Battlefront have announced a new starter set for Flames of War due to be released on the 20th October, price £50.

It is called Open Fire! - BUT this is not to be confused with the previous incarnation of Blitzkrieg which was also called Open Fire! Yeah I know.

Contents:
∙ A 52 Page Full Colour Quick Start Guide. ∙ A 296 Page Full Colour Complete Rulebook. ∙ More Than 118 Finely Detailed Miniatures. ∙ V1 Flying Bomb Terrain Feature. ∙ Cardboard Terrain. ∙ Tokens. ∙ Objective Markers. ∙ Army Lists. ∙ 20 Dice.

The 'finely detailed' figures make -
"a British armoured squadron with support from some fearless US paratroopers" that's 6 Sherman tanks, 2 Firefly tanks and a platoon (32 figs) of US Paratroopers
830 points assuming no tanks have 50 cals mounted

"German grenadier company defending their V1 launcher" "with the aid of a StuG platoon and some anti-tank guns" a company? of Grenadiers (73 figs), 2 Pak 40's Anti Tank guns, and 3 StuG Assault Guns
785 points assuming Panzerfaust all round - I think (that only covers 66 figs, I assume the rest are options & command for the a/t guns).

That is the core of two very solid armies, which you can play as provided or add support to bring up to 1750 points. I know this news have been overshadowed by another (Oh so shiny) starter set, but it from what I have seen so far it looks to be an excellent, and cheep, starting point for anyone who is interested in Flames of war.

Link to info on FOW website: www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=3438
Note: Stafford games (and I assume by now a few others) already have it up on pre order.

Could someone more experienced in posting add some of the pictures for this please. Thanks (my first real post )

Interesting, is £50 RRP or discounted?

...but do I need more shermans?

Of course you do you fool!

We have it up... click on the rotating ad for Wayland at the top of the page.. so Dakka gets some support.

I was going to amend my post but rich is right - to find out click and support!

IPhone doesn't have the Ad bands (thankfully ).

But a quick look on WG has indeed indicated the £50 is RRP but £45 frm WG.

 notprop wrote:
Interesting, is £50 RRP or discounted?

wayland has it up for pre-order at 45 quid for dispatch october 20th.

That starter set looks like a pretty good deal, might be time to get into flames of war

For me, the FoW infantry models have always been quite weak...

...maybe not anymore. The detail on these guys is pretty good considering the scale

Are those infantry members PLASTIC>!?!?

While people may talk about 1750 being the full sized army, Flames of War works really, really well at lower point values. I know local guys will often run 750 and 1000 point tournaments and they end up selling out of available spots every time.

Very true Frozenwastes - just my personal preference/prejudice. I am too used to tourneys up here being set at that level.

The 'Aces' campaigns are all set at a much lower level, 500, 700 and 900 points depending on the stage of the campaign and they are great fun.

So is Flames of War finally going plastic?!

 bbb wrote:
So is Flames of War finally going plastic?!

Probably over time like GW (i.e. it will take some time to redo all the kits). This starter set certainly sparks my interest though (more so than the other one about to be released). Been looking for an easy way into FoW.

Here's a pic of the content btw...

That's a fair amount of plastic, and an excellent amount of stuff overall, for that price point.

It's good to see another big TTG/Minis company stepping up to the plate with a good deal on a nice starter boxed set.

I don't need any more FoW stuff, but I will buy this for sure.

Those plastics look great. Unfortunately, I hate painting the little bastards.

Images for the workblocked or just plain lazy:













These models are really, really nice. I've enjoyed FoW the one or two times I've played it and I think this might be what it takes to get me into the game!

Is the British tanks/US Paratroopers something that is supported by any normal FoW lists? I thought most were single-country, but I am certainly not an expert.

Its quite normal. Pretty much any US airborne list an take Brits as allies. Many other countries/lists can do the same thing. (IE Germans and Finns, US and New Zealand, etc.)

 Balance wrote:
Is the British tanks/US Paratroopers something that is supported by any normal FoW lists? I thought most were single-country, but I am certainly not an expert.

When I calculated the points I used army lists from the forces book that comes with the main rules.
Most FOW army lists are mainly (if not completely) one nation, but they do use historical allies. The US Airborne did fight alongside British armour such as at Market Garden.

With the wind blowing paratroopers off course, US airborne ended up fighting alongside lots of different British and Canadian outfits at D-Day, and during Operation Husky (allied invasion of Sicily).

Really excited about this starter set - one of the best I've seen in a long time. And for me, it's even better when you consider that FOW want you to know about this, and are happy to give people advance warning. What a breath of fresh air compared to you - know - who.

Wow that is even more interesting to me than the new 40k set!

I cant really afford to invest in another system... but I guess I will have to cave in now that the plastic infantry models look as amazing as they do.

Anyone want to buy a kidney? Spleen? I have 10 toes for sale as well!

 pixelpusher wrote:
I cant really afford to invest in another system... but I guess I will have to cave in now that the plastic infantry models look as amazing as they do.

Anyone want to buy a kidney? Spleen? I have 10 toes for sale as well!

I am amazed everytime I see a post like this. There are multiple companies that sell 15mm models far far cheaper than BF do and the casting has usually been better. Plastic Soldier has been doing shermans in plastic for the last year @ 5 for $30 and have a growing number of plastic armies. I believe you can pick up 100 plastic 15mm russian and german solders for $26-30 and 16 heavy weapon teams for around $25.

BF have no control on WW2 imagery. People need to use a bit of commonsense and not rely on the rip-offs that BF constantly do.

Damn, this is a step up from the previous starter.

 pixelpusher wrote:
I cant really afford to invest in another system...

I can.

It's my group who can't/won't.

Saw this on the FoW forum, looks like good stuff

From the images these look to be the best 15mm Plastic Infantry on the market

Totally going to get this starter. Maybe I should start reading the rulebook.

 fullheadofhair wrote:

 pixelpusher wrote:
I cant really afford to invest in another system... but I guess I will have to cave in now that the plastic infantry models look as amazing as they do.

Anyone want to buy a kidney? Spleen? I have 10 toes for sale as well!

I am amazed everytime I see a post like this. There are multiple companies that sell 15mm models far far cheaper than BF do and the casting has usually been better. Plastic Soldier has been doing shermans in plastic for the last year @ 5 for $30 and have a growing number of plastic armies. I believe you can pick up 100 plastic 15mm russian and german solders for $26-30 and 16 heavy weapon teams for around $25.

BF have no control on WW2 imagery. People need to use a bit of commonsense and not rely on the rip-offs that BF constantly do.

Depending on price I might pick this up. The mini-rulebook certainly adds value, and it's not like picking up this box will be stopping me from using my PSC Shermans, Panzer IVs, Panthers, Stugs, or T-34s. (assuming I ever receive/build them!)

 fullheadofhair wrote:

 pixelpusher wrote:
I cant really afford to invest in another system... but I guess I will have to cave in now that the plastic infantry models look as amazing as they do.

Anyone want to buy a kidney? Spleen? I have 10 toes for sale as well!

I am amazed everytime I see a post like this. There are multiple companies that sell 15mm models far far cheaper than BF do and the casting has usually been better. Plastic Soldier has been doing shermans in plastic for the last year @ 5 for $30 and have a growing number of plastic armies. I believe you can pick up 100 plastic 15mm russian and german solders for $26-30 and 16 heavy weapon teams for around $25.

BF have no control on WW2 imagery. People need to use a bit of commonsense and not rely on the rip-offs that BF constantly do.

I'm amazed every time I see a post like this. Don't underestimate the power of a one stop shop-solution. (If BF sold glue I would buy that together with the new copy of Weiße Zwerg, honestly.)
Checked out the PSC-stuff long ago, but couldn't really figure out what was what and what I needed. Some stuff wasn't avaliable etc. etc. The new plastic infantry from BF also looks better than what I saw on PSC. IIRC

So... any bids on my kidney(s)?

Seems they learned from Plastic Soldier and released cheaper tanks.
And finally Infantry miniatures that look human. Like the direction.

Oh wow! Those are infinitely better than metal/ resin ones.

I was severely hoping FOW would go plastic. Does anyone know if this will continue across their entire range?

 Kroothawk wrote:
Seems they learned from Plastic Soldier and released cheaper tanks.
And finally Infantry miniatures that look human. Like the direction.

Right.. not sure if it's a case of 'McDonalds hamburger in the photo, looks better than the real thing' or not, but those look stunning.

I've got masses of the older metal guys, and these look like a vast improvement. The pumpkin heads have gone, for one thing..

The previous mini rule books were easy to read. This game isn't hard, but requires a lot more tactics.

 pixelpusher wrote:

 fullheadofhair wrote:

 pixelpusher wrote:
I cant really afford to invest in another system... but I guess I will have to cave in now that the plastic infantry models look as amazing as they do.

Anyone want to buy a kidney? Spleen? I have 10 toes for sale as well!

I am amazed everytime I see a post like this. There are multiple companies that sell 15mm models far far cheaper than BF do and the casting has usually been better. Plastic Soldier has been doing shermans in plastic for the last year @ 5 for $30 and have a growing number of plastic armies. I believe you can pick up 100 plastic 15mm russian and german solders for $26-30 and 16 heavy weapon teams for around $25.

BF have no control on WW2 imagery. People need to use a bit of commonsense and not rely on the rip-offs that BF constantly do.

I'm amazed every time I see a post like this. Don't underestimate the power of a one stop shop-solution. (If BF sold glue I would buy that together with the new copy of Weiße Zwerg, honestly.)
Checked out the PSC-stuff long ago, but couldn't really figure out what was what and what I needed. Some stuff wasn't avaliable etc. etc. The new plastic infantry from BF also looks better than what I saw on PSC. IIRC

So... any bids on my kidney(s)?

They do have their own glue and hobby supplies. GF9 = Battlefront,

 Moopy wrote:
Oh wow! Those are infinitely better than metal/ resin ones.

I was severely hoping FOW would go plastic. Does anyone know if this will continue across their entire range?

They basically had to go plastic, PSC were severely undercutting them (and probably still will be) and allegedly PSC are having a significant impact on BF's sales.

I'm not 100% sold on these. The Shermans don't look to be as detailed as the PSC ones (although if they have stronger gun barrels than the PSC kits , especially the 17 pounder, I would probably still use them) while the infantry look OK but nothing special.

I wouldn't put too much value on the mini rulebook unless they have rectified some serious quality issues since the 'free' mini book release. The pages were literally falling out of mine before I had even read it.

PSC = Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center?

Plastic Soldier Company

 fullheadofhair wrote:

 pixelpusher wrote:
I cant really afford to invest in another system... but I guess I will have to cave in now that the plastic infantry models look as amazing as they do.

Anyone want to buy a kidney? Spleen? I have 10 toes for sale as well!

I am amazed everytime I see a post like this. There are multiple companies that sell 15mm models far far cheaper than BF do and the casting has usually been better. Plastic Soldier has been doing shermans in plastic for the last year @ 5 for $30 and have a growing number of plastic armies. I believe you can pick up 100 plastic 15mm russian and german solders for $26-30 and 16 heavy weapon teams for around $25.

BF have no control on WW2 imagery. People need to use a bit of commonsense and not rely on the rip-offs that BF constantly do.

Prices aren't that bad. For the US reals its $80 bucks or so. For the UK its 45 pounds. IMHO that's a really great deal.

According to Battlefront staff on their forums the price is as follows;
UK₤ Price £50.00
Euro€ Price €60.00
US$ Price $70.00
Aus$ Price $80.00
NZ$ Price $95.00

Highly tempting

nvm posted in the wrong thread

 wana10 wrote:
According to Battlefront staff on their forums the price is as follows;
Euro€ Price €60.00

Wow, that's not as bad as I feared it to be.

This looks very interesting!
Can some one tell me about this game? How easy are the rules to learn, how long do games the size of the starter set last, and would this be a good game to try to get my family to start playing? (my brothers refuse to even try warhammer because the rules are "too complicated")
Thanks!

No more complicated than 40k. There are only three ratings for units ability conscript, trained and veteran; and three for morale.

Weapons and vehicles have only three stats. So that side is pretty straight forward too.

There are plenty of special rules too.

All in all it is very similar to 40k but with a historical bent. Look on the Battlefront forum here for more detail, this question has been asked many time there.

 notprop wrote:

All in all it is very similar to 40k but with a historical bent. Look on the Battlefront forum here for more detail, this question has been asked many time there.

The game plays quite differently and it has a much greater degree of tactical depth than 40k but it was written by ex GW staff and they were clearly influenced by GW. Its a good introductory historical ruleset.

A 700 point game can be finished within an hour and the rules are easy to learn.

Yeah, it's often described as a "wargame with a historical setting" than a "historical wargame".

If you want to keep it simple and flud stick to tanks. After that add guns and then infantry.

That set looks amazing!

Thank God I held off on buying infantry and anti-tank guns for my late war germans.

This is a great move by BF. It is certainly going to make it easier to get some new blood in the FoW community as well.

Now this, this is something I could split 50/50 with my friend who wants to start FoW. As long as I get the allies.

I mentioned before, I already have all the US/German FoW I need, however....

The value of this box can't be denied and the price point makes entry into FoW pretty easy.

I almost see this set as a really nice Boardgame and could almost be played as such.

$70 is nothing for a good Boardgame, it has a lot of plastic, and some quickstart rules will get people into battle quick.

Glue everything together, play on the dining room table with various items as terrain, wrap it up in a couple hours.

Very solid set and idea from BF. I hope it nets them more players.

I just realized that possibly the battle report they made for the bootcamp tutorials use the models from the new started set:
http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=106
(video 14)

Actually they even offered FoW to GW and they declined since they decided that "not enough people would play such a game".

@mini-rules
The day I got it got cut off the spine and got it ringbound. That's the only way to use this book. BF should deliver all minis ringbound from the beginning on.

New pics

Always wanted to try FOW, this may be what puts me over the edge. Does it come with whippy stick rulers?

I have to say, the plastic infantry looks awesome. I guess there will be a lot of pressure to do,more variants in the future. It's nice that Battlefront has apparently taken some of their shortcomings to heart and produced models that try to rectify them. Competition from Plastic Soldier Company can't have gone unnoticed, either. Here's hoping we can see more plastics in FoW to come.

 Moopy wrote:

I wouldn't put too much value on the mini rulebook unless they have rectified some serious quality issues since the 'free' mini book release. The pages were literally falling out of mine before I had even read it.

Their mini rulebooks do tend to come apart with use but that really isn't an issue for me. The first thing I did with mine was take it to the local office supply store and have it spiral bound so it lays flat on the table. Super cheap and makes the book really easy to use during game time. Also, if you like you can have the front and back covers laminated to protect the book from rough handling when you get it spiral bound.

My lack of interest in WW2 is a shame when i see something like this... such nice models

Amazing minis*. Pity it's Americans vs Germans and no Brits though. Guess, I'll have play the Germans when I buy this set

*Considering the scale

There's British armour to support the GI's. Two platoons worth infact.

 notprop wrote:
There's British armour to support the GI's. Two platoons worth infact.

Huzzah!

What I'd really like is to base games around the North Africa conflict. No Americans there (well not many anyway)

Looks rather nice, though I have had my reservations about getting into a proper "historical" game due to generally historical players being a little more uppity about not having accurate schemes etc. and the games lacking the "sandbox" nature of a work of fiction, but FOW is slowly luring me to their cause. Always wanted to do some ind of Soviet horde army.

Plus we get a new spin on a old meme with the boxart.

 Flashman wrote:
...What I'd really like is to base games around the North Africa conflict. No Americans there (well not many anyway)

Whaaaa?

The thousands of Americans who participated in Operation Torch and the Tunisia Campaign would like to disagree with you.

If you meant "Western Desert" which typically means Libya and Egypt I agree.

BTW, for those interested the 82nd Airborne participated in Operation Torch and the Tunisia Campaign.

 Consul Scipio wrote:

 Flashman wrote:
...What I'd really like is to base games around the North Africa conflict. No Americans there (well not many anyway)

Whaaaa?

The thousands of Americans who participated in Operation Torch and the Tunisia Campaign would like to disagree with you.

If you meant "Western Desert" which typically means Libya and Egypt I agree.

BTW, for those interested the 82nd Airborne participated in Operation Torch and the Tunisia Campaign.

Pfft, we'd already won North Africa by the time you guys showed up

NVM, I didn't see the other posts.

 Consul Scipio wrote:

 Flashman wrote:
...What I'd really like is to base games around the North Africa conflict. No Americans there (well not many anyway)

Whaaaa?

The thousands of Americans who participated in Operation Torch and the Tunisia Campaign would like to disagree with you.

If you meant "Western Desert" which typically means Libya and Egypt I agree.

BTW, for those interested the 82nd Airborne participated in Operation Torch and the Tunisia Campaign.

North Africa was basically a training excerise for the US troops, they didn't exactly shower themselves in glory.

Hi, I just found this offer from Wayland Games when browsing for easily accesible to buy starter sets. You can probably buy them cheaper with smaller online stores but Wayalnd Games is also offering free shopping and a nice discount of 10% bringing down the cost of the set to £45. If somebody else knows an even cheaper source which includes worldwide shipping please let me know.



Here's a link to thier offer and you may even receive a free copy of Devil's Charge when you decide to order some more FOW stuff (offer when combined £100)!

http://www.waylandgames.co.uk/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=244

Cheers and hoping for even cheaper options as I can't find the kit on the battlefront website for some reason only the first starterset with the tanks is shown.

Palindrome wrote:

 Consul Scipio wrote:

 Flashman wrote:
...What I'd really like is to base games around the North Africa conflict. No Americans there (well not many anyway)

Whaaaa?

The thousands of Americans who participated in Operation Torch and the Tunisia Campaign would like to disagree with you.

If you meant "Western Desert" which typically means Libya and Egypt I agree.

BTW, for those interested the 82nd Airborne participated in Operation Torch and the Tunisia Campaign.

North Africa was basically a training excerise for the US troops, they didn't exactly shower themselves in glory.

...and this, boys and girls, is how historical wargamers usually end up starting flamewars.

Bolognesus wrote:

...and this, boys and girls, is how historical wargamers usually end up starting flamewars.

And this is how Flames of War got its name

Maybe in the future there might be more starter packs for other eras in the war. Though doubtful (and they will likely include germans!)

Seeing as they still don't have the Pacific covered, Germany it is.

For those interested, the specific area that this box set comes from would most closely be approximaetd with the Operation: Market Garden series of books (A Bridge too Far, Hells Highway).

I did a rough point out, and the allied forces are just about 1000 points of CV british armored with us para support. The Germans are only about 800 of CV, but you could probably stretch them into FV SS troops and increase the point count.

I've seem some other discussion of where 3 boxes would pretty much give you three different 1500 point armies (US para, Brit armored, German Grenadier or German StuG)

You are still going to hit sticker shock if you want the things that aren't in this box. Like artillery. A basic artillery unit is going to hit you for $75-$100 retail. And if you want to stick to BF models, don't go into Russian armies with a weak checking account.

Bolognesus wrote:

...and this, boys and girls, is how historical wargamers usually end up starting flamewars.

Even General Patton said so

So what era is this starter set aimed for? (I'm new, but I've read enough to know that question is important.)

I'm assuming that getting the current set Auctung! would be redundant with this set? Meaning, you couldn't really use 6 shermans or 5 StuG's in the same army, right?

The set is Late War.

Just been perusing FoW website. It's like the GW website 5 years ago.

I hope to God that the FoW approach represents the better business strategy.

 BrookM wrote:
The set is Late War.

Thanks, any elements that could be mid-war? What about combining with the Auchtung! set?

The Infantry, StuGs and Shermans. Basically everything but the Fireflies and the Panzerfausts/shreks.

You can certainly use 6 shermans or 5 stugs in one army. I think I've had as many as 10 Stugs on the table in my Finnish army (7 Finnish, 3 German).

The rule book is redundant, but I think if I was going to share with a buddy and needed two rule books, it would certainly be a good place to start.

For mid war....I think the shermans are usable for the british. The Sherman V might be a variation too late, but I do know Shermans are available to midwar brits. The American paras I don't think are in any midwar list, but unless the models are -super- para specific, they could pass as any US infantry model.

The Germans, short of the panzerschrek and panzerfausts should all be useable in mid-war. There might be a few bits of kit that are not of that era, but other than hard core rivet counters, most players aren't going to bat an eye.

Now, you will be paying a premium for Shermans and Stugs and PaK 40s in mid war, but there are lists out there with them.

Shotgun wrote:

For mid war....I think the shermans are usable for the british. The Sherman V might be a variation too late, but I do know Shermans are available to midwar brits.

To be honest there isn't a huge amount of visual variation between 75mm armed Shermans. The main difference is that the early models (Sherman I and II) had a smooth curved hull and the later models (III - V) had an angular hull but as the angular hull started being used in 1943 so its not much of an issue. There are smaller differences of course, hatche placement and the like. but it really depends on how much of a rivet counter you are.

 Flashman wrote:

 notprop wrote:
There's British armour to support the GI's. Two platoons worth infact.

Huzzah!

What I'd really like is to base games around the North Africa conflict. No Americans there (well not many anyway)

Huzzah indeed.

I have one of Battlefront's plastic shermans and they are quite good.

If the American (or even German) infantry don't take your fancy i'd be happy to buy them off of you. I might even have some spare British Paras around here somewhere for a swap?

I have been sent some sprues from the set and the paras are quite specifically paras due to the helmets. However they could easily be brit paras with the appropriate paint job.


The germans are a lot more generic and could cover lots of units. The firefly is quite nice to, better than PSC.

The infantry also has very clear crisp detail and looks more substancial than PSC. Cant wait for the set tonbe released!

wana10 wrote:UK₤ Price £50.00
Euro€ Price €60.00
US$ Price $70.00
Aus$ Price $80.00
NZ$ Price $95.00

Converting to USD:

UK Price $78.93
Euro Price $75.73
US Price $70.00
Aus Price $82.39
NZ Price $75.83

Sucks to be Australian. I mean, it sucks to be Australian anyway, but still...

Duncan_Idaho wrote:Actually they even offered FoW to GW and they declined since they decided that "not enough people would play such a game".

Not at the prices they'd want to charge for their minis. Or rather, not without proxying. *grumble* bloody historical minis companies parasitising GW's IP and undercutting them *grumble*

kenshin620 wrote:New pics

Oh, thank god. The plastic paras were looking like bobbleheads in a photo that was circulating but it was just a trick of perspective.

More pics. German 7.5cm PaK40 and the V1 rocket terrain/thingy

Looking forward to the release of this bad boy. My only concern though is that some of these parts look rather fragile and fiddly.

What does a V1 rocket launcher has to do in a starter set? Their target were cities several hundred kilometers away.

 Kroothawk wrote:
What does a V1 rocket launcher has to do in a starter set? Their target were cities several hundred kilometers away.

Objective marker I'd assume.

I imagine its an objective for a starter scenario. Protect/destroy the V1.

I think it's a decent (not great) value. The models look good, but the germans still have marshmellow helmets.

I bought FoW when it first came out. I didn't care for the tiny metal men and infantry having only a single stat. That starter set, with mini rule book and it's awesome plastic figures, looks super sexy and is givng me ideas.

In this thread people are comparing it to 40K, have the rules significantly changed since it's initial release, because I didn't see any resemblance to 40K at all back then ?

It's better than 40k IMO.

When I was growing up watching war films I don't remember seeing any ultramarines! For that reason, FOW will always have more appeal.

 adamsouza wrote:

In this thread people are comparing it to 40K, have the rules significantly changed since it's initial release, because I didn't see any resemblance to 40K at all back then ?

The rules have changed quite a bit since the initial release. IMHO they have tightened the game up and streamlined some of the more cumbersome aspects - like assault. Overall I would say 3rd Ed is a far better game than 1st.

As to it being like 40k, I don't really see it. I play both and I think they only superficially resemble each other and that resemblance is mostly because FoW and 40k both use the traditional Move-Shoot-Assault turn style.

Yes I think so too. I guess in that sense they are kind of similar, in comparison to a lot of the newer style rule mechanics that are being used these days ('reactive turns', card based play and things like that). Although I've found FoW to be a fun and tactically challenging game, to the point where I'm not actually very good at that and so tend to lose a fair number of games

Kroothawk - Yes I guess it must be an objective marker. Again though I can see how people coming from fantasy/sci-fi games might think otherwise, when you often have massive artillery pieces somehow plopping shells on units that would in realistic terms be only 1-200m away!

Those plastic PaK's are a nice addition, I'm fine with metal infantry and tanks, but AT weapons and artillery in metal are a bloody nightmare

 adamsouza wrote:
I bought FoW when it first came out. I didn't care for the tiny metal men and infantry having only a single stat. That starter set, with mini rule book and it's awesome plastic figures, looks super sexy and is givng me ideas.

In this thread people are comparing it to 40K, have the rules significantly changed since it's initial release, because I didn't see any resemblance to 40K at all back then ?

FoW is on their 3rd edition, but most 2nd edition (and maybe 1st) is still technically compatible, but you may want the newer books as they have a lot more options and such.

The rules are still based around stands of multiple infantry and individual vehicles. The WWPD podcast did a great summary of 2nd->3rd changes, but a lot of it seemed tob e 'clean up' to me.

I think it's considered 40k-ish in that it uses 'I-go-You-go' turn order and has a similar 'workflow' in that to make an attack, player A rolls to hit, Player B rolls to save. Additionally rules writing tone is somewhat similar to Warhammer works in the way things are presented. While not sharing common rules, going between FoW and a Warhammer game requires a lot less 'unlearning' than going between Warhammer and Warmachine,w here there's a very different 'workflow' for actions and vastly different systems for command and such. Which is not to insult any game mentioned, just point out that they're different.

Overall, I've heard mostly good things about the rules as long as you're cool with it being a sort of 'gritty movie version' of history, not a 100% accurate historical simulation. Some complain about unrealistic ranges (In general, excusable as otherwise range wouldn't matter unless you're playing on tables that are measured in yards; The most ridiculous example of this issue I've heard of is glider troops who couldn't shoot a pistol from wingtip to wingtip of their glider.) or tank parking lots (Tanks arranged in close formation, which is historically inaccurate. On the other hand, I've heard this can be fodder for well-placed artillery, and does make some sense in scenarios based around a patrol or column of vehicles being attacked or trying to cross a river at a chokepoint).

In general, worth looking into if you want to try a smaller-scale (in size) but larger army (in figure count) games. The historical basis is a big plus for many, too.

Thanks guys, that was informative.

Pics of cardboard terrain and lists

I see a 40 pt difference between the two forces, won't that be problematic?

 BrookM wrote:
I see a 40 pt difference between the two forces, won't that be problematic?

40 points is REALLY hard to fill in. I've made bunches of lists in 1750 usually ending up 30-50 points short with nothing to fill in that gap since there are barely any units you can take for such a low cost. But maybe I'm a terrible list writer, I dont know


Maybe you could house rule the germans getting an extra panzerschreck team, those are usually 15-20 points

Painted rocket and PaK40

This is out.... this week? Have many here ordered it or intend to pick it up? Interested to see people's feedback once it's in hand.

On the games fair "Spiel" in Germany this weekend, a lot of these new starter sets were sold. So only a matter of time, until all retailers get their ordered boxes.