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Hey all,

I am new to mini war gaming and am interested in FoW but it seems like there are allot more people playing 40k.

I do not want to invest all that money to find out there is no one to play with.


I am sure that location has a part to play. I am in Norfolk, Va and there is one of 3 stores that holds FoW games and they do not have many people playing. But all those stores play 40k.

It seems like it is a safer bet to get into 40k in order to have someone to play with....

thoughts?

thanks!

40k is certainly more popular because it has been out for 25 years, and has a lot of exposure due to the GW stores (especially on the east coast).

But GW has been consistently squandering their lead for the past decade. So in 5-10 years the market may be pretty evenly split.

Its two really different games, so I think you should do some more investigating into which style (and scale - I find FoW to be a bit to small for my liking) appeals the most to you. But if you really can't decide, try having a proxy game or two with both the FoW crowd and the 40k people, and see whom you swing the best with. Opponents that are also nice guys is the biggest part of the hobby for me (but then again, I'm a part of a local group, not a FLGS).

Cheers

Gorlack

Thanks for the advice guys... They do have some games this weekend at a local store. I will check them out.

I think I will be happy with either one.. its just deciding which one that is killing me....lol

thanks again.

Whichever has a stronger community of players you like better in your area. They're both great games, and have a lot of similarities. I prefer 40k because I like bigger figures with more personality and conversion opportunities, but they're both fun.

Madman7 wrote:Thanks for the advice guys... They do have some games this weekend at a local store. I will check them out.

I think I will be happy with either one.. its just deciding which one that is killing me....lol

thanks again.

You'd be surprised the difference between "being happy with either one" and "oh my god I love this system" makes.

The best advice I can give is simply finding whichever one you want to play. If there's few people playing at the store, ask around on websites like Dakka and Battlefront's own forums. You'll be able to find more opponents that way.

Or heck, you can try to organize your own 'starter league' and see how that goes. You may not be the only one who is wanting to play Flames of War but isn't because of a small community.

Two different games with different mechanics, scales, settings, styles, and very different audiences, even if they do overlap some.

Flames of War is a much more mechanistic wargame, the little details of everything you do matter more. You have very predefined paint schemes and forces, and not all armies will be capable of playing others in a balanced manner, they don't all have "all comers" angles the way 40k armies do, in the interest of historical accuracy (e.g. playing a King Tiger list with 3 tanks and maybe a small 7 stand platoon of infantry with maybe some rocket arty against a Strelkovy horde with a huge arty park totalling damn near 70 stands, and you just can't get enough dudes to be everywhere y9ou need to be). People will not take kindly to inappropriate color scheme or the like. 40k armies tend to be more generalist and the game tends to play out more with regards to how you designed your list to function than the tiny mechanical game bits, with pretty much everything about your force created by you. You can paint/model anything however you like.

I'd suggest learning the mechanics of each, and then try to find playgroups and see which group of people you enjoy hanging around more. Both games are a lot of fun, but have different mindsets.

Vak,

Thanks..good advice.. I am leaning towards 40k sounds more flexable..

Thanks again

They are both good games and it's hard to compare them because they are so different. I reccommend giving them both a try before you choose. FOW isn't more restricting than 40k as there are a lot of choices in both. Sure you will get some people complaining if you paint your toy soldiers wrong but that exists in 40k too. Thats opponents rather than a bad game. Also keep in mind this is a primarily 40k forum so it may be a bit biased.

P.S. 40k will have more players but FOW is the biggest WW2 game so you shouldn't have any problem getting a game of either.