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So I need to know what rule book and starter set I should purchase for getting into flames of war? Over the past year I have obtained a lot of units for the game, I absolutely love the models, there great historical figures and you get a lot for your money. Anyway here is a list of the units I have
US forces
One boxed company of US airborne troops
One British Sherman platoon
One 76mm Sherman platon
One tank destroyer platoon

German forces
One boxed grenadier company
One fallschirmjager company
Three stuggIII's
1Stug G
1Grille k
1Jadgpanther
1Hummel
2 Tigers
1 King tiger
6 Panthers
So how do I have a enough to play a game of FOW? I'm guessing I do but how should I organize the units and what units should I add on, looking to build a late war force. Thanks guys!

Sure, you have enough to play a game of FoW, the only problem is that your collection seems to lack focus. You have a smattering of everything, but no solid foundation to build off of. Really all you need to buy to start playing would be the rulebook. You could buy Open Fire! (the starter set) for some more StuG III Gs and Shermans if you really need them and get the miniature rulebook, or you could purchase the small rulebook for $30 through the Warstore, or buy the hardcover from your FLGS.

Seeing as you have more German stuff I looked on the FoW site and found you the free PDF ruleset for Schwere Panzerregiment Bäke. You could make a pretty sizable force without having to buy anything else and for a viable force all you'd really need would be some rocket artillery.

1495 pts Schwere Panzerregiment Bäke

Company HQ - 190
Panther

Panzer Platoon - 750
4x Panther

Schwere Panzer Platoon - 430
2x Tiger I E

Gebirgsjäger Platoon - 165
3x Jäger Squads, Panzerfaust SMG Team

Rocket Artillery Battery - 125
3x Nebelwerfer

So, that gives you a solid 1500 pt force of German heavy armor with some infantry to camp on an objective and some Nebelwerfers to provide smoke or pin a unit.

Hey thanks for the reply, gonna go order up the rule book and some rocket artillery
I your opinion how competitive is this kind of list and would it be beginner friendly to play?

I suggest looking through the FoW site for the free pdf lists. Most are up to date and are similar to the book ones. If you prefer book lists then getting Fortress Europe is the best way probably of knowing the basic lists for the major late war powers.

thanks guys for the info
Any suggestions for my allied forces?

perezba7 wrote:Hey thanks for the reply, gonna go order up the rule book and some rocket artillery
I your opinion how competitive is this kind of list and would it be beginner friendly to play?

I'm not sure how competitive it would be, but I think it would be pretty easy to play. From my not very extensive FoW experience you should do well against other armored companies because your tanks are so tough, but are going to have a little bit of a harder time attacking dug in infantry. That's pretty typical for FoW, there aren't really any super 'netlists' like in 40k, certain things are just better against others.

Personally I think it'd be easy to paint, fun to play and challenging to learn.

perezba7 wrote: thanks guys for the info
Any suggestions for my allied forces?

Your Allied collection is a little less viable without some major purchases. You could do an American airborne company with British Guards support from Hell's Highway, or (I think) a 2AD armored company using your 76mm, your British Shermans as American ones, and your tank destroyers.

Sorry, those are the best ideas I have.

IAmTheWalrus wrote:

perezba7 wrote: thanks guys for the info
Any suggestions for my allied forces?

Your Allied collection is a little less viable without some major purchases. You could do an American airborne company with British Guards support from Hell's Highway, or (I think) a 2AD armored company using your 76mm, your British Shermans as American ones, and your tank destroyers.

Sorry, those are the best ideas I have.

Good advice, wrong book though. The new D-Day compilation is where you look to late war stuff that used to be in Hell's Highway.

No, the D-Day compilation doesn't include either of the Market Garden Books. Some of the units in HH also have a list in the compilation because they were involved in Normandy (i.e. US Airborne).

Although, I've checked the points between ABTF and TT for the british airborne and TT seems to be cheaper.

The D-Day slip cover contains two books, "Earth and Steel" and "Turning Tide." Inside of each book are army lists covering the invasion of the Allied Forces into France from June to September 1944. Each book is loaded with new lists and updated lists that had been previously published. To help aid you in selling the book, here is a list of the forces that are within each book.



British Forces Featured in Turning Tide:

- Parachute Company
- Airlanding Company
- 3rd Infantry Division, Rifle Company
- 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, Rifle Company
- 50th Division, Rifle Company
- Commando (Beaches) NEW!
- Commando (Orne) NEW!
- Tank Squadron NEW!
- Armoured Squadron
- Canadian Armoured Squadron NEW!
- Armoured Recce Squadron
- Canadian Armoured Recce Squadron NEW!
- 7th Armoured Division, Motor Company
- 4th Canadian Armoured Division, Motor Company NEW!
- 7th Armoured Division, Lorried Rife Company
- 4th Canadian Armoured Division, Lorried Rifle Company NEW!




American Forces Featured in Turning Tide:

- 82nd Airborne Division, Parachute Rifle Company
- 101st Airborne Division, Parachute Rifle Company
- 82nd Airborne Division, Glider Rifle Company
- 101st Airborne Division, Glider Rifle Company
- 1st Infantry Division, Assault Company
- 29th Infantry Division, Assault Company
- Ranger Battalion (Normandy)
- Ranger Battalion (Brittany) NEW!
- 2nd Armored Division, Medium Tank Company
- 3rd Armored Division, Medium Tank Company
- 6th Armored Division, Medium Tank Company NEW!
- 2nd Armored Division, Light Tank Company NEW!
- 3rd Armored Division, Light Tank Company NEW!
- 6th Armored Division, Light Tank Company NEW!
- 2nd Armored Division, Armored Rifle Company
- 3rd Armored Division, Armored Rifle Company
- 6th Armored Division, Armored Rifle Company NEW!
- 2nd Armored Division, Armored Recon Company
- 3rd Armored Division, Armored Recon Company
- 1st Infantry Division, Rifle Company NEW!
- 29th Infantry Division, Rifle Company NEW!
- Task Force A NEW!








German Forces Featured in Earth & Steel:

- Festungskompanie
- 352. Fusilierkompanie
- 352. StuG Abteilung
- 21. Panzerkompanie
- 21. Beute StuG Batterie NEW!
- 21. Gepanzerte Panzergrenadierkompanie
- 21. Panzergrenadierkompanie
- 21. Panzerpionierkompanie
- 21. Aufklärungsschwadron NEW!
- 21. Panzerspähkompanie
- Luftwaffe Jägerkompanie NEW!
- 503. Schwere Panzerkompanie NEW!
- Panzer Lehr Kompanie
- Panzergrenadier Lehr Kompanie
- Panzerpionier Lehr Kompanie
- Aufklärungs Lehr Schwadron
- Panzerspäh Lehr Kompanie
- 654. Schwere Panzerjägerkompanie NEW!
- 326. Grenadierkompanie NEW!
- Schwere SS-Panzerkompanie
- SS-Panzerkompanie
- Gepanzerte SS-Panzergrenadierkompanie
- SS-Panzergrenadierkompanie
- SS-Panzerpionierkompanie
- SS-Aufklärungsschwadron NEW!
- SS-Panzerspähkompanie
- Beutepanzerkompanie NEW!
- Bodenständig Grenadierkompanie NEW!
- Fallschirmjägerkompanie NEW!
- Fallschirmpionierkompanie

The great thing about Flames of War is that no old books are rendered unusable, as long as you have the updates and errata available from the website. This means you can use forces from the older Festung Europa book and such.

Really, I suggest you pick up the Open Fire! Starter set. The miniature rulebook included has just about everything you need in it, and your collections look like they could always benefit from the extra Shermans and Stug Gs!

For Latewar lists, Fortress Europe (and the older Festung Europa) book should contain plenty of lists for both Germans and Americans, but to use Paratroopers you need the D-Day Compilation mentioned above. The older book that used Paras was called D-Day Minus 1, and you may be able to find it still. The boxed company equates out to roughly 600 points, if I recall correctly.

With the 3 extra tanks included in the Open Fire set, you have just enough to start a small Tank Company for americans. You could use a few more regular M4A1s, but you still have a playable amount. (EDIT: I didn't realize you only have a British sherman platoon, so you may need an extra M4A1 to have a legal list.)

Really, you do need a few units more to make a legal and playable list for your americans. Whether you go more Shermans for a Tank Company, or get more units such as parachute artillery to add to a Parachute company, you're lacking just a little bit from each to make a complete list.

The biggest hurdle to getting into FoW is definitely getting all the books. There are so many to choose from, it makes it really difficult for the new player. The best thing to do is to decide on a particular battle or theatre you want to recreate, and find out which book (or books) covers it best, then go from there.

Thanks a lot for your posts guys, great info. Thank for your help