Customer Reviews

Immortal Fire: Field of Glory Greek, Persian and Macedonian Army List

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Field of Glory (FoG) is one of the most exciting historical wargames to come out in many years, bridging the gap between the older WRG-style games and Warhammer Ancients. Produced by Osprey Books, FoG features artwork from various Osprey titles and pictures of painted 15mm and 25mm miniatures, often in tabletop dioramas.

IMMORTAL FIRE is a great addition to the FoG catalog, espceially given the recent rise in interest in the battle of Thermopylae and the campaigns of Alexander the Great, both spurred by quality motion pictures. All of the armies one would expect of this period are present: Hellenistic Greeks, Persians, Macedonians, Thracians, Scythians, Classic Indians, and other favorites. Each army has a full army list and most have simpler pre-built "starter" armies for those wanting to jump straight into action withoughspending too much money.

My only complaint about this book, and the other army books, too, is the lack of historical background. Given that these books come from Osprey, I would expect a little more history, and this could be easily done without significantly increasing the size of the book. Not every historical wargamer has shelves of reference books or intimate familiarity with the period or its armies, and a little help for newer gamers would be well-advised.

(The above complaint even extends into the fifth army book.)

I would also like to see more pictures of full and painted armies formed into battle lines. That kind of stuff really catches a gamer's eye.

So, just to let you know, this is NOT a history book. This is a game book that shows you a large set of the armies that fought in the classical era of Greek hoplites and Macedonian phalangites. I have enjoyed this game so much that I sold off my Warhammer, Warhammer 40k and Warmachine armies and became a historical gamer by default. I certainly prefer this game over the likes of Warhammer Ancients, Warmaster Ancients, and DBA/DBM game systems.

Yes, there are limitations with this system and I have some real bones to pick with the game balance between certain armies (the Romans against Barbarians is not nearly as much fun as the romantic stories of these battles). Another problem, and this is a large one; troops do not fall back in an orderly formation when they lose in battle. In other words, you cannot accurately recreate Hannibal's strategy at Cannae. Also, this game requires you to either purchase or paint up vast quantities of metal/plastic figures. So, be prepared to spend most of your time painting or raising funds to purchase someone else's work.

So, if you like to play historical wargames; you are in for a treat!

The Greek part of the Field of Glory series by Osprey. With their knowledge of the armies and the wonderful format that these come in, I highly recommend these. They are designed for 15mm to 28m miniatures and come with extras from the Elite series that Osprey publishes. Very well done and a good spend of money.