Here's a quick rundown of all the playable nations in Fire & Maneuver


Germany has strong artillery that can be killed if the enemy gets too close, make sure to treat your artillery like they are your nuts, protect them at all costs (Unless you have reasons).

Germany also has efficiency on most of it's infantry meaning they can change formations 2 times or switch formation then move (and vice versa) Which can be incredibly powerful if used right.

Unfortunately Germany suffers not being able to shoot far with small arms.

Strengths:
-Powerful artillery
-Mobile

Weaknesses:
-Close range shooting for infantry (Except the Bavarians)

In a nutshell
Artillery focused, Maneuver focused



France has good infantry and along with the chassepot rifle can shoot 2 times in a 2 space range (Powerful). The French also have some powerful units, like the oldgaurd, foreign legionnaire and the mitrailleuse.

They have a versatile play-style

But these great buffs come with some expenses

Strengths:
-Great rifles
-Decent infantry

Weaknesses:
- Expensive at times

In a nutshell
Infantry focused, Versatile



Britain has strong infantry that have strong shooting capabilities, meaning that they can do more shooting damage.

But you rely on shooting and your limited manpower, so I recommend shooting at a distance.

But with great power comes great payment, since Britain has very good units they are expensive, so I recommend you play on the defensive and make great predictions and little mistakes.

Strengths:
-High shooting damage
-Great Units

Weaknesses:
-High unit cost

In a nutshell
Quality focused



Russia has the advantage of lots of manpower and can summon hordes of troops.

Since the Russians have so many units, I recommend you have some in reserve because you don't have enough orders to command all of them efficiently, and their big army does allow them to stay in battle for longer

However the Russians suffer from not being able to recover cohesion quickly

Strengths:
-Large army
-Inexpensive

Weaknesses:
-Low cohesion gain

In a nutshell
Quantity focused



Turkey has the advantage of lots of manpower with insanely inexpensive units, so they can easily spawn a horde.

I recommend you have some in reserve because you don't have enough orders to command all of them efficiently, and since you have a large army, you can stay in battle longer.

I recommend to fight closely, because of your horde like play-style

But the Turks suffer from their easily broken trait, meaning they endure passive damage each turn without cohesion.

Strengths:
-Large army
-inexpensive

Weaknesses:
-Easily broken cohesion

In a nutshell
Quantity focused


Austria has good light infantry, such as the Field Jaegers and Kaiser Jaegers, and so rely on their skirmishing.

But light infantry is vulnerable to close hand-to-hand combat, so I recommend you keep your valuable safe with infantry.

Austria has some good infantry with a variety of perks and guns.

They also have a versatile play-style.

Strengths:
-Good units
-Versatile

Weaknesses:
-Expensive at times

In a nutshell
Skirmisher focused, Versatile


Italy has some very cheap units, and some good light infantry and a ton of rugged

but the Italians lack some professionalism as they recover cohesion slowly, or don't have a lot. Their play-style also somewhat relies on the map as then their rugged might go to waste.

Italy also has some mobile troops that are not that expensive, but are not that great in endurance

Strengths:
-Rugged
-Affordable

Weaknesses:
-Low endurance

In a nutshell
Quantity focused, Skirmisher focused


The United States have affordable units and some militia, so it's definitely good to use Quantity.

But some units of the United States have less cohesion than the rest of Europe, so quantity is your best bet.

The United States has some good units like the U.S. Sharpshooters and the Iron Brigade.

Strengths:
-Decent Infantry
-Affordable

Weaknesses:
-Low Cohesion

In a nutshell
Affordability, Infantry Focused


The Confederate States have units with efficiency meaning that they can out maneuver an opponent.

and just like the United States, The Confederate States have some low cohesion units and decent units of variety. So the confederates can also have quantity.

Strengths:
-Infantry focused
-Mobile

Weaknesses:
-Low Cohesion

In a nutshell
Mobile Focused, Infantry Focused


COMING SOON!


COMING SOON!

There are three types of Phases: Deployment Phase, Planning Phase, and Battle Phase

Deployment Phase

This is the phase you see when you first start the game

In this phase you must place your units, there cannot be any units not placed

Place units on your coloured tiles by left clicking the card of the unit you want placed, then right click the tile you want to place it on

Click on a unit to change its formation when it has been placed if you want to

Order Phase

This is the phase where you command your troops with orders (more on orders in the next section)


There is a limit on how many orders you have, so I recommend you have some units not being commanded, like a reserve so you can command your current troops more efficiently

to move a unit, hold right click and drag to where you plan your unit to go, then release

Battle Phase

This is the phase where the orders actually go through, so if you commanded your troop to move, then it will move


Beware, your enemy may block your unit's path or range, or charge it before it could move, shoot etc. These orders will be thrown out

The game has both sides move at the same time, with one order from both going

And arrows will show troop movement

Upon entering the game, you need to know how to command your troops

There are two types of orders: Fire orders, and Maneuver orders

Maneuver orders go first before Fire orders


Charge Order
To charge, you need some movement or be directly adjacent to them and one attack order

Ex. You can move then charge if your unit type/formation allows you to (let's say attack column) you can move but have at least one space to move left to charge (so move one then charge in this case) because charging requires you to move too


Click on a unit you want to charge the enemy, click the button, then right click the enemy (if you can in the range)

Great for pinning down opponents and killing low health units


Volley Fire

Fire at your enemy, with the cost of one attack order

Ex. You can use one attack order to shoot once, and two to shoot twice

Click on a unit you want to shoot at the enemy, click the button, then right click on the enemy


Great for damaging enemies from afar

Your target doesn't have to be in range in order for you to place the order, but if the enemy unit you placed the order on doesn't get into range of the unit you want to shoot at it, it will do nothing


Fire at will Order

Shoot at your enemy when they come into range (only one damage per shot)

If you use ANY fire order or else the fire at will will immediately expire.

Ex. Fire at will is used mostly to inflict damage when an enemy moves forward



Currently does 1 base damage

It will expire if the unit has no shots left (like breech-loading can activate 2 times) and will shoot at the end of each turn if it is still active

+1 damage for the unit with range drill
Can shoot two times if the unit has breech-loading

Fire at will can be nullified by artillery

Click on a unit you want to fire at will

Great for defending



Formations


This order is used to change unit formations (will be discussed after this current section)

Ex. It's mostly used to increase mobility or endure less damage

Click on a unit you want to switch formation, then select the formation you want

Great for adapting to the battlefield




Reserve swap

This order is used to swap to a unit behind on the same tile

Ex. If you need to recover your unit infront, then swap to the back line to keep the fight going

Click on 2 units on the same tile, then press the button

Great for cycling units





The number on a unit will help recognise orders

Ex. 1st reg fires at (enemy unit number)

The blue dot represents the maneuver orders left

The orange dot represents the fire orders left

You can see they are used up when the unit gets shaded or when the dot disappears

When there are no more available orders left, all units are shaded

In Fire and Maneuver, it's important you know how many spaces a unit can move, the formations, and the frontage. And it's important to always know the guaranteed damage

Infantry and Cavalry and Artillery can use formations

The base shot damage is 2

Close Order
We have the good 'ol close order formation, which is basically your standard line. It's a good formation, as it fires like normal. Though at the same time it will also endure all damage like normal.


Pros:

• Max shot damage

• Can penalise charges well

Cons:

• Flank Vulnerable

• Max enemy shot damage

Attack Column
Attack column is mostly used for charging and for more mobility. The unit may attack in this stance. Though the penalties for being in this formation is punishing if you get shot at.









Pros:

• +1 Movement

• +1 initial charge damage

Cons:

• -1 Max shot damage

• limited frontage

• +1 Enemy shot damage

Open Order
Open Order is mostly used to reduce shot damage received and also to have a wider front to shoot. It's large striking range has a consequence in that it is vulnerable to being charged at.






Pros:

• -1 Enemy shot damage (If unit in open order has full cohesion)

• More Frontage

Cons:

• -1 Max shot damage

• +2 Initial enemy charge damage

March Column March Column is used to get the most mobility, and it can get more by going on roads. But the unit may not attack in this stance.












Pros:

• +1 Movement

• Can cross corners

• +1 Movement on roads

Cons:

• +2 Initial enemy charge damage

• +1 Enemy shot damage

• Cannot attack

Square Formation Square Formation is usually used if an enemy unit is charging you, or it is to try and catch fast moving units such as cavalry into your range of fire.










Pros:

• No initial charge damage

• 360° frontage

Cons:

• -1 Max shot damage

• +1 Enemy shot damage

Frontage Corner versions of these:







































The base damage for cavarly is 1

Line
this formation cannot move through corners, but has the ability to shoot and has the normal initial charge base damage









Pros:

• Can shoot

• Can Charge with +1 initial damage

• Limited Frontage

Cons:

• Cannot Move or Charge Diagonally

• Endures +1 enemy max shot damage

Echelon
This formation is only available to heavy cavalry, it is really good for mobility as you can go through corners and be able to shoot at the same time.










Pros:

• Can Move and Charge Diagonally

• Doesn't have the +1 max enemy damage debuff

• Limited Frontage

Cons:

• Weak at charging

• Cannot shoot

Dismounted Open Order
This formation is really good if you have carbines and have efficiency, because this is basically becoming infantry with range resistance. Though this has the same drawbacks as open order.





Pros:

• -1 Enemy Max Shot Damage

• Bigger Frontage

Cons:

• Charge Vulnerable

• Mobility limited to 1 tile

March Column
Allows for more mobility on roads, but the unit may not attack in this stance.











Pros:

• Can Move Diagonally

Cons:

• Range Vulnerable

• Charge Vulnerable

Frontage Corner versions of these:



















































Base shot damage for artillery is 2

Limbered Artillery
This formation is used to move artillery fast. Well, it's the ONLY formation that allows artillery to move. But this formation leaves artillery vulnerable to shot and charges. Cannot attack in this stance.









Pros:

• Can move artillery

• +1 movement on roads

Cons:

• Max enemy charge damage +1

• Max enemy shot damage +1

• Cannot attack

Concentrated Battery
This formations allows maximum damage dealt to the enemy. But you can only angle artillery, not move it to a different tile in this stance.








Pros:

• Max shot damage

• +1 range

Cons:

• No mobility

Open Battery
This formation allows a ridiculous frontage. But has the same drawbacks as open order










Pros:

• More frontage

Cons:

• No mobility

• -1 maximum shot damage

Angles will dictate bonus damage, important to calculate total damage

Frontal Hit: No Bonus Damage

Side Hit: +1 Bonus Damage

Back Hit: +2 Bonus damage

Squares are not affected by this

In F&M, perks can be positive or negative. Perks can add on to a unit's stats or give it new buffs/debuffs


Efficiency perk
+1 Maneuver Order

Ex. Can change formation then move (or vice versa).

Great for fast movement and out maneuvring an opponent.


Range Drill perk
+1 max shot damage

Ex. Can do 3 base damage instead of 2.

Great for shooting.




Shock perk
+2 initial charge damage

Ex. Will do 3 base charge damage when it charges first, but no more extra damage during the charge. No affect on the defensive.

Great for charging units.


Melee Drill perk
-1 damage from initial melee charge, +1 melee damage per turn

Ex. Will not endure 1 damage when charging or being charged. Will do +1 damage to the enemy when in melee with them for each turn.

Great for defence and attack.



Rugged perk
Ignore all terrain penalties

Ex. Will not be slowed down going through a forest, marshland, creek, etc.

Great for going through terrain that would slow down other units.



Skirmishing perk
Can move or charge diagonally if in Open Order formation.

Ex. Whenever a unit is in Open order, It can go Diagonally, which is usually reserved for Cavalry. So they can be faster in open order.

Great for units that specialize in hit and run.


Disorganized perk
will recover half the cohesion of the unit.

Ex. Will regain half of the unit's cohesion (so if a unit has 4 cohesion, it will gain 2 per turn)
If the cohesion of a unit is uneven, it will get +1 more than half (so if 5 cohesion, 3 per turn)


Breakable perk
if a unit doesn't recover cohesion it will endure 1 damage at the end of each turn

Ex. Will lose 1 hp if the unit doesn't have cohesion at the end of each turn





Anti Personnel perk
+2 adjacent damage

Ex. Will deal +2 damage when firing at an enemy unit bordering them (Including Corners)

Great for shooting adjacent targets


Indirect Fire perk
Can shoot over units

Ex. Can ignore units that would block its range

Great for long ranged artillery



Cumbersome perk
Can only do one order, except firing

Ex. Can shoot (Twice with the breech-loader perk) but can't move in the same turn

Bad for units



Melee Only
Cannot shoot

This perk is for units that cannot shoot

In Fire and Maneuver, the armoury is used to give your units additional perks

Breech-loading
This will give your units +1 Fire order

Ex. Can shoot twice, shoot then charge, shoot then fire at will, etc.

Great for close range shoot outs



Rifling
This perk will allow you to fire farther

Ex. Will give 2x range, so opposed to 3 x 1 infront, it will give 3 x 2 infront

Great for shooting at a distance




Example of range:



























The four gun types
(The names are for clarification on the picture)


1. The 'smoothbore' (Model 1842)




2. The 'breech-loader' (Tabatiere rifle)



3. The 'rifle' (Minie rifle)



4. The 'superior breech-loader' (Chassepot rifle)



5. The 'smoothbore carbine' (M1842 Carbine)



6. The 'breech-loading carbine' (M1866 Fusil Carbine)


Prices of guns shown are the same for all nations

All breech-loaders ('inferior breech-loaders', superior breech-loaders', 'breech-loading carbine') are more expensive in "Age of glory"

How to equip for units:
Buy a unit, then left click the gun, then right click on the unit you want to arm with the gun
If you don't want the gun simply right click the armed unit(s)


Beware that some guns for nations have a limit or are for specific units
Ex. German Bavarian line infantry are the only ones with access to the 'superior breech-loader', but only 2 of them


Recommended uses for guns:
The 'smoothbore' should be used to save money or quantity

The 'breech-loader' should be used for units that get close to charge, harass or deal more damage

The 'rifle' should be used for professional shooting units, and as a cheaper alternative to the 'superior breech-loader'

The 'superior breech-loader' should be given to units with high shooting capabilities

The 'smoothbore carbine' should be if you want to shoot with cavalry

The 'breech-loading carbine' should be use if you plan to shoot and run or shoot then charge

The blue bar is the cohesion of a unit

The green bar is the health of the unit











Cohesion kinda acts like a "shield" that will soak up damage until it's gone. When a unit's cohesion is gone, it will take attrition, and the health can be affected with any other damage to come.

Attrition will remove one health whenever it moves, and attrition can only be removed when a unit recovers its cohesion

Cohesion can only recover when not bordering an enemy unit (including corners).

Health will dictate how many troops are alive on the battlefield and will not affect a unit's performance.

In Fire and Maneuver, there are different types of units

The circles at the top are the perks a unit has, the maximum perks a unit can have is 4
(potentially 5 or 6 if you add the armoury)

Speed is basically movement

and the rest are just base unit stats





Here are the units and their types:

The unit pictures are just for show, none of the additions are for all unit types and sub-types

Infantry is good for filling the ranks, and a good source of fire power and man power


Militia Infantry
Militia Infantry is typically used for quantity, but they do not have access to open order and square formation

Militia Infantry typically has the 'Easily Broken' perk

Overall it's a unit if you have extra money to spend or just as a living wall







Line Infantry
Line Infantry is a very versatile class of units, as it can hold many perks for defending or attacking

Line Infantry is typically used as the main force of an army and can be utilised in a variety of ways

Overall Line Infantry is a good filler and is the main backbone of good armies







Light Infantry

Light Infantry is a skirmisher class, utilising hit and run tactics to deal damage to the enemy and not take much damage in return

Light Infantry can also hold some perks, mostly 'Skirmishing', 'Rugged' and/or 'Range Drill'

Overall Light infantry is good for harassing the enemy, but they are vulnerable to charges




Heavy Infantry

Heavy Infantry is a class of units that mainly deal strong damage, and is usually protected by infantry, etc. They are usually expensive.

Heavy Infantry is a class of units that mainly have strong perks, such as 'Range Drill', 'Shock'', 'Melee Drill' and other perks, and they also have 5 cohesion

Overall Heavy Infantry is good for dealing damage to opponents and being a strong source of damage in an army



Cavalry is a special class, as it (mostly) relies on it's melee and maneuvrability. But it is usually vulnerable to enemy shots and is expensive. All cavalry may equip a carbine.


Light Cavalry

Light Cavalry is a good class for harassing the enemy, especially good at sniping vulnerable units such as artillery

Light Cavalry can have 'Shock' and 'Skirmishing' and a quality of light cavalry and cavalry in general is that cavalry can cross corners and has great mobility

Overall, Light cavalry is a good class for harassing the enemy and going behind enemy lines




Heavy Cavalry

Heavy Cavalry is a good class for hitting the enemy hard, especially at the flanks

Heavy Cavalry usually has 'Shock' and/or 'Melee Drill', but heavy cavalry doesn't have as much mobility as Light Cavalry

Overall Heavy Cavalry is good for leading a charge or decimating units not good against charges






Dragoons (Heavy Cavalry Sub-Class)

Dragoons are a hybrid between infantry and cavalry, their main strength is mostly shooting, not much charging per say

Dragoons have some perks of variety depending on nation but don't have the fastest speed

Overall if you want to out flank your opponent and deal some shot damage then be my guest






Artillery hopefully makes up for it's slow movement with it's striking range. Overall good for softening the enemy up, but intakes +1 damage if charged, and cannot retreat from any melee

All artillery has the ability to disable fire at will of an enemy unit, and use the 'Suppressed' mechanic.

Suppression: Units hit by artillery will only be able to regain 1 cohesion


Light Artillery

Light Artillery is cheap but doesn't have a lot of range compared to other artillery

Light Artillery usually has 'Anti Personnel', but a bad quality of all artillery is that they have the 'Cumbersome' perk

Overall Light Artillery is good at close ranges and not that expensive






Heavy Artillery

Heavy Artillery is a bit pricey, but it has decent range

Heavy Artillery usually has 'Anti Personnel' and/or 'Indirect Fire' and can fire at a longer distance than Light Artillery

Overall Heavy Artillery is great for hitting the enemy at a distance






Horse Artillery

Horse Artillery has an advantage of being more mobile than regular artillery

Heavy Artillery usually has 'Anti Personnel' and range can vary from nation to nation

Overall Horse Artillery is good for mobility







Modern Artillery

Modern Artillery is expensive, but makes up for it by have astonishing range

Modern Artillery has the 'Breech-loader' perk, meaning that it can fire two times

Overall Modern Artillery is good at long ranges and softening an opponent






Rapidfire Artillery

Rapidfire Artillery is a bit pricey, and has the shortest range of all artillery types

Rapidfire Artillery has the 'Breech-loader' perk, meaning that it can fire two times and has 'Anti Personnel'. But it doesn't have the 'Cumbersome' perk, making it fit for close ranges

Overall Rapidfire Artillery is good at close ranges

In Fire and Maneuver, terrain can affect how much damage you can endure, your mobility, and range

Symbols:


Can give the mobility bonus Ex. March Column


Will not allow Maneuver Orders for one turn, but may use Attack Orders (except charging)


Will reduce enemy shot damage and enemy initial charge damage by -1


Cannot be stood on


Can give the mobility bonus and will reduce enemy shot damage by -1


Will not allow Maneuver Orders for one turn, but may use Attack Orders and will reduce enemy shot damage by -1


Will not receive damage from normal shots but will to charges, only takes shot damage from range drill and anti-personnel. Angles shot will give damage too (back +2, side +1)

Road Tile

Roads will give +1 mobility to the March Column formation, Cavalry, and Artillery.







Bridge

+1 mobility to the March Column formation and Artillery, and allows access over water.

Cannot be crossed by units in all formations, only if you are in attack column or march column




Farm Tile

A tile with a farm on it will provide soft cover and will not slow your units down, will block the range of a unit.









Forest Tile

A tile with a forest will provide soft cover but will delay your unit's down by one turn, will block the range of a unit.










Rock Tile

A tile with rocks will delay your unit's down by one turn.








City Tile

A tile with buildings on it will provide hard cover and can give +1 mobility to the March Column formation and Artillery.

The only way a city tile can be destroyed is from artillery, each hit will remove 1 green bar. When the bars are gone, the city tile will only provide only soft cover.










Creek

Creeks will not provide any cover of sorts and will delay your units by one turn.










Shallow River Tile

A tile with a shallow river can be crossed, but it will delay your units by one turn









Hill Tile

A tile with a hill with grant you one more layer of range (Like the rifling perk), will block range of a unit not on a hill.

and will make a unit on a hill have indirect fire, so they can't be blocked infront of them

Ex. If a unit doesn't have rifling, it will gain x 2. But if a unit has rifling, it will get x 3 range



Cliff Tile

A tile with x 2 the elevation of the hill cannot be stood on and will block the range of an unit.
(unless a unit has a ramp to get on a cliff)

this will also grant indirect fire









Dune/Mound Tile

A tile with a dune or a mound is impassible and cannot be fired through










River Tile

A tile with a river on it is impassible, but it will not block the range of a unit.