The Battle of Gettysburg (First Day) - Fire & Fury II

[carojon]

This weekend a group of us got together to play the scenario in the second edition of Fire & Fury Brigade level rules recreating the first day's fighting at Gettysburg.



In the end we managed to get about two-thirds of the way through the scenario that ended up very similar to the actual events. Not only that but the newer version of the rules played very well for a big game such as this.



If you would like to know more then just follow the link to JJ's

https://jjwargames.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-battle-of-gettysburg-first-day-fire.html

Jonathan (JJ)

[FifteensAway]

Nice looking game and a very thorough and readable report - if a bit long.

As to the rules, played them once many years ago and watched them play recently - the newer version.  Yes, they play - but much too slowly and 'wonky' for my tastes.  I used to play Johnny Reb Two and abandoned it as too complex.  I've settled on Rank and File because they are just easier and faster and puts the focus on the table rather than the rulebook.  Have yet to try the full ACW option for Rank and File but the basic rules play fine.

Again, very nice looking game.  Surprised no other comments yet.

[SteveBurt]

We played F&F a lot when the original rules came out. Really great set of rules, but many of the historical scenarios are just too big for an evening's play. I had some success 'bathtubbing' some of the scenarios by halving the unit numbers. Shiloh worked very well like that and became playable in an evening.
I have the 2nd edition of the Brigade game but haven't played it yet, but as you say it looks to have retained the elegance of v1 but added a few nice little tweaks without complicating the game too much.

[Jemima Fawr]

Fantastic!  The length of the report seems fine to me (mine tend to be three-book epics, with appendices).

Re F&F scenarios; the new Western Battles 2nd Edition scenario book breaks a lot of the larger scenarios such as Shiloh down into several playable sub-scenarios for those of limited time/space/means.

[carojon]

Thanks for your comments chaps.

I think Fire & Fury Brigade rules offer a lot to people that still want to wargame, historical, big battle games as opposed to large skirmish and have managed to produce rules that will facilitate that.

Of course the link with that design is that the scenarios are likely to be large affairs that require a time commitment to play them that not everyone has, a bit like the length of my post. Sorry about that but I felt the size of the game warranted a detailed report of the play to capture that commitment and the reward of the historical insight these kind of games offer over and above the shorter lighter skirmishes that are more popular today.   

If you are prepared to make the time commitment to this kind of game then Fire & Fury II are going to reward you for doing so.

Cheers
JJ

[FifteensAway]

No need to apologize for the length, just takes more time to read and harder to maintain attention in today's frenetic world.  And I like big, long games.  I just found an alternate set of rules that plays better for me.  F&F certainly has its devoted followers.  For me, the whole movement mechanism is too wonky and slows the action and keeps too much attention on the chart versus on the figures on the table.  I guess that is the Holy Grail of wargaming: rules that work so well you don't actually realize you are using rules - you just feel like you are playing!  Well, that's my goal anyway.