The Face of Battle

VC Commonwealth Expansion Pack

by Bill Rutherford

Published by Meramic Enterprises, this expansion set for Face of Battle (FoB) consists of 130 loose-leaf pages. To recap FoB (in case you’re not familiar with it), it’s a set of fairly detailed skirmish gaming rules – 1:1 figure scale, short turns, and short distances – a very detailed treatment of land warfare on the bleeding edge. This expansion provides virtually everything you’ll need to play FoB with any troops even vaguely related to the British Empire. There are a dozen scenarios taking place in Normandy, Dieppe, and Crete. Each one includes a player hand-out for each side, each of which includes a full page of scenario data – OOB, historical notes, special rules, victory conditions, etc., and a full page of game charts and unit data for that side.

A well-drawn, functional game map is also included for each scenario – no elegant topo lines or fancy artwork here, but rather, a clear, functional map, well-drawn, from which you can set up a game. There are 34 pages of campaign rules, special scenario rules, small arms data, game statistics for approximately 172 vehicles (including variants) and equipment, notes on most of the equipment, ten new events cards, a pair of cut-out smoke templates, company level organization charts, an extensive (but unfortunately, un-annotated!) bibliography, and historical notes on each of the three mini-campaigns. Oh – there are also full-page data charts for 16 of the vehicles used in the scenarios to provide templates for using the vehicle stats.

The expansion costs $19.95 and should be available from your local game shop. IF you cannot find a copy there, you can go directly to the publisher, Meramic Enterprises, at 778 Rolling River Creek, Gloucester, ON, Canada K1V 1M2, or on-line from their website at http://www.thefaceofbattle.com… If you play FoB you will certainly want a copy. If you play any other WW II skirmish rules you’ll also probably want a copy.

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