Firefight Tactical

Firefight Tactical is an innovative dice-driven tactical WW2 wargame at the squad level. Quick to play and learn, this compact game follows American forces through 12 scenarios in the weeks after the D-Day landings. The scenarios gradually introduce game features as you progress. Starting with small infantry engagements on tight maps, players will work their way to larger scenarios with multiple phases, artillery, and tank-on-tank action.

The scenarios follow American forces from early skirmishes of the Normandy invasion at St. Mere Eglise and Carentan through to St. Lo and Operation Cobra and conclude with Operation Market Garden. The battlefields will vary from desperate battles over a “no man’s land” devoid of cover like Bloody Gulch to claustrophobic urban battles like Cherbourg. Each scenario can be played 2-player against a human opponent or against a customizable solitaire automa.

Units in this game (represented by large counters) are activated using a new and strategically compelling dice-drafting mechanic. Each turn begins with a shared pool of impulse dice being rolled together along with smaller side pools dedicated to each player. Players alternate drafting and assigning dice as orders to available units, with the pip value of that dice allowing the unit to perform a corresponding action printed on the counter. This drafting system is the beating heart of the game, dynamically modelling imperfections in command and control, difficulties adjusting strategy after contact has been made with realities on the battlefield, and the ebb and flow of initiative.

At the beginning of each game turn, when all the dice are fresh, you are more likely to get your highest priority orders followed, however, as the size of the pool dwindles so will your options. Compromises must be made and priorities reevaluated. As you become more comfortable with the game, you will find yourself more frequently drafting options that aren’t exactly what you want but are precisely what your opponent needs, throwing their plans into disarray. When it comes to combat, the enemy always gets a say in your plans.

Actions in the game are quick to resolve and easy to understand. Most are resolved by rolling 2 dice, applying relevant modifiers from a short and easy-to-remember list, and then seeing whether the sum is less than or equal to a target number. Rolling doubles always means something extra happens—doubles on successes meaning something good for you, and doubles on failures yield something good for your opponent! This gives the game a simple and effective way to generate unexpected situations and can be surprisingly cinematic—for example, a squad under heavy fire may suddenly rally heroically and charge on into the breach.

This action all occurs on a battlefield grid composed of randomly drawn terrain cards, seeded based on the scenario. Facedown cards represent the fog of war, so while closing in on a farmhouse you’re trying to seize, you’re left with a choice. Do you cautiously scout the area, minimizing the chance of a bad position but giving the enemy time to react, or charge in and risk getting mired in a wetland or a line of barbed wire? Furthermore, whilst the relative position of these cards is static, forming a standard grid, each given terrain card can change over the course of the battle as your squads can scout within an area to find the optimal tactical position or bypass difficulties. This dynamic approach to terrain in which only the tactically relevant terrain is depicted allows the game to represent a much more fluid battlefield reality than games of comparable scale.

The Firefight Tactical system was designed to be quick to play and easy to learn, whilst being packed with tactical decision-making. Its compact size also enables play on relatively small playing surfaces, making it an ideal game to travel with. The core infantry rules are straightforward and can be learned from ~10 pages, including many examples and a glossary of actions.

As a result of the dice and random battle maps, the game has intensely high replayability, even within a single scenario, so players will get tons of enjoyment from the "basic" game. Once you are ready for more, though, you can start adding more rules, covering support weapons, weather, armor, and so forth in the heavier scenarios. Firefight Tactical is the perfect game for those looking for a lot of tactical depth and replayability with a small footprint.

Components:

• 190 poker-sized cards
• 144 rounded 1 1/2" counters
• 30 dice
• One rulebook
• Two player aids
• One solo automa aid
• 12 scenario cards

Game Designer: Sam London
Game Developer: Peter Evans