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'Tide of Iron' focuses on the American and German armies in
Northern Europe in the years 1944 and 1945. Each game is played as a single
scenario, either chosen from the included scenario guide or created by the
players themselves, over a map constructed from modular, double-sided game
boards and terrain tile overlays. The game play is fast-paced, smooth, and
surprisingly deep, as players must take and hold vital objectives on the
game board and decide how best to use each and every unit under their
command.
Armies are divided into two divisions to support two players
per side, so that the game can be played by 2 players, or 4 players in 2
teams .
'Tide of Iron' is a scenario-based game, with the available
forces, objectives, map, and victory conditions being set by each given
scenario. The rulebook includes a variety of scenarios, and further
scenarios will be made available via the manufacturers' website.
The 12 double-sided large map tiles, plus the dozens of
included terrain hexes, allow for limitless potential combinations. in
addition, each scenario can be enhanced by special rules, objective markers,
troop allotments, and other variations. The only limiting factor is the
players' imagination!
Once the scenario has been selected, each player must assemble his forces.
Each squad of infantry will be comprised of several individual soldiers,
each with their own statistics and game rules, and may be further defined by
a specialisation. The soldiers, whether they are officers, regular infantry,
elite infantry, mortar crews, or machine gun crews, each take up a slot on a
squad base (or two, in the case of the mortar and machine gun crews), and
you can mix and match your available soldiers to construct the squads best
suited to your strategy. You can further specialise some squads with
anti-tank weaponry, engineering or medical training, or flamethrower
capability.
Once you've done so and collected your vehicles, you must
deploy your forces according to the scenario's instructions.
'Tide of Iron' is played over a series of turns; how many turns is
determined by the scenario. Each turn is divided up into three main phases.
The Action Phase
Predictably, this is where the bulk of the action in TIDE OF IRON takes
place. Players each take action turns, with each action turn including a
number of actions specified by the scenario.
Each unit, once it is activated by an action, is fatigued
and is unavailable for future actions. Once both players have activated all
of their units, the Action Phase is over.
The Command Phase
During the Command Phase, overall control of the board and the battle are
determined and influenced by each player. The various objectives (on- or
off-board) determined by the scenario may generate victory points during
this phase, as well as a resource called Command. In turn, players will
spend this Command to either power their strategy cards or to increase their
Initiative value.
Each player will have access to one or more Strategy decks
as determined by the scenario. From these decks, commanders will draw cards
with a wide variety of useful abilities. Some may represent calling in air
support, while others may indicate increased morale or training for your
infantry.
Some Strategy cards are played during the Action phase as an
action. Others may be triggered during the Command phase. In each case,
Strategy cards cost Command to activate, and so Command objectives will be
particularly desirable locations on the board to hold, whether or not they
are associated with victory points.
Strategy cards are held face up in their owner's HQ area, so
while which strategies your opponent draws may be a surprise a clever
commander will always know what tricks the enemy has up his sleeve.
The Status Phase
During this phase, players draw strategy cards, refresh their units, place
units in Op Fire mode to prepare for the upcoming Action phase, transfer
soldiers between squads, and generally perform the clean-up to prepare for
the next turn. This is an excellent time to re-evaluate your strategy and
plan your moves for the coming turn.
Combat
Eventually, some of your soldiers are going to shoot at some of your
opponent's soldiers. At this point, the simple but satisfyingly deep combat
system is employed.
'Tide of Iron' uses a single roll of the dice to resolve
each attack. Once the Firepower and Cover or Armour of the units involved
has been determined, the attacking player picks up one black die per point
of firepower and one red die per point of armour or cover, then rolls them
all together. Red dice score hits on fives or sixes, and the black dice
score hits on either fours or better (for close range), fives and sixes (for
normal range), or sixes only (for long range). Red successes cancel out
black hits, and any remaining black dice that score hits inflict damage on
their target (either removing individual soldiers from squads or lightly
damaging, heavily damaging, or destroying vehicles, as appropriate).
 For
attacks against squads, players have the option of making a suppressive
attack. Rather than dealing damage, these attacks can pin, disrupt, our
outright rout a squad. While not killing soldiers, suppressive attacks have
the potential to more seriously disrupt the squad's ability to contribute to
your opponent's battle plan than many normal attacks. Squads with officers
are more resistant to being pinned, disrupted, and routed.
Of course, certain units feature a variety of special rules
- whether it's a mortar crew's ability to launch indirect fire without
tracing line of sight or the additional boost granted by anti-tank
capability to a squad, the streamlined combat system of 'Tide of Iron'
strives to faithfully replicate the actual soldiers and weapons of World War
Two.
VICTORY!
Each scenario will have its own victory conditions, whether it's a race to a
certain victory point total, a check for victory after a certain number of
turns, or a specific objective-based victory condition inherent in the
scenario. The scenarios in 'Tide of Iron' are so varied and so flexible,
it's almost like a new game each time!
Age: 12+
For 2 to 4 players
Playing time: 2 to 4 hours per scenario
Contents:
Scenario Guide
216 Plastic Miniatures, consisting of:
- 54 American Regular Infantry
- 12 American Elite Infantry
- 6 American Officers
- 6 American Mortar Crews
- 6 American Machine Gun Crews
- 12 M4A1 Sherman Tanks
- 6 M3A1 Half-Tracks
- 6 GMC CCKW 353 Transport Trucks
- 54 German Regular Infantry
- 12 German Elite Infantry
- 6 German Infantry Officers
- 6 German Mortar Crews
- 6 German Machine Gun Crews
- 6 Panzer IV Tanks
 - 6 Tiger I Tanks
- 6 SdKfz 251 Half-Tracks
- 6 Opel Blitz Transport Trucks
48 Squad Bases
2 Player Reference Sheets
12 Map Boards
28 Map Overlay Pieces
14 Black Attack Dice
6 Red Defence Dice
Round Track
Round Marker
American Victory Point Marker
German Victory Point Marker
110 Cards, consisting of:
- 90 Strategy Cards
- 18 Operations Cards
- 1 American Initiative Card
- 1 German Initiative Card
1 Initiative Token
88 Activation Tokens
32 Damage Tokens
36 Condition Tokens
6 Anti-Tank Specialization Tokens
6 Engineer Specialization Tokens
6 Flamethrower Specialization Tokens
6 Medic Specialization Tokens
6 Victory Objective Markers
24 Command Objective Markers
16 Control Markers
51 Command tokens
8 Concealed Squad markers
16 Transport Markers
16 Off-Board Indicator tokens
12 Double-Sided Pillbox/Entrenchment Markers
14 Double-Sided Tank Trap/Razor Wire Markers
6 Smoke Markers
6 Minefield Markers
1 Target Token
1 North Directional Marker
Rules
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