Fire & Maneuver
The Current State of Fire & Maneuver
Update 2.2: Improvements, Fixes, and Optimizations
Campaign Enhancements:
-Refined the zone of control mechanics based on the presence of corps on specific tiles.
-Addressed loading issues with game files in campaigns.
-Ensured the last balance update for units aligns with the unit roster in the campaign.
Battlefield Improvements:
-Fixed the echelon charging bug that affected how units charge during battles.
-Optimized AI battle orders for more strategic and efficient gameplay.
-Balanced AI difficulty levels for a more challenging and rewarding experience.
-Resolved units hovering on the battlefield, providing smoother gameplay.
User Interface and Audio Updates:
-Added a music panel with skip and pause buttons for better control over the in-game music.
-Introduced Army presets, allowing players to save and load their preferred army configurations.
-Optimized UI loading for quicker and smoother transitions.
-Updated the Credits page to acknowledge all the talented individuals involved in the game's -development.
-Enhanced Main Menu and Lobby Room Panel UI for a more intuitive and polished look.
-Fixed audio-related issues, including random music selection, Main Menu music loop, and missing audio in UI elements.
Game Performance and Stability:
-Addressed map-related issues, such as bridges, trenches, and units getting stuck.
-Optimized overall battles and menus for faster loading times.
-Improved unit loading processes, resulting in improved game performance and faster gameplay.
Multiplayer Fixes:
-Corrected AI color errors, ensuring the AI receives the appropriate color representation.
-Resolved movement bugs that caused units to get stuck on tiles.
-Fixed host-client discrepancies in charging and movement mechanics.
Note: We also wanted to let you know that we've made adjustments to the AI behavior, making them more defensive in battles, ensuring challenging encounters that will test your strategic skills.
We're dedicated to continuously improving the game and providing you with the best possible experience. Thank you for your support, and we look forward to your feedback as we strive to make the game even better.
Update your game now and immerse yourself in the enhanced gameplay, refined user interface, and optimized performance. Enjoy the experience and keep conquering the battlefield!
Update 2.1 Regular Update
In battles, duplicated arrows have been fixed, friendly fire issues resolved, and AI behavior improved. Smoke effects have been visually updated, and the hit-points and cohesion of units can now be viewed. Weapon fixes have been made for the Caucus Campaign, and cavalry movement has been fixed in the Campaign mode.
The update also includes changes to the audio and visual aspects of the game, with new music tracks added and sound effects updated. Tooltips have been added to the map list, and the faction balance improved in the Campaign. The main menu and UI have also received fixes and improvements, with tooltips added to perks and leadership icons added. Finally, the update includes various bug fixes, such as issues with movement cost text, tile connections, and negative XP. The full changelog is shown below.
Changelog:
Campaign:
Cloud fixes
AI balance updates
Reinforcement troops fixed
Merit purchase gain increased to 65,000 when purchasing highest tier
Credits updated
Tooltips added in the map list
Faction balance improved
Manpower going below zero fixed
Tile connections fixed
Added tooltips to perks
Issue reloading turns from save
Movement cost text added
Mini-map position fixed
Nations text added
Fixed fatal error for Campaigns based on internal network settings
Supply cache sorting orders fixed
Leadership icon added
UI fixes for the unit info detailed view
Negative XP fixed
Battles:
Duplicated arrows appearing fixed
Friendly fire fixed
AI unable to use bridge fixed
Incorrect multiday battle percentages fixed
Improved AI melee retreat logic
Smoke Effects visually updated
AI charging improvements
Globe slide increased
Multi-day redeployment fixed
Bridges in Saarbrücken fixed
Attack order fixed
Destroyed buildings fixed
Friend fire fixed for the AI
AI now uses open battery
Charging bugs fixed
Interception fixed
Players no longer spawn on the same side
Hotkey added for reserve cycling
Ai behavior more defensive
Square formation now greys out for 4hp units, making it clear that smaller units can not form square
Audio:
New music tracks added:
Kaiserjäger March - Austrians
Inddo di Garibaldi - Italians
Sekfat Marsi - Ottomans
Marche Slave - Russians
Battle Hymn of the Republic - Union
5 additional Generic Tracks added
New sound effects added to battles
New ambience audio added to battles
Deployment audio added in battles
Sound effects added to the right audio channel for the options settings
Unit callout added for:
German Landwehr
Hungarian Honved
Buffalo Soldier
Guard Rifles
Redshirt Mountain Guns
Greek Volunteers
Sepoys
Quotes added
Visual:
Map information corrected in the map list view
Smoke Effects visually updated
Map trenches updated
Alstadt walls updated
Flags fixed
Polearms removed from Late Imperial
UI fixes for the unit info detailed view
Performance feature added to Post Processing
Main Menu:
Map line in China fixed
Ai names fixed
Policy UI fixed
Other:
Timer greyed out when option is set to none
Event in the Imperial Boshin war fixed
Updated price of 4lb Horse Krupp
Removed Polearms from Late Imperial
Fixed empty units not appearing in the Campaign
Overall, this update is set to significantly improve the gameplay experience, with many long-standing issues resolved and new features and improvements added.
Boshin War DLC: Now Available!
We're excited to announce the release of the Boshin War DLC for Fire and Maneuver!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2315550/Fire_and_Maneuver__Expansion_Boshin_War
This new expansion takes place in Japan during the Boshin War, a period of civil war and political upheaval that ultimately led to the end of the samurai era and the formation of the modern Japanese state.
Players will have the opportunity to command new Japanese and Imperial forces, including samurai, imperial soldiers, and powerful artillery units. The DLC features a brand new campaign with multiple branching paths, as well as new scenarios and battles set in the unique terrain of Japan.
The Boshin War DLC features two new factions: the Shogunate and the Imperial Court. The Shogunate represents the forces loyal to the last Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, who sought to preserve the feudal system and maintain his power. They field highly disciplined and professional troops, including samurai warriors armed with traditional weapons such as katana swords and yari spears. Represented in game as the ferocious tiger:
The Imperial Court, on the other hand, represents the forces of the Emperor, who sought to overthrow the Shogunate and modernize Japan. They field a mix of conscripted peasants and samurai who have adopted modern firearms and tactics. While lacking the traditional martial prowess of the Shogunate, the Imperial forces make up for it with sheer numbers and a willingness to embrace new technology. Represented in game as the graceful crane:
In addition to new units and maps, the Boshin War DLC also includes quality of life improvements, balance changes, and bug fixes based on player feedback. We've also added Japanese voicelines and a new user interface tailored to the setting of the Boshin War. The new soundtracks that have been added to the game further enhance the immersive experience of this pivotal moment in Japanese history.
We hope you enjoy this exciting new addition to Fire and Maneuver, and we look forward to hearing your feedback as you lead your armies to victory in the Boshin War!
Friday Hotfix!
- Malakoff fort now has colliders so troops look like they are on top of the fort instead of sinking inside
- Added an exit sound effect when closing the armory
- Merit gain from scenario battles is fixed
- Missionary Ridge scenario spawns corrected
- More charging improvements with the AI
- General campaign bug fixes
- General AI bug fixes
- Matchmaking fixes, ranked mode fixed
- DLC Shogunate Faction added
- DLC Imperial Faction added
- DLC Japanese music added
- DLC Japanese maps added
- DLC Japanese campaigns added
- DLC Japanese scenarios added
Post live week Hotfix!
- Map fixes, some forests weren't showing up as "bogged down" tiles.
- Fire-at-will tooltip fixed
- Lens dirt turned down significantly
- Chromatic Aberration in campaign will stay disabled when you turn it off now
- AI will charge far more often now, previously the function was accidentally turned off
- Japanese faction descriptions fixed
- Fixed an issue where players who played a custom match couldn't play ranked battles
- Fixed campaign battles freezing the game
- Spelling error fixes in campaign
- Fixed cursor tile modifiers
- AI will no longer deploy in line formation, only to take an entire turn just trying to switch to march column
- French AI in the Franco-Prussian War is more aggressive, they will push into Germany if given the opportunity
- Splashscreen freezing fix
add this as a small hotfix
Developers Battle Live!
Update 2.0 "The 1871 Overture"
- The purpose of these changes is to make weapon upgrades a more conscious decision for players. Auto-equipping an army with the most expensive equipment should require larger sacrifices. Limitations and the prices of weapons also now change depending on the time period, which should make the Age of Glory and Age of Rifles require completely different army compositions and strategies; smoothbores will be much more common in 1850s scenarios. 5 Cohesion heavy units are also more expensive, making the prospect of fielding armies completely comprised of heavy, range-drilled, breech-loading rifled units much more difficult. Limitations on rifles have been implemented for nations that were historically unable to field entire armies with rifles during the 1850s and early-to-mid 1860s, such as the United States, Confederate States, Russian Empire, Ottoman Empire, Kingdom of Italy, and even the French Empire. Finally, as aforementioned, the prices of weapons now change between each period. This means that compositions that are reliant on rifles are harder to build in the Age of Glory than in the Age of Rifles, even for nations who don’t have limitations on rifles. There are even more changes than what is listed below, but we couldn’t fit every single change to be listed.
- Cumbersome to go down in points from -40 —> -25
- Breakable to go down in points from -15 —> -20
- 5 Cohesion to go up by 10 points from 80 —> 90
- 2 Speed cavalry to go down by 10 points from 10 —> 0
- 3 Speed cavalry to go down by 10 points from 30 —> 20
- Infantry Polearms to now be 0 points (Japan only)
- Early Era Smoothbore Price to go from 0 to 20 points.
- Early Era Rifle Price to go from 30 to 50 points
- Early Era Breech-Loader Price to go from 40 to 60 points
- Early Era Rifled Breech-Loader Price to go from 100 to 120 points
- Early Era Muzzle-Loaded Carbines Price to go from 20 points to 30 points
- Early Era Breech-Loaded Carbines Price to go from 60 points to 80 points
- French M1842T Rifle to go from no limit to a 6 limit in the Early Period.
- French M1867 Tabatiere rifle to go from no limit to 6 limit in the Late Period
- Prussian Potsdam M1839 to go from no limit to 6 Limit in the early period
- Russian Krest’yane to receive shock
- Russian Grenadiers to receive shock
- Russian Grenadiers to lose melee drill
- Russian Guard Grenadiers to receive melee drill
- Russian Grenadier Guards to be given Berdan M1868 as default weapon in the late period.
- Russian Smoothbores to be available in the late period.
- Russian rifles to be limited to 4 in the early period.
- Russian Jaegers to be auto-equipped with smoothbores in the early period.
- Russian Greeks to be auto-equipped with smoothbores in the early period.
- Russian Grenadier Guards to be auto-equipped with rifles in the early period.
- Russian Finnish Guards to be given rifle by default in late period.
- Russian Jaegers to be given rifle by default in late period.
- Russian dragoons to be given M1847 carbine by default instead of M1867 Dragoon Krnka
- Russian M1867 Dragoon Krnka carbine to receive 4 Limit.
- Ottoman P51 to receive a 4 Limit in the early period.
- Ottoman “Rifles” unit to receive a smoothbore by default instead of a rifle in the early period.
- Ottoman P51 Enfield to receive a 8 limit in the late period.
- Ottoman to receive 6 limit on Snider-Enfields in the late period.
- Ottoman rifles to receive rifle by default in the late period.
- Ottoman Zouaves to receive rifle by default in the late period.
- Ottoman Dragoons to receive a P43 Victoria carbine by default in the late period.
- Ottoman M1866 Winchester to receive 2 limit in the late period.
- Austrian Landwehr to go from 4 limit to 2 limit
- Austrian Honved to go from 4 limit to 2 limit
- Italian M1860 Piedmontese rifle to have a 6 limit in the early period.
- Italian M1844/67 Breech-loading carbine to receive a 4 limit in the late period.
- USA to receive a 6 limit on M1861 Springfield rifle in the early era
- USA to receive a 6 limit on M1866 Springfield breech-loaders in the late era
- USA to receive a 6 limit on M1852 Sharps Carbines in the early era
- CSA to receive a 4 limit on their Springfield M1855 rifle in the early era
- CSA Texas brigade to receive smoothbores by default instead of a rifle in the early period.
- CSA to receive a 6 limit on Snider-Enfields in the late period
- CSA Texas brigade to receive rifles by default instead of breech-loaders in the late period
- CSA to receive a 2 limit to Sharps Carbines in the early period
- CSA smoothbores to be renamed to “Assorted Smoothbores”
- CSA rifles to be renamed to “Assorted Rifles”
- Italian early era carbines to be renamed to “Assorted Carbines”
Cavalry Update Changes:
- Prussian Dragoons to receive skirmishing
- British Light Dragoons to receive efficiency
- Russian Dragoons to receive efficiency
- Ottoman Dragoons to receive efficiency
- Ottoman Bashi Bazouks Cavalry to lose shock
- Austrian Dragoons to receive efficiency
- Austrian Hussars to lose disorganized
- Italian Dragoons to receive efficiency
- Italian Dragoons to lose skirmishing
- USA Lightning Brigade to lose breakable
- USA Lightning Brigade to receive disorganized
Artillery Update Changes:
- French Mitrailleuse to receive cumbersome
- French 12lb Field Artillery to receive 2 limit
- French 4lb Horse Artillery to receive 2 limit
- French 22cm Howitzers to receive 2 limit
- All French artillery to receive 3 cohesion from 2 cohesion
- Prussian 4lb Horse Artillery to receive 2 limit
- Prussian 12lb Field Artillery to receive 2 limit
- Prussian 12lb Field Artillery to lose cumbersome
- Prussian 21cm Krupp Mortar to lose Range Drill trait
- All Prussian artillery to receive 3 cohesion from 2 cohesion
- British 9lb Field Artillery to receive 2 limit
- British 9lb Horse Artillery to receive 2 limit
- British 12lb Field Howitzer to receive 2 limit
- British 6lb Field Artillery to lose cumbersome
- British 9lb Field Artillery to lose cumbersome
- British 9lb Horse Artillery to lose cumbersome
- British 6lb Field Artillery to receive efficiency
- All British artillery to receive 3 cohesion from 2 cohesion
- Russian Licornes to receive 3 cohesion
- Russian 12lb Field Artillery to receive 2 limit
- Russian 6lb Horse Artillery to receive 2 limit
- Russian 18lb Licorne to receive 2 limit
- Italian Mountain Guns to receive efficiency
- Italian 16lb Field Artillery to receive 2 Limit
- Italian 8lb Horse Artillery to receive 2 Limit
- Italian 12cm Mountain Guns to receive 2 Limit
- Italian 15cm Howitzers to Receive 2 limit
- Ottoman 11lb Field Artillery to receive 2 limit
- Ottoman 4lb Horse Artillery to receive 2 limit
- Ottoman 25lb Howitzer to receive 2 limit
- Ottoman 8lb Field Artillery to receive 2 limit
- All Austrian artillery to receive 3 cohesion from 2 cohesion
- Austrian 8lb Field Artillery to receive 2 Limit
- Austrian 4lb Horse Artillery to receive 2 limit
- Austrian 8lb Field Artillery to lose range drill
- Austrian 4lb Field Artillery to receive efficiency
- Austrian 8lb Field Artillery to receive efficiency
- Austrian 4lb Horse Artillery to receive efficiency
- Austrian 4lb Field Artillery to lose cumbersome
- Austrian 8lb Field Artillery to lose cumbersome
- Austrian 4lb Horse Artillery to lose cumbersome
- Union 3-inch Ordnance Rifle to receive 2 limit
- Union 12-lb Horse Artillery to receive 2 limit
- Union 12lb Mountain Gun to receive 2 limit
- Union 12lb Howitzer to receive 2 limit
- Union 12lb Napoleon to lose cumbersome
- Union 3-Inch Ordnance to lose cumbersome
- Union 12-lb Horse Artillery to lose cumbersome
- Confederate 12lb Napoleon to lose cumbersome
- Confederate 10lb Parrot Rifle to lose cumbersome
- Confederate 12-lb Horse Artillery to lose cumbersome
- Confederate 10lb Parrot Rifle to receive 2 limit
- Confederate 12lb Horse Artillery to receive 2 limit
- Confederate 12lb Mountain Gun to receive 2 limit
- Confederate 12lb Howitzers to receive 2 limit
- Melee drill has been made a hybrid of what it used to be and what it is now. Now, it will reduce damage taken by -1 on charge impact and it will deal +1 damage at the end of every turn. This makes the perk as good as shock, making it more interesting.
- Melee Vulnerable units do not receive a charge bonus when charging into another vulnerable unit.
- Time of day speeds are all faster, making it more likely for your largest battles to end up taking 2 in-game days to complete.
Visual:
- Post-processing has been re from scratch and now battles look visually different depending on the season you’re playing on.
- New photo mode setting has been added for old-timey screenshots.
- Cavalry now wear their carbines on their unit card which helps you identify which units are armed with carbines.
- New loading screens and quotes added to the game.
- We got rid of the old tent in battles and replaced it with a proper war room with a fireplace.
- Slight improvements on animations, we will continue improving though.
- New highlight system shows were your units were and where they will go during execution phase.
- Arrows are now smooth and not pixelated and dotted.
- Cards now get bloody and flash red when taking hits, making it far clearer which units are damaged from combat.
- Units with only 4hp will no longer have 1 company within stop animating, now all 4 companies (hp) will animate in stabbing/walking etc, whereas previously they would get bugged.
- Configuring the AI and adding player slots has been improved.
- Scrollbar in the options menu has been re.
- UI for campaigns has been re from scratch.
- UI for scenario battles has been re from scratch.
- When units change formation they now animate.
- Arrows now will be removed as each order gets executed so they don’t clutter up the board during the ordering phase.
- The order page has been shrunk so it gets in the way of the battle less.
- Color picker added to the game. This replaces the current way we would color code players by overlaying blue or orange over their flag. Now, no color is placed over your flag icons in battles, and instead a colored ring now surrounds your flag based on the color you chose in the lobby screen (you can select a color by selecting your profile on the left side of the lobby).
- Tutorial map changed to River Path which is more visually appealing.
- Depth of field shouldn’t make everything a complete blur, though it will still be quite blurry if zoomed all the way in while using the cinematic mode. This can be disabled in options, or you can pan your camera up to reveal your units clearer.
- Pretty clouds added to the campaign mode.
- Godshafts added to battles.
- New UI scaler in the options. We got complaints from players that the UI above units was too large, so now you can scale it to whatever size is good for you.
- Moving into reserve the UI now appears over the flag icons so it’s easier to choose between frontline and reserve.
Campaign Changes:
- Austro-Prussian War campaign has been added to the game for free.
- Caucasus Campaign has been added to the game for free.
- Franco-Prussian War campaign has been made free.
- Western Theater campaign has been added to the American Civil War DLC.
- Two Japanese campaigns will go live when the DLC launches this week.
- Unit XP system with skill tree added, you can now level up your units in campaigns and give them unique perks/abilities to design your own custom units.
- Event system debuts with 80+ historical events added, they trigger depending not only on the campaign you’re playing but also the side you’re playing as.
- Military doctrine system added to the game, allowing you to pick between Deterrent Warfare, Mobile Warfare, and Attrition Warfare, suiting three distinct playstyles.
- Supply is no longer messy and confusing and works on a simple system of "in supply" and "out of supply" depending on how far you are from the nearest cache or HQ.
- Prices in campaign have been overhauled, weapons cost more, and units have dynamic prices based on what they cost in custom battles.
- Objectives added to campaigns which give you goals to take, and also help the AI better attack/defend tiles.
- Players can now upgrade their “objectives” which improves their economy and manpower gain.
- Cash/Manpower has been reduced drastically in all campaigns, you must now upgrade your objectives in order to see your economy/manpower improve over time.
- War Enthusiasm system re. It now judges your performance in capturing objectives and winning battles and will buff your economy or debuff your economy depending on your enthusiasm.
- Major restructuring of corps, removed historically inaccurate units and weapons. You can no longer have 4 divisions within a corps (24 units in one corps), we found that once the player brought in two full corps of 4 divisions, their battle would become too large and unfun to fight as turns would take a very long time.
- Reinforcement system overhauled for the campaign, now you can designate reinforcements and see them come in on the 2nd day of campaign combat. Campaigns utilize our new “dynamic” time of day speed which makes the 1st day of combat always faster. Therefore, you can try and stall the first day of combat in order to get your reinforcements in on day 2.
- AI behaviors change, they will be a little smarter and dynamic about attacking and defending based on difficulty. For example, in the Civil War Eastern Theater campaign, they will attack through the Peninsula on hard difficulty but not on eays.
- Nearly all campaign UI re from scratch.
- Barraging forts now subtracts manpower, making long sieges more costly.
- If a major battle is fought, crosswords will appear on the map which will keep a record of your most important fights.
- Unit limits implemented in campaigns so you can no longer have 100 iron brigades for example.
- Merit can be earnt by completing campaigns now!
- Every campaign now has a briefing video and voice acting, as well as a victory/defeat video that is unique to all 16 perspectives of every campaign.
- Hovering over tiles will display the names of the tiles, so you can identify where all the locations are and where you need to go to fight in historical locations, such as Gettysburg or Manasses.
Sound:
- Sounds now play when issuing movement orders instead of silence.
- When units die they make death sounds.
- Each weapon in the game now has its own unique gunshot sound including different types of artillery.
- Infantry and cavalry will use drums and bugles when changing formations. Artillery will make sounds too of wheels moving and the artillery being rearranged.
- Marching sounds now play on a loop until the unit is moving.
- When the AI ends its turn is no longer makes a very loud order sound.
- British Men of Harlech track added.
- Lots of sounds added to the campaign, new ambient sounds, voice acting, as well as mechanical sounds like repairing or bombarding a wall.
- Scenario battles now have voice acting to lead you into each scenario.
Content:
- The Shogunate and Imperial Court factions have been added to the game as DLC, but we are waiting on Steam to approve our store page. They will be added to the game in the coming days.
- Japan added on the main menu world map in anticipation of the Boshin War DLC.
- New maps added, bringing the total to over 100.
- Altstadt 1v1
- Arupusu 1v1 (Boshin War DLC)
- Balaclava 1v1 (Remake)
- Calatafimi 1v1
- Countryside 1v1
- Domain Fort 1v1 (Boshin War DLC)
- Frozen Reservoir 1v1
- Hakodate 1v1 (Boshin War DLC)
- Kirche 1v1
- Lille Brook 1v1 (Remake)
- Massif Stronghold 1v1
- Milazzo 1v1 (Remake)
- Missionary Ridge 1v1 (Civil War DLC)
- Monte Villa 1v1 (Remake)
- Mountain Lake 1v1
- Oases 1v1
- Poplar Station 1v1 (Remake, Civil War DLC)
- Prima Valley 1v1
- Rice Paddies 1v1 (Boshin War DLC)
- River Path 1v1 (Remake)
- Ryazan Hills 1v1
- Seaside Outpost 1v1
- Shiloh 1v1 (Civil War DLC)
- Takeda Streams 1v1 (Boshin War DLC)
- The Clearing 1v1
- The Forest 1v1
- The Grassland 1v1
- The Monastery 1v1 (Boshin War DLC)
- The Plantation 1v1 (Civil War DLC)
- The Redoubt 1v1 (Civil War DLC)
- The Ridgeline Pass 1v1 (Boshin War DLC)
- The Steppes 1v1
- Tokaido Road 1v1 (Boshin War DLC)
- Tosa Dockyard 1v1 (Boshin War DLC)
- Ueno 1v1 (Boshin War DLC)
- Valley Encounter 1v1 (Civil War DLC)
- Vicksburg 1v1 (Civil War DLC)
- Volturno 1v1
- Aizu 2v2 (Boshin War DLC)
- Black Sea 2v2
- Chancellorsville 2v2 (Civil War DLC)
- Chickamauga 2v2 (Civil War DLC)
- Custoza 2v2
- Darial Pass 2v2
- Federal Fort 2v2
- Fredericksburg 2v2 (Civil War DLC)
- Homestead 2v2
- Honshu Fortress 2v2 (Boshin War DLC)
- Kars 2v2
- Lake Fortress 2v2
- North Fort 2v2 (Remake)
- Reka Path 2v2
- Romagna 2v2
- Sakura Grove 2v2 (Boshin War DLC)
- Solferino 2v2
- The Alma 2v2
- Toba Fushimi 2v2 (Boshin War DLC)
- The scenario system has always felt limited and overlooked. We decided to rebuild the entire scenario system from scratch by including new "linear scenarios" which allow you to fight across multiple battles as part of a larger military operation. For example, there are now three battles as part of the "Expedition of the Thousand" led by Garribaldi. You can start in Calatafimi, but must complete that mission before proceeding to Milazzo followed by The Volturno. There are a total of 27 of these scenario battles.
Mechanical Changes & Features:
- Artillery has been overhauled. Artillery has always meant to be one of the most important tools on the battlefield, but we noticed many players did not find it to be too useful. Therefore, we have added a new suppression mechanic which allows artillery to pin down enemy cohesion each time that unit is hit by a barrage. Furthermore, we've added new formations, including a "limber" formation which allows you to move your artillery, a "concentrated battery" formation which allows you to receive +1 range to your artillery, and an "open battery" formation which allows you to receive peripheral coverage (with less damage output) like infantry in open order.
- AI “expert mode” has been added. We still have plans to continue improving our AI, but we're happy to announce that a new "expert" AI has been added which is used when the player maxes out the difficulty in a scenario, campaign, or custom battle. The expert AI has much better prediction capabilities, as they can now peak at some of your orders, BUT the ai does not cheat in the form of receiving buffs to their damage/health. This mode is recommended for those who have a firm grasp on the game and are looking for an added challenge.
- Fast forward button added to singleplayer games which allows you to skip the boring parts of the battle. Let us know if you want this feature added to multiplayer for either players to vote on, or for the host to use.
- AI will now designate troops to go and flank your position. We may improve on this in the future though for aggressive AI to send even more troops to be designated “flankers.”
- Fire at Will is now disabled after a unit moves.
- Units must now be in Attack Column or March column or Limbered formation to utilize bridges.
- Dynamic mode is now even faster during the first few turns of the match. Instant mode is now slightly faster.
- Road bonus movement is now only applied if a unit starts and ends their movement on a road.
- Added a new “dynamic” time-of-day speed setting which makes the first day of combat fast, second day of combat normal, and third day of combat slow. This way, your first day of combat feels more like an opening skirmish. We’re thinking of later adding a reinforcement system so that you could designate some troops as reinforcements who can come in on the second day of combat.
- You can now kick people from slots and close them after opening them, including the AI. You should fully be able to configure your room now to the exact amount of players/ai you want, and where you want them in the battle, without needing to recreate a room.
- AI will now go on fire-at-will if they have remaining orders.
- AI will now retreat from combat if their cohesion and HP is low, but they won’t move at all if they only have 0 cohesion w/1hp left (will die from attrition).
- Added a sandbox mode which allows you to increase the max order count, increase the max unit count, increase max funds, etc
Bugs:
- Reserve regiments are no longer able to fire in reserve.
- Players no longer spawn on the same side in quickmatches.
- Charging a unit who has previously moved earlier that turn is no longer considered a “clash.”
- Units can no longer phase through each other during a clash; if a clash occurs, both units will halt and fight in melee.
- Settings are no longer reset when someone joins/leaves a custom room.
- Line of Sight improvements with hills/buildings.
- Enemy AI unit spawn fixes in custom games.
- Melee can no longer go into fire-at-will if they don’t have a carbine.
- Regiments can no longer change formation if they’ve been charged before they had a chance to change formation.
- Orders no longer stick to your cursor when the player releases the left-click.
- If a frontline unit leaves a tile that is being fired on, the fire order will now go through to the unit that was in reserve.
- When targeting a unit who jumps into reserve, the fire order will now be reassigned to the frontline of that tile instead of being thrown away.
- Timer no longer disappears when you end your turn, so you can see how long your opponent has left to form their orders.
- Infinite movement bugs fixed.
- AI will now utilize perks properly, and will no longer utilize perks that it doesn’t have (ie: the ai moving twice despite not having efficiency, or the ai not firing twice despite having breech-loaders.)
- AI now can move two units at a time instead of needing to move every unit individually.
- When units charged a unit who died on impact, the unit would bug out. Now when you charge and kill a unit on impact, your unit is useable again.
- Target ground orders fixed for artillery to allow you to fire on fortified positions without the order getting thrown away because an enemy unit wasn’t on the tile.
- Arrows no longer stick around even after the orders are finished.
- Players can no longer start a custom battle with no units selected.
- Dismounted cavalry should now get range resistance.
- Bug in which river path was one of the only maps being selected for quickmatch has been fixed.
- AI no longer breaks on day 2 of combat.
- In-game chat improvements.
Launch Day!
Hey everyone, I'm very excited to announce that Fire & Maneuver version 1.0 is finally released. It includes new artillery formations, 50+ new maps, 3 new free campaigns, and 3 new paid campaigns as well as a campaign mode overhaul. Scenario battles have also been overhauled, sound design has been updated, and lots of bugs fixes!
We have made a TON of changes in the last 4 months of development, and we're so happy to finally make this update live for you to enjoy. For a FULL list of patch notes you can read our changelog here:
Major features and content of Fire & Maneuver 1.0
- Overhauled Campaign Mode: Fire & Maneuver's campaign mode has been completely overhauled. In addition to us adding the Caucasus Campaign (free), Franco-Prussian Campaign (free), Austro-Prussian Campaign (free), Western Theater Campaign (Civil War DLC), we have reworked a lot of the mechanics of campaign mode. For one, supply is no longer messy and confusing and works on a simple system of "in supply" and "out of supply" depending on how far you are from the nearest cache or HQ. Secondly, a unit experience system has been added which allows you to level up your troops and customize them with new perks and abilities. Third, an event system has been created which can be positive or negative and are tied not only to the campaign being played, but the specific side you are playing as. For example, as Britain, you may get an event in the Crimean War about Florence Nightingale! Lastly, we've added a military doctrine system, which offers replayability into your campaigns, by allowing you to focus on either a defensive, offensive, or balanced doctrine. All of these things and more are also available on multiplayer! UI has also been redone entirely from scratch.
- Artillery Rework: Artillery has always meant to be one of the most important tools on the battlefield, but we noticed many players did not find it to be too useful. Therefore, we have added a new suppression mechanic which allows artillery to pin down enemy cohesion each time that unit is hit by a barrage. Furthermore, we've added new formations, including a "limber" formation which allows you to move your artillery, a "concentrated battery" formation which allows you to receive +1 range to your artillery, and an "open battery" formation which allows you to receive peripheral coverage (with less damage output) like infantry in open order.
- Graphical Improvements: Fire & Maneuver has never had a focus on its graphics, so we took our time the last few months in order to improve the look over the game and improve some of the animations of units. We also added a fast-forward button which will allow you to skip straight to the action, this is especially useful for any players who wanted to use the "slow" animation speed but couldn't because of how long it took for troops just to get into combat. Now you can fully admire your troops on the march!
- Expert AI: We still have plans to continue improving our AI, but we're happy to announce that a new "expert" AI has been added which is used when the player maxes out the difficulty in a scenario, campaign, or custom battle. The expert AI has much better prediction capabilities, as they can now peak at some of your orders, BUT the ai does not cheat in the form of receiving buffs to their damage/health. This mode is recommended for those who have a firm grasp on the game and are looking for an added challenge.
- Over 100 Maps: When we first launched into Early Access, we had around 10 maps in the game. Now there are over 100 hand-crafted maps, made all by The Armchair Historian himself - created with historical accuracy in mind! The full list of new maps will be listed on our full changelog which you can find linked at the top of this page.
- New Scenario System: The scenario system has always felt limited and overlooked. We decided to rebuild the entire scenario system from scratch by including new "linear scenarios" which allow you to fight across multiple battles as part of a larger military operation. For example, there are now three battles as part of the "Expedition of the Thousand" led by Garribaldi. You can start in Calatafimi, but must complete that mission before proceeding to Milazzo followed by The Volturno. There are a total of 27 of these scenario battles.
Those are the major points of this update, but there is a LOT more that I haven't discussed, which you can find on our full change log.
The team has worked incredibly hard these last few months, and we're so proud of the community that we've built. Expect some hotfixes and patches over the next few days and weeks as we address your reports in our Discord server. We've done extensive testing, but with an update of this size (our largest yet), there are always going to be bugs that we couldn't catch. Our team will be on standby all throughout April to knock out the bugs are quickly and efficiently as possible!
Lastly, our new Boshin War expansion, which adds Imperial Japan and the Tokugawa Shogunate, are going to be released tomorrow! Our DLC will no longer be priced at $15, but now at $10 from this point on, making them much more affordable. We've also taken down our Wars of Unification DLC and included it as part of the base game, but for those who purchased that DLC, they will receive every single Prussian and French cosmetic for supporting us by picking that DLC up during Early Access.
Thank you again, we're so happy to finally be at the finish line!
Griffin Johnsen, Aaron Legault, Sebastian Alvarez, Geo Gianni, Thomas McLaughlin, Boris Ujević
An Update from the Development Team
Dear Fire and Maneuver community,
We regret to inform you that we have not been able to resolve the issues we have been facing, and as a result, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the release of Fire and Maneuver until further notice.
We understand this news may be disappointing, and we want to thank our dedicated community for their their passion and support as we continue through the development.
Thank you.