Firelock Games announced a new online Oak & Iron Force Builder tool in August 2020. When it launched, the tool covered all the available game formats, factions, and game content. Since then it got a few minor updates along the way, including adding the Expansion Deck 1 and some bug minor fixes, but the Force Builder has been stagnant since May 2021. Since that time, new errata has been released and a few new ships have joined the game, but none of those changes made it into the force builder… until now!
This past week, I received access to the code that drives the Oak & Iron Force Builder. This opportunity has allowed me to make some updates to the system that have been long overdue! This article is a quick summary of the enhancements and quality-of-life improvements I’ve made so far.
General Updates
The following are a few minor miscellaneous changes to the builder that are minor
- Changed the sort order of the Ships from smallest to largest
- All Ship Upgrades are now in alphabetical order
- The sort order of the Admirals is now named admirals first followed by the “generic” admirals grouped by experience level within type.
- Faction names are now capitalized properly
- Fixed several capitalization issues across multiple special abilities and upgrades
- Typo fixed “Dispach Ship” –> “Dispatch Ship”
Ship Stat Card Images Updates
- The image for the Fluyt stat card now shows the 13pt cost and the Additional Crew shows 4pts properly.
- “We added Errata v.103 and updated the following stat cards:
- The 3rd Rate decreased to 33 pts.
- The 3rd Rate HMS Anne decreased to 34 pts
- The 2nd Rate decreased to 40 pts.
- The 1st Rate decreased to 43 pts.
New Ships Added to the Force Builder
The following new ships to the Force Builder for you to include in your Squadrons:
- Added the HMS Anne (English)
- Added the Galleon
- Added the San Jose Galleon (Spanish)
Force Builder Printable Text Export
- The typo error of “Dammage” now reads as “Damage”.
- When selecting “Skills” it now shows the actual level you purchased on the printout Previously, it only showed the points you paid, so you would have to mentally translate it.
- All of the Ship Upgrades now print their full names instead of abbreviated text that is sometimes unclear (e.g. “guns” now shows as “Additional Guns”)
- I cleaned up lots of spacing issues in the text export to tighten it up and waste less paper. This is an example of the same force exported from both versions so you can see the differences:
Old Text Export
5 ships and upgrades print in 82 lines across 2 pages.
New Text Export
5 ships and upgrades print in 61 lines on a single page.
Conclusion
The free Oak & Iron Force Builder tool from Firelock Games is an excellent addition to the game. It’s a tool that allows players to fully customize their units, including ships, commanders, skills, and upgrades. Having an easy-to-use tool that automatically applies point costs, penalties, and bonuses based on faction rules is a must-have for the game. It’s great to finally see all the new ships and content available online. I encourage you to check out the updates in the force builder today!
If you have any other features or updates you’d like to see added, please drop me a note and I’ll see what I can do. I can’t make any promises, but would love to see the Force Builder continue to grow and develop.
Additional Content Suggestions
- Get our review of the Oak & Iron Force Builder: Free Online App Tool
- Use another great technology-based tool for the game in this article: Oak & Iron Tabletop Simulator Review and “How To” Basics