I was looking at the title page of my Rapid Fire rulebook recently and noticed it was first published in 1994. It probably wasn't long after when I started playing what, in my mind, remains the best rules for the WWII period. Many people look for different things in their rules; but, in the balancing act between realism and playability, Rapid Fire seems to get it right. Unfortunately, I have seen a lot of criticism leveled at Rapid Fire which focuses around the idea that the game is too `dated' since it doesn't use enough new-age game mechanics to be taken seriously. Like most war garners, I have added house rules over the years so I never felt the game wasn't keeping up. Compared to the original, however, I can see where the `dated' notion comes from. Unwilling to let such a statement go unchallenged, I have decided to collect, codify, and share my house rules for Rapid Fire. One strength of Rapid Fire was its ability to absorb my changes and still keep the original flavor and fast-play nature the game is known for. I think you will agree that the house rules presented here go a long way toward adding the desirable modern concepts seen in war games these days. I have listed the house rules in numbered sections that match the original rules. Not all sections were changed; so, not all sections are listed. The changes, when taken individually are small; but, the combined effect on the game is striking. While you are certainly free to pick and choose which changes you want to use, I think you will agree that they take Rapid Fire into the next decade of rule concepts. 1. PLAYING THE GAME Rapid Fire uses an IGO-UGO turn sequence which for conventions and large 'participation' games maximizes player involvement; however, more recent games have made use of alternating unit or card driven activation schemes. Several games also incorporate the idea that `time is not linear,' a concept I first saw used in Piquet. This updated command and control mechanism propels players into the chaos of war by preventing them from implementing their plans with perfect control and timing. You can accomplish this by replacing the IGO-UGO turn sequence with a partial-deck card activation sequence. At the start of a turn, players should create a sequence deck by adding a regular playing card for each independent unit in their force. It is not necessary to assign a particular unit to a specific card, just make one side red and the other black. In addition to the player's cards, add one joker to the sequence deck. Players then shuffle the sequence deck and draw one card at a time. The color of the card determines which player will activate one of their units. The player can choose to activate any one of their units that has not activated this turn. When reconciling the rest of the original Rapid Fire rules, a unit's activation is what the book calls a "turn." The joker serves to prematurely end the drawing of cards for the turn. When the joker is drawn, the sequence deck is reshuffled and a new turn begins. Players will now have to decide how to prioritize their activations for a turn. Do you press the attack or call up reserves? Because of how a player chooses to act, a new turn can begin before every unit gets to act. Some units may get to fire twice before the enemy responds, but such is the chaos of war. RESERVE FIRE A unit that does not move or fire during their activation may use Reserve Fire as described in the rule book. Note that the end of a turn does not reset reserve fire and it will not go away until the unit takes its reserve fire or the unit activates. In our games, we limit reserve firing to after a target unit's move or fire. For example, if an enemy unit chooses to Fire & Move, you may reserve fire and the end of its firing or at the end of its move. We do not allow true "interrupting" and the target also must be the unit being interrupted, not just any suitable target. 2. OBSERVATION Units are allowed to make one observation test per activation at one target. For example, an infantry battalion activates and attempts to spot the enemy at the edge of a wood. It fails; so, if the battalion wishes to shoot it will have to be at an already spotted enemy unit. Later in the same turn, an armored car company activates and attempts to spot the same enemy. It succeeds and can fire on the newly spotted unit as can any units activated within sighting range in the future. The original infantry battalion, barring reserve fire, is out of luck for this turn. 3. MORALE The original Rapid Fire rules do not have the concept of suppression and infantry units do not have to make morale checks until they reach 50% casualties; so, our little soldiers can calmly ignore incoming fire and move with impunity for quite some time. It is difficult to apply Fire & Maneuver tactics when you cannot `Fix' the enemy with suppressive fire. These new morale rules introduce suppression and friction into Rapid Fire. Infantry and Cavalry units check morale by company. The first time in a turn in which a company takes a casualty, mark it. At the start of a company's activation, it must make a morale check if they have a casualty marker, not just when below 50%. The following morale modifiers replace the ones in the Rapid Fire rulebook: -1 if the unit's commanding officer is not within 12" -1 if the unit is militia or poor quality -1 if the unit is unsupported with no friendly elements within 12" -1 if the unit has come under artillery fire (not mortar) since their last activation. -1 per casualty marker on the unit after the first. +1 if the unit is elite +1 if the unit is occupying defenses +1 unit is above 50% strength (but not above 75%) +2 unit is above 75% strength If a unit passes morale (result of 4 or more), remove all their markers. Apply the results for failed morale as normal and remove one marker. Artillery and tank units can also be given a marker as a reminder to check morale even though their morale checks do not use the modifiers for casualty markers. In our games, we find the casualty markers to be a very good way of remembering when a unit must take a morale check: units with markers at the start of their activation check morale.  The most important thing to keep in mind is that a unit gets one marker per turn regardless of how many times it takes casualties in a turn. 4. INDIRECT FIRE In the original Rapid Fire rules a player would call for artillery fire and resolve its effects all in their turn. In the case of artillery being controlled by forward observer teams, the new activation system necessitated changes to the rules. The sequence deck has two cards: one for the observer and one for the battery itself. To call artillery fire you need to use two activations. On the first activation, the forward observer will attempt to call for fire. On any later activation, the artillery battery will fire and the effects are resolved. After the player calls their fire, an enemy card might be drawn giving the enemy a chance to move away. Also, the turn could end by drawing a joker which doesn't negate the call; but, the battery will have to fire in the new turn. In situations where the weapons are using their own line of sight or the weapon is an integral part of the battalion, the artillery effects are resolved on the same activation. A good rule of thumb is to require two cards in the sequence deck when radio communication rolls are needed. 6. ANTI-TANK FIRE In Rapid Fire all guns have the same range. The first change I made was to vary the maximum ranges of the different gun types. In doing so, however, I wanted to change the existing system as little as possible. I did not want to change the absolute maximum range from 48" and decided that I would lower the maximum ranges of the lesser gun types. Rapid Fire also establishes the maximum range of a HMG at 30" and all guns should at least have the range of a machine gun: so, this fixed the lowest possible maximum range at 30". All that was left was to create divisions within this range. In the end, I decided on 4" which resulted in an increase from 48" to 50" for the longest range but this change is not significant in game terms. Rapid Fire has three different range categories: Point Blank, Normal, and Extreme. Ordinarily, point blank and extreme range is at 12" and 30" respectively. Since I had adjusted the maximum range of the weapons, I also adjusted the divisions for point blank and extreme range for each gun category. I left the published distances alone for gun type one and adjusted the ranges for each lesser gun type. There was really no formula; it was simply a matter of picking ranges at even distances that produced a reasonable distribution. ANTI-TANK FIRE Gun Type Point Blank Range Extreme Range Maximum Range 1 12" 30" 50" 2 11" 27" 46" 3 10" 24" 42" 4 9" 21" 38" 5 8" 18" 34" 6 7" 15" 30" 10. SMOKE The drift and removal of smoke from both players is handled at the end of a turn. 12. AIRCRAFT Aircraft operations are now handled at the start of a turn and before any cards are drawn. Anti-aircraft units on reserve fire can shoot at the attacking aircraft as can other units within 3' of the nominated target that activate during the turn following the attack. 13. PARATROOPS AND GLIDERS At the beginning of a turn in which paratroops or glider troops are scheduled to arrive, card(s) for these units are added to the sequence deck. When the unit is activated, the landing is resolved as per the normal rules. 14. BARBED WIRE This has caused confusion for some players. As noted in the Playing the Game section, a Rapid Fire "turn" is a unit's activation. A unit that reaches barbed wire must spend an activation in contact before moving on. This is true of many other turn based activities from Rapid Fire such as digging in, vehicle repairs, and ammunition re-supply. 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