Monday, September 19, 2011

Field of Battle 2

Field of Battle 2
I got Piquet's Field of Battle 2 last week! I've really been sold of FoB for a while. FoB2 doesn't really bring any big surprises. Blunder on the Danube has all the changes to the system. However, the coolest thing about it is, in my opinion, the scenario generator. It's a way to build a campaign-style framework around a one-off battle. Both sides have some options based around the quality of the Commander in Chief's command rating. You choose your focus between Deployment, Reconnaissance, Strength and Tactical Adjustment (once your opponent's disposition has been noticed). If you have a great C-in-C and he focuses his strength on Recon, you're likely to get more areas of the table to set up troops in, especially if your opponent has not chosen to emphasize Recon. However, there is still Fate. Each side gets three Fate rolls, which may or may not apply to each area. It's a simple system-- a d4 to choose the area, and a 50/50 roll to determine a positive or negative adjustment. However, these positive and negatives are rolled via a d12, so there are six adjectives for both the positives and negatives. You might get bonus to Recon due to Cavalry Screen, or Maneuver. You might get a negative modifier due to Bad Maps or Poor Staff Planning. It's enough of a description to give this Fate bonus a little meat to help explain why the scenario set up is what it is. Scenario creation is honestly not one of my favorite things, so anything that helps me come up with a more interesting scenario is a big bonus in my book. Combine this system with a simple "best 2 out of 3" campaign, and it looks to me that you can have some simple, but real, campaign fun.

1 comment:

  1. You're right, Andy; the changes to FoB2, while I think all generally positive, are for the most part a minor tweak of an already very solid system. The scenario generator is the new thing, and it promises to allow you to set up a battle from scratch in a relatively short period of time.I'll have to take the scenario generator for a test drive soon myself!

    Peter

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