The Loose Association of Wargamers

We are currently having the annual enjoyable, albeit lengthy, conversations as to what our little group will present for this year's Train & Hobby show.

Amongst other periods being mooted is WW2. It's not a period we often touch on - using Blitzkrieg Commander when we have a garage game.
There are issues with BKC – chiefly, I have the only copy of the (original) rules, Clearly, we'd need at least 2-4 copies of presumably the newer rules.....not cheap. Some of us are pretty keen on WW2 and there are some fairly big Western Desert forces being raised. I have medium sized NWE forces etc. One pal has the entire 5th Black Watch for NWE at 1:15- bet you can't guess with whom he recently served with.

So, how about ‘Rapid Fire’? @ 5 pounds a pop, it passes the expenditure requirement but I don't know much about it. And one of our number once had A game in the UK using these rules.

1. I’m assuming we’ll look at the revised RF rules – “Rapid Fire Reloaded” as they evidently simplify the original. Playable?
2. It’s labelled a big game set – which BKC really isn’t - so more Show-worthy?
3. Figures seem to be based in 2s with some singles. Most of mine, & everyone else’s, are in 3s with some 2s. Is this an issue?
4. Units seem to be actually units using TOEs – BKC operates on an amorphous mass of what you have & with any commander commanding any unit.
5. Artillery, air, airborne & a lot of aspects covered well?

Clearly,I need to know more so I'm asking here as a preliminary.

donald

I'm a big fan of Rapid Fire! as a WWII game rule set, less so RFR, but that's mainly down to age and nostalgia for "10pts Table 4". RFR games play briskly I've found when we've used them and cover most things. As with all rules, familiarity eases speed of play.

Good morning Young Master Donald,

I have played RF Reloaded and the original rules. Both were thoroughly enjoyable, but the Reloaded version, albeit simplified, was more playable (edited to say, 'in my humble opinion').

You can do big games, and lots will happen.......put another way, rather than your audience holding their collective breaths while you plod through tables, they will see an intention and a conclusion right before their eyes. Bang, wizz, crunch....pass the cotton wool balls.

That said, the rules are dice heavy, so you should suspend any notion that results are predictable (curse that blooming Stuart tank!).

Figure basing is unimportant.

No idea what TOES is, but the scaled down unit organisation in RF is very helpful for keeping things in proportion. By the way, there's lots of free information on the RF website, including long lists of vehicle stats.

You'll need the RF Reloaded supplement for the aircraft and nautical stuff, also a fiver and downloadable......

https://www.rapid-fire-uk.com/product/r ... -reloaded/

I think the indirect artillery fire in the original RF was weird. I believe it's been addressed in Reloaded, but I've not tried it. The rules are so simple though that house rules are easily accommodated.

All in all, highly recommended for a quick, simple and enjoyable game.

Hope that helps.

E

Thanks, gents.

It appears that further looking into these rules is warranted.

donald

Essex Boy wrote: ↑Wed Jan 18, 2023 8:19 am

Figure basing is unimportant.

I can't believe you actually said that

goat major wrote: ↑Wed Jan 18, 2023 10:00 am

Essex Boy wrote: ↑Wed Jan 18, 2023 8:19 am

Figure basing is unimportant.

I can't believe you actually said that

Looking back, neither can I.

by Essex Boy » 18 Jan 2023 19:19
No idea what TOES is

It's a US acronym- Tables of Organisation and Equipment. In the UK, Oz and NZ forces we use Orders of Battle (ORBAT).

Spanner wrote: ↑Wed Jan 18, 2023 11:32 am

by Essex Boy » 18 Jan 2023 19:19
No idea what TOES is

It's a US acronym- Tables of Organisation and Equipment. In the UK, Oz and NZ forces we use Orders of Battle (ORBAT).

Thank you, Spanner. I'm surprised that Donald tended towards the North American language........or am I........

Iain

We have been using rfrl for about 6 months with moderate sized forces both for 1940 and 1944 France using scenarios rather than “head to head” and have enjoyed the games. It took a couple of goes to really get my TFL oriented head around the rules but once they stuck the games really speeded up. There is a second book “rfrl extra” which provides some extra bells and whistles. We find that using concealed troops and minefields improves the game but have yet to try many of the others as they cover things which have not come up in our games.There are one or two gaps in the main rules but it is easy to invent house rules to cover them. Our games with small brigades usually last about 5 or 6 hours.

I have been playing Rapid Fire for 20+ years, I have always found it very playable and fun to play.
Not played Rapid Fire reloaded but I am sure it is very playable.
As pointed out the Rapid Fire website is very user friendly.
Richard Marsh who is one of the co-authors lives 10 miles from me and we have had some good games together.


Willz.