonic Wars in particular, so getting the decks was a no-brainer for me.!
The 3rd edition cards came out really nicely. With slimming down the numb er of card types, and 108 cards there are more than enough for 2 sequence decks; the remainder of the cards are for use with Season Battle, the simplified abstract short Campaign system included in FoB3.
An example of one of each of the standard card types. In FoB3, Ordinarily, every sequence decks will have the same composition except for the Lull and Leadership cards, namely 3 Army Morale, 3 Infantry Fire, 3 Artillery Fire, 2 Tactical Advantage, 3 Melee, 1 Move 1 Command, and 3 Move cards. Inferior decks will have 3 Lulls and 2 Leadership, Average 2 Lulls and 3 Leadership, and Superior decks 1 Lull and 4 Leadership cards.
Special cards, added to some decks as needed. A plethora of options are listed for both the Incident and Special Event Cards, replacing the many specific special cards of previous versions of Filed of Battle.
A sampling of the Season of Battle cards. essentially there are 2 Weather cards and six decks of 7 cards each . Only 2 decks would be used for any one Campaign, choosing suitable colors for the combatants from among the options. There is also a deck of 54 terrain cards for Season of Battle available; I already had a deck from play testing, and once again a full set of color sheets of the card backs for those is also included in the rules. All of these cards are really nicely done.
There is much, much more to say about Field of Battle, 3rd edition, but I really have to sit down and read through the whole thing at least once, I have read a number of drafts of the rules and, need to review what is in the final version! I plan on a full (if not in anyway unbiased!) review of the rules in the next month or so.
I am in the process of setting oput my first game with the rules right now, a scenario for the battle of Caldiero in 1815. Would there be any interest in a walk through of the main procedures in both setting up and playing a game with FoB3 while I am at it?
Ive only ever heard good things about Piquet Peter and the games always look very good. I look forward to seeing how your new edition plays and perhaps someone locally will start to play so I can have a crack.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Carlo. Although they share some lineage, Filed of Battle is quite different from "classic" Piquet.
DeleteIt looks interesting. Not sure of your final question, if you mean a blog report of your setup and play through then yes.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Kevin
Thanks, Kevin, yes a run through of the setup and play through of a game, going through the details of the mechanics for each process at least once. Like the Proktor Shoals series, this would likely extend over several posts.
DeleteI'd be interested in your thoughts too, in whatever format you decide to present them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Aaron. Will probably occur over several posts and formats.
DeleteI'd be very pleased to get any thoughts at all about FoB3 - including some highlights of the differences from FoB2, which I spent some time studying and trying out over the last two years - I was really keen to give it a fair go - but had some problems with the basic concepts, and there were a couple of things I found a major turn-off: turning over a lot of cards which "don't apply this time" was kind of flabby, the use of the numerous dice types felt like an industry for its own sake, there is a lot of on-table record keeping (I can't get excited about tracking the retreat of broken units) and I spent a lot of time dreading the appearance of the Leadership card because of all the admin it needs - and as for Army Morale...
ReplyDeleteSorry - that is all very unfair - I thought FoB2 was a sound game, I very much enjoyed my sessions with experienced players (though it was very hard work!), there were just features of it which I would be looking to cut out as part of the house rules, and it seemed a shame to do anything other than adopt it intact to give it a fair trial. I was very enthusiastic about the potential for solo gaming, so I did approach it in a positive frame of mind!
Yes please, Gonsalvo - all thoughts and tips welcome!
Hi Tony,
DeleteNo problem, I'll share considerable information etc, but regardless, it will appeal to some more than others. Variety is the spice of life, after all.!
Absolutely - I am a humble soul, but even I can understand that! It would be a sad show if you were putting on a review just for the fan-boys - I regard myself as an agnostic rather than a disbeliever. Right from the days of the Piquet base game I have been watching and reading with great interest, aware that the game(s) is (are) openly marketed as a toolkit - you can use the bits to suit yourself, I was told. I believe there is an excellent game there - I just need to work out a house blend that suits me. Variety and freedom of choice, after all, are important concepts, as you say. I shall be delighted to read what you have to say. Thank you, Gonsalvo.
DeleteThanks for the info'. A walk through of FoB3 would be great. I have my copy ordered.
ReplyDeleteI'll be interested in your own work with the Campaign system and the ECW mods; I haven't tried that myself!
DeleteI look forward to your unbiased review. A game walk through might be just the ticket to pique my interest.
ReplyDeleteWell, as I said, it can't help but be a biased review, but at least you know that up front! :-)
DeleteOh, and good one, Jon!
Looks like you might as well, you know you want to!
ReplyDeleteWell, yeah, of course I do! :-)
DeleteOn the other hand, it is a lot of work to do...
Sounds interesting, I've always been tempted, if a little daunted! So a walk through, biased or not would be welcome!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks, Iain. The walk through itself won't be biased, just my enthusiasm for the rules! :-)
DeleteGlad to see you got it. Still no sign over the pond as yet..........
ReplyDeleteHopefully it will be in your hands shortly, Gary!
DeleteIt looks very interesting, and I quite like the idea of card-driven games after having looked at the Command and Colors system. I have found it difficult to interest the groups I game with in trying new rule sets though, no matter how easy they are to initially pick up.
ReplyDeleteBecause of the sequence deck and other aspects, Field of Battle plays very well solo... which I am about to do@
Delete