Fields of Fire is a solitaire game of commanding a rifle company between World War II and the Present Day. The game is different from many tactical games in that it is diceless and card based. There are two decks used to play. The Terrain Deck is based on a specific region and is used to build a map for the various missions your company must perform. The Action deck serves many purposes in controlling combat, command and control, and various activity attempts. The units of the company are counters representing headquarters elements, squads, weapons teams, forward observers, individual vehicles or helicopters. A single game is a mission and several missions from a historical campaign are strung together for the player to manage experience and replacements. A mission can be played in about 1 – 4 hours.
What’s New in the Deluxe Edition
Fields of Fire Volume I Deluxe Edition is a completely improved edition of Fields of Fire Volume I. Based on the past 15 years of feedback, hundreds of hours of playtesting, and long discussions with the design team, the Deluxe Edition presents Ben Hull’s masterpiece of tactical infantry command in a way that is accessible to the modern gamer while retaining all of the deep complexity that veteran players have grown to love over the years.
New features Include:
- A Rewritten series rulebook. The Deluxe Edition comes with a rewritten third edition ruleset, packed with examples, diagrams and clarifying notes while maintaining continuity with the second edition rules. Series Developers Andrew Stead and Colin Parsons have worked to eliminate ambiguities and edge cases throughout, creating a much-improved reference manual for play.
- A Starter Guide. While Fields of Fire has a reputation for being difficult to learn, the Starter Guide makes it easy. Each chapter in the Starter Guide incrementally introduces new rules through training exercises that teach you the basics of infantry combat. Later exercises act as advanced guides on setting up for air assaults and making the best use of supporting vehicles.
- A Full Starter Mission. A stand-alone mission tailored towards easing new company commanders into the full game. This mission can be played repeatedly with a variety of simplified rules to allow you to adjust to the full historical campaigns.
- Four Fully Redesigned Mission Books. Using the much-improved format from Fields of Fire: The Bulge Campaign, the Normandy, Heartbreak Ridge, Naktong River and Vietnam campaigns are presented in a clarified and expanded manner.
- Over 200 updated counters plus various additional reference markers and new units.
- New elevation cards to enhance the Heartbreak Ridge campaign.
- A completely new set of redesigned player aids including new charts and air assault planning cards.
This game is based on four actual campaigns experienced by units of the 9th US Infantry (Regiment) in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. The 9th infantry are known as the "Manchus" for their service in the Boxer Rebellion. Their motto is “Keep Up the Fire.”
