When Larry drafted the original set of The Sword and The Flame rules (usually referred to as TSATF) he had 5 main objectives.

This poem talks about Queen Victoria and how the empire she rules is so powerful because of the sacrifice that her soldiers make; the relevant part reads: Walk wide o' the Widow at Windsor, For 'alf o' Creation she owns: We 'ave bought 'er the same with the sword an' the flame, An' we've salted it down with our bones.

Steve Winter comments: "The Sword and the Flame is the closest thing that any historical period has to a universal set of rules.

Even the rare colonial wargamer who doesn't use The Sword and the Flame for his own games has certainly played with them at some point.

At wargame conventions, the vast majority of colonial-themed games use TS&TF, not only because it's fast moving and fun but because everyone knows the rules.