Whilst this one might be a little late, it's better than never! Wargamer over the last few years has returned to their 15mm scale Historical wargame, By Fire and Sword, with an excellent Starter Set plus loads of army boxes and expansions that can allow you to sink your teeth into this 17th Century period of warfare in Europe.

Two Player Starter Set // By Fire and Sword

Whilst this has been around for a little while already, your starting point might be this Two-Player Starter Set that they produced, which gives you everything that you need for diving into the game.

By Fire and Sword Miniatures by Tankred von Tarent

The fighting of By Fire and Sword centres around Central and Eastern Europe, allowing you to play out big battles that actually occurred or "what if?" scenarios. You'll be able to run out the disciplined ranks of the Swedish, the fearsome Tartars, zealous Janissaries and of course the famous Winged Hussars.

Two Player Starter Set - Contents // By Fire and Sword

To that end, this Starter Set comes with armies for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Ottoman Empire, as well as the full Rulebook for By Fire and Sword, plus an Introductory Booklet on the period. You will also find a bunch of cardboard range fingers and tokens, Element and Attachment cards for use in gameplay, and ten d10 dice.

On the one side, you have the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...

"Armies of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth contain mostly cavalry units of different types. In most cases, these are very mobile and aggressive armies based on the cooperation of strong shock cavalry with medium and light cavalry. Fire support is provided by dragoons. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is a perfect choice for players who appreciate cavalry and prefer to pursue victory through dynamic manoeuvres and charges."

You then have the Ottoman side of the Starter Set...

"The Ottoman army is a conglomerate of units of different types and with very different combat utility. Famous janissaries, numerous artillery, but above all provincial troops: sipahi, light cavalry and irregular infantry. On top of this, huge numbers of troops. Armies of the Ottoman Empire will usually dominate in numbers on the battlefield and encourage the player leading them to an aggressive style of play and putting constant pressure on the enemy."

If you're someone intrigued by the Starter Set who wants to learn more, the excellent Sosna's Review on YouTube has put together a series of videos that act as an academy, teaching you the basic rules of By Fire and Sword...

By Fire and Sword Academy

If you'd like to take your wargames to the next level in By Fire and Sword, they also do an Upgrade Set, which gives you bonus miniatures to build on those found within the Starter Set that you've seen above.

Two Player Starter Set Upgrade // By Fire and Sword

This allows you to expand your forces from the Skirmish level to the Task Force level. It takes the thinking out of your army building with a set of units which give you a ready-to-go force for both the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Ottoman Empire. These brand new units open up more tactical possibilities for you and also bolster some of your existing units to larger sizes.

Nation Skirmish Sets

If you've already got a friend with the Starter Set who is willing to teach you, you might be taken by another nation from the time of By Fire and Sword. If that's the case, Wargamer also do a selection of Skirmish Sets which give you introductory armies to build and play with.

Brandenburg Skirmish Set // By Fire and Sword

Each of these sets does exactly the same as the main Starter Set in that they give you a Skirmish level force for your first games of By Fire and Sword. The miniatures in the sets are metal with plastic horses. You will also get all of your bases and movement trays, plus spears/pikes and banners, should they be relevant to your nation of choice.

Swedish Skirmish Set // By Fire and Sword

As mentioned previously, By Fire and Sword's 2nd Edition has been around for a couple of years at this point, so as well as giving you access to the Starter Set and Skirmish sets, you've also got loads of add-on packs, expansions and more that you can sink your teeth into.

By Fire and Sword Miniatures by Tankred von Tarent

Miniatures for By Fire and Sword can be picked up from Wargamer UK and Wargamer.pl so you've got a couple of different options to choose from if you'd like to venture into this wargame. You will also find miniatures stocked by a variety of independent stockists, too if you give it a search online!

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