Tide of Iron

Tide of Iron is a fun game but it suffers from a few issues. It's not as light as say Memoir '44, there are quite a lot of rules to keep track of. This isn't a bad thing in itself but the rulebook isn't that good to be honest. It can be a hassle to locate certain rules quickly, this is a fault I see with many FFG products.

Also, set up can take some time but when the game is underway it's a blast to play. The included scenarios are fun, if a bit unbalanced perhaps. Striving for some sort of historical accuracy perhaps?

The components are nice and fairly detailed. The map is made up of a number of smaller boards and is therefore modular which lends itself well to user-designed scenarios.

A special mention on how force composition works. You are given a certain number of different figures (riflemen, elite infantry, officers, tanks, mortars, machinegunners etc) and a set number of bases to affix them to. You are then free (ok, there are some restrictions to how you can combine your units) to build your own squads fitting your own tactics. For example, a base has four peg-holes and a riflemen figures uses on hole. A machinegunner uses two. One base can therefore fit two soldiers and a machinegun, or two machineguns or four riflemen. This is pretty fun and lends quite a bit of replayability to the game.

All in all, a good game with a few issues.