| Ivan The Not So Terrible | 31 Mar 2022 4:50 p.m. PST |
I read aeons ago that Rapid Fire was based on a skirmish set written by another author. Anyone have a copy of that original set? Or know if it's around the web someplace? |
| blank frank | 01 Apr 2022 9:31 a.m. PST |
Rapid Fire is not a skirmish game. For example a tank represents a platoon. However when the game was being developed it did have a skirmish variant. I think the game was based on a set of rules written by Z.M.Iwasko. Who was also known as Bish Iwasko. The rules were published by the London Wargames section in 1967. Through an advert in the Miniature warfare magazine you could buy an advanced version of the rules. The small arms fire chart in Rapid Fire is very similar to Iwasko's chart so is the tank classification and damage effects. |
| Ivan The Not So Terrible | 01 Apr 2022 11:05 a.m. PST |
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John Leahy  | 01 Apr 2022 12:24 p.m. PST |
I thought it was based on a set of rules the author first published in Wargames Illustrated. Thanks John |
| blank frank | 01 Apr 2022 1:12 p.m. PST |
You'll note it says 'Condensed & Abridged'. The full set has 67 pages with rules for helicopters, field hospitals, ammunition supply etc. Interestingly the rules used use a logarithmic scale for ranges, do 6" was 200yds, 12" 1000yds and so on. A look at Iwasko's fire form chart shows no doubt to Rapid Fires! inspiration link |
| Ivan The Not So Terrible | 01 Apr 2022 2:13 p.m. PST |
Ah yes, that's more like it! Thanks. |
| NickNorthStar | 01 Apr 2022 3:13 p.m. PST |
The late Duncan Macfarlane, founder of Wargames Illustrated & a partner in the printing of Rapid Fire V.1, always told me it was based on Bish Iwasko's rules. |
| Dexter Ward | 02 Apr 2022 2:04 a.m. PST |
Rapid Fire v1 was a bit strange. At 1:15 level yet it has rules for rifle grenades; it always looked like a skirmish set that was bathtubbed to a higher level. Many of those quirks were ironed out in v2, but it still doesn't really represent operational warfare very well; it is a tactical set. |
| GildasFacit | 02 Apr 2022 5:33 a.m. PST |
I still have my copy of those rules (but without the fancy cover). The log scale would have worked better if it had been used for movement too. My memory is that similar table layouts were not that uncommon in home-brew rules at the time. |
| Ivan The Not So Terrible | 02 Apr 2022 7:22 p.m. PST |
Any chance of scanning them? |
| TangoOneThreeAlpha | 03 Apr 2022 12:12 p.m. PST |
Hi I used the Bish Iwaszko rules alot in my early days of wargaming. They were enjoyable but if memory serves correctly there was no 'morale' element to the rules what so ever. Cheers Paul |
| blank frank | 05 Apr 2022 6:18 a.m. PST |
Yes there were no morale rules except for the heroic deed roll which Rapid Firers are familiar with. The thing about these 60's wargames rules is there were a lot of unwritten rules which varied from club to club and dealt with how the game was presented.The games were often umpired with strict hidden deployment and movement applied. There would be a scenario objective which would include a point at which the attackers or defenders would retreat. This might only be known to the umpire. Someone who played in a Bish Iwasko umpired game once described how he scored a hit on a tank and asked if he had destroyed it only to be told that the tank has stopped moving. So here the actual game mechanisms were kept from the players. |
| Marcus Brutus | 05 Apr 2022 6:58 p.m. PST |
Rapid Fire v1 was a bit strange. At 1:15 level yet it has rules for rifle grenades; it always looked like a skirmish set that was bathtubbed to a higher level. Many of those quirks were ironed out in v2, but it still doesn't really represent operational warfare very well; it is a tactical set. Completely agree. Had a skirmish feel to me even though it was nominally a higher level game. I'd say this was true for V2 as well. |
