Battle Command & Field of Battle

[Cholmondely Percival IV]

I’ve long been intrigued by Piquet Field of Battle but never got around to buying it. Early this year another set covering most of the same period (1700 - 1900) by the same author, Brent Oman,was published by Piquet, leaving me somewhat confused as to whether it was intended to replace FoB. I’ve been hoping for some discussion but have found nothing.

The author’s blog says very little about the rules beyond that they are available. I’ve tried to post a query about the differences - and the status of FoB, which is still available from Piquet though not, it seems, from Caliver Books - but could find no means of logging in.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

[Axebreaker]

Both are a great system. Battle Command is basically another way of playing FOB3, but is not a replacement for it. I think Battle Command is a quicker game more suited for 1 vs 1, but can be multi player and FOB3 supports multi player and solo player better although works great for 1 vs 1 as well. I think BC is more decision based to move the game while FoB3 is driven more by the cards. Either way you can't go wrong as they deliver a fast resolution to playing armies in an exciting way. Highly recommended.

Christopher

[Cholmondely Percival IV]

Thank you, that’s very helpful. I had noticed that the card deck for BC is fairly small compared to FoB’s and had the impression that because of being card-driven as you mention, FoB is well suited to solo play. As this is attractive to me I’d been planning on getting it for some time before BC appeared and made me put that idea on hold until I could get some clarification.

Incidentally I see from Brent Oman’s blog that he is working on a new edition of Pulse of Battle, the ancients / medieval version of FoB. Unfortunately the blog seems to assume that readers are already familiar with the rules and doesn’t explain much, at least as far as I could see.

[Chad]

Totally agree with Axebreaker. The new card system has greater flexibility, requiring more consideration of the actions can take. As a result it gives a quicker game.

The only negative I have found is in the infantry ratings, which now give a specific rating for infantry armed with breech-loading rifles. I felt that this made the Prussian Dreyse in 1866 to effective over all ranges. I therefore reverted to the FOB3 Breechloaders card, which gives better short range effectiveness than long range.

[Axebreaker]

@Cholmondely Percival IV

From what I understand Brent can be found more often on facebook although I wouldn't know for sure since I'm not on it.

You can also try Groups https://groups.io/g/PiquetFieldofBattle/topics for more info.

In the blog world check out https://sgtsteiner.blogspot.com/ who is an avid FOB3 player with quite a few AAR's and if you send him a PM he would probably answer some questions.

Christopher

[Cholmondely Percival IV]

Thanks, Christopher. I’m not on FB but will look into the other sites. The name of the blog is familiar, though I’ve not visited it recently. I remember seeing a series of detailed battle reports on a Napoleonic game of FoB (3rd edition, I think) somewhere but didn’t read it in full. Thank you again for your help. That definitely gives me something to go on.

[Axebreaker]

Thanks, Christopher. I’m not on FB but will look into the other sites. The name of the blog is familiar, though I’ve not visited it recently. I remember seeing a series of detailed battle reports on a Napoleonic game of FoB (3rd edition, I think) somewhere but didn’t read it in full. Thank you again for your help. That definitely gives me something to go on.

Happy I could help and I think you really will enjoy the rules.

Christopher