"The Tide of Iron Designer Series": Less Than a Game, More Than a Book

by Chris Montgomery



I received the newest installment in the Tide of Iron system from Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) last week. This is the fourth Tide of Iron product release, and like many FFG games, Tide of Iron has improved with each successive release: (1) Tide of Iron the Base Game, (2) Tide of Iron: Days of the Fox (Africa Campaign Expansion), (3) Tide of Iron: Normandy (D-Day & Northern France Expansion), and finally, (4) Tide of Iron Designer Series: Volume 1.

This review does not discuss each scenario or rate them (that is the subject of other reviews after many plays). Instead, this review is intended to allow Tide of Iron players to evaluate whether you should purchase this "expansion" at all at this time.

My apologies for the lack of pictures, but obviously this is a book, not a game, and the missions included in this product are copyrighted. I could no more take pictures of the book and post them than I could copy a track off a CD and link to it. However, rest assured that the publication quality is awesome, with tons of graphics, traditional scenario layout, and quite a bit of historical background information.

For a complete list of the scenarios with factual data, and to see what other Geeks thought of the various scenarios, see the Designer Series Volume 1 Geeklist, here:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/37980

The list provides each scenario with the designer, the components needed, the number of boards, number of rounds, location, a description as shown in the table of contents, and any special things of note about the game. Please update it with your results so that Geeks wondering about gameplay and balance can get a look before they plop down their hard earned dollars.

Introduction

The Tide of Iron Designer Series: Volume One is, apparently, a release intended to give players more scenarios to play without those players having to purchase a $50 expansion, but without FFG having to give the scenarios away for free. In principle, this idea sounds very cool, and I believe that FFG has struck a great middle-ground between new product value while still protecting its profit margin on development. Of course, FFG upped the ante by having the scenarios in this release be designed by relatively famous game designers, along with several scenarios designed by two of the Tide of Iron game's main design team (Corey Konieczka and John Goodenough).

Please, note, though, that the cover pictured above (on BGG) is not the same cover as the game released, though it is pretty similar:



Throughout this review, I will refer to this product as an expansion. Though this book does not expand Tide of Iron -- it does not add new rules, nor does it add new pieces -- it does provide a huge bang for the buck. "Expansion" is used throughout for ease of reference.

The Basics

Early on in Tide of Iron's first release with the Basic Game, reports and reviews both on BGG and on FFG's Tide of Iron page complained that the original set of scenarios were unbalanced. The old FFG forums contained numerous threads on the scenarios and ways to "fix" them, but FFG just updated and moved its site to a new URL. FFG has not uploaded the old threads, but apparently, the buzz has carried over anyway. See here, as just one example: http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?e...

It is assumed by many fans and players (especially on the old threads) that the "fix" for the complaints about unbalanced scenarios would be to release a package of well-balanced scenarios. Of course, FFG, being an excellent game company, kept raising the bar.

The current incarnation consists of 96 pages chock full of scenarios by -- as the cover says -- "the best wargame designers of our time." The quality is consistent with FFG's high standards. The book is hard-bound and contains high-gloss, thick pages, similar to the basic game's rule book. If you'd want a comparison, think of a thinner version of the new D&D role-playing books.

On a quick skim of the book, I noted some typos, including the mission by Jason Matthews, which is entitled "New Mission." While this may have been intentional, the title just so happens to conform to the generic title given to missions in the scenario editor provided by FFG at their site. Having designed a few scenarios of my own with that editor, I can admit that figuring out how to change the title was a little tricky. Despite that flaw, every other noted flaw is minor--at least at first glance. And, for all I know, the title could have been intentional; the title would have some tangential relationship to the particular scenario Jason designed. Any other errors were very minor.

This expansion retails for $29.95 USD. I paid $16.15 USD + shipping of approx. $10 USD at Troll and Toad. The order arrived in about three days.

Presentation

This expansion has a very nice layout, including a table of contents, a scenario index in the back, three short and well-written introductions, a section on how to use the scenario book (which incidentally allows you to search for scenarios that fit a certain number of players or boards), and finally, a massive scenario that requires two copies of the base game to play: "2 on 2, Round One" designed by Dana Lombardy with help from Bill Jaffe.

There are 22 scenarios, 3 of which are multiple-player (including a 3-player 2 v. 1 scenario entitled "New Mission" designed by Jason Matthews of Twilight Struggle fame), and 7 scenarios that are designed for play with the Desert Fox expansion.

Probably due to the close release date, there are no scenarios that are playable with the Normandy expansion, though presumably a Volume Two would include some Normandy scenarios.

Each scenario has a short set of design notes by the chosen designer, a short introduction, and then the scenario in the traditional two-page or three-page layout that Tide of Iron fans are familiar with. Many of the design note material is very conversational and informative, almost like a mini-interview with the chosen designer. There are very notable mentions, here, including scenarios by Richard H. Berg, John Hill, and Ted S. Raicer.

The book also includes mini-biographies of each designer in the back, as well as the two original introductory scenarios that were used with the base game prior to Tide of Iron's release back in 2006, which were never formally published, until now -- "Breaking the Line" and "Chain of Command."

Quality of Scenarios

Suffice to say that if the quality of the scenarios are half as good as the lay out and presentation, Tide of Iron fans are in for an awesome ride. I can say that of the scenarios I read, the designers went out of their way and over-the-top attempting to provide interesting game situations and interesting historical contexts in which to place their scenarios.

For example, the Jason Matthews scenario uses two American players against a single German player, but prohibits the Americans from talking to one another for game-planning purposes during the scenario as a way to simulate the racial divide that plagued many American regiments once African Americans were permitted to perform combat duty. This will probably be the first scenario that I try, since it sounds very interesting.

Overall, I have to say that I am very excited to try several of these new scenarios right away.

Unfortunately, the balance of the scenarios has yet to be determined, and are outside the scope of this review. It is unknown how well the scenarios were playtested prior to publication, and, of course, the value of the scenarios as balanced games will therefore be brought out during play.

If FFG has been able to deliver 22 balanced scenarios on top of the stunning presentation and quality, this book will be a must-buy for Tide of Iron loyalists.

Why You Should (or Shouldn't) Buy this Expansion

So, the long and the short of it -- should you buy this expansion? I would recommend this expansion for the player who has already played the scenarios in the base game, owns Days of the Fox, and has messed around with the free scenarios on-line. If you've done all that and are still itching for more, this book is a must buy for you.

If, however, you've just started playing Tide of Iron, I would recommend holding off until you've experienced the game in some depth and purchased at least the Days of the Fox expansion (or know someone else who owns it). For these players, this "expansion" is a wait-and-see.

If you are a player that doesn't fit in either category above, but you are looking for more well-balanced scenarios to flesh out your Tide of Iron experience, I would wait to see the verdict on this book to find out what the veteran Tide of Iron fans say about the balance issues. This way you can save your time (and money) if the scenarios are unbalanced.

Of course, being a hard-core ToI fan myself, I encourage everyone to pick up this game so that we can go ahead and get to Volume Two.

Conclusion

FFG and the Tide of Iron team have delivered yet another stunning, high-quality expansion to the Tide of Iron line. If you are already a fan, this release is highly recommended. If you are still learning the game, or only own the base game and haven't thoroughly played the scenarios already available, then hold-off and see what the verdict is on the scenario-balance issues. If they haven't been fixed, why spend the money?

I hope you found this review helpful.

For More Information

See the Tide of Iron main page at FFG, here: http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=8

Or see the Tide of Iron Designer Series: Volume One product page, here: http://store.fantasyflightgames.com/productdetails.cfm?sku=T...

Buy ToI products from FFG here (though I recommend a FOLGS instead): http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm...