WITH FIRE AND SWORD
 Gustav Adolf reigns in Sweden as Ivan the Terrible sits on the Russian throne. The Habsburgs gain strength in Austria as the Hohenzollern lay the foundations of the future Prussia on the Baltic shore. War is tearing borders to shreds, incinerating cities. Heavy is the gallop of Poland’s winged Hussars and slow, the tread of the legendary Swedish infantry as Russian Streltsy load their arquebuses. The swift Crimean cavalry are rolling in from the southern steppes like a storm.
What will we see if they all meet in the battlefield? We will see…
The With Fire and Sword Mod, which stands in sharp contrast to other currently popular creative designs based on the Rome: Total War engine. This is the era that saw the musket first dominate the field and the era when the battleground was the lands that were Barbarian territory in Rome’s times, that is the lands of our ancestors. The name of WF&S is a highly accurate reflection of its essence. To some it will bring reminiscences of fascinating novels by Henryk Sienkiewicz and to others, of the striking Jerzy Hoffman film by the same name. But the thing about the mod is that it will be the first time in the history of Total War that steel is not your only weapon. Fire and the sword play equal parts in determining the course of war.
Like any other serious mod, Fire and Sword called for an all-but-complete redesign of the RTW base graphics and AI settings, taking a long time to build. The lineup of the design team has changed in the process. The amount of work it has done is truly vast and it is not without a reason that we predict a long and splendid life in the cyber-fields of glory to WF&S. We are all the happier now that the mod is complete. Congratulations on the release goes out to our advertising partner, the Sich battle gaming community, along with wishes of many an hour of gripping battle! After all, these are our gray-haired old days, our combat past, and our beloved Total War!
WF&S KEY FEATURES
“ОиМ” включает в себя:
 WF&S includes:
- an essentially new way of battling based on the use of firearms by all of the belligerents;
- musket and cannon shot, bayonet assault, etc. animation;
- a historically authentic original map;
- 17 factions you can play for: the European Ottoman Empire, the Russian Tsardom, the Commonwealth of the two Peoples, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Republic of Venice, the Principality of Moldavia, Wallachia, the Kingdom of Imereti, the Crimean Khanate, the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, the Principality of Transylvania, the Iranian Safavids, the Austrian Habsburgs, the Brandenburg-Prussian Hohenzollern, the Don Cossack Host, and the Zaporozhian Host.
- 210 brand new tactical map units;
- dozens of unit, ship and city models for the strategic map;
- a new interface and new 2D graphics;
- authentic heraldry, coats-of-arms and flags;
- original music and effect sounds;
- faction-style text descriptions and many more …
(New cities design and some new factions (Denmark) are still in work)
THREE WHALES: THE THREE MOST POWERFUL FACTIONS
 THE RUSSIAN TSARDOM – TSARDOM is one of the largest states on the WF&S map. Russia has 33 provinces under its sway from the start. Controlling a state of this size is no easy task. The newly conquered Tartars in Kazan and Astrakhan are waiting for a chance to revolt. The Cossacks on the Don River and in the Northern Caucasus are similarly reluctant to submit. Problems at home are aggravated by severe wars. Ivan’s state is at war with all of its neighbors at a time: Rzeczpospolita, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire.
 The wise Russian tsars are facing the challenge of coping with the problems at home, repulsing their adversaries and launching a counteroffensive in every direction.
What they need is a powerful army. The bulk of the Russian army is composed of Streltsy from Moscow and trading quarters organized into rifle and pike regiments. The cavalry is composed of land-endowed archers and lancers, and boyar druzhinas especially effective in close combat. Garrison duty is done by soldiers, Town Cossacks and peasant levies. The early Russian army is not particularly powerful, but it will improve after transformation in the second half of the game. Land-endowed riflemen and soldiers will be replaced by regiments modeled after West European, particularly German, armies and composed of musketeers and pikemen. Land-endowed cavalrymen will be replaced by mounted Reiter and dragoons. All these new corps are created according to the European example but are slightly less effective. The crème de la crème of the land-endowed cavalry, the Hawkers of His Majesty’s Regiment, along with the furious Oprichniks and Ryndas (royal bodyguards) are the elite of the Russian army. A great goal can be achieved by one leading an army like this: unification of all Orthodox Christian lands around Moscow!
POLISH-LITHUANIAN UNION
 Rzeczpospolita - In the summer of 1569, the Sejm meeting at Lublin saw the Crown of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania sign a treaty that united the two states into one federation, Rzeczpospolita (translated as “public affair”) with one central body, the Great Sejm, and one head of state elected by the szlachta of both states and thus considered both the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania. The mod has this state separated into two independent federal states:
The Crown of Poland: After the Lublin Union, the new rich Ukrainian lands fell into the hands of the szlachta. Retaining those lands will be no easy task, as the freedom-loving Zaporozhian Cossacks only feign submissiveness, the Crimean Tartars keep harassing the state with their raids, and Muscovy dreams of seizing Kyiv and Lviv. But the Polish magnates are ready to protect their wealth in arms.
 It is levies of the szlachta nobility that ride under the banners of the legendary winged Hussars whose swift attacks and powerful charge few can resist. If need be, the influential magnate houses can provide auxiliary volunteer cavalry companies, Pospolito Ruszenie, armored Cossacks.
At the service of the Crown of Poland, too, are Registered Cossacks (mounted riflemen) and Town Cossacks, infantry that protected town garrisons. With its powerful army, Poland lacks only a great king! It may be you who will become a new Stephen Báthory to lead the invincible winged Hussars.
 Grand Duchy of Lithuania – is an independent faction in the game, united with the Kingdom of Poland through a political union. After the union was concluded, the Grand Duchy preserved its laws, army and government. The powerful magnate house of the Radziwills rules the duchy with an iron hand. The duchy’s military force is similar in composition to Poland’s. After the reform, both the infantry and cavalry are reinforced with Reiter and high-class dragoon rifle units. Post-reform Hussars will gain strength, too.
 WARRIORS OF ALLAH
The Ottoman Empire – is the most powerful state in the mod. It controls as many as forty provinces from the start, but faces serious administrative problems as a result. The Orthodox Christian Balkans are unwilling to remain under the Ottoman heel. Kurdish Shi‘ah settlements are ready to betray the Turks to become Persian subjects. The empire’s formidable neighbors are far from being placid: the Habsburg Austria dreams of seizing  Bosnia, Herzegovina and the former Hungarian lands, Venice strives to secure the Adriatic coast, and the Safavids meanwhile do not mind grabbing the wealthy Lazistan, Van and Bitlis provinces.
The Ottomans’ nominal allies, Romanian duchies and Transylvania, are only waiting for an opportunity to unleash war. Only a mighty sovereign can sort out the mess to continue conquests under the green banner of Islam.
He will rely on foot and mounted Timarli-Sipahis and their subjects Cebelu and Akıncılar using an Eastern battling style. Then there are certainly the janissary and Kapıkulu guards. After the reform, the Ottoman army will be reinforced with Deli medium cavalry, pistol-armed Sipahis and Tüfenkçi, the Turks’ peculiar response to European musketeers. Forward, glorious Warriors of Islam, Bismillah!
FREEDOM-LOVING COSSACKS
 Zaporozhian Host - The boundless steppes of the Azov and Black Sea regions have become home to Cossacks, who value their Orthodox Christian faith and freedom over their own lives. For decades they have waged frontier wars with Crimean Tartars. But a shadow has come over Ukraine: after acceding to the Crown of Poland, her lands were swarmed by Catholics. They oppress the Orthodox Church, seeking to stifle the freedoms of the Zaporozhian Host. A strong new leader must raise the freedom-loving Cossacks against the hated Polish Catholics to expel them from the Orthodox lands and live according to Cossack law again. At the core of the Cossack army are Zaporozhian infantry – warriors who have a hot head and a strong spirit. Endowed with great courage, these are soldiers of fortune and war is their element. Another significant part of the Cossack army are the Netyagi, sea raiders who can fight both on the land and on the sea, making up strike forces. Cossack cavalry has always been an auxiliary force, yet guards armed with muskets and pikes and especially starshinas, have good battle skills and are capable of launching swift counterassaults on enemy lines with solid fire support from infantry. The elite of the Zaporozhian army are the Kharakterniki, frenzied fighters whose supernatural capabilities are legendary. It is said that they can catch cannonballs with the flaps of their kaftans and emerge dry out of water and are invulnerable to bullets and sabers. A gifted hetman leading an army like that has simply no right to lose!
 Don Cossacks - The boundless steppes and lower reaches of the Don River have attracted people from all over Mother Russia since ancient times. Many kholops and serfs escaped to the Don region. These lands were rich in game and rivers were abundant in fish, but most importantly, this was a safe haven from oppression by boyars and nobility of every rank. But even here their freedom is infringed upon by Crimean Tartars. It was in clashes with Tartars that the Cossacks sharpened their valor, courage and staying power. Cossack leaders dream of extending the Cossacks freedoms across entire Russia.
The Don Cossack Host is composed of arquebus-firing Zipunshchik pillagers, professional raiders and robbers who served as the backbone of the Cossack force. Daredevils and Gulebshchik hunters, the most energetic and mobile Cossack infantry units, inspire fear and awe in the enemy with their daring. The Domovityye, wealthy Cossack housekeepers native to the Don area, form the bulk of the Don Host’s cavalry. Udaltsy, boyars and boyar and noble children who went Cossack, who are masters of their weapons, are the elite of the Don Cossack cavalry. This host is capable of great deeds when led by a fearless hetman.
AMBITIOUS EUROPE
 The Habsburg Austria – is the last Catholic stronghold in Western Europe and the mightiest of all the European factions in the game. The Habsburgs, the most powerful ruling house in the Holy Roman Empire, are up to the task of halting the Ottoman charge westward. But before the nascent empire has some internal problems to overcome. The Habsburg treasury is half-empty, as Bohemian and Silesian Protestants stage revolts every now and again. The Hohenzollern, who are seeking to take possession of the rich Lusatian ore mines, could give the rebels their support. Transylvania in the east is only waiting for a chance to capture Munkács. The new emperor of the Holy Roman Empire is to sort out all these problems, rallying the Empire to liberate the Christian lands languishing under the Ottoman yoke.
 The bulk of the Austrian army is composed of musketeers and the famous Tercios along with mercenaries. The cavalry is formed of German Reiter and cuirassiers. There are, too, elite Jäger rifle companies. The post-reform Austrian army becomes even more powerful. Besides post-reform musketeers and pikemen, there appear grenadiers and Life Guards, who are capable of both effective musket fire and bayonet attack. These units are prototypes of a new type of armies, in which musketeers with bayonets will totally replace infantrymen wielding cold arms.
The cavalry will be reinforced with units of light hussars and mounted dragoons. An able emperor with an army like that has every chance to build a great empire!
 Republic of Venice – The city-republic is the world’s largest trade center. Venetian fortresses lie on Adriatic and Mediterranean trade routes. The multitudinous Venetian merchant fleet sails every see in the world. But the Turkish Sultan is watching the rich and prosperous city with hatred and envy. He is preparing an innumerable army to take Venetian fortresses and his battle fleet is prepared to destroy Venetian sea power. Only a fearless and wise ruler can defend the freedom, independence and merchant interests of the Most Serene Republic. He will rely on the best battle fleet consisting of galleasses and a numerous, well-trained army. The army consisted of German and Swiss mercenaries serving the Venetian doge. Venetian infantry was predominantly composed of Saxon and Swiss halberdiers and German arquebusiers and musketeers. The elite infantry were Swiss pikemen, palace guards armed with halberds and Venetian carabineers. The cavalry consists of Stratioti (lightly armored Albanian horsemen), German Reiter, and Condottieri, soldiers of fortune from all across Europe.
 Kingdom of Sweden - The poor and scarcely populated Sweden played no part in European politics until its time arrived in the late 16th century. New techniques of developing huge deposits of iron and copper had filled the once-empty treasury, and a military reorganization and administrative reform had transformed the country. Now Sweden is ready to join the struggle for hegemony in the Baltic. An excellent fleet and Europe’s best army commanded by Gustav II Adolf will help the crown of Sweden accomplish this task.
The bulk of the Swedish infantry is composed of famous “steel” battalions of highly-disciplined musketeers, Finnish arquebusiers, steadfast pikemen and heavy Scandinavian infantry, a tribute to the Viking tradition.
The cavalry consists of German Reiter and cuirassiers who will be replaced by famous Swedish cuirassiers and dragoons in the wake of the reform. Infantry units will be reinforced with grenadier and Life Guard Brabant regiments armed with bayonets. The gallant Swedish army is ready to march all over Europe wiping out the enemy with the deadly salvos of their muskets and cannons.
OTHER FACTIONS
Safavids - In the early 16th century, Persia fell to Turkic nomads led by the Shi‘ah Safaviyeh order. Now the Safavid sheikh is nurturing plans to continue expansion, converting the lands of Asia Minor and the Caucasus to true Shi‘ah Islam. The Padishah’s power relies on the brave Kizilbash warriors whose innumerable mounted hordes are ready to descend upon the heads of the enemies of Allah. The elite of the Persian army are Ghulam units modeled after Turkish janissaries: heavy cavalry, infantry armed with pole axes, and riflemen. No one can resist the fearless warriors of Allah. Let the cowardly Sunni Turks now tremble in fear, for they shall have to convert to the new faith or die.
Another opportunity you will have is leading the Moldavian and Wallachian Principalities’ in their struggle to get from under the Ottoman yoke, trying yourself as Michael the Brave. Or building a strong Georgian state based on Imereti by turning the dispute between the Ottomans and Safavids to your advantage. Or attempting to revive the great Hungary by leading the army of the Principality of Transylvania. Or treading the path of Brandenburg the Hohenzollern to rise from an ordinary German principality to an influential Prussian state deciding the destines of Europe. Or undertaking attempts to create a Courland state in Liefland and Estland. Or even rebuilding a mighty power from the Crimean Khanate, a fragment of the Golden Horde, in the vast Black Sea and Volga steppes.
MUSKET FIRE AND CAVALRY VALOR
 The arsenal of tactics and combinations extensively featured in WF&S is no doubt the most diverse and impressive of all strategic projects we know. Essentially, it could not be any other way, because the prime of the firearm era and of mobile cavalry’s domination of the battlefield dictates the rules of the game…
I will dwell on the main aspects of the changes. The primary aspect is the emergence of firearms, with firearm shots having a number of distinct characteristics when compared to cold projectile weapons customary to the Romans mods. The rate of fire of a musket is much lower because of the lengthy reloading process, and density is directly dependent on distance. The result is an interesting tactical consideration: it is not the number of shots taken at a detachment that matters, but the distance to the target and synchronism.
For instance, when one detachment of cavalry is speeding toward two musketeer detachments, it is important to order fire synchronously to time the salvo with the moment when the cavalry moves within the minimum range. The front ranks of cavalry will be wiped out and it will lose its load bonus in an off-the-march attack. Musket shots are extremely powerful when defending walls, the reason being high density of fire. On the one hand, this makes possible defending a city with few troops against a large army. On the other, it poses difficulty for the player when attacking a city with riflemen positioned behind its walls.
 Armed with pistols and muskets, cavalry has gained great power. When confronting cavalry archers in long-range combat, cavalry is at a considerable disadvantage due to low reload speed, but when in close combat, it inflicts dreadful damage even on heavy cavalry. As the front rank horsemen fight with their sabers, those in the rear shoot their muskets virtually point-plank. Remember that a shot both inflicts damage and degrades the enemy’s morale.
However, the traditional cavalry is still to be dreaded. The general’s mailed guard is a formidable force. But the era’s best cavalry was certainly Poland’s winged Hussars. Those gallant boys can a break formation of the best foot lancers when attacking off-the-march. They owed their edge on infantry to the length of their pikes and their speed. The mod realizes this through the high bonus of -30…
Three types of artillery are represented: regular field guns, mortars and organ guns, which see catapults and ballistas relegated to the archives of history when it comes to efficiency. Density and accuracy of fire and the effective range of a cannonball are much higher, resulting in greater effect.
This enables artillery to take its rightful place on the battlefield. It is often artillery that determines the outcome of an entire battle involving large armies.
Infantry bearing cold arms has lost its former power in comparison. Lancers, militia carrying halberds, and mercenaries armed with swords merely provide support as an auxiliary force. Slow-moving lancers are almost useless on the battlefield. It is only when defending city walls, gates and breaches during a siege that pikemen can be of help to you.
The real spice of tactical innovation is the Cossack wagon block. By turning wagons with their sides to the enemy and ordering servants to leave, you get a fortress on wheels right on the battlefield. Wagons will not stop cavalry, but it loses its attack bonus, forced to squeeze into the narrow passages in small groups. This is when pikemen will help you. Besides, wagons can be pierced by bullets, which enables firing a salvo after salvo from a short distance. This novelty, along with many others, make playing for the Cossack factions especially fascinating.
THE PARTI-COLORED LATE RENAISSANCE
The events in WF&S begin in 1569, the year when the Kingdom of Poland and the Great Duchy of Lithuania signed a treaty that united them into one state, Rzeczpospolita (translated as “public affair”). That event was the sign of a major change in the balance of powers in Europe. Unique and inimitable, with its familiar national flavor and spirit, With Fire and Sword immerses us in one of the most fascinating periods in European military history. Having armed their troops with gunpowder, cannons and muskets, kings and sultans began a new war to repartition the world. The European powers are set to turn the tables after being badly beaten by the Ottoman Empire in the previous century. Rzeczpospolita strives to step up its advance against Muscovy, as the Russian tsars seek to extend their power to all of their Orthodox Christian neighbors.
Another aspect revealed in the game is growing differences within the civilizations leading to religious wars. These are the Orthodox and Catholic Christians’ failure to coexist peacefully within one state (Rzeczpospolita), military conflicts between Protestants and Catholics (the Habsburgs vs. Transylvania, the Hohenzollern and Sweden), and bloody clashes between Shi‘ah and Sunni Muslims in the east (the Ottoman Empire vs. the Safavids). Fierce, large-scale battle, gunpowder smoke-clouded battlefields, musket salvos and cannonade all await you.
Campaign time is limited to the year 1700, so developments are highly dynamic and in order to win, you need to be on alert all the time, proving your skill as a strategist and tactician.
INSTALLATION:
The mod should be installed over Rome-TW: BI patched to v.1.6.
Installing the mod:
1. Install Rome-TW BI 1.6
2. Launch the mod installer
3. Follow the installer instructions
4. When prompted to select a path, manually SELECT THE FOLDER containing RomeTW-BI.exe, that is the BI EXECUTABLE!!!!
5. It should go down smoothly from now on.
Installing the patches 1.2 and 1.4f
(The patch can be found on the same page as the mod)
ATTENTION!
The old patch is easy to install. Just launch the patch and it will install in the right place…
Well, that’s what it should do.
Note that installation of the patch is obligatory!
Install the fix manually into the mod directory. |
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