Introduction

Warfighter 101: Movement to Contact is a turn-based board game depicting tactical level modern ground combat. The two scenarios provided portray clashes between a US Army battalion and an US Army opposition force (OPFOR) using a Soviet mechanized regiment organization at the US Army National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California. Players take the role of the battalion or regimental commander and attempt to move across the board to seize an objective while inflicting losses on the other side and minimizing their casualties. As much a design kit as a game, Warfighter 101 also has the materials necessary to create additional scenarios, including an additional map of typical German terrain. As implied by the name, Warfighter 101 was designed to be a basic system with a minimum of rules, with future modules planned to increase the level of complexity and realism. The game has several interesting concepts, including the use of a modified US Army Operations Order format for scenario cards and the optional activation of Zones of Control to stop unit movement. The action tends to be fast and furious, helped along by a fairly vicious combat results table.

Plot and Presentation

The US Army National Training Center (NTC) located at Fort Irwin, California offers some of the most realistic live training in the world. Using the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) weapons fire can be calibrated to realistically affect vehicles and personnel. Machine gun fire will be ineffective against a M-1 Armored Fighting Vehicle (AFV), but could make the tank commander riding unbuttoned a casualty. Since its inception in 1980, the NTC has been a veritable crucible of fire for the US Army units rotating through during their training cycle. Critical to effective training is the Opposing Force (OPFOR), an elite unit trained to emulate a Soviet style mechanized regiment. Taking full advantage of their experience and knowledge of the NTC terrain, The OPFOR routinely defeats the “training audience” while imparting important lessons learned. Normally the OPFOR is formed from the Fort Irwin based 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. As I write, the 11th ACR is deployed to Iraq and some of their experiences can be viewed here. The two scenarios included in Warfighter 101 take place at the NTC and are presented in a series of Operations Orders using a modified US Army format. The training unit is represented by the “Steel Battalion,” equipped and organized with US Army equipment. The “Blackhorse” OPFOR is organized as a Soviet style mechanized regiment. Each side is given a geographical objective, starting forces, reinforcement information and special rules and instructions. Victory can be achieved by capturing the objective, destroying enemy platoons and leaders, locating specific enemy units with scouting forces, while not allowing the enemy to do the same to one’s own side.

Game envelope.	The game set up.

Set Up, Graphics and Documentation

With a small 11” x 17” map and around 120 counters, Warfighter 101 is relatively easy to set up while not needing a lot of table space. Those without a ground force background may find the unit designations a little confusing at first as the OPFOR Motorized Rifle Battalions are a mix of armored and a mechanized infantry companies. There is a multi-purpose “Battle Tracking” card, however, that both lays out unit organization and serves as a means of recording various game functions. The battle tracking card will need to be copied or laminated unless gamers use a light pencil.

This was my first experience with modern desktop publishing and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the components. The game comes in a paper envelope and no dice are provided. The double-sided map is on glossy paper thick enough to stand up to normal wear and tear. The NTC map is a bit drab, though it does portray a desert environment. The generic German countryside on the other side is much more colorful, to the point of almost being garish. The lack of die cut counters is the most inconvenient side of desktop publishing, but it is only a momentary irritation. The counters are mounted on cardboard, though in my game the front and back of the counters were a little off. The adhesive allowed for a quick realignment, however, and the hatch marks on one side made cutting easy. Less than thirty minutes work resulted in a usable set of counters that have held up fine during play. The one inch counters themselves are nicely done, featuring pictures or drawings of the of applicable unit type. The OPFOR counters depict the US equipment actually used at NTC rather than Soviet units, which is exactly the point since the OPFOR equipment used at Fort Irwin is American. Overall, the graphics were not only serviceable, but added to the game play.

Documentation consisted of four pages of rules, the aforementioned battle tracking cards, operations orders/scenario cards and a printed errata sheet. The rules are for the most part straightforward. As explained to me by Bayonet Games, however, the basic Warfighter 101 rules have been pared down from an already existing system of greater complexity. The result is a little ragged in places (no show-stoppers though) with references to removed rules and in some cased too much excised. Range and line of sight (LOS) are closely related, but the fact that LOS has a maximum of four hexes (five for aviation units) was left out of the rules. This led to some confusion on my part as to the LOS of indirect fire units with a range of eight (they can only self target out to the four hex LOS). The errata sheet corrects some of these types of errors and BayonetGames is already working on version two of the rules. The battle tracking cards list all the units in the game and can be used to list initial locations and status during each turn. The Operations Orders (OPORDs) do an excellent job of providing scenario data, though gamers will have to compare opposing sheets to see which ones go together.