The objective of the invasion: to dismantle Hitler’s “Wehrmacht,” the once-mighty German armed forces; liberate the occupied countries of western Europe; and ultimately to subdue the threat from Germany and the Nazi regime that ruled it.

Although bludgeoned by defeats in Russia and Africa and systematically weakened by Allied bombing of its supply and production infrastructure, the German army remained a formidable foe. The soldiers and officers of Hitler’s army were well trained, battle hardened, and in possession of some of the finest and most lethal equipment of the war.

Over the course of the Allied offensive, American forces would undertake the brunt of the fighting in northern France and Belgium, while their British allies would concentrate on the Netherlands and the liberation of the Scandinavian countries.

The American and British forces slowly but surely advanced towards Germany, yet not without problems. In Arnhem, a daring joint offensive by the Allies was struck down by German defenses, and Nazi forces nearly broke the American lines during the last major German offensive in the Ardennes forest.

TIDE OF IRON is a game of World War II tactical conflict for two to four players. The components in this base game allow players to simulate the dramatic struggle that took place between American and German forces in Northern Europe during the years 1944 and 1945.

TIDE OF IRON places you in command of a division of fighting men and machines in the most important conflict in the world's history. Your brave soldiers will capture and hold objectives, lay down covering fire, and under your command they will emerge victorious ... you hope.

PLAYERS
2-4 players on two teams. TIDE OF IRON includes American and German forces, and armies are divided into two divisions to support two players on a side.

SCENARIOS
TIDE OF IRON is a Scenario-based game, with the available forces, objectives, map, and victory conditions being set by each given scenario. The rulebook includes a variety of scenarios, and you can find more at the "Scenarios" link to your left, as well as create your own!

The twelve double-sided map tiles, plus the dozens of included terrain hexes, allow for limitless potential combinations, and each scenario can be enhanced by special rules, objective markers, troop allotments, and other variations. The only limiting factor is your imagination!

FORCES
Once the scenario has been selected, each player must assemble his forces. Each squad of infantry will be comprised of several individual soldiers, each with their own statistics and game rules, and may be further defined by a specialization. The soldiers, whether they are officers, regular infantry, elite infantry, mortar crews, or machine gun crews, each take up a slot on a squad base (or two, in the case of the mortar and machine gun crews), and you can mix and match your available soldiers to construct the squads best suited to your strategy. You can further specialize some squads with anti-tank weaponry, engineering or medical training, or flamethrower capability.

TIDE OF IRON uses a single roll of the dice to resolve each attack. Once the Firepower and Cover or Armor of the units involved has been determined, the attacking player picks up one black die per point of firepower and one red die per point of armor or cover, then rolls them all together. Red dice score hits on fives or sixes, and the black dice score hits on either fours or better (for close range), fives and sixes (for normal range), or sixes only (for long range). Red successes cancel out black hits, and any remaining black dice that score hits inflict damage on their target (either removing individual soldiers from squads or lightly damaging, heavily damaging, or destroying vehicles, as appropriate).

For attacks against squads, players have the option of making a suppressive attack. Rather than dealing damage, these attacks can pin, disrupt, our outright rout a squad. While not killing soldiers, suppressive attacks have the potential to more seriously disrupt the squad's ability to contribute to your opponent's battle plan than many normal attacks. Squads with officers are more resistant to being pinned, disrupted, and routed.

Of course, certain units feature a variety of special rules - whether it's a mortar crew's ability to launch indirect fire without tracing line of sight or the additional boost granted by anti-tank capability to a squad, the streamlined combat system of TIDE OF IRON strives to faithfully replicate the actual soldiers and weapons of World War II.

VICTORY!
Each scenario will have its own victory conditions, whether it's a race to a certain victory point total, a check for victory after a certain number of turns, or a specific objective-based victory condition inherent in the scenario. TIDE OF IRON's scenarios are so varied and so flexible, it's almost like a new game each time!

TIDE OF IRON is the definitive board game of WWII squad-level combat, for 2-4 players. With streamlined, scenario-driven gameplay and an attention to historic detail, TIDE OF IRON is sure to delight every fan of tactical, historical war gaming.

This TIDE OF IRON base game focuses on the American and German armies in Northern Europe in the years 1944 and 1945. Each game is played as a single scenario, either chosen from the included scenario guide or created by the players themselves, over a map constructed from modular, double-sided game boards and terrain overlays. The game play is fast-paced, smooth, and surprisingly deep, as players must take and hold vital objectives on the game board and decide how best to use each and every unit under their command.

Item # FFMV01
List Price $79.95
Save $12.00

Your Cost $67.95