Recently we had the launch of Fog & Friction; our exciting new card game where players fight over worn-torn battlefields in WWII. We thought it was a good time to look a little deeper at the tactics of this fast-paced game.
You may have seen our “how to play” video for Fog & Friction (if not you can find it here) and while that tells you how to play, it doesn’t tell you how to win! I will be running through a few things you need to consider when playing games of Fog & Friction that will help you defeat your opponents.
One of the most important parts of Fog & Friction is Deployment. Placing troops onto the battlefield with the right support cards is vital, as is matching the correct cards against your opponent’s troops. Taking note of what your enemies deployed troops can do is essential. Deploying cards that can’t be depleted by opposing forces is a great way to ensure you can keep a foothold on a battlefield while awaiting reinforcements. Let’s take a look an example battlefield below:
In this situation, the PAK38 can do some serious damage against armoured targets, but are not effective against enemy infantry. The Riflemen will not be affected by the PAK38 attacks as they are infantry, but they are also able to deplete the PAK38. This is a simple example though, but let’s see what happens if we expand on it:
We now have a Panzershrek, Grenadiers and an Anti-personnel Minefield added to the Axis side of the battlefield, opposed by a Vickers HMG, M4 Sherman and a 5.5” Howitzer. This brings us nicely to my next tactics tip. Artillery can choose to either attack the front line cards or the support cards. If you manage to take out the front line cards you also take out its support, but there are times when you need to deplete or destroy support cards so that you can damage the front line with your own front line troops. In this example, we will need to use the Howitzer to destroy the AP Minefield (the Howitzer gains +1 damage while in a rural battlefield). That will then give the Allied Infantry a better chance of destroying the enemy front line. If you had fired the Howitzer at the front line instead, all of its damage would be absorbed by the minefield.
Special Rules - Always pay close attention to the special rules written on some cards because they can, in the right situation, make all the difference. For example, the Paras are able to deploy to a battlefield in the second friendly deployment phase, even if you did not deploy troops to that battlefield in the first deployment phase. This allows some great misdirection and really helps to simulate the kind of events that occurred during WWII.
My final note on tactics is regarding resources. Tanks, men and bullets are all a finite resource and to simulate this in the game if your deck runs out, you don’t get any more cards. Winning battlefields with overwhelming numbers definitely works, but at what cost? You could win the battlefield and end up losing the war if you squander all your cards early on. Holding cards back between rounds will give you a lot more options in following rounds.
I hope you all enjoy plenty of games of Fog & Friction over the festive period and don’t eat too many mince pies!
Over and out
Chris
