Saturday 14 May 2011

Force on Force First Impressions


I've had a skim through the Force on Force rulebook today, the first time I've had to give it a decent look at since it arrived in the post. It's well presented with plenty of illustrations and diagrams to help orientate your way through the rules. There are a few typos but that's to be expected these days!

It's quite a thick rulebook and I imagine it would take a few games to navigate the various sections but the basic system seems to be based on common sense, so I suspect it wouldn't take too long to get to grips with. It's also a very handy size, the same as a paperback Osprey book, so less hefty than the usual hardback rules on the market.

I particularly like the emphasis on small unit actions, with a handful of figures on either side. This appeals to my limited budget and time allowance, together with my limited attention span when it comes to painting hordes of figures. It's also designed for 15mm as a baseline figure scale, which cuts the cost down even further.

Perhaps the best feature, as far as I'm concerned, is the limited space required to set up a typical scenario, with a 2' x 2' board being the usual space required. This will allow for some really good quality bespoke terrain construction, which would make games visually impressive. It also makes transportability a doddle.

With this in mind, I've been rummaging in the AK47 collection for suitable modern figures to use as a testbed for the rules. As previously mentioned, my first thoughts were to use some of my Peter Pig FFL, Vietnam US/VC or Isrealis. However, in my scrabblings under the workbench, I found two small boxes of 15mm Eureka figures for the First Indo China War that I snapped up on ebay ages ago, which gave me another option.

I have about thirty or so of the French and Vietminh figures, including some heavy weapons and command types, so pretty much all I'd need for a testdrive. I might get a few extra figures to fill in the gaps but I don't really need anything else. I have some Peter Pig Vietnamese civilians and hootches that I can use too. I can also scratchbuild some cracking terrain using what I've already got in the way of scenic bits and bobs.

There's a lot of potential here for a quick start....I just have to find the time!

2 comments:

  1. I think the small area and small troop amounts was what appealed to me most of all. You need a few more troops if you are using irregulars but nothing prohibitive. Keen on seeing the Nam supplement...

    ReplyDelete
  2. You might find the quick start download useful: http://ambushalleygames.com/images/pdfs/fof_qs_rules.pdf

    ReplyDelete

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