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Fields of Fire Volume III: The Parachute Regiment

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Fields of Fire Volume III: The Parachute Regiment

Item #: GMT-FOFV3

GMT Games

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Arnhem, The Netherlands, 1944: 2 PARA’s chaplain is pinned down by German fire while trying to cross the street to get to injured soldiers. The commanding officer of A Company, Major Digby Tatham-Warter, runs to him and says, "Don't worry about the bullets, I've got an umbrella” before escorting him back across the street.

Fields of Fire Volume III sees the long awaited introduction of the British to Ben Hull’s masterpiece of tactical infantry command. From the burning streets of Arnhem to war-torn Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in this new, stand-alone volume from the team behind Fields of Fire Deluxe Edition, we follow the 2nd Battalion of The Parachute Regiment, commonly known as “2 PARA,” across over 60 years of military history.

As Britain’s elite Airborne Infantry, the Parachute Regiment are used as spearhead troops and are often inserted behind enemy lines, by parachute or in modern times by helicopter. Lightly equipped due to the nature of their insertion, they need all their training, resilience, and fighting spirit to survive until other units can fight their way to them.

Highlights – What’s New in Volume III

When the company radios fail, make do with more uniquely British options like bugles.
Use unique British weaponry such as PIAT anti-tank weapons during WWII and vehicles like Scorpions and WMIK in the more modern theatres of the Falklands and Afghanistan.
Urban Defensive missions! Fight amongst rubble and fires, and try to hold on to your pocket by whatever means necessary as the enemy attacks utilizing a completely new urban offensive enemy hierarchy chart.
Experience the constraints of modern day combat as you try to determine whether groups of people and incoming vehicles are hostile or merely civilians going about their lives.
Collapsing buildings, an enemy helicopter attack, special forces, mine-sweeping duties, night assaults, and much, much more!

The Campaigns

The Parachute Regiment’s motto is “Utrinque Paratus,” Ready For Anything, and this volume will take you to three campaigns in very different environments. As you work through them towards the modern day, you will experience how the way wars are waged has changed.

Whilst every death is a tragedy, a company in 1944 could sustain heavy casualties before it became much of a news story. By Afghanistan, however, each individual death was likely front-page news.

Arnhem, 1944

2nd PARA parachuted into the Netherlands in 1944 as part of Operation Market Garden. The British 1st Airborne Brigade were tasked with holding the bridge at Arnhem for just two to three days until a British armoured corps could link up with them. 2 PARA were the only battalion to reach the road bridge from the landing zones. They were still desperately fighting, alone and surrounded, a week later.
The iconic battle takes place over terrain based on contemporary maps and aerial photography. Fight your way from the drop zones to the town and the road bridge, and then attempt to hold it against overwhelming odds.

The Falklands, 1982

During the Falklands War, 2 PARA were the only British battalion to conduct two attacks: the first land battle of the war at Goose Green, where their Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel ‘H’ Jones was killed in action, and one of the last, on Wireless Ridge above the capital, Stanley.

This campaign sees you advance onto well prepared positions over frighteningly open terrain, with inadequate fire support in the Battle of Goose Green followed by the final night assault on Wireless Ridge.

Helmand Province, Afghanistan, 2008

In six months whilst occupying Forward Operating Base Gibraltar near Sangin in Helmand Province, C Company of 2 PARA endured numerous direct attacks on the base and many fire-fights and bombings around the location.
Carry out patrols and escort missions, defend the FOB then counterattack, all under the new constraint of having to positively identify whether the groups of people in front of you (or behind!) are hostile or merely civilians going about their lives.

About The System

Ben Hull’s Fields of Fire series is a solitaire game system that is designed to depict command & control of a rifle company in various conflicts of the 20th and 21st century.

The game is card based and utilizes two decks to play. The Action Deck, which replaces dice and many of the tables found in other tactical games, is used to control combat, orders, and various activity attempts. 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 units of the company are counters representing headquarters elements, sections, weapons teams, forward observers, individual vehicles, or aircraft. Missions can be played as stand-alone games or strung together into a campaign in which the player must manage experience and replacements. A single mission can be played in about 2-3 hours.

Volume III Components:

The latest version of the Fields of Fire Series Rules
Volume III Starter Guide & Field Manual
Four Mission Books (Starter Mission, Arnhem, Falklands, Afghanistan)
Player Aid cards
One Action Deck
Five Campaign-specific Terrain Decks
Six full color countersheets
One 3" box

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: Sections, HQs, teams, weapons crews, and individual vehicles
Players: 1

Game Designer: Colin Parsons
Game Developer: Andrew Stead
Series Designer: Ben Hull
Series Developers: Andrew Stead and Colin Parsons