Tail of the Dragon (fan expansion for Tide of Iron)
Tail of the Dragon (fan expansion for Tide of Iron) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
The Pacific Theatre fan-made expansion expands on the already epic Tide of Iron ("TOI") game experience by adding new American and Japanese units and vehicles, new terrain features (e.g. oceans, jungles and dense jungles), new scenarios, and more. All of these new components can be used to play the included scenarios, as well as future scenarios, both official and player-made, which will be available online at www.commandsandcolors.net/tideofiron.
Detailed descriptions of these new components, as well as how they are used, are included on the following pages.
Components
- Rulebook and Scenario Guide
- Japanese unit details
- Japanese Initiative Card
- Japanese Control Markers
- Japanese Concealed Squad Markers
- Japanese Command Objectives (various values)
- Japanese Victory Point Token
- New American unit details
- Updated Unit Reference Sheets
- 15 Pacific Island/Sea Map Boards (double sided)
- Map Overlay Tiles (specific for sea/island/tropical jungle)
- New Strategy Card Decks
- New Operation Cards
Component Overview
Below you will find illustrations and brief descriptions of all the components found in this expansion.
Japanese Plastic Figures
These detailed plastic figures represent the Japanese military personnel and vehicles that Tide of Iron players can command. You can use German figures as replacements.
Caves and Cleared Woods Tokens
New overlay tokens to indicate Caves and Wood Cut logs.
Caves: Cave tokens mark entrances to the caves underground, which the Japanese can exploit. Cave Movement cards are used to track a squad's movement in the caves. Entrance markers indicate the cave where a specific squad started its cave movement. For more detail see "Cave Movement" paragraph.
Cleared Wood: Impassable tree hexes can be "cleared" by tank dozer vehicles. When a tree hex is cleared place a "cleared wood" token on it and treat it like Rough terrain.
Specialization Tokens
Tail of the Dragon introduces five new types of specialization tokens: Devil Dog unit, Flamethrower tank, Tank-Dozer, Armored infantry and Light Machine Gun (LMG).
Japanese Initiative Card
The Japanese initiative card functions exactly the same as its American and German counterparts.
Japanese Tokens
A variety of Japanese tokens are provided. These include Japanese control markers, concealed squad markers, command objective markers, transport markers, off-board indicator tokens, and a victory point token. These tokens function exactly as their American and German counterparts.
Pacific Theatre Map Boards
These fifteen thick, double-sided map boards are used to build the game board for each Tail of the Dragon scenario. Rules governing new terrain features can be found on the next pages.
Map Overlay Tiles
New map overlay tiles are provided for use in the Tail of the Dragon scenarios. These overlays include Jungle Tropical Forest (both sparse and dense). As with the overlay tiles provided in the main game, these new overlays are placed on top of the map boards, adding to or altering their terrain features.
Strategy Cards
Several new decks of Strategy cards are included in this expansion. These Strategy cards are used in the new scenarios and can be used in player-created scenarios, adding a wide range of new benefits and abilities to Tide of Iron.
Some of these new decks are not specifically for use with the Tail of the Dragon expansion, but they are meant to further enrich your playing experience of the TOI Core set as well as previously released expansions.
Operations Cards
The new Operation cards provide a variety of rules to their assigned scenarios, mostly pertaining to the Pacific theater of war.
Unit Reference Sheets
These sheets provide players with the combat values and special abilities for each of the new plastic units. The sheets are supplied as a separate companion document (see Unit Reference Sheets, companion file).
Game Additions
Tail of the Dragon includes many new components, most of which are governed by both new and old rules. All components provided in this expansion follow the standard TOI rules unless otherwise stated. All new rules for these components are described in the sections that follow.
The sections that follow are modular in nature. Each different rule section can be applied to a given scenario independently of all the others. In this way, players can decide which rules are best suited for their own scenarios.
Pacific Map Boards
The fifteen pacific map boards featured in this expansion are used in the scenarios provided in this book. While they share many of the same terrain types as the original Tide of Iron, the boards appear visually different. Also, there are a few new terrain types which are described in detail below. Note that all previously used terrain types, overlays, and fortifications function exactly the same as their counterparts in the main TOI game.
Map Overlay Tiles
New map overlay tiles are provided for use in the Pacific theatre scenarios. These overlays include a variety of different terrain. As with the overlay tiles provided in the main game, these new overlays are placed on top of the map boards, adding to or altering their terrain features.
New Terrain Types
Dense Jungle
- Blocking Terrain: Yes
- Movement cost squads: 3
- Movement cost vehicles: impassable
- Cover: 3
Advanced optional rule: Tree bursts: when a squad inside a dense jungle hex is attacked by an area attack, it loses 2 cover.
Light Jungle
- Blocking Terrain: Yes
- Movement cost squads: 2
- Movement cost vehicles: 3
- Cover: 2
Advanced optional rule: Tree bursts: when a squad inside a light jungle hex is attacked by an area attack, it loses 2 cover.
Beach
- Blocking Terrain: No
- Movement cost squads: 2
- Movement cost vehicles: 1 (trucks cannot enter)
- Cover: 0
Shoreline
- Blocking Terrain: No
- Movement cost squads: 2
- Movement cost vehicles: 1 (trucks cannot enter)
- Cover: 0
Ocean
- Blocking Terrain: No
- Movement cost squads: 3
- Movement cost vehicles: Impassable to vehicles without the amphibious craft trait unless otherwise noted in scenario special rules.
- Cover: 0
Special rule: Units may neither fire nor spot while in Ocean hexes. In addition, units cannot use special abilities while in Ocean hexes, e.g. a medic squad cannot heal. Note that unit traits, such as an officer's rally trait still apply as normal!
Airfield
- Blocking Terrain: No
- Movement cost squads: 1
- Movement cost vehicles: When using the effective road movement ability, it costs 1/2 movement point instead of 1/3 movement point when moving along an airfield with an unpaved runway.
- Cover: 0
Huts
- Blocking Terrain: Yes
- Movement cost squads: 3
- Movement cost vehicles: Impassable.
- Cover: 2
Special rule: Units can't use concussive firepower against such buildings.
Transcriber note: the separate Japanese reference sheet ("Terrain Reference") prints Movement cost squads for Huts as 2, not 3. This document transcribes the rulebook's value of 3. The designer should be asked which value is intended.
Bunkers
- Blocking Terrain: Yes
- Movement cost squads: 2
- Movement cost vehicles: Impassable.
- Cover: 8.
Note that cover is cumulative, so a squad inside a bunker in dense jungle terrain would receive 11 cover dice (8+3).
Reference sheet additions (Terrain Reference): Representing strong fortifications, bunkers take up an entire hex. However, like pillboxes, bunkers can contain only one squad. A unit in a bunker is immune to suppressive attacks. Bunkers are considered to be at level two elevation unless noted otherwise.
Rice Paddies
- Blocking Terrain: No
- Movement cost squads: 3
- Movement cost vehicles: Impassable.
- Cover: 0
Forested Hills
- Blocking Terrain: Yes
- Movement cost squads: cost of type of woods (woods, light jungle, dense jungle) +1 if moving uphill.
- Movement cost vehicles: cost of type of woods (woods, light jungle, dense jungle) +1 if moving uphill.
- Cover: 2 for woods and light jungle, 3 for dense jungle.
All other rules regarding regular hills apply. In addition, hills of the same level always block LOS.
The Japanese Forces
The most significant addition to the Pacific Theatre expansion is the inclusion of Japanese forces as a playable army. While many of their units are similar to their American and German counterparts, the Japanese also receive several unique tank types. In addition to their plastic pieces, the Japanese also receive nation-specific tokens and strategy cards. All Japanese pieces can be identified by their light red nation color.
It is also important to note that the Japanese and Germans were allies during World War II and in case of a lack of specific miniatures they can be safely replaced with German counterparts.
Japanese Units
Most Japanese units function just like their German counterparts. For details see unit reference sheet.
New American Units
This expansion introduces some new American vehicles: Landing Craft. These new unit types are used in many of the included scenarios and can also be used by players when creating their own scenarios. The capabilities for all new units can be found on the new unit reference sheets.
New trait (Amphibious Craft): A unit with the amphibious craft trait may enter Ocean and lake hexes at a movement cost of 2. It may cross any stream at a movement cost of 1, but not travel along them. It may fire while in water hexes.
New trait (Heavy transport): A unit with the heavy transport trait can carry up to three units, of which two can be vehicles.
Units may enter and exit these new vehicles like any other vehicle with the transport ability. In addition they may enter/exit in a hex adjacent to a pier, an ocean hex bordering the coast (shoreline or other terrain) or a shoreline hex. They may not enter/exit in other Ocean/Lake hexes!
New Strategy Card Decks
Several new strategy decks are included in this expansion. Each scenario describes which strategy decks are available to each nation. Players should also feel free to use these new decks when creating their own scenarios.
- American Armored Reinforcements I
- American Marine Corps
- British Armored Reinforcements I
- German Armored Reinforcements I
- German Armored Reinforcements II
- German Tank Ace
- Japanese Air Support I
- Japanese Armored Reinforcements I
- Japanese Artillery I
- Japanese Imperial Army
- Japanese Reinforcements
- Soviet Armored Reinforcements I
- Soviet Armored Reinforcements II
- Urban Warfare I
- Urban Warfare II
- Winter Weather
Cave Movement
The Japanese forces were able to use their knowledge of the terrain underneath the islands to infiltrate behind American lines and surprise the enemy. The following rules describe Japanese cave movement.
If the Cave special rule is printed in a scenario, the Japanese player takes the number of cave tokens he's entitled to as per scenario instructions and the corresponding cave cards.
The larger ones are tokens that represent places where Japanese squads may either enter or exit a cave, the smaller ones correspond to the matching cave movement cards and represent the hex where that particular squad entered a cave, so as to be able to determine its maximum exit range. The number in parentheses behind the word caves in the scenario instructions corresponds to the number of cave cards and matching tokens the Japanese player is entitled to in that given scenario.
A Japanese squad may spend 1 MP in a hex with a cave token to enter the cave. Remove the squad that is entering the cave and place it on any empty cave movement card (only one squad per card). Then, place the cave entrance marker matching the cave movement card on the hex where the squad entered the cave. Finally, place an activation token on the first open square on the cave movement card with the fatigue side up. During the Status Phase, flip all activation tokens on the cave movement cards to their Op Fire side. If the op-fire side is up, the squad inside the cave can take one of the following two actions during the next game round:
First, they may advance their position in the caves. To do this, place another activation token on the next open square on the cave movement card with the fatigue side up. The distance the unit has travelled is represented by the lowest number on the cave movement card that is not covered by an activation token. This is called the exit range.
Second, a unit may be placed on any hex with a cave token that is within exit range from the cave entrance marker that matches their cave movement card and take a normal action. This placement does not incur Op Fire. If that hex contains an enemy unit, the unit in the caves may attempt an assault from the cave. To do so, move the cave entrance marker to the hex that the unit is assaulting and remove all activation tokens from the cave movement card. Due to the inherent difficulty of exiting the caves under fire, the assaulting Japanese unit's attack strength is reduced by 1. If the assault is successful, move the unit from the cave movement card to the hex that it assaulted. If the assault fails and the Japanese unit is still alive, place an activation token back on the cave movement card with the fatigue side up.
A Word of Advice: Keep in mind that cave movement is slower than regular movement. In shorter scenarios, make sure that you begin your cave movement early enough in the scenario so that your squads can reach their objectives before the scenario ends.
New Specialization Tokens
Five new types of specialization token are included in this expansion. The rules for using these new tokens are as follows:
Devil Dogs
Dogs were widely used with success in the Pacific especially by the Raiders.
- Stealth: This squad cannot be attacked from long range.
- Explorer: This squad can detect concealed enemies at range 2 (instead of normal range 1). Detected units become visible and remove their concealed marker immediately.
- Sentry: This squad receives +5 cover and +2 firepower while defending vs an Assault action.
Tank Dozer
This specialization token can be added to tanks using Operation Card #102.
This tank can enter otherwise impassable tree terrain to vehicles (i.e. dense jungle in TotD) with an advance action [only]. It must start its move adjacent to such a hex to perform this action. This creates a path through the jungle. Once a dense jungle hex is cleared place a "cleared wood" token on it and treat it like Rough terrain.
Flamethrower Tank
You can add Flaming Death to a given tank using Operation Card #103.
When a flame tank attacks an adjacent enemy unit, it gains +2 firepower, and the target unit receives –5 cover (to a minimum of 0). (Note that armor is not affected by this penalty.) Remember that any attack against an adjacent unit is considered a close-range attack (scoring successes on results of 4+).
Armored Infantry
Each armored infantry squad provides +1 (additional) cover to friendly vehicles in the same hex when attacked from close range (only) by enemy squads.
Light Machine Gun (LMG)
Suppressive support: When making suppressive attacks [only] a squad with the LMG specialization, regardless of the number of figures in it, receives +1 firepower against infantry targets. It may perform fire and movement and assault actions, but then receives -2 movement points (instead of the normal -1).
New Restriction Token
One new type of specialization token is included in this expansion. The rules for using this new token are as follows:
Second-rate Troops
A squad with a second-rate troop restriction receives -1 firepower [to a minimum of 1]. In addition, when a squad with a second-rate troops restriction token receives a disruption token, roll a die. On a 4+ the squad is routed immediately. For each officer in the same hex, subtract one from the die roll. A squad with a second-rate troops restriction may never contain any elite figures.
Optional Rules
The Next Wave Kickstarter bonus booklet contained several rule changes that could be freely added to existing scenarios.
In this expansion you will also find a collection of cards containing additional rules at your disposal. Feel free to apply them to your games.
Transcriber note: the optional-rules cards are not part of the document supplied, so they are not transcribed here.
Expansion Symbol
The front of each card in each Tide of Iron expansion has a symbol in the lower right corner. The expansion symbol distinguishes the expansion cards from the cards in other Tide of Iron sets.
Scenario List (Temporary)
The source prints this list as "Scenario list: (TEMPORARY LIST)". The scenario text is not part of the supplied document; the source's introduction refers to 12 scenarios and one campaign, but this list shows seven named scenarios and a final entry reading "to be defined".
- Cutting off the Snake's Head (1942)
- Bougainville - Operation Cherry Blossom (1943)
- Operation Landcrab - Battle for Attu (1943)
- Bukit Timah (1942)
- Singapore (1942)
- Operation R - Battle of Rabaul (1942)
- Piva Forks (1943)
- to be defined