"TSATF 40th Anniversary Edition" Topic

I'm curious if the 40th Anniversary edition ever came out? If it did, how would one order it?

If it did not ever get released, is the 20th anniversary edition the most current then?

Thanks!

No, it never came out. The death's of Larry and Lori made things grind to a halt.

Here is all things TSATF:

sergeants3.com/18.html

For The Sword and The Flame 40th, it would inspire confidence, to forecast a timeline and release date.

Something like:
• by December 2027, we will finalize playtesting & rules editing.
• by September 2028, we will complete layout and proof for publication.
• in January 2029, The Sword and the Flame 40th (now re-branded as 50th Edition) will be available for sale.

I have no idea if those dates above are realistic; but it would be reassuring to see dates estimated.

When The Winds of Winter comes out, I'm sure it'll be terrific also.

Personally, I think that the 20th edition is perfectly fine. It cleared up all the questions from the 0th edition and had many improvements. I'm fine with what I have.

I don't think Dec.2027 would inspire confidence

I can't think of a date which would inspire confidence. We're past the point at which verbal commitments have meaning.

Same with George Martin, of course. He'll wrap Game of Thrones about the year I read the "Future History" stories Heinlein never wrote.

I am taking a group of TSATF items to Hurricon next week as a single packets. It contains a basic set of rules, The Sword in Africa, Peiking, Swashbuckling and several signed Supplement One notes.

At this point, a 50th anniversary edition makes more sense. The problem is that by then a number of buyers will have exceeded their life expectancy.

It's realistically by now, what? 45th anniversary?
I was initially enthusiastic, but that has long cooled down.
Sell the rights to someone who can handle it.

Cormac, there's an update on TMP somewhere. I'll find it

Yeah. I'm not interested at all anymore. That ship has long sailed.
It's not as if we're Warhammer players, willing to drop everything because "the new phone books are in!"

I just picked up a copy of the 20th edition from EBay for $25 USD with free shipping. Thanks all!

Do I have any miniatures for this period? No.

Do I have way too many projects already going? Yes.

Do I still want to read these rules and dream of games to play? Yes.

You don't need "colonial" figures to play TSATF.

I've done FIW and AWI games using skirmish figures.
Example:
Nobody has rifles. Use carbine range.
Rate second rate regulars, like newly raised Continentals or Loyalists as "Egyptians".
Give militia Boer morale.
Rate Indians as any of the three "natives " provided.
Don't worry about the time reloading muskets vs Colonial rifles. It's abstract anyway.

I've also done Pirates in land battles, Fenian invasion of Canada, and so on.
Consider the basic rules as a toolbox, and tweak. The concepts alone may be over 40 years old, but the mechanics work anywhere.
I'm planning to use them for Comanche vs Spanish in Mexico, 1757.

I tried a F&IW scenario myself. The rules worked well enough.

I just picked up a copy of the 20th edition from EBay for $25 USD USD with free shipping. Thanks all!

Do I have any miniatures for this period? No.

Do I have way too many projects already going? Yes.

Do I still want to read these rules and dream of games to play? Yes.

Cormac Mac Art has confirmed he is a miniatures gamer.

TBH, starting a new period with zero figures and a playtested and well-understood set of rules is a better way of proceeding than the normal route of our ilk. Many collections start with the miniatures, and then the quest begins for rules that work. I've made collections both ways, and the ones that start with the rules remain in use for years; the ones that never find find rules collect dust.

I'm not a huge fan of TSATF and I have near-zero interest in 19th C. colonial wars, but I admit the TSATF 20th anniversary rulebook makes me want to play the game. It's a really well-presented game.

- Ix

All too true Yellow Admiral…

I second the OFM's remarks above, you can modify TS&TF rules for many other conflicts and periods with some careful effort and playtest out any bugs and checking the balance. I've made a set of rules for the Jacobite Rebellions based on TS&TF after realizing I was beating my head against a wall trying to craft a new rules set for the period when a perfectly good toolbox was right there waiting to be used.

All that said, the 20th anniversary set could stand some upgrading and revision -- it had a lot of official errata that came out afterward that needs to be incorporated fully, for starters, and other concepts that might need a rethink or augmentation/expansion. There's a wealth of potential in this classic rules set that is waiting to be revitalized. Someone needs to make it happen. Maybe the copyright does need to be sold so this can remain on the market and also freshened up? Or bring in some folks who can knock the project into place. Hell, I'd gladly volunteer as a designer/editor, I've played the game for decades and have actual game company background experience to offer.

John – do you have a link to your AWI variant?

I would--reluctantly--disagree with Yellow Admiral on this one, though I think by now I've run through so many of the ways to bungle wargame projects I'm repeating myself. As long as the castings are either individually mounted or have a constant frontage, rules are always available, and "playtested and well-understood" isn't always the same as satisfying to a particular wargamer.

My only actual stalled project at the moment is an effort to be original. Fortunately I don't do it very often.

My AWI mods are somewhere in the AWI archives. I spent 20 minutes trying to track them down, but no luck. 🤷
Have fun tracking them down.

Good morning all, believe it or not, I have on very good authority that the 40th is in fact being worked on, and yes would appear to be more like the 45th anniversary edition instead!

Cheers,
JB

I will, of course, be suitably pleased when it arrives in my mailbox, but I won't mark the year on the calendar. Information sourced to people speaking on condition of anonymity no longer inspires confidence.

Too bad the people who are supposedly working on the 45th don't give periodic updates on what they are doing. That would inspire confidence that something was actually being done and folks would have some idea of what was being added or revamped.

I agree, Long Valley. And could there be a reason for the silence?