If you were tuned-in to the Firelock Developer Stream at the start of this year, then you might have heard a very brief tease about a Blood & Valor campaign system in development. That is an “officially unofficial” project, with rules that will be posted here on DMC for free download. Today, I’m glad to bring you a more substantive teaser of that project, in the form of these stand-alone Fog of War mission rules.
The bulk of the work on that project is being handled by brothers Dan and Tyler (other, less-evil Tyler) You probably know Dan as a Blood & Pigment double-agent – but he also dropped the Firelock official Russo-Japanese War supplement. Tyler put together the DMC-hosted War of the Ring rules for Blood & Crowns, and is handling the bulk of the work for the campaign. They reached out to me and asked if I had any ideas for possible “secret missions” to use in the campaign. These Fog of War rules fit the bill nicely, and will be part of the larger campaign going forward.
What Are They?
The Fog of War rules are a 1 page (front & back) set of rules that seek to shake-up the standard Valor missions. If you are a fan of the random variety you can achieve with the mission systems in other Firelock titles Oak & Iron, Blood & Crowns, and Blood & Steel, or if you are familiar with 40k Strategems, the Fog of War rules operate in a similar capacity. They provide 12 new “mission modifiers” or secondary missions for you to attempt in your games of Valor.
How do they work?
Choosing forces and determining your scenario works exactly as usual for Blood & Valor. The Fog of War rules kick in right before deployment. Each player rolls 2d10 on the Fog of War table. The 12 possible results range from mission objectives like Wire Cutting, to modifiers like The VIP or receiving a New Officer. There is even a chance for a plane to crash into No Man’s Land, or for your force to be assigned to do experimental Weapons Testing – if you’re looking for another excuse to add that tank to your collection.
Because these missions are adding secondary objectives, there is some much-needed granularity added to the Victory Conditions of your Blood & Valor games, using a Victory Point system. The rulebook scenario objectives are still the most important, and grant the player who achieves them 2 Victory Points. Each player also has a chance to earn 1 additional Victory Point from their Fog of War result. Rather than a black & white “who wins?” you can now measure a margin of victory between Narrow, Decisive, and Crushing.
Fog of War objectives also range in difficulty. They could be something that you might naturally accomplish while pursing your main scenario objective, like defeating enemy units to Bleed them white! On the other end of the spectrum, you could find yourself in a Debacle like the Australian Light Horse at the battle of Nek, facing near-certain death with no choice but to “do your duty.”
You don’t need to be playing in a campaign to use these rules. Everything is contained in a single download, including the rules for applying the Fog of War table to your game, and the new Wire Cutters equipment for your troops. You can download the Fog of War rules for free, right here on DMC.
What’s Next?
The larger campaign is undergoing playtesting, and DMC will host those rules (also free) when everything is shined up and ready. Until then, stay tuned for a lot more Valor coverage on DMC for 2025. We’ll have battle reports, reviews of miniatures lines, history articles, and painting guides. DMC will also be running a Blood & Valor narrative game as part of the Firelock events on offer at Adepticon 2025.
