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Hello All.

I've been mostly convinced to start up a Flames of War army by some fellows at the local game store. I'm somewhat knowledgeable with the US Civil war and the idea of a TT game is appealing. However, outside of playing some air combat games I'm not very knowledgeable about the period. I'll be attending Gen Con in a few weeks, and I'm looking for some information so I can direct my questions to the Battlefront guys more specifically.

1) I'm looking for a faction that can realistically play in multiple periods and multiple theaters with a minimum amount of extra figs. I suspect this means British, Germans, or Russians, and since we have local American and British players, its more realistically Germans and Russians.

2) Combined arms is the most appealing to me -- a Mix of Artillery, Armor, Air, and Infantry would be great, with perhaps a slight lean toward Armor and Infantry.

3) Air support could determine my faction -- how much do you use Aircraft in FoW?

4) What kind of start up cost am I looking at? I'm sure faction will determine that some, but since I'll likely only be playing once or twice / month I don't want to go crazy buying a bunch of stuff.

Thanks in advance!

Germans, Mid - late war. You can fight everybody
Lots to choose from, more options then you can shake a stick at. Aircraft in FOW? They appear occasionally, bomb stuff and disappear, their involvement doesn't really even need you to have models. Cost? well If your clever and accept that BF are not the only people selling 15mm WW2 you can pick up real bargains on Ebay. Also there is a bloke called Gaming Models over there in the states and he does vehicles at $4 a pop (variable quality but some are quite good).

After some more in depth looking into the local play group, we have the following:

5x German Players(1 infantry, 2x Mechanized, 2x Panzerkorps)

1x Russian Player (Quality of Quantity 60 base infantry -- I'm assuming thats big)

1x British Player (Mechanized Recon)

The player that I thought was American is actually running Germans.

So, that makes my decision easy -- Americans!

Now, assuming I want to run a mix of tanks and artillery w/ infantry, what am I looking at playing.

American is good, because you can pick from the Italy offensive or D-Day through.

Its up to you on what type you want, but most will work fine. Americans have a ton of Bazooka AT in their infantry.
They also have hordes of cheap tanks compared to the Germans. But they are out-classed by the Germans as well.

I built an infantry rifle company. Then I picked up a few old Glory Sherman models. I also picked up the Amored Recon box from Battlefront.
So I have the Armor elements for a mostly combined arms approach. Which is where its at for FOW in my experience.

Personally, I like the Battlefront Tanks. They are a bit costly, but go together well. Old Glory stuff needs a lot more work to prep for play. and they tend to look squished.
Old Glory does have good infantry models though. They are in better scale, and lack the 'bobble head' look of the Battlefront stuff.

Those are the only 2 lines I have experience with, but there are tons of choices, since it is historical.
I suggest picking a line and going with it. Mixing tanks from one with infantry from another can work fine, but mixing tanks can look funny.

I'll stick with battlefront I suspect, mainly because the LGS stocks it. I have to imagine that Battlefront will have a Gen Con deal of some form that will let me save some cash for the initial purchase.

My primary concern with cost is having to rebuy the same army multiple times for different periods -- like major shifts in gear between periods (russians I think).

Americans have a similar problem for early war I assume, as I won't be able to run Americans in that period, but for Mid and Late war I think its all good.

Overall, I think I'm leaning toward a Mechanized Infantry with Armor force, assuming its actually doable in a D-Day / Market Garden timeframe.

You should not have to re-buy anything, unless you are doing it for yourself. Infantry at 15mm are not detailed enough for it to matter what gear they have.
Mostly moving along the timeline just unlocks options, or reduces cost on stuff.

The only real restrictions will be your opponents. If they play Mid-war, you want a mid-war force. If they play everything, you need to have flexibility in your collection.
Among my group, the spirit of the game is more important than the details on your models. We tend to just discuss what period to play, then build armies to suit.

Infantry load-out shouldn't require buying new models. You may have more bazooka bases in late-war than Mid, but the grunt bases will stay the same if you want.
I use the same German models whether we are playing Late War Europe or Mid-war Afrika. So there are a few guys in shorts. Sue me.
A friend uses the same Russian horde regardless of period. His tanks get better Late-war, but his army doctrine stays the same.
What they are representing is more important than WYSIWYG for infantry.

I am looking forward to Early War French. They may not have done well, but the look is interesting.

Most of the Infantry and Artillery for the US is good for the whole period that they were in the war.

The tanks change from Grants and Lees to Shermans (or M3s to M4s to use the American designations) and the tank destroyers change as well but that is about it. There are different models of Shermans but as long as you can tell the76 version from the 75 most people aren't picky that you have exactly the right model.

Duncan

Personal Recommendation - Try mech infantry and tank destroyers for a base. All periods, 76 mm is superior to the 75. Add in some cheap american artillery and you have an answer to anyone and something for 43-45. Your switchouts would be mostly the tank destroyers and artillery to get you a 42 force.

Other option might be recon-based force with TD and Artillery.

skrulnik wrote:
I am looking forward to Early War French. They may not have done well, but the look is interesting.

Depends if you just want to take the populist view, or look a bit deeper in the French armies tactical performance during 1940.

Can think of several instances where they halted German attacks... and repelled them causing heavy losses. As did the Poles in 1939.

Their tanks were better than the Germans and they had more of them... They just didnt have the doctrine to use them.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

DAaddict wrote:All periods, 76 mm is superior to the 75.

Apart from the fact that 76mm armed Shermans did not enter combat till July 1944 with first the M4A1 and then the M4A3. By the wars end only 50% of Shermans had the 76mm gun.

Apart from the fact that 76mm armed Shermans did not enter combat till July 1944 with first the M4A1 and then the M4A3. By the wars end only 50% of Shermans had the 76mm gun.

Thus the suggestion of tank destroyers. The M10 has a 76 and the cool ambush deployment rules so you can work side shots on big cats and the like. Only in 42 would you be forced into the GMC halftrack with the 75 and if you wanted to do it more '42 or Italy, I would switch out the TD platoon with maybe more artillery.

US base with at least 3 Priests and 2 M10's for mid/late war and then add all those mech bazooka teams and it should mean you have an answer for any armor.(Not the greatest answer but at least you have an answer.) Add in all the MMG and HMG bases that US mech infantry can put on the board and you should have a pretty versatile force in all periods.

It sounds pretty cool -- if only I could follow it all! Only 9 more days till Gen Con, hopefully I'll be able to make more sense of it then.

You might like an American Armoured infantry Company. they can get quite a few tanks alongside the infantry.


you can't go wrong with buying 1 box of basic M4 shermans.

105mm batteries are always good.


My reccomendation if you just wanted something that you could use just about anywhere would be.

Box of M4 Shermans

2 boxs of either Armoured Rifle platoons or Rifle platoons.

a Artillery HQ blister(enough for 2 Artillery platoons) and 1-2 105mm blisters(Each has 2 105mm guns)


add in the Appropriate HQ blisters(Infantry or Mechanized) and you would have a nice starting force.

Grey Templar wrote:You might like an American Armoured infantry Company. they can get quite a few tanks alongside the infantry.

you can't go wrong with buying 1 box of basic M4 shermans.

105mm batteries are always good.

My reccomendation if you just wanted something that you could use just about anywhere would be.

Box of M4 Shermans

2 boxs of either Armoured Rifle platoons or Rifle platoons.

a Artillery HQ blister(enough for 2 Artillery platoons) and 1-2 105mm blisters(Each has 2 105mm guns)

add in the Appropriate HQ blisters(Infantry or Mechanized) and you would have a nice starting force.

Good recommendations, But I would recommend going for either the British army, or the German panzer grenadiers, they have a good mix of units. And they preform very well in all situations, they also have some interesting strategy's.
Here is what I used when I started my Afrika korps
2 boxes of Panzer 4
2 boxes of Grenadiers ( mechanized is the best to go)
1 box of falshirmjagers ( for the AT capabilities)
1 box of half track AT
1 88 AA box for heavy AT and AA dutys
1 box of Tiger (for HQ and spearhead)

My initial shopping list is looking like:

1x Armored Platoon HQ
2x Armored Rifle Platoons
1x Sherman Platoon (I don't see a box set for the M4, just the M4A1 and M4A1 76)
1x 105mm Artillery Battery

I'm not sure if the Rifle Platoons contain everything I need, or if I need to buy bazookas or something to go with them. Looks like it should run me about $200 if stuff is on sale, which is about as much as I want to spend before I've played the game a few times.

Any suggestions on that list of items to buy? If it doesn't make a legitimate force, let me know so I can modify it

If you are wanting to get into the game there are a few suggestions I will make. Pick up the "Open Fire" starter set. It has 2 Stugs and 3 Shermans, as well as the smaller version of the rulebook.
Find out from your friends which time period they are playing- mid or late war. To field an army you will need a briefing book.
Mid-War: North Africa has British, US, Italian and German. Eastern Front has Germans (and their allies) and Russians. These are both mid-war.
Late war: Various books depending on which nationality you want to play (Cobra is good for Americans)
As for which army to go for, pick the one you think is the coolest, and matches your style of play. Russians are hordes, Germans are elites, Brits and Americans are a bit of everything.

the Armoured Rifles should be an entire platoon.

mine came with
1 command team
5 Rifle team stands
5 Bazookas
1 60mm mortar
2 LMG stands
5 M3 half-tracks
and 1 37mm AT gun.

another player didn't get a 37mm with his box so there might be some without it.


M4 and M4A1 shermans are the same tank as far as stats go, but the important thing is if the box says 76mm on it too. 76s have thicker armor and the 76mm gun.

in general when people say M4A1 they mean the 76mm armed tank. M4A1 was the Tank chassise designation(IIRC)

M4s were the previous Mk of tank.

Got a killer deal on some flames of war at Gen Con between the Auction and some last minute purchases:

2x US Armored Platoons (Art on boxes does not match)
1x US Sherman M4A1 Platoon
1x US Rifle Platoon (Picture of Models instead of painting)

I think some of the models are older box sets, but I'm hoping the models are all the same. I think I need to pickup a HQ yet, but I'm thinking I should be set for starting at 600 points.

The older tank sets don't have as much variety in the castings.

The older infantry is different but not neccesarily better/worse