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Well hello there. FoW is something else that has caught my eye recently primarily due to my father's general disdain for all things mini but love for all things WWII. So in the end I end up with lots of questions spurred on by Wayland games offer of a free rulebook with a purchase of some items. .
1) Size and Cost?
What is the general size of the armies played, is there a standard at all like there is in 40k/fantasy? What's the range this generally runs? I'm looking primarily at either Americans or Germans.

2) General list building advice? Which army?
I'm looking at the Americans and Germans with tanks and artillery. Which one performs better?
I like the M10 and M18 but not the Sherman so much (though it is tolerable) but the only one I really like that I've seen so far for the Germans are the Panther and Panzer Kanonen box. Roughly of equal opinion on each of the artillery batteries, though the German assault guns look better from what Wayland has to order.

3) Aircraft and anti-aircraft, are these must haves?

There are very few places to actually play this here so there is also a primary concern with how the force looks as a diorama or in general just sitting on a shelf. I don't suspect I can get dad to play a game but I might give it a shot.

Thanks for all help!

The first thing that you'll need is a force list. There are some available on Battlefront's website in a PDF format, but these tend to be the more unusual lists. For the more general stuff, you'll need one of Battlefront's published books. At this point the only two books that are 100% V3 compatible are Grey Wolf and Red Bear. The former covers Axis forces, and the latter covers Allied forces on the Eastern Front (Red Bear also has Romanian Axis formations). These books run $50 each.

Other books should still be largely compatible with V3, though there will be some minor issues (no Breakthrough Guns, medium mortars won't have direct fire stats, etc...). Find a campaign that you like and get the book for that campaign.

Once you've done that, you can move on to the process of actually purchasing the troops that you'll be using.



Typical points values for a game typically come in at 1500, 1750, or (more recently) 2000. All three levels are widely played, so a given group is just as likely to prefer 1500 point games as it is to prefer 2000 point games.

The key thing here is to realize that you can't IP WWII. You may be able to protect -your- version of the Tiger tank, but you can't stop someone else from making their own.

As such, there are inumerable 15mm WWII mini manufacturers out there. Battlefront makes a quality product...at the higher end of the cost spectrum. A company like Plastic Soldier Company also makes minis to work with FoW that cost significantly less.

So cost can range all over the board. I'm going to take a stab and say, very big ballpark, your basic German infantry list with some armor and arty will hit you in the $150 range, if you went with Plastic Solidier Company for bulk of what you need. Americans are going to be higher, just because PSC doesn't do them, yet. I would guess 6 months would change that.

Which army is entirely up to you. I would say "which army has the greatest chance of getting your old man interested?". Does he have a particular favorite unit? Big Red 1? 101st or 82nd airborne? 21st Panzer? Figure that out. That will give you your target "era"...early, mid, late. Which will then direct you to which particular theater book you need.

aircraft and anti-aircraft...don't need them if you don't want them. Aircraft did get a bump from v2 to v3, so expect to see more people take them and also remember just because you take an AA gun doesn't mean they won't work of opposing infantry or tanks. 88s are the sexy one to visualize, but any of the recent holywood fair will show you that they were used in other fashions as well...the German 20mm in Saving Private Ryan and the quad 50 cal in Band of Brothers comes to mind.

Get the V3 full sized rulebook because it will have a forces book that you can refer to on what you would need to buy for your army you choose.

Remember every Army has specific lists for specific jobs..

Mega Tough infantry? German Fallschirmjaeger, Brit Para's, American Airbourne.
Armour lists? Brit Guards Armoured, American Armoured Battalions, German Panzers and huge Russian Tankovy's.
Elites? SS lists, British Commandos, American Special service Brigades and Russian Spetsnaz/ Guards units.

You literally have hundreds of options and no one Unit is totally superior to another due to the inherent balance in the Game. The points cost, list build all make for interesting options, you maybe inferior but have greater numbers, you maybe better at some things but have smaller numbers.

You need to consider what Period you are playing, and then front/ Theatre you wish to fight. I would suggest D-Day Late War because it is Iconic and gives masses of options. Otherwise Eastern Front gives longevity from EW / MW / LW periods but will involve you or your father fighting as the Red Army.

You will discover some standout units in any Army, but you may never get them in every list. This is where starting with a simple army is better. I personally think a Tank Army is nice start, they are cheap (use PSC) and you can build some pretty good lists. Add in some AAA and some Arty and you are all set. You should pay about £150 Max (usually alot cheaper if you use deals and hunt around) for a decent German Panzer or Allied Sherman Tank force with no infantry. Once you learn the mechanics you can then move onto infantry which take a bit more knowledge and skill to use effectively. (Plus tanks are easy to paint, Spray it with FOW Spray, drybrush, decals on, varnish, Dullcote) Plus with tanks you don't need bases.

FOW is considerably cheaper than 40K, you can get some very good mega-deals from PSC and FiB.

15 x Panzer IV (A excellent all round Mid-war / late war tank)
http://theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_22_24_50&products_id=213

15 x Shermans (the good old 75mm Sherman)
http://theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_51_56_57&products_id=216

21 x T34's (Russians get a Battalion everyone else gets a Company!)
http://theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_2_19_44&products_id=210


AAA and Aircraft, the rules have changed so they will become alot more prevalent. Remember that AA Guns on Trucks/ Armoured vehicles can be used to kill light transports and Infantry so they have a dual role.

Are there any rumors as to when a book for the Western Front allies will be out? Though if the new 3rd ed book will have lists I'll likely just go with that instead of picking up the free mini book (which I'll end up with anyway) Most of what he watches on tv is the American forces post Normandy and he talks about our boys the most but hasn't mentioned any specific unit.

The list type is immensely helpful mwnciboo, shotgun and the links to plastic soldier company are invaluable. Thanks so much for the help!