Fire & Stone

Wargame Review

Fire & Stone, by Christopher Duffy.

»Fire and Stone« ist the first modern and detailed analysis of the arts of fortification and siegecraft, as they were carried on between 1660 and 1860 – a period when fortress warfare exercised an often decisive influence upon strategy, politics, and urban life.

The reader is taken step by step through the processes of designing and building fortresses and the full horrors of a siege, from the opening blockade to the final capitulation or storm. There are detailed illustrative studies of the great sieges of Namur in 1692 and 1695, the naval attack on Algiers in 1816, and the siege of Antwerp in 1832, as well as a comprehensive glossary, and appendices which describe a simple siege wargame and give advice on the visiting of historic fortresses at the present time.

Fortress building and siege work are carefully related to the political and technological background of the age, and the text is complemented by a striking series of illustrations – contemporary prints, photographs of fortress models and works of fortification as they exist today. Eyewitness accounts, drawn from a wide variety of sources, ensure that the human drama is not forgotten amid the geometrical calculations of the engineers and the demands of war.

Until now only advanced military historians have understood the warfare of the period. »Fire and Stone« gives and explanatory background and wealth of detail making it a book of special use to lay military enthusiasts and wargamers as well as architects and scientists.

Contents

  • Titel: Fire & Stone – The Science of Fortress Warfare 1660–1860
  • Epoche: 17th to 19th Century
  • Typ: Grand Tactical and Tactical Wargame
  • Time Scale: 1 turn = 24 hours (grand tactical), or = 15 minutes (tactical)
  • Ground Scale: ca. 1:480 (1 inch = 40 feet)
  • Figure Scale: 1 figure = ca. 5 men
  • Base Sizes: n. a.
  • Firing Ranges
    • Artillery: 6 feet = 878 m
    • Musket: 12 inches = 146 m
  • Author: Christopher Duffy
  • Format: 207 pages, hard cover
  • Language: English
  • Publisher: Peters, Fraser & Dunlop, London
  • Published: 1975

Chapters

  • Prologue
  • Why Fortresses Were Built
  • Where Fortresses Were Built
  • How Fortresses Were Built
  • The Parts of a Fortress
  • The Service of a Fortress
  • The March of the Siege
  • The Great Sieges
  • Notes
  • Appendices
  • Select Bibliography
    • Glossary
    • Schools and Systems of Fortification
    • A Fortress Wargame
    • Touring a Fortress
  • Index

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