Fields of Fire, Deluxe Edition is an expanded and 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 2nd edition rules. Our rules development team of 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 of 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.
- Three 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.
- A 3″ Game Box
To close with the enemy by means of fire and maneuver in order to destroy or capture him, or repel his assaults by fire, close combat and counterattack – US Army Field Manual FM 7-10: The Infantry Rifle Company.
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9th Infantry badge
The Game:
Fields of Fireis a solitaire game of commanding a rifle company between World War II and 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, various activity attempts. The units of the company are counters representing headquarters elements, squads, weapons teams, forward observers, individual vehicles or helicopters. A single playing is a mission and several missions from an historical campaign are strung together for the player to manage experience and replacements. A mission can be played in about 1 – 2 hours.
This game is based on four actual campaigns experienced by units of the 9th US Infantry 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.”
WWII Normandy Campaign
Normandy, France – June to August 1944
As part of the 2nd Infantry Division “Indianhead”, the 9th Infantry landed on D-Day +1, June 7th 1944. They would spend the next 70 days in the line battling through the bocage terrain. For much of that time they faced the German paratroopers of the 3rd Fallschirmjaeger Division. The Germans used the difficult terrain to their advantage, forcing the Manchus to battle for it hedgerow by hedgerow.
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2nd Infantry Division “Indianhead” patch
Korea – Naktong River Campaign
Naktong River – August to September 1950
Among the first reinforcements to arrive in Korea, the 9th Infantry was rushed into the Pusan Perimeter to reinforce the decimated US 24th Infantry Division. The North Koreans battled across a bend in the Naktong River, known as the Naktong Bulge. The Manchus were thrown in to face the North Koreans head-on. It took weeks of fighting and reinforcements to finally eject the North Koreans from the Bulge. The rest of the 2nd Infantry Division had arrived, and the 9th reverted back to its parent division. The battered regiment was given responsibility for the entire Naktong Bulge. With little rest they faced a renewed massive North Korean offensive that pushed back into the Naktong Bulge, and spent the rest of September pushing the North Koreans back out again.
Korea – The Battle of Heartbreak Ridge
Heartbreak Ridge – August to October 1951
The summer of 1951 saw the 2nd Division taking part in a series of offensive operations in Central Korea, and systematically rolling back Chinese and North Korean forces. In the high rugged hills just to the south of the 38th Parallel, the fighting between August and October was the last major engagement of the war for the Manchus and the rest of the 2nd Infantry Division.
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25th Infantry Division “Tropic Lightning” patch
Vietnam Campaign
III Corps – April 1966 – December 1970
The Fourth of the Ninth, 4/9, Infantry was transferred to the 1st Brigade of the US 25th Infantry Division in 1966 and sailed to the Republic of Vietnam. The Manchus were posted Cu Chi, northwest of Saigon near the base of the infamous “Iron Triangle”. They faced some of the toughest Viet Cong fighters in the Filhol Rubber Plantation, Ho Bo, and Bo Loi Woods areas. Later they moved northwest to Tay Ninh to battle North Vietnamese infiltration along the Cambodian border. Working closely with helicopters, the Manchus flew in and out of action routinely.
TIME SCALE: 15-20 minutes per turn
MAP SCALE: Abstract areas approximately 10m x 10m to 100m x 100m depending on the terrain
UNIT SCALE: Squads, HQs, teams, and weapons crews
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 1
Series and Game Design: Ben Hull
Developers, 1st and 2nd Printings: Dick Vohlers and Ricky Gray
Developers, Deluxe Edition: Andrew Stead and Colin Parsons
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