Ion Age Games

 Above you can see examples of play from Firefight 2.0 Set 1 - Killing Streets

What is Firefight 2.0 all about?

Firefight 2.0 is a tabletop wargame with a difference.  Set in the Ion Age science fiction universe the game pits the armoured knights of the Retained and the volunteer soldiers of the Muster, all the in the service of their Marcher Baron lords, against each other.  The Prydian civil war ranges and more than fifty worlds are involved with the current focus of the conflict being the planet of New Bosworth – the setting of Firefight 2.0’s Battle Ground Set 01 - Killing Streets. 

Firefight 2.0 is played on a number of full colour “battle grounds”, each marked out with a 30mm grid of squares. This makes set up a snap. In addition the grid makes counting range and move distances fast and easy.  These battle grounds come with the game and allow you to arrange your tiles in a multitude of ways as each one is separate from the next.  When you then add in the also supplied scenic item tiles, which provide cover from fire in the game, which can be placed onto the battle grounds in any way you like, it means Firefight can be played differently every time.

Firefight 2.0 is played with 28mm miniatures from the Alternative Armies Ion Age range.  These high quality miniatures are cast in white metal and come supplied with lipped plastic bases.  Offering superb value and original ideas in sci-fi gaming the Ion Age 28mm miniature range has more than one hundred separate figures.

Firefight 2.0 a game that is fast to learn, fast to play and great for younger novice players and experienced tacticians alike.  It does not need a lot of space, less than the top of a three foot wide and deep table.  It does not need a whole lot of miniatures to play with four to eight characters a side in most missions.  It does not need expensive scenics either as all the action takes place on the supplied tiles.  You can play a basic mission through in ten minutes.

What makes Firefight’s rules mechanic and game play so unique?

Firefight 2.0 puts you in command of a single or multiple squads of four characters each tasked with carrying out missions to better the chances of your chosen side in the Prydian Civil War. One wrong step can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

Rather than using a strict I-Go U-Go mechanic in play the control of the turn shifts from one side to the other side based on the actions of the last figure to be activated. Each character is rated with a number of Action Dice (six sided dice) that he may use when activated each turn. Unlike a set number of pre-determined action points, successful completion of his action is not assured as it is only in rolling the Action Dice that your choice of actions is made clear.

Plan out fields of fire, make good use of cover, and pray that the dice gods back your decision. Good planning can even mollify the effects of bad rolls of Action Dice if you can put more pressure on the enemy than he can bring to bear on you.  In the far future the use of cover will be more important than ever. If you can see it, you can kill it. If you can be seen, you can be killed. Firefight 2.0 rewards sound tactics and punishes the “Up and at ‘em” school of tactics so common in some games.

This unique ‘Action Dice’ mechanic makes Firefight 2.0 a truly special game that unlike almost any other tabletop system gives players a real nail biting experience.  You will never know what is coming next and it makes that mad dash from cover all the more real, tension and the unknown of battle.   As you play you will be there with your men, willing them on, willing them to survive the Firefight.

Squad Building in Firefight 2.0

Details of this in full are in the IAG001 Firefight 2.0 - Killing Streets booklet. Squads are the basic force in Firefight and are composed of four characters each. Muster Sqauds are led by an Emeritas who commands three Privates. Retained Posts (their term for a Sqaud) are also of four characters, a Knight in command of three other lesser Knights or Varlets (Knights in training). There are straight forward infantry squads but also HW Heavy Weapon Sqauds who carry and use larger weapons to support regular squads. Build your forces in fours, you can find full details of ranks, characters, statistics and weapons in the booklet.

What does the Battle Ground Set 01 – Killing Streets pack contain?

If you go for the Firefight Battle Ground Set 01 – Killing Streets pack you will get a thirty two page mono booklet which contains full rules of play, background of the Ion Age and the war on New Bosworth, tables and charts for characters and weapons and nine unique street based missions.  Along with the booklet you will get ten sheets of heavy card full colour Battle Grounds comprising just under four hundred squares of playing area depicting Roads and Pavements and over eighty squares of cover scenics (Vehicles, Barricades and other street furniture) along with ninety six order and marking tokens and also twenty four squares of objectives, air mines, sentry guns and force pavaise.

If you opt to go in for the boxed set Firefight Battle Ground Set 01 – Killing Streets you will get everything from the above pack but much more besides.  In addition to the booklet and the battlegrounds of the pack you will get sixteen white metal 28mm Ion Age miniatures with plastic lipped bases and ten special 7mm Action Dice.  These four squads of miniatures match up to the forces needed for six of the nine missions in the booklet in their entirety and half the forces needed for the other three missions.  This box set gives you all you need to play right out of the box.

Both options are superb value for money and it must be pointed out that all following Firefight releases will build on Battle Ground Set 1 – Killing Streets, giving you more unique missions and more tiles which are totally compatible with this set allowing you to build bigger areas for your Firefights.