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I am looking to get started with FoW I am primarily a 40k player but would like to pick up a game I can play with my dad. I am for sure going to pick up the Open Fire starter pack and have already picked up a copy of Fortress Europe. I am going to be doing all the buying, modeling, painting, etc so I have decided to go with LW Americans and Germans.

I am looking for some advice about what I need to buy. I want to be able to play a balanced game between the two armies and also want to be able to use both infantry and armor. With those two requirements what would be some suggested army builds out of the Fort. Europe book for 1000-1500 point range?

Welcome to the Game!

I would pick up the Achtung! set -- basically, the new V3 edition of Open Fire!

US and German Armour would be a great place to start. You can learn the rules in increments, and not have to bother with the Assault rules for starters.

There is a V3 "Forces" book available on the Flames of War web site that has the basic versions of the Late War lists.

Yeah, Open Fire set is outdated. Are You going for all Battlefront products or do You consider other alternative (cheaper) companies as well? If yes, then Plastic Soldier Company is Your friend for both Germans and US. PSC has almost all Late War German Tanks (Tigers are in the pipeline) and are pretty much geared now towards yankee tanks. With German Armor You will need around ten Panzers IV H as Your mainstay tanks and the rest is up to Your flavor - StuGs, Panthers (PSC does them all), Tigers, infantry support etc.

Have a read of this...

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Starting_a_Flames_of_War_Force

Any questions send me a PM.

Thanks guys, I'm glad I posted before buying an outdated starter box. I would have been a little pissed about that.

Also about the miniature companies I am looking to save as much money as possible so I am open to any any and all 3rd party miniatures as long as they can save me a buck. When My wife seen my researching another game system she threatened to "Karate chop the chit out of me" if I started a new game. So I had to explain to her that this one is just basically a rule set and that I can use any and all 15mm WWII miniatures... I think it worked.

You can still spend a lot of fortune on this if You get too excited - just don't tell Your missus about it. Especially with Battlefront miniatures - their infantry is actually very good and not that expensive (unless You field Soviets), but vehicles is the part when this hobby can get really expensive. Let's say, when fielding traditional Late War German Tank Company, You need to field at least two Platoons of Panzers IV H, which in case of Battlefront would cost You roughly 70 British pounds. But You can field Plastic Soldier Company tanks for approximately 32 British pounds. The same is with various halftracks (mechanised infantry transports) etc. You can also field all plastic infantry, but there are many pros and cons for that - if You are interested PM me as well.

Btw, I suggest You registering at easyarmy.com - registration is free and same are the armylists from Version 3 book. The site functions essentially as the Army Builder, where You can experiment with different lists and see the points. Most of the books are available for a small fee - 1-2 USD, but the core lists are for free. Just as in 40K with each army You need HQ and two Combat Platoons (troops choices as in 40K). When picking the Achtung! set You will get 2 StuGs, but unfortunately, they can't be fielded in Combat Platoons in the list from Version 3 - they are under Assault Gun entry in Divisional Support (things are a bit different in Grey Wolf book, but let's not mention it now). So You already have 190 points in Divisional Support and still need HQ and two troops. You can either buy two boxes of Panzers IV from Plastic Soldier Company, which gives You 10 Panzers IV H - two of them would be HQ and the rest should be divided into two platoons of four tanks - the list will be 1090 points, Or if You feel like spending the points, You can grab a box of Panzers IV and a box of PSC Panthers, taking two Panthers are HQ, remaining three as first Combat Platoon and then one full platoon of Panzers IV H - this will be 1575 points. See the difference but don't get too excited with those big cats.

True but you need all the other bits, although you could make the markers out of card.

Tiger's Marsch is a brilliant army in a box solution. You get the extra bits and 5 Tiger Tanks, all you need is a small SS platoon (£8 from Forged in Battle) and some AAA (approx £12),

So for £70 you are done. With a Book, Tokens, dice.

EDIT - BF should do Army boxes for £70, 5-6 Platoons, Book , dice tokens.

I have already registered at easy army and have begun to play around with it. Will the new starter set rule book have the v3 forces listed or do I just grab them off the website?

As for dice and tokens, etc. I really don't need all that stuff. As a 40k player I have more dice than you can shake a stick at and have no problem getting started with home-made tokens.

From the looks of it I can get away with buying the new starter set, 2 boxes of shermans, and 2 boxes of panzers from plastic soldier.

Because I am doing both armies, the less the start up cost the better, and it would seem that I can get them both started for about $160.

Answer is yes to the V3 Rule Hardback book set (set of 3) you get a Forces Book which covers everything, but you don't get it in the Achtung box. Here is my Recommendation

SUPER CHEAP OPTION?

1. Go on Ebay buy one of the small V3 Books, I bought the V3 hardback and then sold my small one on Ebay for £10.

2. Use Easy Army V3 Lists for armies.

3. Make a List, buy your mini's.

4. Make your own tokens ? buy some off ebay.

5. Start playing.

CHEAP OPTION

1. buy the V3 Hardback (3 books) approx £30 in UK. Not sure about US but generally competition in the US makes things a bit cheaper than the UK despite imports. You only need one set between you.

2. The achtung set is bit wasteful, you need more shermans and STUG's to make them useful and you might not want them, so you end up with tanks you might not want just because they come in the box (waste of money IMHO). Better to buy the V3 Hardback complete set, RULE BOOK, FORCES BOOK and PAINTING GUIDE.

3. You never need buy a Compilation book for LW as the FORCES BOOK covers it (WIN/WIN)

4. Plan your armies together. Never impulse buy. Work through the PSC range and Forged in Battle and BF see what you can get, then buy it all as one from one supplier for max discount. Remember the bases this can wipe out any saving if you don't plan this in.

5. Buy a token set if must, and an arty template although you might pick up bargains on Ebay or at a local level at a bring and buy fair or whatever.

6. Germans are points expensive due to how good the kit is, so it's likely you will need 2 x boxes of Panzer IV's but 3 x Boxes of Shermans depending on the list structure.

The only way to do this game really cheaply is to plan out your entire force in detail and then carefully purchase exactly what you need no unnecessary expenditure on nice to haves. This comes later when you've got the bug!

i really like PSC their kits are pretty nice for being as small as they are and not really hard to put together. Plus 5 tanks for less than $25 is such a great deal your SO should not be able to complain. Do a cost comparison between PSC Tigers and BF Tigers and anyone would have to be bonkers to not see the huge savings from PSC.

PSC does offer loads of models in plastic but there are other companies. If you end up needing to buy BF minis check out Chaos Orc as he has quite a selection at 20% off.

mwnciboo wrote:Tiger's Marsch is a brilliant army in a box solution. You get the extra bits and 5 Tiger Tanks, all you need is a small SS platoon (£8 from Forged in Battle) and some AAA (approx £12),

So for £70 you are done. With a Book, Tokens, dice.

When PSC release their Tiger box (originally slated for later this year) that'll go down to less then £40 for an army.

George Spiggott wrote:

mwnciboo wrote:Tiger's Marsch is a brilliant army in a box solution. You get the extra bits and 5 Tiger Tanks, all you need is a small SS platoon (£8 from Forged in Battle) and some AAA (approx £12),

So for £70 you are done. With a Book, Tokens, dice.

When PSC release their Tiger box (originally slated for later this year) that'll go down to less then £40 for an army.

Actually, Point of Contact is already doing plastic diecast prepainted 1:100 Tigers (without Zimmerit) at decent price - something around 24 USD IIRC - they are on e-bay constantly. I've bought one set myself and the models are decent - maybe for modellers they would be that great (machineguns are a bit flat), but they look good on the table.

I have decided to do a 101st Airborne and a German Fallschirmjägerkompanie as my two starting armies (both seem to be very cost efficient for 1000pt forces). My question now is if it is necessary to buy the two army books (Turning Tide/Grey Wolf) to begin playing? I have been putting lists together using easy army and would like to be able to get started playing without spending that $100 on army books right out of the gate.

You can get Fallschirmjager from Earth and Steel, and 101st Airborne from Turning Tide (Both are D-Day equivalents and are pretty even match ups)

Poppabear wrote:You can get Fallschirmjager from Earth and Steel, and 101st Airborne from Turning Tide (Both are D-Day equivalents and are pretty even match ups)

Either way it comes out to buying two extra books, which will be roughly an extra $100. I plan on buying the books eventually but would rather start out buying boxes to start building up the armies rather than just buying three books and having to wait to get models. So basically what I want to know if I will be able to get started playing with just the V3 rulebook and the printouts from easy army?

You could just pay for turning tide and earth and steel off easy army. It would only be four bucks or so I think, about $2 a book I believe.

Then you can make your lists off that and use your $ minis.

Perplexiti's got it. The easy army lists are really really cheap.

perplexiti wrote:You could just pay for turning tide and earth and steel off easy army. It would only be four bucks or so I think, about $2 a book I believe.

Then you can make your lists off that and use your $ minis.

Thanks, This is what I needed to know. I already have purchased those (and quite a few others) on easy Army. I am going to forgo buying the two Army books for now and just go straight into building my two forces.

The North Africa book has Americans and Fallshrimjager. Mid war.