No plan survives first contact with the enemy.
Fire & Maneuver is a Turn-Based Strategy game developed by Targon Studios and Armchair History Interactive
, the latter more well-known for Griffin Johnsen's Youtube channel The Armchair Historian. The game chronicles a pivotal period when muskets become rifles and infantry is confronted by modernizing artillery. It is imperative to adapt to a rapidly changing battlefield. This is a new age, not of courage and chivalry, but of Blood and Iron.
It could be best described as a mix between Eugen's Wargame series and a turn-based Total War, but with something extra on the side. On top of featuring historically accurate units and equipment, the game features an innovative “simultaneous turn system." Instead of passively waiting to react to a move already made, players must actively consider all possibilities, deciding which tactical choice their opponent is most likely to make… and which they can accept not responding to. The choice is ultimately yours, and your orders are final.
First released on July 16, 2022 as an Early Access title, Fire and Maneuver officially launched on Steam on April 20, 2023. It currently has two DLC expansions, focusing on The American Civil War and Boshin War respectively.
A sequel, Imperial Dawn, is in development.
This game contains examples of:
- A Day in the Limelight: Fire & Maneuver's campaigns include a focus on lesser-known battlefields, such as the Russo-Ottoman clashes in the Caucasus around the same time as the Crimean War, and the western theater of the American Civil War.
- Alternate History:
- The campaigns allow you to potentially change the course of how historical conflicts play out, whether it's Napoleon III winning the Franco-Prussian War, or the Confederates eking out a victory in the Civil War.
- The "Escalation of Shimonoseki" campaign in the Boshin War DLC is set following an alternate outcome of the British-led Shimonoseki Expedition, which results in the Scramble for Africa being replicated in Japan.
- Animal Motifs: Each playable faction's avatar is represented by an animal corresponding to their respective cultures:
- Prussia: Black Eagle
- France: Rooster
- Russia: Bear
- Britain: Lion
- Ottoman Empire: Turkey
- Austria: Double-Headed Eagle
- Italy: Wolf
- United States: Bald Eagle
- Confederate States: Copperhead Snake
- Shogunate: Tiger
- Imperial Japanese Court: Crane
- Art-Style Dissonance: Downplayed. The game has the same general art style seen in The Armchair Historian's Youtube videos, with colorful visuals clashing with the resulting death and carnage.
- Bilingual Bonus: Each faction's units, and even their advisors, speak in their respective languages.
- Cosmetically Different Sides: Downplayed.
- Playable nations generally share broadly similar unit rosters, but that's about all they have in common. In addition to unique cosmetics, each faction has distinct perks and strengths, while even individual units can have significant differences based on training and equipment.
- In detail:
- Second French Empire: A versatile faction with a strong infantry emphasis. Uniquely, French infantry units can access an unlimited amount of rifled breechloaders in the "Age of Rifles". However, their artillery is lackluster compared to other specialized nations.
- Kingdom of Prussia/North German Confederation: A mobility-based faction with strong artillery that favors offensive strategies. Prussian infantry units are efficient, allowing for mobile strategies to keep up the offensive. Their artillery are also mostly breechloaders, allowing them to constantly suppress and damage enemies from range. However, they lack effective long-range rifles, forcing them to close the distance and risk receiving ranged damage.
- Russian Empire: A quantity-focused faction that favors offensive close-ranged combat. A big disadvantage is that most Russian units are disorganized, making it difficult to sustain assaults under ranged fire. However, said units are cheap, allowing numbers to replace lost units. These units can also have melee-based traits which reward close-range fights.
- United Kingdom: A quality-focused faction that favors long-ranged defensive tactics. Many British units deal increased ranged damage, easing the need to move constantly as long as their rifles can hit the enemy. However, they pay for it by being the most expensive units in the game, making it difficult to replace any losses and engage larger numbers of enemies.
- Ottoman Empire: Another quantity-focused faction focusing on offensive tactics. Ottoman units are basically exaggerated Russian units, also suffering from disorganized and breakable troops that are cheap to recruit and recover losses.
- Austrian Empire/Austria-Hungary: A versatile faction that focuses on long-range tactics. The Austrians utilize specialized skirmishers that use diagonal paths of movement, with some melee-focused units in case things get uncomfortably close. However, this versatility makes them vulnerable to other specialized units, especially closed-ranged ones that can withstand their fire.
- Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont/Kingdom of Italy: A specialized faction that focuses on offensive tactics on rough terrain. Most Italian units are rugged, allowing them to pass through rough terrain unopposed. However, a good amount of units have low cohesion or are disorganized, making prolonged fights very risky.
- American units are unique in that they lack any heavy infantry or cavalry in their line-ups. To wit:
- United States of America: A versatile and quantitative faction. Union units are affordable and have various specializations, allowing relatively large numbers of specialized units to fight on the battlefield. However, most units have low cohesion, making prolonged fighting a big risk for such a large force.
- Confederate States of America: A specialized faction focusing on offensive tactics. Confederate units are expensive compared to other units, and are still saddled with low cohesion which can jeopardize offensive maneuvers. They are also extremely limited in accessing rifles in the "Age of Glory", making ranged attacks a near impossibility. However, these units are efficient and are supported by aggressive cavalry that can allow quick victory.
- Compared to the American and European factions, the Japanese ones have a greater emphasis on melee and morale-breaking. These factions also have access to a melee-only option for their infantry. For instance:
- Tokugawa Shogunate: An affordable melee-based faction. Shogunate units are all specialized in melee, giving them an edge in close combat in various offensive tactics. Their units are also surprisingly affordable, allowing large numbers of troops to overwhelm enemies with their charges. However, they access an extremely limited amount of breechloaders and are saddled with subpar artillery, forcing troops to fight with melee and risk being worn down by ranged damage or stick to limited amounts of rifles and risk prolonging the fight.
- Satchō Alliance/Imperial Court: A versatile faction based on offensive tactics. Imperial Japanese units are specialized in a mix of various European skills, as well as having some units based on Shogunate troops. However, most of these units suffer from being disorganized and having relatively low cohesion and health making it important to achieve decisive victories to reduce prolonged combat and the risk of attrition.
- Dawn of an Era: Crossed with End of an Age. The 19th Century saw a dramatic evolution in terms of firepower and technology, which is reflected in the game's two eras (the "Age of Glory" and "Age of Rifles").
- Does This Remind You of Anything?:
- The "Escalation of Shimonoseki" takes considerable inspiration from the Scramble for Africa, especially with how various European powers (and the Americans) intervene in Japan.
- Battles set in the late-game "Age of Rifles" (roughly the late 19th Century) are noticeably bloodier and are more likely to devolve into drawn-out skirmishes which can in turn, lead to Pyrrhic outcomes. Giving a small taste of the tactics used during the First World War.
- Easy Logistics: Subverted. Supply lines in campaigns are vital to keep armies healthy and in fighting order, while in the battlefield, it becomes progressively harder to coordinate troops the more units you have in play. On the other hand, there's enough ammo around that it's a non-issue, with morale and unit cohesion playing a much larger role.
- Fog of War: While most enemy units are visible from the get-go, the fog of war factors in with how unreliable intelligence can be especially the longer a battle goes on.
- Framing Device:
- When fully zoomed out, the battlefield is presented as though it's a military map in a command tent come to life.
- The opening cutscene presents the game itself like a Victorian-era tabletop wargame found in an abandoned cellar.
- From Bad to Worse: As the "Escalation of Shimonoseki" campaign drags on, more Western powers start intervening in Japan, raising the stakes even further for both the Japanese to defend their homeland, and the British to secure their stake before it's too late.
- Glass Cannon:
- Skirmisher and guerilla units excel in long-distance, but will crumple before a standard line volley or sustained fire.
- On a similar note, cavalry are generally good at flanking, hit-and-run attacks, and taking ground, but are vulnerable to enemy fire.
- Artillery have tremendous range, capable of shattering advancing enemies long before contact if enough are on hand...until they do make contact.
- Hollywood Tactics: Defied. Fire & Maneuver puts strong emphasis on terrain, flanking, and unit formations, the latter ranging from marching columns to more intricate combinations. Ignore them at your own risk.
- Indy Ploy: As initial battle plans fall apart the further you are into a skirmish, you're forced to make decisions on the spot based on intel that may become unreliable the moment orders are sent.
- Irony: The Confederates are represented by a snake, which is double ironic, considering the snake was prominently featured in the anti-secession "join or die" print, alongside symbolizing the Union blocade.
- Life Meter: A unique case. Each unit has a blue cohesion bar and a green health bar. An important trait of this system is that when the cohesion bar is empty, health will be lost when a unit moves to another tile, which can be detrimental to plans that require constant movement.
- More Dakka: In addition to self-explanatory gatling guns, both eras grant access to breechloaders, allowing infantry units equipped with them to fire twice in the same turn. The "Age of Rifles" introduces expensive rifled breechloaders that allow said units to fire twice with greater range.
- Point of No Return: The moment you issue orders to your troops, they are final. Units will not only follow them to the letter, but also by the sequence said orders are issued. There's no way to belay them once sent, especially should things backfire. This forces the player to think even more carefully before committing to any action.
- Poor Communication Kills: Simulating how 19th Century commanders would issue orders, the “simultaneous turn system" means that not only is the sequence of orders issued per unit important, but that those ordered last would have the least reliable intel available. This can potentially lead to your troops walking right into enemy fire if you're too reckless, or failing to capture a key position in time.
- Propaganda Machine: Subverted. Setting up telegraphs lines and allowing embedded journalists in the campaigns can provide additional resources and morale boosts to your forces. On the other hand, they run the risk of having the exact opposite effect, especially if you lose battles and as news of the resulting carnage spreads to the rest of your army.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Battles can easily devolve into this if they drag on long enough or if you're not careful with your positioning and orders.
- Shown Their Work: In addition to various playable historical battles, the developers' attention to detail extends down to individual units' uniforms and equipment being appropriate for the time period.
- Take Cover!: Forests, towns and farmsteads can provide valuable cover for your troops, reducing ranged damage.
- Trial-and-Error Gameplay: The game can comes across like this for newcomers. Even with the tutorials, it can take time to get used to the controls and mechanics, resulting in many early battles ending in crushing defeats.
- War Is Hell: Downplayed. While not the focus of the game, casualties and loss of morale can escalate rapidly as a match progresses. This becomes even more pronounced in battles set in the late 19th Century.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: The game is practically designed around the adage that "no plan survives first contact with the enemy." You're thus forced to not only anticipate enemy movements, but also improvise on the spot if and when things don't go as expected.
