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Alright I think it sounds but I don't know anything AT ALL about it. Can anyone give me any information on it? Is it model based? If so how big are the models ect.

Thanks in advance

It is awsome. Though you have asked a heck of allot. You may be better off going to http://www.flamesofwar.com if you want an overview.

It's neat, but I personally am not thrilled with the way the rules are written... but that's a HUGE difference from not being thrilled with how they play.

There's some other good starter threads on this forum. In general, if you're interested get either the main rulebook and an army book or the Open Fire starter set to get the basic concepts down.

The game seems to be oriented around 'teams' which may be a single Warrior ("Special Character"), a group of 3-5 infantry, or a single vehicle. Teams are organized into platoons which act together, and teams fire and are removed as a unit. (So you lose entire bases of infantry with each shot, instead of worrying about individual troopers.)

Thanks guys.

FoW definitely feels like someone wanted to apply the old-style GW sense of 'making a fun game' to the somewhat traditional historical gaming mindset... Trying to get the best of both worlds.

FoW is my favorite miniatures game so I'm biased, just to get that out there...but saying that it's an attempt to mix historicals with playability doesn't sound too inaccurate to me...and it's a good thing. The impression I get from reading about historical games which attempt to be "pure" is that they can be overly-complicated or -restrictive. FoW gives you a lot of leeway when it comes to building your armies but also imposes a reasonable level of historical accuracy on the composition of your forces based on the campaign book you are using...forces set during Operation Market Garden (the newest book) are going to reflect the forces actually fielded during those battles.

The only issue I have with FoW is the use of on-field artillery. The game uses a "telescoping" system of scale which I don't think works for artillery. Too often I've seen artillery batteries getting wiped out in early turns which does not strike me as very realistic. Artillery usually was put down behind the front lines, and the troops on the front would call in strikes. In many games of FoW it comes down to artillery suppressing/destroying enemy artillery in the early turns because the artillery is WAY closer to the front than it really ought to be.

There's a rule called "Across the Volga" which allows artillery batteries to be deployed off-board, so they can't be shot, but they also don't contribute to company strength.

There are quite a few complaints about it though, since unanswerable artillery fire can be rather annoying, especially against Americans who have both airborne artillery spotters and platoon commanders who can also spot. Against other nations, being able to gank the observers to silence the guns makes it a little better.

Rules for counterbattery fire might make it a bit more palatable, either through your own guns or aircraft.

Kinda need counter-battery fire... It was a prime part of artillery doctrine.

Inasmuch as FoW wants to be about WW II, I think off-board artillery makes sense.

I will admit that American AoP's are annoying as hell. I may actually have to start taking AA units just to swat them down. AoP's make it impossible to hide your artillery. I lost a whole platoon of Hummels last game without ever getting to fire a single bombardment b/c their aerial spotters just sat right on top of the platoon and called down all their artillery on it first turn. Not fun.

Cairnius wrote:Inasmuch as FoW wants to be about WW II, I think off-board artillery makes sense.

I will admit that American AoP's are annoying as hell. I may actually have to start taking AA units just to swat them down. AoP's make it impossible to hide your artillery. I lost a whole platoon of Hummels last game without ever getting to fire a single bombardment b/c their aerial spotters just sat right on top of the platoon and called down all their artillery on it first turn. Not fun.

Though probably quite realistic... To be fair AAOPs were in their infancy during WW2, but the US Army were really perfecting the method (as too were the British) by 1945.

Though if it was realistic those Hummels would have no fuel and little ammo!