If you’re not a fan of caves and PTO chrome, skip picking this one up. But, if you enjoy dense, tactical Okinawa fights with unusual terrain and tight scenario footprints, Blood & Iron might appeal to you.
This older Critical Hit package covers the April 1945 combat in the Item Pocket area (Okinawa), where the U.S. 165th Infantry (27th Division) was matched against elements of Japan’s 62nd Division. The action is intimate and violent: hill masses, burial grounds, and close-range engagements rather than sweeping maneuver play.
The defining feature of this module is caves. Most of the ten scenarios depend on cave rules (so start reading!), and that alone will determine whether this module hits or misses for many players. To its credit, Critical Hit does provide cave-complex aids, but the rules burden remains real; irrigated paddies show up as an additional burden to players who prefer cleaner rules environments.
Scenario sizes small, sometimes very small. One of the leanest designs, IP8 (Fists and Fury), runs only four turns and can pivot on a single dice event … as we all well know. It plays like a knife fight: one side racing to erase defenders, the other trying to crack a fragile line before it collapses. Quick playing, but with the potential for dissatisfaction.
Presentation is sparse but good. The historical map uses subdued earth colors and includes memorable features such as razorback ridges. It also comes from a period when Critical Hit’s map art finally looked standardized across releases. But there are slopes, of course, freakin’ slopes. Critical Hit just can’t resist throwing slopes on any hill it can find. The module is tagged “Map Pax 1,” but I don’t know what that means, from a naming or series point of view. I don’t think there’s a “Map Pax 2”.
Bottom line: Blood & Iron isn’t a module with wide appeal due to the ruleset required to play it (did I mention cave complexes?), but a worthwhile one for players who actively want PTO cave-heavy design and compact scenarios.
Contents
- 2 pages of commentary
- 22″ x 32″ historical map
- 10 scenarios
- Bonus: ‘The Sunrise Bridge’ CG (Primisole Bridge, Platoon Leader 2.5)
- Bonus: Sunrise Bridge control markers and bridge overlay
Where To Order
Long out of print.
GET TO THE CHOPPA…!!! 
Article © 2026, Neal Ulen. All Rights Reserved. Copyright & Fair Use Notice.
ASL-Players.net is not affiliated with Hasbro, AH Games, Inc., or MMP, Inc.
Advanced Squad Leader is a trademark of AH Games, Inc.
