By Fire and Sword: unboxing KOZ-11 Cosacks Skirmishers

 One of those games I have lying around ever since their release (when was it, 2013 or such?) is By Fire and Sword from the polish company Wargamer.

Taking place in the 17th century, this game back then was a bit of a big "coming in" in western european wargame midsts, as it focussed on the conflicts in eastern europe, a theatre not much was available for.

Produced in 15mm, and sporting what looks like a Flames of War style of organisatorial charts, these metal models always took my fancy, and from the outset I chose the Cossacks as force to build, because Wagon Train...

 

And now I finally am beginning to unbox and paint up the forces, starting with a blister of Skirmishers.  A specialised unit, and basically a melee version of their scouts, these can only be taken in the bigger sized battles, but it is a good little pack to give an idea of what it is all about.

 

 

 In the blister are 12 metal models, and 6 plastic bases, so if you buy the boxes and blisters you are certain they are always correctly based for the game.

The sculpts themselves are clean and crisp, and on the 12 models, there where 6 variant poses.  Mind you, they didn`t come at a 2 of each ratio though, so I guess there is some randomness in the packing of the blisters.  The models themselves had barely any cleanup to do, only two of them had a bit of molding flash on one of their arms.

And there we have it, a nice tidy unit of skirmishers, divided over 6 bases and ready to go to war on the frozen tundra of mother Russia...

I know back then quite a few of fellow TSA members hauled out boxes for the game, and for those intrested to start playing (Andy?  Guy?)  the rulebook and army list book are for free to download on their website whom I linked at the top of this post.

By Fire and Sword

Now this is a purchase I have been pondering for well, nearly a decade or something.

Ever since the game first came out in any case at Crisis, I believe 2012 or something, and I loved the concept and the figures.

And now I've bitten the bullet and grabbed at last the Cossacks, the force I wanted to play from the beginning when I saw the rules, with their unique Wagon Train.  The fact it's the "lesser known" part of the 17th century wargaming in these regions, focussing on the war in Eastern Europe compared to the ECW that was taking place here, gives it another certain appeal.

Surely, made in metal these aren't cheap models for 15mm, and truth to be told, I don't think it ever kicked off in the three wargame clubs I know around here, but there is something so appealing about the miniatures I just needed to have a force.  It's that strange wargamer craving for something, even if it isn't perhaps the best decision ever made.

It also helps of course, to get an idea, that the (first edition, they are now at the second version) of the rules can be downloaded for free HERE.  That at least gave me an idea of how the forces work (they use orbats like the older editions of FoW did) or what needs to be purchased for the force to expand on it.

So guess I'll be painting up some 15mm in the coming year for sure...