Wire & Volley — Free Historical Wargaming Beta

[Navaronegun]

Wire & Volley — Free Historical Wargaming Beta
Grand Tactical Wargaming 1866–1903

I'd like to introduce *Wire & Volley*, a free, historically researched grand-tactical wargame covering the extraordinary transition in warfare between 1866 and 1903.

The game emphasizes battlefield command, leadership, morale, cohesion, initiative, and the friction of military operations. Its central objective is to represent how formations fight, maneuver, and ultimately hold together or collapse under the pressures of combat, while minimizing excessive procedural bookkeeping.

The system uses two complementary mechanics: scalable d6 combat pools for firepower and a 3d6 roll-low system for training, morale, and command friction.

A Modular Historical Wargaming System

*Wire & Volley* is a complete historical miniatures wargame in its own right. Optional advanced systems also support multiplayer command, umpired Kriegsspiel, historical roleplaying campaigns, and virtual tabletop play through platforms such as VTT/TTS.

Players can use the standard tabletop rules without adopting the more extensive orders, communications, or umpire procedures.

What's Included?

The latest release, **Wire & Volley Beta Edition 20261021**, includes the Core rules, optional advanced command systems, and a historically researched introductory scenario covering the Battle of the Rosebud (June 17, 1876), playable on a 4 × 2-foot battlefield.

Future Development

A companion *Core Playbook* is planned, with an anticipated collection of approximately 10–15 historical scenarios across the Core Rulebook and Playbook, counting the introductory Rosebud scenario. Potential subjects include Kissingen, Miahuatlán, Tacna, Tamai, Slivnitsa, Dogba, the Luama River, Pyongyang, Calumpit, and Lombard's Kop.

Further Scenario Books and Campaign Books are envisioned, together with additional guidance for umpired historical command play under the working concept *Command in the Field*.

Playtesting and Document Development

The present priority is refining the historical and mechanical foundations of the game, clarifying procedures, and gathering feedback from actual play.

Final page numbering, navigable headings, and similar production improvements will follow once the Core Rulebook has reached a more stable stage of development. Dedicated Quick Reference Sheets will be developed after the Core rules have been finalized.

I'm particularly interested in constructive feedback concerning historical plausibility, movement, command, combat resolution, unit states, rules clarity, and overall tabletop pacing.

Wire & Volley and its planned companion publications will remain completely free.

Download — Wire & Volley Beta Edition 20261021:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e36jDGH_IJSGKAj04HKofdjwytNU4duK/view?usp=drive_link

Comments, questions, and playtest experiences are very welcome!

[sultanbev]

Impressive, coincidently similar to the rules I'm doing for similar and earlier 19th century era, but using 2D6 and 1" = 20m for ground scale, with 1 base ~ 80 men. You're are covering the same ideas as I have too.
OMG, even your low ammo roll is the same as mine, but the other way round!

"The total number of 1s rolled exceeds the total number of 6s rolled."
I have it as more 6s than misses.
Wow.
Great minds think alike, or are you secretly mind reading me? 

Hopefully there will be room for both sets of rules if they ever come to publication. To be fair mine are aimed at 1825-1885ish, before the use of magazine bolt action rifles, and a preceding one for Napoleonics.

Mark Bevis

[Navaronegun]

OMG, even your low ammo roll is the same as mine, but the other way round!

"The total number of 1s rolled exceeds the total number of 6s rolled."
I have it as more 6s than misses

Well, my goal was to keep the whole thing simple with a simple sixes and one's logic, but my biggest concern was getting the curve correct where relatively speaking as the technology increases the chances of running out of ammunition on a battlefield increase as well due to increasing consumption because of technological change

Good luck!  Maybe great minds think alike! 😁. I think my biggest balancing act is trying to keep away from explicit weapons lists, but still allowing for intelligent decision spaces by commanders on both sides. Beyond just the tactical engine. 

I also don't want to get anywhere near your ground scale: The notional battalion as the primary moving unit I think gets me after the battlefield decisions I want to explore. Thanks for the very kind words.