"Firepower" contained one good idea, which was the chit activation system. This can, if fitted well enough into a design, give some feel of the confusion of minor tactics (although it does not really model leadership or morale effects very directly); I have seen the system work in "Platoon", Tabletop Games' "Firefight" miniatures rules, and, on a larger scale, in "Panzer Command". However, it is important to be sure that the granularity of actions possible on a single chit pick, and the likelihood of one side getting a protracted "run" of chits, are both kept within reasonable bounds. It is also possible to mitigate the effects of a one-sided chit orgy by an intelligently-constructed opportunity fire rule.

"Firepower" did none of these things. The result is a game that purportedly represents minor infantry tactics, and yet positively rewards large amounts of movement without fire. Sorry, I may only have done my section and platoon attacks at the School of Infantry on an amateur basis, but "Firepower" seems to bear as much resemblance to infantry tactics as it does to ballroom dancing.

There are plenty of other failings of the game -- horrible graphics, obsessive amounts of unwanted detail, what I regard as the usual failings of the Battleline/Yaquinto stable -- but the failure of the chit system to gel is what completely wrecks the game for me. There seem to be no countervailing advantages of suspense, scope for skilful play, atmosphere, or any of the other things that make a game good.

Bad game. No biscuit.

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