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Made in us
Dakka Veteran





I kind of take it for granted that historical interest is the primary draw for a gamer to Flames of War...while it is also one of the most balanced games I've yet played, and has an excellent ruleset and rules documentation, it was the fact that it was WW II gaming that made me drop the $335 on the rule books and my Gerpanzerte Panzergrenadier Kompanie when I jumped into the game a little over a year ago...

I didn't actually start doing some real research until it became time to paint everything. I had the painting guides that came with the Late War German paint set, but that wasn't quite enough for me...I wanted to know what stuff "actually looked like."

I read somewhere during this process about "the pain of historical research," how if you just follow the guides and paint everything up accordingly that's fine, but once you start doing historical research it seems to drag on and on and once and you get wrapped up in minutiae and it really slows you down...which is precisely what happened to me, but in the end much for the better than had I not done the research at all!

I learned a LOT about German camouflage schemes and which units wore them (I could now identify Fallschirmjager, Wermacht Panzergrenadier and SS Waffen camo schemes quite readily), precisely what all the various kit items German infantry carried on them (I didn't learn until yesterday that the little, thin cylinders on some of my mans' backs were spare barrels for MG42s), how German vehicle numbering worked, etc.

A lot of the info was right on the Battlefront website, which was excellent, but as much or more was from reenactors' websites (usually more about where to look than actual photographic evidence) and historical enthusiasts' websites...

Once I had the paint schemes down, I also wanted to know where my Kompanie would have been based on the choice of units I fielded, and you can even figure that out if you look hard enough. This website has TO&E charts for a bunch of German Divisions:

http://web.telia.com/~u18313395/normandy/gerob/gerob.html

Through that site, which also has excellent citation notes at the bottom of pages, I was able to figure out that my Kompanie could be:


2. Panzer Division

Panzergrenadier-Regiment 2 OR Panzergrenadier-Regiment 304, Panzergrenadier-Bataillon I in either Regiment (due to being mounted entirely in Sd Kfz 251/1 halftracks)

Artillerie-Regiment 74, Panzer-Artillerie-Abteilung III (Hummels)

Panzerjäger-Abteilung 38 (Jagdpanzer IVs)



All I had left were my StuG's, which would not have existed in this Kompanie, but I can either replace them with:

Panzer IV H's : Panzer-Regiment 3, Panzer-Abteilung II

Panthers: Panzer-Regiment 3, Panzer-Abteilung I

Or I can say that it's later in the Normandy campaign, after 2. Panzer had absorbed 352. Infanterie Division, in which case the StuG's would have come from there. I went ahead and bought a Panzer IVH Platoon so that I could run 100% historical accuracy, however.


And now that means that I know precisely which Kompanies all my units could or would have been in such that I can also number all my vehicles accurately.



I have personally found that knowing so much about my Flames of War army is incredibly satisfying. Not only am I more confident in the painting schemes and the validity of the army comp, my historical interest in the period has also been extremely well-served.



So - have you ever done historical research into your FoW army? If so why did you start the research, what did you wind up learning, and how did you apply it to your FoW gaming?







"Success is moving from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." - Cliff Bleszinski

http://www.punchingsnakes.com 
   
Made in gb
[ADMIN]
Decrepit Dakkanaut






London, UK

I came to FoW from 40k, so had no idea about historical accuracy - I just liked the models. I wanted to have somewhat appropriate colour schemes though so started to do a little bit of research by reading the battlefront website, then researching forces that might have used those models. That then led on to even more reading, and although my level of research is still quite light, I am doing more and more for each model I paint.

I am lucky to live in London as so far for everything I have painted, I have had the ability to go to a museum and see a full size real life one which has really helped me appreciate both the models and the history. I can really appreciate the beauty and history of the machines in museums after researching the background in depth and viewing the models in intimate detail.

I can certainly agree with the research dragging on and on, but it gives the models such a richness that even 40k's massive background cant compare to. Research is an extra pillar in the flames of war hobby that I was not expecting when I started but really enjoy now.

Check out our new, fully plastic tabletop wargame - Maelstrom's Edge, made by Dakka!
 
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka






Sheffield, UK

Depends. My Panzergrenadierkompanie received no research, I just bought what I liked and my 9th SS Panzerkompanie followed the division specific information provided by Battlefront.

I'm working on an Indian Recce Squadron, I haven't bought any models yet but I'm accumulating information from wherever I find it, I plan to make the army totally historically accurate and may even white my own briefing for them.

Spain in Flames: Flames of War (Spanish Civil War 1936-39) Flames of War: Czechs and Slovaks (WWI & WWII) Sheffield & Rotherham Wargames Club

"I'm cancelling you, I'm cancelling you out of shame like my subscription to White Dwarf." - Mark Corrigan: Peep Show
 
   
Made in us
Resourceful Gutterscum





Avondale, AZ

For all of my historical projects research is very important. I not only select an army and a period but I try to do a specific campaign. For my FOW British 8th army I am working on a pre-Alamien force. This means researching equipment to determine what kinds of stuff that army used. I am not a tourney player so building the best competative army is not the goal.

I find that when I am not interested in researching an army I do not finish it. I tried to build a Warhammer English Civil War army but I found the history very dull. I loved the game and the figs but I couldn't get into the history...so the project died.

I am just trying to get my post count up so that people won't think I am a GW sock puppet. 
   
Made in us
40kenthus






Chicago, IL

I've been reading like crazy for a new Carthagnian army for Warhammer Ancients. The WAB army books do a good job of presenting the forces of the period, but it certainly helps to have additional resources to get the list composition and paint/modeling schemes "correct".

Terrain, Modeling and More... Chicago Terrain Factory
 
   
Made in gb
Xeno-Hating Inquisitorial Excruciator




Manchester

For me i wouldnt call it research but more a background thats real not a fantasy so you can really turn to it for squad names army colours etc

It also helps going to museums where you can see the full scale real version of what your painting making etc

ABH

I'm always looking for new players for system-less one on one RPG's via MSN and Email PM me if your interested!
 
   
 
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