Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I've been interested in it for a while, but I hear not many people play it, and that it's more expensive than 40k to start. Should I purchase the starter kit (with the tanks and the rulebook) and then decide?

I'd like to get some peer input on it, since I'm much more into historical battles than sci fi, although I do enjoy 40k.

Thanks for the input ^^

I don't know if it's really more expensive. I would say the 'essential' rulebooks are a bit more as the main book is a somewhat pricey hardcover and a lot of the army list books are nifty compilations.

If you get the box set, much like 40k you can save a bit on the main rulebook. I got the big book because I dislike missing rules and was mainly getting it for something to read with some extra cash I had.

To my understanding, by getting the main rules book that comes in the boxed starter you lose out on some of the engineering rules and related 'advanced' scenarios, but you get the basic rules which does include a lot of 'stuff.'

For 'army lists' you have several options. I ended up getting a compilation book each for mid-war (North Africa) and late-war (Fortress Europe). These two books have a lot of lists in them! North Afrika, for example, has a British section that also includes various forces like Canada and India as well as several divisions of the British forces. You can, conceivably, make a lot of lists from this book. It's not like 40k where you need a $20 book for every faction or sub faction.

I think even the smaller Flames of War books have a multiple lists... After all,t hey're centered around a specific conflict, so there's at least two forces participating.

They also have trial lists on their website.

Remember that there is a great big wide world of WW2 gaming out there that existed long before Battle Front tried to copyright WW2 as their property! lol

You can shop around from a large and varied list of suppliers and remember ebay is your friend!

Apart from the main rulebook I would say that FOW can be alot cheaper then 40k. There are people out there doing great resin models for as little as $4.00 a pop (Gaming Models) and Peter Pig, QRF, Skytrex all have large and varied ranges.

Thank you for the replies, I might make a thread in the swap shop to see if anyone would want to trade FOW stuff for some Space Wolves.

I'm interested in Late War Americans or Germans. Guess I'll look around!

Old Glory also make 15mm figures at a reasonable price (though the quality is variable with their figures).

I find the small rulebook from the Open Fire starter set to be quite handy when I don't want to carry the full book around.

I hope OP doesn't mind if I hijack this thread.

It's mentioned a lot that there is a bounty of 15mm WW2 suppliers out there - but what are the verdicts?

Battlefront, Axis and Allies, Peter Pig, Old Glory...

How do they all compare? I like that there's lots of scope, and that I can save money, but there's very little in a way of comparison in terms of quality. Does anyone have experience with these other manufacturers?

I generally go with Battlefront now but that is simply because they are easy to get from my local store.

I find that Battlefront is usually good quality -- some of their infantry sculpts and poses are a bit odd but I have never had anything I wouldn't use. Probably on the pricey side of things.

Old Glory is quite inexpensive, generally good figures if you get them from molds that aren't old. There are often rather strange poses in the big infantry bags that I just won't use -- Their gun packs often come with limbered versions of the guns which are not needed for Flames of War but can be handy for other game systems. I won't buy Old Glory now unless I can see it.

Quality Castings -- the newer stuff is very good but there is often a lot of assembly for the vehicles.

Peter Pig -- their best stuff is probably the very best but I have had a few awful packs as well. I find it is quite pricey in North America.

QRF -- I only have a few vehicles but I like them.

Resistant Rooster makes some really nice figures -- maybe a bit on the big side.

I have never had trouble mixing manufacturers -- though I have some Shermans that I try to keep apart on the table since they are noticabley different -- but some people are more sensitive to the differences.

If you can get to a big show I would suggest looking at the figures you want from as many manufacturers as you can. Otherwise, maybe try ordering a small amount from 2 or 3 different places and see which you like best for the cost.

If you are truly interested in FoW - the open fire starter kit is fantastic price/numbers. It's a good start towards any US lists - most have a tank platoon option. You may be able to find someone local to swap the German for other US or US for German. Find a friend and convince him to buy it and swap the units such that one of you is German and the other is US.

I run US and British and I've played German in another life. As far as expense - you can make a German list for $150 bucks probably less depending on what you want. I designed a Hell's Highway Fallschimjaeger list that's around $175 with 4 88's in it (buying the blisters not the 88 box). You can make a US tank list for about the same as well - the box of 5 stuarts coming out soon will help keep the prices down. So I typically reject the notion that it's more expensive than warhammer games as I know I've spent far more on warhammer than FoW. But that's just my 2 cents.

I've been playing for about 5 or 6 years, and I find it to be a lot cheaper. If I may suggest playing an infantry company or armored company, because with mechanized companies, you have to purchase infantry and their transports. First of all, I'd choose your favorite faction. Skilled units such as SS and paratroopers typically cost less because they cost more points and you needn't pay for large conscript armies such as Russians and Italians.