| Irish Marine | 01 Jul 2020 7:54 p.m. PST |
Hi, I'm thinking of buying By Fire and Sword rules. The books look great and the figures are very nice. I'd like to know if the rules are any good, can you tell me your thoughts the Pro's and Con's of the rules. Thanks. |
| gbowen | 02 Jul 2020 2:07 a.m. PST |
Its a bloomin' thick book. You need to issue order counters which put me off going any further. |
| mad monkey 1 | 02 Jul 2020 7:52 a.m. PST |
As gbowen said, the original book was Bloomin thick. But it included all you needed to play including army lists. They now have a players guide which has just the rules, including all changes and additions. Bit cheaper too. I believe they have army lists on line now. As to basic game play, yes you have order counters that you assign to your units. Moving is pretty straight forward. Fighting is a handful of dice for hits, then a handful of dice for saves then a morale test. Lots of chrome makes the game period specific. Armies. The only army I've played has been the Tartars. It's pretty much the easiest of the armies to play(in my opinon) I've played against Swedes and Cossacks. They are both slower than the tartars with foot troops and war wagons ( I hate de war wagons) for the Cossacks. The Swedes have decent cav, but nowhere as maneuverable as the Tartars. I find it a fun game that can be scaled from small skirmish forces which are sold as box sets to larger task forces then even larger field battles. With the number of factions to play there is lots of variety. Fun game My 2 cents. |
| dbander123 | 02 Jul 2020 12:50 p.m. PST |
The book is a great resource for a very unplayed era. Rules work well even solo. Several how to videos on line which hooked me! |
| jefritrout | 02 Jul 2020 12:53 p.m. PST |
Down here in Maryland, we have a group that quite enjoys the game. Before the lockdowns we met every 2 months for a big event as well as smaller battles whenever. I believe that it captures the feel of the Eastern Renaissance very well, with the emphasis on manouver in the open steppes as opposed to the pike blocks of Western Europe. Buy the players rule set for 1/4 of the price of the big book (I have both) and the amry lists are all on line, so you do not need to invest in the 4 or so big books out there. I made my own markers, rather quickly and easily. That is the only thing that is really needed besides a way to count casaulties as all bases disappear on the third casaulty. I really enjoy these rules, one of my all time favorites, and I've been playing wargames since the late 70s. |
| Irish Marine | 02 Jul 2020 2:38 p.m. PST |
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 Mister Tibbles  | 02 Jul 2020 8:09 p.m. PST |
I played it at a con and enjoyed it. Felt a bit old school but in a good way. I love Eastern Renaissance. The miniatures are great as well. |
| Marcus Maximus | 03 Jul 2020 4:06 a.m. PST |
@dbander123 any links for the vids? And @IrishMaine any link to the rules please? |
| Irish Marine | 03 Jul 2020 5:27 p.m. PST |
I believe this is the link for the US distributer. link |
| Henry Martini | 03 Jul 2020 8:14 p.m. PST |
The skirmish-level game, which some commentators claim is the optimum way to play BF & S, is quite manageable in 28mm on a 6 X 4 table. |
| Bohdan Khmelnytskij | 06 Jul 2020 7:03 p.m. PST |
The rule book for the skirmish set runs $20. USD The larger Task force game has its own rule book and it sells for $40. USD |
| JanissaryAga | 19 Jul 2020 9:40 a.m. PST |
Down here in Maryland, we have a group that quite enjoys the game. Before the lockdowns we met every 2 months for a big event as well as smaller battles whenever. I believe that it captures the feel of the Eastern Renaissance very well, with the emphasis on manouver in the open steppes as opposed to the pike blocks of Western Europe. I'm also in MD and am interested in this period, do you have any club/group information to get in touch? |
