Field of Battle, Designed by Brent Oman and published by Piquet, Inc., the Field of Battle system stands as one of the most respected horse-and-musket wargaming frameworks of the modern tabletop era. Originating from the broader Piquet gaming philosophy, Field of Battle streamlined classic card-driven mechanics into a single, cohesive system that masterfully simulates command friction, the fog of war, and battle momentum without forcing players into exhaustive chart lookups or micromanagement.
Across its three distinct iterations—from the original breakthrough 2006 release, through the refined 2011 second edition, to the polished 2020 third edition—the rulebook family has continually perfected its core sequence deck concept. By replacing rigid movement turns with dynamic card draws and initiative rolls, Field of Battle ensures that no two actions play out identically, offering a deeply atmospheric and unpredictable grand tactical experience that scales brilliantly for 6mm Seven Years' War and War of the Austrian Succession engagements.
Wargames Rules: Field of Battle 1st Edition
Field of Battle (1st Edition), designed by Brent Oman and published by Piquet, Inc. in 2006, introduced a standalone tabletop rules framework covering horse and musket warfare from 1700 to 1900. Built upon Piquet's signature card-driven sequence mechanics, the system captures the unpredictability, fog of war, and command friction of 18th-century battlefields without requiring a separate judge or referee.
The rules streamline the traditional Piquet mechanics into a single integrated deck per side, controlling initiative, movement, artillery fire, and melee opportunities. By tying army morale to pip counts rather than exhaustive figure losses, Field of Battle allows grand tactical actions—such as Seven Years' War and War of the Austrian Succession refights—to be resolved smoothly in a single evening.
Published by: Piquet, Inc. / 2006
Wargames Rules: Field of Battle 2nd Edition
Field of Battle 2nd Edition, designed by Brent Oman and published by Piquet, Inc. in 2011, expands and refines the acclaimed card-driven sequence mechanics introduced in the original 2006 rulebook. Covering horse and musket engagements from 1700 to 1900, the system simulates command friction, fog of war, and battle momentum across grand tactical refights without bogged-down chart management.
This second edition introduces streamlined deck construction, clarified officer initiative mechanics, and polished melee resolution. By using single sequence decks per side to govern movement, artillery fire, and unit morale checks, Field of Battle 2nd Edition provides an unpredictable tabletop challenge that scales seamlessly down to 6mm figures while maintaining complete historical flavour.
Published by: Piquet, Inc. / 2011
Wargames Rules: Field of Battle 3rd Edition
Field of Battle 3rd Edition, designed by Brent Oman and published by Piquet, Inc., represents the latest evolution of the popular card-driven horse and musket wargaming system. Spanning the period from 1642 to 1900, the rules capture the unpredictable flow of battle, command friction, and fog of war across major 18th-century conflicts, including the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War.
Building on the foundations of the earlier editions, this third edition refines sequence deck mechanics, initiative checks, and unit morale resolution to create a seamless tabletop experience. By removing heavy chart-lookup routines and focusing on tactical decision-making, Field of Battle 3rd Edition remains an excellent choice for resolving grand tactical actions in 6mm scale.
Published by: Piquet, Inc. / 2020
What do you think?
I would love to hear your opinion on these rules! Do you use them for the Seven Years War? How do you find they handle the 6mm scale? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Related project hubs for this period:
The Strategic Campaigns Hub |
The Silesian Wars 1740–1763 Project Hub |
The Seven Years War 1756–1763 Project Hub
Not used these rules at all, also interested to hear others experiences with them, do the 2nd and 3rd editions work or not, interesting thought!
ReplyDeleteCheers, Donnie! I haven't got Field of Battle to the tabletop yet either—it's another entry in the second-hand collection!
DeleteThe Piquet card-driven sequence system has always fascinated me, though. It’s supposed to be brilliant for capturing the friction and fog of war in 18th-century battles without getting bogged down in endless charts. I'm really curious to see if any of the chaps who've tried the 2nd or 3rd editions can chime in on how they play out!
Well, of course I have a ton of experience with these rules! :-)
ReplyDeleteFirst let me address Piquet for a moment. Piquet was an incredible breath of fresh air, and rejuvenated my gaming when it came out in 1996 (egads, has it been THRTY years?!). The first edition needed some clean up and clarifications, but for 2-4 players it's still an incredible game. It needs a modulator for the D20 impetus system, despite the protestations of my freind, the author, Bob Jones. Use Eric Burgess "Rule of 1/3" - winner gets the whole difference in the rolls, loser gets 1/3 of that, rounded DOWN.
It is incredibly customizable by varying the Sequence decks and other factors, and is a blast for solo play. It's one of the few systems where it isn't that hard for a small, nimble force to defeat a larger, clunky opponent. You really HAVE to focus on what matters MOST. If you try to do everything, you will likely suffer defeat.
There were two significant drawbacks. however.
First, it was time consuming to set up a game due to the many variables and relatively few scenarios available (although those are great!).
Second, because of the nature of the mechanics, it really does not scale above 4 players. That's because the nature of the impetus system means that the players not in key areas will spend a lot of time doing nothing. We developed a number of work around for that which helped to some degree, but never really were quite satisfactory. I'd still play the game in heartbeat with 1-3 other guys who "get " it!
The first edition of Field of Battle was preceded by a couple of attempts to address this: Grand Piquet by Jim Mauro. Jim used this to do Aspern-Essling and I used it with Jim to do Dresden at Historicon. It worked quite well but was (intentionally) very chaotic. Not a game where you'd be wise to wander off from the table, as your forces would likely be reeling! It pretty much REQIRES at least 6 players to work.... and more is better!
ReplyDeleteBrent (who like his freind and frequent opponent of those days, Bob Jones, lives in Denver, CO) made his first attempt at a fix with his Command Piquet. I have a copy, but have never played it (Hmm, I should remedy that some time), as FoB came out shortly thereafter.
Field of Battle made the big change of a single deck regulating both sides, and the effect of each card applying to everyone on that side (with rare exception for a few added "special" cards where needed/appropriate. Before finalizing the rules, Brent did an improptu playtest at Historicon with 8 -10 Piquet afficionado gamers (using my figures). It was immediately apparent that this was the solution we had been looking for - it not only solved the problem of multiplayer inaction, but also simplified ratings, combat, and morale - really brilliant. It still plays wonderfully as a solo game, as do all of the games in the FoB family.
ReplyDeleteFoB2 introduced a few changes, primarily to the Sequence deck composition, and one key one - on the MELEE card, units with in 1/2move could move to contact and engage in Melee. That was a big improvement.
FoB3 introduced further refinements, but the two big things were expanding the time covered back to the ECW, and the Seasons of Battle campaign system. I did test ECW game with the rules, and they worked fine It's my preferred set of the three now. I do have to consider a Seasons campaign some time, perhaps solo.
Finally, I should mention Battle Command, Brent's latest set. To me BC is essentially FoB3 with a different card mechanism that allows more choice as to the actions taken, depending upon the opposed Leadership die rolls. It works just fine, and I would play it any day, but overall, I think I still give the edge to FoB3.
ReplyDeleteThere's a LOT about FoB on my blog in general, but in particular on this page:
ReplyDeletehttps://blundersonthedanube.blogspot.com/p/field-of-battle-3rd-ed-playthrough.html
One thing FoB has lacked is ready scenarios. I tried to make a big dent in that with my Blunders on the Danube scenario book for FoB. Many of those scenarios are effectively available on my blog under the write ups of the games I've played, as well as many, many more for other FoB3 games I have run over the past 25 years.
Try it, you'll like it ! :-)
(Apologies for stealing so much comment space on your blog, Andy! :-)
Great reviews. Seems to me like I need to purchase 3rd edition. Never tried any of these and given the period they cover could come in very handy. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDelete