The Sword & The Flame is one of those iconic sets of wargame rules that has been around for a long, long time. Essentially a colonial skirmish game, it is fast playing, captures the heart of the period, and is a lot of fun, plus it is highly suitable for group games. Each Imperial unit represents a platoon of infantry (20 figs), a squadron of cavalry (12 figs), or a battery of guns (2 gun models), with natives being organized into clans of 20 figs and tribes of 60 figs. We use the TSAFT Action Deck for the NWF that controls movement, firing, and casualties all from the same card and we use the Event Deck, which is a must have for the rules as it has some crazy events in it. The Virtual Armchair General makes several types of both Action and Event decks that are a must for any TSATF gamer.
"Lieutenant's Gone Barmy!"
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Action on the Northwest Frontier
It was back to the Northwest Frontier on Friday night where a British led force was sent out to punish a Pathan village that had been raiding the nearby villages. The Pathans, meanwhile, had other plans, which included an ambush of the approaching British and Indian forces. This was a four player game with about 90 British/Indian troops against 144 Pathans, so it was a fairly large skirmish. We also used the TSATF action and event decks, which created a lot of chaos during the game! One of the early event cards placed two new Pathan cavalry units on the board, with oone of them charging a unit of Indian infantry, who just got into square in time to stop the attack. The other card randomly chose a platoon with "The Lieutenant's Gone Barmy!" event, meaning the platoons actions would be randomized for the rest of the game. Either the officer was crazy like a fox or just dumb luck, but this unit was the hero of the day, stoppnig two attacks, going into square at the right time, and falliing back just in time to stop another attack, all of which were completely random! 
Meanwhile, the Indian battery and Rifles stopped a major counterattack by the Pathans and were getting close to taking the village. But then another event hapened where the British had won on another battlefield and the forces here had to disengage and join them in five turns! The British side barely got off in time, thus winning the game. It was a great evening with many wild twists and turns, which is what seems to happen with our TSATF games. As Mark pointed out, "This isn't a game, it's Hollywood!" Also, I finally got tired of our bright tan felt fabric mat that we've been using for quite some time and that we've been showing here on the web page and in Warning Order. Armed with about $80 in supplies and a full weekend ahead of me, I created a new terrain mat for the NWF and Sudan. It took over ten tubes of caulking and three quarts of paint, plus around 12 hours of work, but the results came out pretty good. I''ll write up an article in Issue #38 about how I did it and now it's onto the Nile.
