Tide of Iron Review - An Extraordinary WWII Wargame
What's Tide of Iron about
Tide of Iron (ToI) is another of Fantasy Flight Games' (FFG) "epic" releases and another feather in their cap. ToI is about grandeur, narrative, theme, aesthetics and everything that makes an excellent Amerigame shine. ToI jumps out at you with its presentation of many miniatures and a rich graphical play area. If you are any kind of wargamer ToI is a top-shelfer. If you are a devout eurogamer and only slightly interested in a WWII wargame, this is the one game to buy.
Shanghaiing a line from one of my favourite novels, to understand Tide of Iron it must be placed in its proper time and place. Before anything else, the focus of Tide of Iron is as a WWII tactical wargame. Small units of infantry and armour slug it out on a battlefield composed of roads, streams, wooded areas and individual buildings. This is as opposed to a strategic WWII wargame that displays the world in its entirety for a game board and the military units represent whole armies.
There are many WWII wargames out there. In the realm of tactical WWII wargames there is a broad spectrum of complexity ranging from the very abstracted Memoir '44to the two hundred page ultra simulation that is Advanced Squad Leader. Games closer to Memoir 44 offer simplicity of play. Fans of such games argue that they have as much fun, if not more, with a very flat learning curve. Game sessions last about an hour and the quality of being able to easily get into a quick game is one of the positive aspects fans often mention. Simultaneously, a significant number of Memoir 44 fans still enjoy the game but express that it can be quite lacking in how it represents WWII tactics and theme.
On the other hand, fans who favour the more complex grognardian simulations crave detail and historical accuracy. With this fidelity to history comes a significantly heavier warfare simulation and rulebook. ASL regulates specific details such as just how much a soldier can carry. 993
ASL's simulation model is arguably the most sophisticated in all of gaming.
In between these two poles of complexity exist all those boardgamers who would really enjoy a meaty WWII wargame but have no desire to commit so heavily in terms of time and effort of mastery to just one game. Along with a good number of other games, Tide of Iron falls into this broad middle-ground, and it does so superbly.
At the end of the day WWII wargaming is about a lot more than planning and manoeuvring. It's about having a great time with an excellently developed WWII narrative; and ToI shines in this regard.
ToI's theme is tactical combat and is meant for boardgamers with at minimum some interest in wargaming. So, right off the bat, regardless of how good a game ToI is, if you are a gaming vegan then ToI is not for you.
I recommend Tide of Iron for the Eurogamer who is intrigued by wargames and wants to know what all the fuss is about; any kind of wargamer; but especially the boardgamer who enjoys a good scrap but has no desire of investing himself in any type of grognardian hex and counter consim.
What's in the Box
Opening the 60 cm [2 foot] long and 4.5 Kg [10 lb] box, you find that FFG has released your birthday present early. There are a couple of hundred finely detailed miniatures, a giant hard-backed mapping system, a stack of cards and a mountain of other gaming pieces, all of which form a system more than just a game.
ToI comes with 12 double-sided geomorphic map boards that are hard mounted on masonite. These are by far the sturdiest game boards I have ever come across. They fit together almost seamlessly. The graphics are well done and fit the theme of the game perfectly. Each board is about 4 x 5 hexes which gives you about double the real estate of the Memoir '44game board. These game boards are put together as indicated in each scenario. The map is augmented with a family of 23 overlay pieces ranging in size from 1 to 5 hexes. Together, the boards and the overlays offer a virtual limitless set of map configurations.
The map is typical North-West European summer terrain with roads, buildings, streams and wooded areas. There is no wide river (who doesn't love a river assault) nor large bridges. There is also no winter terrain. That said, expansion sets are sure to offer new terrain types such as desert or winter terrain in the form of more boards and perhaps more overlays as well.
ToI comes with very nicely detailed U.S. and German miniatures and arrive already separated into individual figures. 993