Fistful of TOWs
A Fistful of TOWs (FFT) is a miniatures wargame covering the “modern period”, usually defined as the period from the end of World War II to the present. Version 2 (“FFT2”) covers battles from 1946 through 2010. A Fistful of TOWs 3 (“FFT3”) was published in both paper and e-book format on March 5, 2011. It covers combined arms combat from 1915 to 2010.
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Proposed Cover for A Fistful of TOWS 3
Design theory
Ty Beard designed FFT after becoming frustrated with existing modern wargames like Combined Arms by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW). He felt that most were too slow and tended to focus on minutiae rather than on the important concepts. The particular event that caused him to take the plunge was an 8-hour game of Combined Arms that only resolved 4 turns and ended in a draw when the players all had to go home.
In Ty’s game design paradigm, there is a finite amount of detail that can be crammed into a game before it becomes unplayable. This means that game designers must ration the amount of detail and abstract anything that isn’t critical to the game. Meaning that, in the case of FFT, the vehicle combat system is fairly detailed, while the rules for artillery fire are abstract.
In addition, he believed that speed of play was critical in any simulation of modern warfare. So he ruthlessly streamlined every FFT subsystem to speed play. As a result, turns typically take only 10 minutes or so. A 2 player battle between a US battalion task force and a Soviet regiment usually takes 1–3 hours. And since Ty designed FFT to easily accommodate multiple players on a side, it usually takes the same amount of time to fight much larger battles.
Hundreds of players have provided priceless feedback but three other major contributors are recognized: Dave Burnett, Paul Minson, and Bob Mackenzie.
Future
The game has proven very popular with players who share Ty’s design biases, particularly those who want reasonably detailed wargames that can be played in a reasonable time.
Following the publication of FFT3, some futuristic titles are planned. FFT:2030 will cover the hypothetical wars of the mid-21st century. Railgun: 2100 will cover science fiction armored combat.
FFT2 Specifications
- Ground Scale: 1” = 100 meters
- Time Scale: 1 Turn = 4–6 minutes
- Unit Scale: 1 stand = 4-6 vehicles; 4-6 guns; 1 infantry platoon or squad. The rules contain conversions for those who want to play at 1:1 scale (i.e. 1 stand is 1 vehicle or infantry squad)
- Miniature Scale: Nominally 1/285 or 1/300. However, Ty plays with 15 mm miniatures.