ACW, 15mm Brigade Fire & Fury.

[Jabba]

Last Friday night at New Buckenham four of us sat down for a game of Brigade Fire & Fury. This was the first time we had played the updated version so the idea was to see what had changed and get to grips with the update before introducing them into general club use.
I rolled up a two vs two game using the Pick up Game section in the back of the rule book for a mid war eastern theatre encounter.
The union were allocated a cavalry division to act as forward pickets and to see how they were effected, if at all, by the update.

A 3 x 4 foot table was selected to try and get the forces engaged quickly for rules evaluation.

So how did the game play?
We liked the change to the Musketry and Cannonade phase, it is a lot more effective. We also liked the reduction in the arcs of fire as it makes the player think more about line of sight when placing units. There was some debate about a few other rules but we weren't 100% sure if it was a change to the original rule or a change to a house rule.
All in all we think these are an improvement over the original set and have another game in the planning to test a few more aspects including melee which we didn't get to try this time.

A bit more detail can be found on my blog Jabba's Wargaming

Tony.

[FifteensAway]

I is confusicated.  Fire and Fury was originally a brigade level game.  How is Brigade Fire and Fury any different?  Okay game, no tactical feel however.  So says a long time JRII aficionado.  Seeking simpler rules these days.

[Jabba]

Major overhaul to Cannonade and Musketry phase, making shooting more decisive, and reduced arcs of fire are two of the most obvious changes.

[CATenWolde]

It's now referred to as Brigade F&F because Regimental F&F came out a few years back. Having both sets gives you the right tools for different jobs - big battles or smaller actions. They are obviously similar, but RF&F does have a different feel. I never played a lot of the original brigade F&F, but enjoyed the games of that (and V&B) much more than when I tried JR, which seemed to require the same level of rules dedication as playing Empire in Napoleonics. I got into the ACW myself about when RF&F came out, so have been very happy with the new releases. I consider myself a "history first" gamer, but I prefer rules that emphasize the importance of player decisions, and then let them see them succeed or unravel as forces are ground down, making it difficult to react. F&F does that very well (although we incorporate simple written orders to further complicate things).

If you want simpler regimental rules, Rank & File by Crusader Games is excellent, and the old classic Volley & Bayonet is a simpler approach to brigade level games. With some knowledge of the period they can be guided to give a good game.

Cheers,

Christopher