041 Fire and Brimstone - Tide of Iron

Details: Written by: Corey Konieczka; Category: Western Front; Published: 18 January 2021; Last Updated: 01 September 2021; Hits: 1265

Victory Results:

100 %

0 %

Total plays 1 - Last reported by Knightfiend on 2023-04-15 18:29:09

Late July 1944. After Operation Cobra's successful bombing of the area outside of Saint Lo, most German survivors fled.
Even so, intense fighting continued as the Americans attempted to crack the now thin German front so that their armored division could sweep southwards and westwards.

	American	German
Division 1	5 Squad Bases - 12 Regular Infantry - 6 Elite Infantry - 2 Officers 1 Sherman Tank 1 GMC CCKW 353 1x AntiTank 2x Engineer	4 Squad Bases - 8 Regular infantry - 2 Elite Infantry - 2 Officers - 1 Machine Gun Crew - 1 Mortar Crew 1x AntiTank
Division 2	8 Squad Bases - 24 Regular Infantry - 2 Officers - 2 Machine Gun Crews - 1 Mortar Crews	5 Squad Bases - 7 Regular Infantry - 6 Elite Infantry - 3 Officers - 2 Mortar Crews 1x Flamethrower
Strategy Decks	American Reinforcements 1	Morale 1
Starting Strategy Cards	2	2 In addition, start with "Suppressive Barrage" "Sustained Blanket" and "Offensive Artillery" from the Artillery 1 deck in their play area (as per the special rules).
Operations Cards	-	-
Deployment Zone	Div. 1: Any of the hexes on map 3A. Div. 2: Any of the hexes on maps 12B and 10A.	Div. 1: Any of the hexes on maps 1A and 11A. Div. 2: Any of the hexes on maps 8B and 9B.
Starting Initiative
Objective	Control all 4 buildings on map 6A, 8B and 9B at the end of any game round.	The Germans win if the Americans are unable to fulfill their objective by the end of round 7.
Rounds	7
Actions per turn	3	3
Reinforcements	-	-
Special Rules	The Germans start with 3 Artillery 1 cards in play (as listed in their setup). These cards may be used for free once per game round, may only target hexes on "The Outpost," and are not discarded after use. The objective markers represent German off board artillery. They may not move and are considered vehicles with armor of 2. These objective markers are removed from the board if destroyed (by an attack), or an American engineer is in the same hex at the end of a game round. When an objective marker is removed from the board, the Germans must discard an artillery card from play (of his choice).
Terrain Features	The stream is Deep. It costs 2 movement for squads and is impassible for vehicles.
HINTS	The Americans should not underestimate, the strength of enemy artillery. They should be careful not to group their units and stay on the move.	The Germans simply need to find and hold defensive positions. They should wait for their enemies to come to them.

Discuss this article in the forums (3 replies).

Posts in discussion: 041 Fire and Brimstone

alecrespi replied the topic:

#1015

1 year 5 months ago

Don't forget to report your played games following this guide:
www.commandsandcolors.net/tideofiron/for...played-game.html#639

It will help us to understand scenario balance.

Knightfiend replied the topic:

#1014

1 year 5 months ago

Have just played this great scenario - solo - and was a walkover for the Axis. The vp building boards just seemed too much open terrain to get across that the amount of fire from the units and artillery just seems way too difficult for the Americans.
Not sure just substituting the flame thrower for forward observers would even the balance on this one?

alecrespi replied the topic:

#730

2 years 8 months ago

Posting here some comments found online.
www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/37980/tid...1-player-comments-ba

I'm a big fan of this one! The two board system makes for an interesting game and is a great way to simulate the off-board artillery.
I found this one a little too favoring of the Axis and decided to replace the Flamethrower specialization with 2 home-brewed Forward Observers.
For me this one seems to be the best scenerio from TOI: Designer Series. Great fun with using artillery cards every round.
Proper use of anti-tank and flamethower specialization, and also mortar crew, is a key to winning a game for Axis.