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Battlefront Miniatures will be releasing a 'starter set' for their 'Flames Of War' 15mm World War II wargame. The starter set will include the following:

Open Fire! includes:

Complete Flames Of War full-colour mini-rulebook; 164 pages of clearly laid out rules with plenty of diagrams, including: Rules for tanks, infantry, artillery, aircraft, snipers, reconnaissance, night fighting, fortifications, street fighting, and more.

16 page full-colour introduction booklet. Learn the skills needed to become a famous World War II general.

3 detailed American Sherman tank miniatures.
2 detailed German StuG G assault gun miniatures.
3 American dice.
2 German dice.

All for $40 U.S.

http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=1024

I've never played; is that a deal?

That is good value. I was just wondering the other day why they had not done this already. I cant help but think that a few more models would be good though, as 5 tanks is not that impressive. Some infantry would break things up a bit but they are not as much fun to paint and would be quite weak with the tanks on the battlefield so it is a tough choice!

I already have a rulebook but a 'travel' copy would be handy and Stug III G's are usable in both mid and late war. Shermans can also be used in both periods and are usable in British, American and Russian lists.

If I split this with a mate I may have the beginings of a Stug company. I think there's a list for that somewhere.

There's a Stug battery list in Stalin's Onslaught, but any Panzerkomopanie can use Stugs instead of true tanks if you prefer.

Maelstrom Games have it on pre-order for £20.70. RRP is listed as £23.

One thing to note is that the tanks look to be even more resin based than the normal ones - the tracks are resin on these shermans whereas the regular shermans have metal tracks, which might mean worse detail and if their jeeps are anything to go by, the underside of the tanks will be quite ugly. Still very good value compared to buying the rules and models individually though, and a detailed explanation of all the things that you can get for FoW has been needed for a long time.

ooo - want it - don't mind about the resin tanks - really want the mini rule book

I suppose it will hook a few kids, but it looks to dumed down to appeal to anyone with a genuine interest in going into WW2 gaming?

Flames of War in general or just this starter set?

legoburner wrote:That is good value. I was just wondering the other day why they had not done this already. I cant help but think that a few more models would be good though, as 5 tanks is not that impressive. Some infantry would break things up a bit but they are not as much fun to paint and would be quite weak with the tanks on the battlefield so it is a tough choice!

I agree. According to the thread on the FoW forum, there are rules for adding infantry into the mix, maybe there's some sort of cardboard with picture of infantry on it?

The tracks are plastic I believe. On the Sherman for sure as they all are now. I haven't seen the Stug but they make plastic MKIV tracks.

Overall it's an interesting idea and should probably bring a few folks into the game. But FoW isn't really a game to play a simple tank-on-tank action with.

davidjones wrote:I suppose it will hook a few kids, but it looks to dumed down to appeal to anyone with a genuine interest in going into WW2 gaming?

It depends what you want of a game. There are other historical rulesets out there to apply to people who want to partake in "true historical wargaming", that elitist hobby of rapidly aging and infinitesimal player bases. Flames of War was designed to run faster and be more accessible to Joe Average. It's about as much a traditional wargame as the Warhammer Historical series is.

"Flames of War was designed to run faster and be more accessible to Joe Average."

Exactly. FoW gives a nice historical feel but is certainly no 'simulation'. But they make solid efforts to keep the accuracy in there at a gameable level and the various army/campaign books themselves have more history in them than the average (non-historical wargamer) has probably ever read.

Certain Grognards have raised their nose at FoW, but they are missing out on a fun game and also missing the point that FoW has brought historical gaming to loads of people who would have never looked at it otherwise.

15mm is a great scale and anyone looking for more can move on from FoW to more hardcore rules while still using their same investment. It's a win-win.

5 tanks seems like a pretty small number of figures for a starter set.

I'll definitely buy this mostly for the mini-rulebook. Although the StuGs will also be a nice addition to my nearly finished Grenadiers.

legoburner wrote:One thing to note is that the tanks look to be even more resin based than the normal ones - the tracks are resin on these shermans whereas the regular shermans have metal tracks, which might mean worse detail and if their jeeps are anything to go by, the underside of the tanks will be quite ugly. Still very good value compared to buying the rules and models individually though, and a detailed explanation of all the things that you can get for FoW has been needed for a long time.

The tracks and accessories for Shermans have been plastic for a while now.

Ifurita wrote:5 tanks seems like a pretty small number of figures for a starter set.

Considering that buying the 5 tanks separately would cost £32.50 and the box price is £23 I'd say it was a pretty good deal. And at that price point it's much cheaper as a starter than most comparable games, which IMHO is a huge selling point. If you buy the starter and don't get into the game you're only out just over 20 quid, which will likely increase impulse buys.

Yeah FOW is the historical game for the nonhistorical gamer. Its sort of GW dressed as a WWII game. I found it very easy to pick up and play with my GW back ground.

I played several other more "historically" acurate game with a buddy who is way into that scene. Some of that stuff was crazy books and alot like playing 2nd ed again you needed a slide rule to see if you could hit the enemy tank. There were guys giving you crap because the tank you just put on the board didnt come out till the winter of the year you were playing and its currently summer!

When I got out of FOW ( no one in my area plays when I can after I moved) it was starting to get alot more rule books. The figs are nice, and the tourny scene was alot less stressful than I was used to.

If you have the time and players for another mini game its worth playing.

Oh, that is very nice.

And those are StuG III Ausf.G. Even better.

I will want to get my friends into this to split a box!


Aside, for those who complain about resin / plastic quality, you probably haven't dealt with lead tanks. Those bad boys have heat warpage and mold line issues you can't even imagine.

Oooh fun! Finally a good and cheap reason to give this game a try as well. Might as well pick up some Cromwell's and a Firefly so I can lure my girl into playing as well.

davidjones wrote:I suppose it will hook a few kids, but it looks to dumed down to appeal to anyone with a genuine interest in going into WW2 gaming?

YaY! Me ams kan be playing the wwtwos!

Seriously though...

... I'm going to see about ordering one of these through my local LGS. I'm been looking for a way to get into FoW.

I knocked up some quick 600 (and five) point late-war lists you could field with two sets and a blister or so of models added to each force.

10 SS Panzerdivision (Fearless Veteran).

Company Cmd (Stug III G)
SS Panzer Platoon (3x Stug III G)
SS Panzergrenadier Platoon (Cmd MG team, 4x MG teams & 3x optional trucks)

3rd 'Spearhead' Armoured Division (Confident Trained).

Company Command & 2ic Command (2x M4 Sherman)
Tank Platoon (4x M4 Sherman)
Armoured Rifle Platoon (Cmd Rifle team, 3x Rifle teams, 4x Bazooka teams, M2 Mortar team, 2x 1919 LMG teams & 4x M3 Half track)

Captain Vyper wrote:Yeah FOW is the historical game for the nonhistorical gamer. Its sort of GW dressed as a WWII game. I found it very easy to pick up and play with my GW back ground.

It's Warhammer 1.942K!

Who cares if people likt the ruleset or not, 15mm is 15mm. Get the minis and play a different ruleset*






*Personally, I have no qualms with FoW

A 15mm WWII force is an investment for life, there will always be a popular ruleset for it.

legoburner is correct. The models in the starter are all resin. Only the barrels are white metal. The assembly guide can be seen in the middle pic in the link above.

Gotta love FoW, it has a lot of the kiddos all interested in 'history'. So is the mini-rulebook the same one as the one that was given away to those who had the 1st Ed. book, or is it updated or shortened in some way? I know the original one (bad binding and all) was like the BfM and BfSP mini-books that had all the rules and scenarios, just not all the fluff and modeling.

It should be the previously released mini rulebook. I plan on picking up a set. I could use two OP Shermans for my Sextons. $40 - $22 = $18 for an additional Sherman, two StuGs some dice and the miniature rulebook. A pretty good value in my book.