From: "James B. Byrne" Subject: Fire & Steel (GDW c. 1978) / System 7 Review Fire & Steel - Rules for Battles with 15mm Napoleonic Miniature Figures. Published 1978 Designed by: Greg Novak Developed by: John Harshman Cover Art by: Roger MacGowan Winner 1978 Best Miniatures Rules - Origins 1979 Format: Boxed set (6" x 9") consisting of: 1 x Rule book (56 pgs. 5.5" x 8.5", staple bound with card stock covers) 1 x Organization book (56 pgs., 5.5" x 8.5", staple bound with card stock covers) 1 x player aid card - fire & melee combat, moral and casualty calculation tables (double sided, 8.5" x 11", centre fold card stock (blue)) 3 x player aid cards (double sided, 5.5" x 8.5", card stock) consisting of 1 x terrain effects card (green), 1 x unit capabilities chart (pink/red), and 1 x weather and officer casualty chart (white). 2 x player aid cards (double sides, 5.5" x 8.5", card stock) being identical unit roster charts meant to provide masters for reproduction (white). 23 x player aid cards (mixed single and double sided, 5.5" x 8.5", card stock, three hole punched) Unit Characteristics Chart by Nationality. Note: 1. All tables on the player aid cards, with the exceptions of the Unit Characteristics Charts and the Unit Casualty Rosters, are reproduced in the rules. Commentary: The game covers European warfare in the period 1808 to 1815. The game's notation scale is: 1" = 50 yds. 1 turn equals 1 hour of elapsed time. 1 figure = 20 infantry or 20 cavalry or 10 artillerists or 2 guns and limbers. The game system is a basic one with much detail given over to the mounting and painting of figures, the selection of terrain, the size of the playing area, comments on the limits to the number of formations that a single player can handle, and the role of the umpire. Play of an actual turn is broken down into the following steps: 1. Weather determination phase 2. Order writing phase 3. Charge declaration phase 4. 1st Movement phase (morale check possible) 5. Fire combat phase 6. Morale check phase (pre-melee) 7. Melee combat phase 8. 2nd Movement phase (Breakthrough or Exploit - repeat the steps of phases 4 through 8 for ONLY those units that have successfully breached an enemy line using melee and have sufficient movement allowance remaining) 9. Morale check phase (casualty) 10. Morale check phase (Fear of Disaster) 11. Rally phase Rules cover the effects of weather on visibility, movement and fire combat; the variable length of a day depending upon season of the year; the effect of terrain upon visibility (strangely the effect of terrain on movement is located elsewhere in the rules); along with the usual details relating to the actual range of movement allowed per unit, the effective range of specific weapons, etc. These rules require written orders for every formation that is to conduct any activity during a turn. Very general guides to the way these are to be formulated and some specific restrictions are given in the rules. There is a rule covering the representation of the player(s) on the battlefield in the form of a "general" figure which can provide specific combat bonuses and morale enhancements, however, other than the written orders there are no command and control elements within the game The organization booklet limits itself to a general over view of the development of armed forces within specific European nations over the period 1806 to 1815. The descriptions provided limit themselves to the size and characteristics of mounting units and stands as intended for use with Fire & Steel. They are notably absent the necessary unit characteristics for employment in the game. This information is ONLY found on the National Characteristics player aid cards which is unfortunate as the loss of the card renders the booklet rather useless. How does it play. I can't say, I don't do miniatures! However, before you turn away in disgust and discount everything that I have written above please see below. Fire & Steel Special Edition - Rules for Battles with "System 7 Napoleonics" Published: 1978 Designer: Greg Novak Developer: John Harshman Adaptation of F&S to System 7: Paul Richard Banner Format: 1 x Rule book (48 pgs. 5.5" x 8.5", staple bound with card stock covers) These are the same rules (essentially) as those described above. They have been slightly modified to handle the following changes: Scale: The ground scale is now 1 inch (25mm) to 40 "yards" (36.6m) Contour lines represent elevation intervals of 10 feet Strength points replace figures on a one of one basis with the original rules. The lay out of the charts and tables contained within the rule book have been rationalized and are much improved. The unit roster sheets are now reproduced within the rule book itself. There is no unit organization book nor unit characteristics tables because these items are in fact the System 7, which see below. System 7 is a set of fifteen(?) individually packaged modules, each consisting of two or more 9" x 12" sheets of die cut cardboard counters. These counters were colour imprinted and were intended to substitute for metal figures mounted on bases for use in free form "kriegspiel" type games. GDW included a special edition of their Fire & Steel miniature rules specifically tailors for these counters, but in fact they could be used with any set of miniature rules designed for use with 15mm miniature Napoleonic figures. Each module came with a unit characteristic folder that covered the units contained within that module and gave a characteristics chart suitable for use with the Fire & Steel rules. A folder entitled; "A General Introduction to System 7 Napoleonics", was also enclosed with each set. This described the nomenclature and symbology used on the counters to convey information to the players. Counters come in four basic styles. These are infantry companies or platoons, cavalry squadrons, artillery sections (2 guns), and leader - staff sections. Each counter is 1cm deep and has a variable length depending upon its type, number of ranks, and nominal full strength. As artillery gun sections, artillery crews, and leader counters always represent the same number of figures, these are of a constant size for all nations (approximately 10mm x 18mm) Each infantry counter is printed in a base colour representative of the uniform coat of the unit in question, a contrasting narrow stripe of a colour normally taken from the facings or decorative piping of the uniform coat in question, the nominal full strength of the unit in SP, the unit identification in "x of the yyth" (x/yy) format and possibly a dot symbol whose colour conveyed a special characteristic of a counter within a specific infantry unit. The function colours are: Black = Rifles Green = Sharp shooters, elite light infantry (legere voltigeurs) Red = Grenadiers Red-on-Yellow = Elite heavy infantry of light infantry units (carabiniers) Yellow = Light infantry, skirmishers (voltigeurs) Initially a white dot had two different meanings, on a unit of the French Imperial Guard it indicated guard status, on a unit of any other colour it presented a function having the same colour as the base unit colour. So for example a white dot on a British infantry unit (base colour = Red) would indicate that the counter was a Grenadier. An infantry counter without a dot had no special function. Later in the series a Gold dot was used to signify "Old Guard" status, while a white or silver dot denoted "Junior status". Finally, as this was a "Napoleonics" game, the French Guard infantry were further distinguished by having a two colour (red and white) distinctive stripe in addition to the white or gold dot. Cavalry counters were produced similarly to the infantry but used a broad stripe as the distinguishing colour and did not use special function dots at all. Artillery units are composed of three counters, the guns, the limbers, and the crew. All three counters were exactly the same size. All artillery crew counters represented 4 SP. The gun and limber counters used as a base colour that used for the gun carriages and limbers of that nation. The symbol used on artillery gun counters is the NATO tactical symbol for gun or howitzer as appropriate. The symbol is aligned perpendicular to the "long" side of the counter indicating "in battery". The nominal weight or calibre of the gun section is imprinted on the face of the counter The limber is a stylized T and is aligned perpendicular to the "short" size indicating "in-train". The gun symbol colour (black or white) indicates whether they are foot or horse artillery respectively. The artillery crew counter is identical in appearance to a 4 SP infantry unit down to the distinctive stripe and contains the unit id (x/yy) but they do not have a dot, not even guard units, nor do they have a value for their strength. Leader - staff counters come in one size and are coloured based on a representative colour for their nation. They have the distinctive stripe of an infantry unit but no strength or unit id information. Instead a number of dots indicate rank or command position of the counter with 1 dot indicating a brigade commander, 2 dots a divisional commander, 3 a corps and 4 an army commander. Aides have identical lay outs but the colour of their dots are white or black depending upon the base colour. A special form of leader counter is also provided to denote aristocratic or political rank as opposed to functional military rank. These have a single red diagonal stripe instead of the normal perpendicular narrow stripe. Some leader counters are back printed with the name of the individual that the counter represents. All counter backs (bottoms) are imprinted with the number of the module that they came in and the nationality of the counter. The modules that were printed before the series was finally abandoned by GDW were: 1. Set N1 - French French Infantry (11 regt. with 47 batt.); French Cavalry (10 regt. with 40 sqdn.); French Artillery (7 foot btry with 28 sect. and 6 horse with 18 sect.); Infantry regt. guns (11 sect.) French Imperial Guard (FIG) Infantry (3 regt. with 6 batt.) 2. Set N2 - Russian Russian Infantry (30 regt. with 60 batt. and 4 converged batt.) Russian Cavalry (9 regt. with 60 sqdn.) Russian Artillery (9 foot btry with 36 sect. and 2 horse with 12 sect.) Russian Allied Infantry (2 batt.) Note: a set of counters is provided to convert one dragoon regiment from horse to foot (1 batt.) 3. Set N3 - Austrian Austrian Infantry (8 regt. with 18 batt. and 3 batt. and 6 coys.) Austrian Cavalry (6 regt. with 50 sqdn.) Austrian Artillery (8 btry. with 24-30 sect.) 4. Set N4 - Minor German States Westphalian Infantry (16 regt. with 40 batt. and 4 batt.) Westphalian Cavalry (4 regt. with 16 sqdn. and 1 sqdn.) Westphalian Artillery (5 foot btry with 20 sect and 3 horse with 9 sect.) Infantry regt. Guns (8 sect.) Westphalian Guard Infantry (4 batt.) Westphalian Guard Cavalry ( 2 regt. with 8 sqdn.) Note: 1 cavalry regt. and 1 guard cavalry regt. (8 sqdn.) provided with alternate counters to show them reorganized as lancers. Wurttemburg Infantry (4 regt. with 8 batt.) Wurttemburg Cavalry (1 regt. with 4 sqdn.) Hesse-Darmstadt Cavalry (1 regt. with 4 sqdn.) French Infantry (1 regt. with 3 batt.) 5. Set N5 - French II French Infantry (11 regt. with 47 batt.) French Cavalry (10 regt. with 40 sqdn.) French Artillery (7 foot btry. with 28 sect. and 6 horse btry. with 3 sect.) French regt. Infantry Guns (11 sect.) French Guard Infantry (3 regt. with 6 batt.) 6. Set N6 - Russian II Russian Infantry (28 regt. with 56 batt. and 4 batt.) Russian Cavalry (8 regt. with 50 sqdn and 10 sqdn.) Russian Artillery (9 foot btry. with 54 sect. and 2 horse btry. with 12 sect.) Note: a set of counters is provided to convert one dragoon regiment from horse to foot (1 batt.) 7. Set N7 - Austrian II Austrian Infantry (8 regt. with 48 batt. and 6 coys.) Austrian Cavalry (6 regt. with 50 sqdn.) Austrian Artillery (8 btry. with 32 sect.) Note: a special unit - Velite Grenadiers (1 regt. with 2 batt.) is included with this set for use with a planned future addition to the Fire & Steel rules but which in fact was never published as a separate product. If these rules were provided as an article in one of the GDW magazines or as an enclosure in a subsequent System 7 module then I am unaware of it. 8. Set N8 - Minor German States Bavarian Infantry (14 regt. with 28 batt. and 19 batt.) Bavarian Cavalry (7 regt. with 49 sqdn.) Bavarian Artillery (7 btry. with 28 sect.) Bavarian Guard Infantry (1 regt. with 3 batt.) Brunswick Infantry (3 batt. and 3 coys.) Westphalian Cavalry (1 regt. with 4 sqdn.) 9. Set N9 - British and KGL British Infantry - Line (17 batt.) British Infantry - Elite (10 batt.) British Cavalry (6 regt. with 24 sqdn.) British Artillery (5 foot btry. with 15 sect. and 1 horse btry with 3 sect.) King's German Legion (KGL) Infantry (2 batt.) KGL Cavalry (2 regt. with 8 sqdn.) KGL Artillery (1 btry. with 3 sect.) Note: A second British horse artillery btry. of 3 sect. was included in this set but not listed on the counter manifest. 10. Set N10 - Portuguese and British British Infantry (4 batt.) British Cavalry (1 regt. with 4 sqdn.) British Artillery (2 horse btry with 6 sect.) Portuguese Infantry (9 regt. with 17 batt. and 4 batt.) Portuguese Cavalry (4 regt. with 16 sqdn.) Portuguese Artillery ( 8 foot btry. with 24 sect.) Loyal Lusitanian Legion (LLL) Infantry (3 batt.) LLL Cavalry (1 regt. with 3 sqdn.) LLL Artillery (1 btry. with 3 sect.) Note: LLL artillery crews are non standard lengths. 11. Set N11 - Spanish Spanish Infantry (18 regt. with 54 batt. and 8 batt.) Spanish Cavalry (12 regt. with 60 sqdn.) Spanish Artillery (10 btry. with 25 limber, 30 crew, and 36 gun sect.) Spanish Foreign Infantry (4 regt. with 8 batt.) note: Spanish artillery organization was non standard and additional gun sections are provided to allow a mixture of different gun sizes to be employed with the same crews. Limbers were limited to show Spanish limitations in the employment of field artillery due to a lack of horses. As a consequence of these module specific changes, Spanish horse artillery limbers and guns are identified with the letter H imprinted on the counter. This is contrary to the normal colour coded method of distinguishing horse and foot batteries. 12. N12 - Prussian Prussian Infantry (14 regt. with 48 batt. and 1 batt. and 3 coys.) Prussian Cavalry (6 regt. with 24 sqdn. and 3 sqdn.) Prussian Artillery (10 foot btry. with 40 sect. and 2 horse btry. with 8 sect.) Freiwilligen Jager Infantry (3 coys.) Freiwilligen Jager Cavalry (3 sqdn.) 13. Set N13 - Polish Grand Duchy of Warsaw (GDW) Infantry (13 regt. with 26 batt.) GDW Cavalry (8 regt. with 32 sqdn.) GDW Artillery (4 foot btry. with 16 sect. and 1 horse btry. with 4 sect.) Franco-Galician (Polish) Infantry (3 regt. with 8 batt. and 1 batt.) Polish Cavalry (3 regt. with 12 sqdn.) Hesse-Darmstadt Infantry (2 regt. with 6 batt.) note: extra gun sections are provided to allow the substitution of guns for howitzers within the limits of the artillery organization. 14. Set N14 - French Imperial Guard (FIG) FIG Infantry (9 regt. with 19 batt. and 3 batt.) FIG Cavalry (8 regt. with 33 sqdn. and 10 sqdn.) FIG Artillery (6 foot btry. with 24 sect. and 3 horse btry. with 9 sect.) note: 4 infantry regt. include a velite batt. (pre 1808) and one cavalry regt. has a set of counters for its alternate style. 15. Russian Imperial Guard (RIG) RIG Infantry (9 regt. with 27 batt. and 2 batt.) RIG Cavalry (8 regt. with 40 sqdn.) RIG Artillery (4 foot btry. with 24 sect. and 2 horse btry. with 8 sect. and 3 foot sect. ) FIG regt. Infantry Guns (8 sect.) Commentary: Ok, so how does it play. Well going into the deep recesses of my memory (it has been 20 years after all) I recall several games with surprising detail. It played pretty well actually. The order writing stuff was a bit tedious but the casualty recording went very smoothly. The effect of order writing was to give the game simulaneous movement so that the flow was quite different than games using the more common, HugoEygo mechanics. Visually the game was very appealing, particularly with descent terrain. The Fire & Steel (sp.ed.) rule book recommends terrain of various shapes and colours made from a type of artist's paper, but I used pieces cut from craft felt, laid on a light green felt cloth and this worked out very well in practice. What is missing from the rules? Looking back at it I would say that command control is totally absent. As well, the effect of troops activities on the battlefield were also ignored entirely. These are short comings shared with many rule sets, often of more recent vintage. On the other hand, most of the early modules at least came with a number of unassigned counters of various lengths that were printed in proper infantry colours. I used these to substitute for the regular counters of units that had suffered casualties. This made the play of the game much easier than the usual dinking around with casualty caps on figures or playing with counters whose frontage was actually longer than that covered by the manpower left in the unit. One criticism of the game which has been levelled is that "stacking" unit counters is somehow "wrong" or "unsettling". Such a comment is unanswerable since it really does come down to taste and nothing else. Four metal figures glued to a piece of cardboard is one form of abstraction, two pieces of cardboard stacked on top of each other is another. Both answer equally well or not, depending upon your point of view and your personal preference. If Fire & Steel sp.ed. was going to be released today then I would expect that order chits would take the place of written orders; that command and control rules would form a significant component of the rules; that the effect on visibility of exploding thousands of pounds of black powder in a confined area would be represented; and that the effect of hundreds of heavy horse crossing fields and roads on the passabilty of that terrain to later units would be shown in some manner. On the other hand, there seems little to be improved upon in the basic movement or combat mechanics; although combat resolution, particularly melee, seems a little overwrought. Since mention of this game came up in the recent past I have dug out my sets and old terrain pieces and am trying to entice my eldest son to give it a try out. If this occurs I will give an updated review of the game mechanics and what changes we made to update the procedures. I will probably take elements from the black powder version of the Command Decision 2 to handle C&C. Melee will have to wait until I get some more recent experience. Regards, Jim --- James B. Byrne Harte & Lyne Limited vox: +1 905 561 1241 9 Brockley Drive fax: +1 905 561 0757 Hamilton, Ontario mailto:byrnejb@harte-lyne.ca Canada L8E 3C3