Monday, November 30, 2015

Some Fire and Fury Gaming: AWI Style

I was very fortunate to be invited over to Rich H's house to play a game of Fire and Fury Regimental: set in the American War of Independence.  Rich is the author of the Fire and Fury ruleset which are the best rules to use for black powder gaming (IMHO).  Rich also hosts a wonderful day of gaming, repeat with a superb table and wonderfully painted mini's and food - what's not to love?

The battle I participated in was a recreation of Guilford Courthouse.  I had command of the British left flank and our objective was to batter our way through 3 successive lines of American troops.  The first two line are "raw" militia while the third American line is a mixture of good to very good Continental regulars.

 The British force is small by comparison, but made up of either Elite or Veteran troops.  The figures are 15mm in scale and are from Rich's friend's Tony's collection.

 It wasn't very hard to clear the first line of militia and soon we were advancing on the second line which was now reinforced by remnants of the 1st line.

 The Brits's attempt to envelope the American line with my troops on the left and Tarleton's cavalry and Hessians on the right
 Success! both flanks collapse due to some astonishingly bad die rolls on the US side.  My US opponent for the day, Dave, was a great sport and took the ill favor of the dice Gods in stride.
 We continue chasing the fleeing militia and also started to set up for the main assault.  The third line of US troops are held in reserve (can't move) until the Brits cross the fence line in the middle of the picture.
The Militia try to stem the tide but just can't stay rallied..
The disparity of losses heavily favored the Brits - our losses are in the lower left while the US losses are everything else.
 The final assault commences!  Sadly, I had to leave at this point for a prior commitment and I ceded my command to the other British player.  It was a grand game.

 Rich was actually running two games that day, with the second being a massive recreation of the second day at Shiloh (ASW).

The pictures really don't so the game justice as there were huge formations of troops pitted against each other.  It seemed to be a bad day for the Union during this game.

What a fantastic day of gaming.  I really enjoy the fire and fury rule system, especially the command and maneuver rules.  If you're looking for a new ruleset to play the ACW or earlier black powder time periods you should pick up a copy.  Look I even put link to the rules description to save you time: Fire and Fury Regimental Rules

Come on, you know you want to buy the rules and with Christmas so close I think you owe it to yourself.  It's the right thing to do....


8 comments:

Samuli said...

Looks like you had a great game! Must be really nice to play with the author. Definitely should you some insight into why certain things were written the way they are when played with the man behind it all.

Ray Rousell said...

2 great looking games Miles! Never thought of using F&f for earlier wars?? Seems to have worked out pretty well.

Phil said...

This terrain is awesome!

Paul O'G said...

A great day out on some very stunning tables. I always find it a privilege when people let me play with such treasures.

Good to see you loyally fighting for King and Country and not being some kind of Continental type.
Well done that man!

Meanwhile our X-Wing expenditures continue to mount, for which you bear a heavy moral burden my friend
:-)

jmilesr said...

My moral burden has been lessened significantly as I just got the sales commission check from Fantasy Flight Games - wow you did drop a bundle.....

Only kidding (maybe!)

Rodger said...

Awesome stuff, looks fantastic! Fire and Fury are probably my fav rules for both ACW and AWI.

Stefan (aka. Monty) said...

Great report and wonderful pictures. Sounds like a great day!

Doc Smith said...

F&F for AWI - what a great idea! I really enjoy it for ACW - best rule set for it I reckon, especially for really REALLY big battles - and it looks like just that with those terrific looking tables. Great stuff Miles - good to see you on the 'right' side for a change too ;-)