Hello all,

I recently purchased the boardgame "Tides of Iron" for my son (age 11). This is the first time I have ever attempted to play a boardgame such as this, and quite frankly I am lost. My son and I read through the material several times, but frankly, the only information we get is about rules and strategy. It almost appears as if the documentation was created solely for readers who play such games regularly. Personally, other than basic boardgames such as Chess, Checkers, Monopoly, and other childrens games, I have no previous experience. And without step-by-step instructions on how to play this game, I will have to make it up. I therefore need someone to literally hold my hand and step me through. Can someone help?

I understand the concept of setting up the board as per scenario provided and the distribution of peices.

I need basic instructions such as:

Who starts, and how is this determined?

When the one who starts is determined, what are his initial actions or moves?

How are movements regulated. Is there a roll of dice necessary? Or is it merely based on the peice ?

How and during what iteration are the cards drawn?

Is there a video out there demonstrating play by play action of this game?

Welcome to tide of iron, I know there seems like alot to take in when you first get this game. I was in the same boat as you when getting this game as I had only played memoir 44 before tide of iron (memoir 44 is a good starting point when your new to this type of game yet I do enjoy tide of iron a bit more)

I try and help you out with some of your questions:

Who starts, and how is this determined?

Each scenario will tell you who has the initiative (the starting player) this can chage round to round depending who has the most command points on their initiative card (the card with the nations flag)

When the one who starts is determined, what are his initial actions or moves?

In the rule book under action phase it states all the actions that can be taken by the player also one whole page on the refrence sheet has all the actions that can be taken on a players turn. (such as advance, assualt, move and fire etc....)

How are movements regulated. Is there a roll of dice necessary? Or is it merely based on the peice ?

Each unit has a movement value chech the ref sheet for example regular infantry has a move value of 4 (4 hexes) You can move the 4 hexes then that unit has completed its actions for the round. Terrian can modify this such as woods which cost 2 move points to move into. So no dice needed for movement you work off the movement values of each unit and also taking into account anything that may modify the movemnt such as terrain, having an officer in the squad etc..

How and during what iteration are the cards drawn?

Cards are drawn at the end of the command phase, they are drawn into your HQ area where they can then be bought with command points. Cards with command phase on them are bought in the command phase and cards with action phase are bought during your action phase (the phase you do all the actions with your units) this counts as an action. Also on that ref sheet it states each point of each phase

Is there a video out there demonstrating play by play action of this game?

I havent seen and videos going through the rules, id like to make one up but dont have a video camera yet.

Also I have found reading through this forum and the tide of iron forum at board game geek .com has answered most of the question that i have had pop up they are great tools

Well i hope this helps you out a bit.

Howdy.

Aussie_Diger has made some great points that will hopefully get you started on the right track. A few more cents might help you along too.

First off, you are making quite the transition from monopoly and chess etc to something like this on your own, so don't be dismayed on your initial confusion. You will make mistakes, misinterprate rules etc as you go because many of us still find ourselves doing this despite varying levels of experience under our belts. In other words, be prepared to face a whole new learning curve, but aim to just have fun and be prepared to learn from your mistakes and soon this whole new world of wargamming will begin to open up to you.

Unlike the other games you have played, this game usually has a limited number of rounds. Each round is broken up into 3 separate phases: Action, Command and Status. If a scenario has 8 rounds for example, then you will perform each of them 8 times, once for each round. It is the Action phase that sees all the "action" which is where you move and shoot things in the relatively familiar "You go then I go" form that you are familiar with in games like chess and checkers. However, the main difference is that unlike those games, you do not move and/or shoot one piece at a time before your opponent does the same. The scenario will say how many "actions" you get. It is usually three...and it is here that many first time gamers get things all wrong. With three actions the first player moves and/or shoots three separate units one after the other (e.g one tank, one squad and one truck or two squads and one tank etc) and then they are fatigued for the rest of that round. Once that is done your opponent moves and/or shoots 3 of his and fatigues them. Then you do another three of yours (which are not yet fatigued) and so on and so forth until all of yours and your opponents units have been fatigued. This is the first Action phase of the first round finished. Many first timers have confused the number of "Actions" as being the TOTAL number of units you can activate PER round which is not the case. It is how many units (where one unit is a squad OR vehicle) you activate per "You go then I go" iteration.

"When the one who starts is determined, what are his initial actions or moves? "

Initial actions or moves are up to the discretion of the player and what they are trying to achieve. If you want a unit to start covering ground toward objectives then give them an "Advance" action so that they can move their full movement quota (which will be subject to the type of terrain they are moving over). But doing so will mean they will not get to fire their weapons for this round. If you want to move AND shoot because an enemy is in sight but you don't want to waste time by standing around then give them a "Fire and Movement" action. But the trade off is that they have to move less than their full quota and they will be slightly less accurate or efficient with their shooting. If you prefer the idea of thinning out (or eliminating) the enemy in sight sooner rather than later, then forego all moving and give the unit a "Concentrated Fire" action which means that the squad stays where they are (no moving) but they get their full shooting ability and are more likely to make more hits more effectively. The trade off is that the unit has not moved up the board and if the clock is ticking then you might want to consider giving them a move action in round 2. So in short, initial actions are at the discretion of the player in charge of the unit and what they think will best serve the current mission at hand. There are a total of 8 actions to choose from. If you choose the "Activate Strategy Card" action you do not move and/or shoot a unit on the board, but rather play a strategy card that is face up ready in your HQ area. For example, for your three actions you may decide to move and/or shoot a tank, a squad and then activate a card. That is three actions done and then it is your opponents go.

"How is movement regulated?"

In addition to Aussie_Digger's response, bear in mind that a unit is not required to move their FULL movement quota if you don't want to. An infantry squad with a movement value of 4 is perfectly entitled to move only 3 hexes, 2, 1 or even none if you so wish. Why would a squad not move their full quota? If moving that final hex means that they would suddenly become exposed to your opponents "Opputunity Fire" (One of the 8 actions they may have given to a squad), which can happen if you appear from behind a building etc, then you can elect to not move them that final hex and keep them out of sight. Again, it is at the discretion of the player in charge of the moving unit. The only real "regulations" are the penalties to movement incured by the type of terrain a unit is moving over or through.

I will stop it here for now. Please keep the questions coming should you need any help. There is alot to get your head around in this game and no question is a dumb question...as the saying goes.

Hi Nicolas -

I have taught Tide of Iron to people who have a similar gaming background as yourself and I find dramatically reducing the rules and components as a great starting point. First I create my own scenario where the map only contains open terrain, woods and a single 2 hex building in the center. I use 4 boards (2x2).

Next I give each side 3 squad bases with only infantry (12 figures each). I use the actions Fire, Move, Move and Fire and Assault.

Simply play to control the building in the center of the game. Don't worry about Op Fire, cards, command points... none of it, just focus on the moving and shooting.

Once you have these basics, start adding more rules, maybe Op Fire and Officer figures next, then MG and victory points, more squad bases (6 or 9 per side) and the concept of moving just 3 bases before the other side moves... maybe add a single tank per side...or maybe explore the different types of terrain (whatever interests you). Just have fun with it, then the next thing you know when you look at some of the scenarios in the booklet you will have the confidence to play them.

Best of luck to you and have fun!

THass