By Fire & Sword Kickstarter 4 days left - reasons to join

The By Fire & Sword Kickstarter is nearing its end with 4 days to go. If you haven't heard about it already and are interested in a very dynamic and innovative set of rules which supports and provides army lists for both skirmish level as well as division level sized games.

Skirmish level games are fights between the patrols sent to reconnaissance ahead of great armies, their size range from 12-30 bases per patrol and are composed of swift moving troops fighting for various tactical objectives in the scenarios that the book provides.

Division level games are larger battles, fought between divisions (3-6 regiments, artillery and divisional support units).

The game has several interesting aspects that make it dynamic:

1) Army lists are very historical in their nature, buildings army lists comes with restrictions to prevent players from fielding cheesy and overpowered lists made up of the best units alone. Instead you always "unlock" the next step of you army list bit by bit when you add more troops to your force - which in turn unlocks the specialist and elite units whom are limited in numbers to the size of your force. It's pretty much impossible to power game the army building in By Fire & Sword.

2) Armies and forces can be of different size, in fact the game pretty much encourages one player to field a weaker army while the other player fields a stronger army. The game features two excellent mechanics that balance the game - "tactical advantages" and "additional effects" which the weaker player has at his disposal. This means that a weaker and outnumbered player may alter the deployment zone, decide along which table edges players will deploy, place additional terrain on the table such as rivers to slow down the stronger attack etc. It gives you a feeling of the smaller army being able to pick the location for their stand against the stronger opponent.

3) An excellent reconnaissance system which is handled pre-game. Players have the option to send troops on a recon mission and may end up with a great bonus if they succeed but also risk losing troops in t he process. In skirmish level games armies that are cavalry heavy have a reconnaissance edge over slower infantry armies (which tend to be cheaper and balance this fact by more often ending up being the defender). Reconnaissance in By Fire & Sword awards the winner of the recon mission with points that can be spent on placing Ambushes, making pre-game moves or send away a unit to flank the enemy from the rear of their table edge.

4) A broken up turn sequence with many shared steps makes both players constantly involved and able to make tactical decisions and be invested in the action that take place on the battlefield from the start to the finish of each turn.

5) A great system of Command & Control, revolving around commanders, orders, instructions, command points and various combinations of these elements give a real feel of commanding troops amidst the chaos of battle. The system also enforces the tactical limitations which in turn force players to carefully plan their actions and make sure troops don't stray too far away and above all protect their commanders.

The rulebook itself, which is just over 400 pages long is a quality full color and hardback product. It contains the basic and advanced rules for the game (around 95 pages), scenarios for skirmish level games, tactical advantages for skirmish and division level games, historical background for the wars of 1648-76, historical information for each army in the book (Swedes, Poland-Lithuania, Muscovite Russia, Crimean Khanate, Ottoman Empire and the Cossacks), unit profiles and historical information about each unit. Players will be able to understand the rating and combat roles of their units as well as the concept of the special rules and national special rules in the book as these tie in with the historical sources and are well explained. 

The book also contains an index of all the historical sources used so you know that the authors put some effort into this work.

So if you have even a remote interest in the 17th century and want to play something else than the English Civil War or Thirty Year War, then By Fire & Sword provides a fresh and unique experience - allowing players to refight the wild and colorful battles of eastern Europe so vividly described in the novels of Henryk Sienkiewicz. 

Below are links to additional sources of information which might prove interesting and explain the game further.

Information on how Skirmish forces are built: LINK

Information on how Division armies are built: LINK

Review of the rules: PART 1 PART 2 PART 3

Review of the rulebook: LINK

Link to the Kickstarter, click on picture