Fire is one of the greatest discoveries:

a tool reflecting warmth and light, but also disaster and destruction.

It can be used in everyday life or as a weapon of war.

For game purposes, the primary facts to be known are how fast fires spread, and how long they burn.

The following table gives the Spreading Times for fires in differ- ent materials.

To use this table start in the column labeled “T” (torch) on the line of the fuel at hand.

Following this line across gives the time in phases for the fire to spread one hex to the next biggest size (see the top line).

As an example, consider a torch dropped in a hayfield.

After 3 phases it grows to one full hex;

2 more phases and it has grown to all 6 adjacent hexes, making it a total of seven hexes.

Fire Spreading and Burning Time In Phases Size In Hexes Burning Time Fuel T 1 2- 7 8-19 20-37 38+ (phases) grass/hay 3 2 2 1 1 1 15 light brush 4 3 3 2 1 1 30 heavy brush 10 8 8 4 3 2 120 forest 40 36 28 18 8 3 360 lumber 50 45 35 25 15 5 240 hardwood 80 70 60 45 30 10 600 This table assumes the fuel is dry.

If the fuel is damp the Spreading Time is 10 times longer, and if wet, 20 times longer.

Oil fires spread at 5 hexes per phase, alcohol at 8 hexes per phase.

When oil has fully spread (see section 9.5) it burns for one minute.

Alcohol burns for ten phases.

Wind aids spreading fires.

For every 10 MPH the fire spreads twice as fast in the direction of the wind, and half as fast against the wind.

This means a one hex per 3 phase fire spreads at 2 hexes per 3 phases with the wind.

A fire will naturally go out if the Spreading Time (ST) is greater than the Burning Time (BT).

As an example, consider a 7 hex fire in dry heavy brush reaching an area which has been wetted by a fire crew.

The ST in wet heavy brush is 8 x 20 or 160 phases.

Since the BT is 120 phases, the fire goes out after 120 phases and does not advance into the wet brush.

A fire crew of N men with shovels can put out a fire over 3 x N x N x ST / BT hexes each BT phases.

A crew with buckets of water is six times more effective.

As an example, 20 men with shovels can put out a fire with an ST = 4 in an area of 3 x 20 x 20 x 4/120 = 40 hexes each 120 phases.

If they had buckets of water they could work 6 x 40 = 240 hexes in the same time.

Fire damage to a human depends on proximity.

Direct contact with flames causes 20 Physical Damage (PD) points per phase if only the legs are involved and 60 PD per phase if the whole body is enveloped.

Being within 2 hexes of a large fire (38+ hexes size) causes 10 PD per phase.

Armor halves damage, but only for three phases.

Smoke limits visibility to 20-50 hexes.

Men who have been in smoke have their Spotting skill levels reduced to zero for 5 minutes.

Smoke in a confined area asphyx- iates men in 15 phases.

09.06-fires.txt