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Alan Kirk
United Kingdom
Ashford
Kent
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Fire and Fury (F&F) is a set of miniature wargame rules for the American Civil War (ACW) by Rich Hasenauer published by Dave Waxtel & Quantum Printing. The rules contains a brief introduction, the miniature rules (with a Quick Reference Sheet), five scenarios from the Battle of Gettysburg and a guide to building terrain. The basic unit of manoeuvre is the Brigade. The miniature rules can be played at two scales either a figure ratio of 1:150 with a ground scale of 1 inch equals 45 yards or a figure scale of 1:200 with a ground scale of 1 inch equaling 60 yards. Each game turn represents 30 minutes of battle.
Presentation
The rules come in a glossy softback letter size format 70 pages long. There are a mixture of colour and black & white illustrations (mostly of actual miniatures games) along with copious diagrams to explain the various rule concepts. A separate double sided card Quick Reference Sheet (QRS) for the rules is also provided along with a black & white paper template for firing arcs and some paper buildings which may be cut out. The rules are laid out in a two column format with contents but no index.
Miniature Rules
F&F The rules provide specific basing provisions (3 to 5 infantry to a 1 inch by 3/4 inch base) with a little flexibility. Only Divisional and Corps level command stands are separately represented. Infantry is organised into Brigades (typically of 6 to 12 stands) and these have ratings which reduce their effectiveness as they take casualties. Casualties are based on entire stand removal and so a unit will drop from "fresh" through "worn" to "spent" with fresh giving a positive modifier for manoeuvre and charge combat and spent giving a negative modifier. Leaders are also potentially rated as "exceptional" which provides a positive modifier for manoeuvre. Only 10 sided dice are utilised.
The turn sequence is as follows:
Union Manoeuvre
Musketry & Cannonade (Confederate defensive fire then Union offensive fire)
Charge Combat (simultaneous)
Confederate Manoeuvre
Musketry & Cannonade (Union defensive fire then Confederate offensive fire)
Charge Combat (simultaneous)
Manoeuvre
F&F utilises a combined morale and movement mechanism with a single die roll per brigade being modified to account for leaders, unit effectiveness and if in column with the result then being read from a table with the relevant column depending on the state of the unit i.e. good order or disorder. This is a very quick and easy approach which enables a large number of units to be handled easily. Movement distances are generally 12 inches for infantry and 18 inches for cavalry with terrain modifiers (roads, rough, fording etc.)
As to formations, four are available for infantry: line (1 stand deep), supported line (2 stands deep - may consist of more than 1 unit), field column (two stands wide) or march column (1 stand wide). Only march column can take advantage of roads to gain bonus movement (typically double normal). Advancing, withdrawing, about facing, moving by the flank, obliquing, passage of lines and wheeling are all covered. Changing formation halves movement when going into a column formation and no movement is allowed when going into a line formation (annoyingly this is omitted from the QRS) but a unit can form up on the command stand in a pretty flexible way regarding facing. Unit flanks may be refused to avoid exposing flanks. Since morale is embedded in the movement table no separate test is required to charge the enemy and the entire unit will be counted in combat even if only part actually contact the enemy unit (the same applies for the unit contacted).
Fire Combat
Fire points are allocated by stand and depend on the range to target and weapon quality (though only at a high level - for example Confederate artillery is less effective than Union except at canister range). This is modified for disorder, low on ammunition and if the target is enfiladed to calculate the total fire points. A d10 is rolled with modifiers for target status (e.g. limbered artillery, column, mounted cavalry, changing formation) and cover. These are then checked on the fire table to determine the result which ranges from "desultory fire" (no effect) to "withering fire" (lose 3 stands and become disordered). A natural 10 will make the firing unit low on ammunition but also allows a roll on the fallen leader table if an officer is attached to the target unit. The defending player may fire at any point in the attacking (active) player's turn thus avoiding the starting and ending out of arc situations.
Charge Combat
The charge combat mechanism is extremely straightforward. Each side rolls a single d10 and the result is modified by attached leaders, unit effectiveness, formation, numbers, disorder, fire combat losses, cover and flank attacks. The modified results are compared and the difference checked on the charge table to see the result. The results range from "swept from the field" (where the defender retreats in disorder with losses and attackers break through) to "charge repulsed" (attackers retreat with losses). This can seem a little random at times due to the impact of the d10 but it is possible to rationalise the results. Multiple unit combats involve selecting a primary combatant unit and counting additional "incidental" stands from the other units for numbers purposes only. Where units have differing formations, disorder status, effectiveness etc. this is rationalised by simply applying those from the larger unit.
Clearly a number of the mechanisms have been abstracted but this allows relatively fast play with turns in large games playing in about a 1:2 real to battle time ratio.
Gettysburg Scenarios
Sixteen pages are given over to an overview of the Battle of Gettysburg and five scenarios for playing parts of the battle. These include two each for July 1st and July 2nd (the latter including the Battle for the Round Tops) and a single scenario for July 3rd (Picket's Charge). The scenarios include a description, orders of battle, a map, arrival sequences, victory conditions and any special rules.
Summary
Whilst not perfect these are some of the best miniature rules I have come across. They are not the right scale for some scenarios and converting to smaller scale scenarios reveals the abstraction that is necessary to keep the pace up at their intended level. The rules are easy to pick up both initially and if they haven't been played for a while and, as such, are a good gateway set of rules. The QRS has almost all the information you need to run the game (although the movement impact of formation changes is an annoying omission) but you may need to refer to the main booklet for multiple unit charge combat. The stand removal and marker system avoids book keeping so you only need to keep a record of turns. Overall the rules give a nice feel and come highly recommended.
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Charles Stampley
United States
Austin
Texas
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A late post but good review. I am painting ACW figures for this.
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Frank Hall
United States
Santa Cruz
California
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I just finished playing 5 games of this rule system over the last three days. We played most of the games with 2 union Corps vs three Confederate Divisions (5 players). Some important facts to remember:Union artillery is better at medium/long range and Confederates get a bonus when charging. We used the Order of battle from the Gettysburg scenario but made up the battles. The Confederate First Corps vs the Union I and XI Corps.
First the +'s
The rules are simple and pretty clear. By the second game we had no problems. My rule set (bought in about 1992) came with two great player aid cards. I never had to look at the rule book after the first game because nearly 99%+ of the info you need to play the game is on the cards. If you used basic correct tactics then most of the time you came out on top. With experience one could play a very large battle like Gettysburg with 3 Confederate 5 Union players especially if you removed all the cavalry that played little or no roll in the battle. Only Buford's Union Cavalry Division was a factor during the battle.
The -'s
The game uses 10 sided dice to determine everything from movement, to fire, and to melee (charge combat). This made the 10-god a major factor at times with the same amount of units on the board. For example a Confederate Division had only 4 infantry brigades and 2 artillery units. One time I fired three infantry brigades and one artillery unit at a Union infantry brigade. Because I threw a 10 all of my units were out of ammo. This meant that the infantry could only fire 1/2 and the artillery could only fire at close, and all units suffered a negative one in melee for being out of ammo. To regain ammo you have to move over 8 inches away from your enemy. I was facing six Union brigades and 5 artillery units so that was not possible. Also the rule of 10 allows the gamers for the good or bad to pull some big upsets in combat. You work really hard to get an attack going with all the modifiers on your side and then roll a 2 on the dice and your enemy rools a high number and negates all your hard work. The other negative is that Union artillery in mass at medium range is really hard to deal with especailly if the Union out numbers the Confederates.
Still over all I would rate the system a lot of fun. Just for you folks who like to count. I won once, lost twice and twice played to a draw.
Alan had an outstanding review of how the system works.
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Alan Kirk
United Kingdom
Ashford
Kent
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Thanks for the nice comments!
The player aid cards are indeed very good but the one glaring omission, which always elicits questions if we haven't played for a while, is the movement impact of changing formations. It isn't a complicated rules but can be a pain to have to look up. In essence it doesn't matter which formation you are moving from but rather which you are moving to: if moving into line (single or supported) it takes a full move, if moving to column then it takes a 1/2 move.
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