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hi as noted i want to start a FoW army but not sure where to start. i know the main 4 armies special rules but i also want to do a Hungarian army too. the thing is no store around me has the books so i know nothing about these units. so some help on the special stuff on the Hungarians would help me a ton in starting.

I would suggest purchasing Open Fire! as it gives you 3 British/American Shermans and 2 German StuG G assault guns. Even if you do want to start a Hungarian army, this set gives you the above models to practice with, plus a rule book and some dice to use. I'm not sure, but i think the German StuG Gs can be used as allies in an Hungarian army, but i'm not sure.

i would think so, as they were allies but thats not a solid reason. thanks, i was thinking about getting the set but was also thinking of getting the Hungarian infantry company but am going to hold off till i can either get a hold of a book or find info on them.

Hey there!

So, if the Hungarians are your cup of tea, you've got 2 options.

1. Purchase the 'Stalin's Europe' book, which would allow you to field a Hungarian infantry company and also give you briefings to accurately build a Soviet or Romanian army (since the Hungarians had allied with the Nazis) as well, since most people collect 2 armies, as to avoid 'Blue on Blue' games.

2. Take a look at this pdf: http://www.flamesofwar.com/Portals/0/Documents/Briefings/Hungarians-Late-Infantry-Division.pdf . It's still under review, but it should give you a feel for Hungarians.

And, thanks to the PDF, picking up the Open Fire! set wouldn't a bad idea. It would give you two StuG's, and you could trade the Shermans for other FoW items. The StuG's can be used in the pdf as a Rohamágyús Platoon, although you would need a 3rd StuG.

Your other option is to pick up Das Book. It includes the special rules for *all* forces playable in Flames of War, except for those released for Early War. You will be able to compare US, British, German and Soviet rules with those of the Italians, Finnish, Hungarians and Romanians. If you like german tanks, but don't want to be yet another german player Hungarians and Romanians are a good fit. Just be aware that some items, like AT and artillery guns don't come packaged specifically for them, so you'll need to buy the german unit and then *also* buy the hungarian or romanian crews for them as well. This will raise your costs a little when fielding these armies. There are so many force lists and options in Flames of War that the initial choices can be very daunting as to what to play.

I also second the advice of getting the Open Fire! boxed set. It will help you learn the rules (at least for armor) and that will help you figure out what you really want to play. I have found through the years that combined arms wins more games than forces focused in one specific type of unit. Infantry, artillery, atgs, vehicles, tanks and aircraft can all contribute to a win and the more options you have the better able you are to deal with whatever an opponent throws at you.

Also when getting into the game Late War has all the biggest and craziest toys from the war available, but I find Early war and Midwar to be much more enjoyable to play in. Once Tigers and JS1s become available things can get annoying and more than a little boring for those who play something other than germans or soviets. Currently playing in an early war league right now and enjoying the fact that there really aren't any units like that at this stage. The closest thing is the british matilda which are ridiculously expensive in early war and just not really worth the points the same way the super heavies in late war are.

Enjoy whatever force you decide to go with!

Skriker

Heres how I started FoW:

I bought the rulebook and one of the intelligence briefings

over time I went through various other intelligence briefings looking at all the cool toys the different units could get etc.

3 years later I decided on a force I liked (Fallschirmjager)

a year after that I bought enough stuff to build out like a 2000 pt force (on sale at that)

about 3 months later, I still have all my stuff in boxes, arguing with myself over whether or not I should buy the new plastic urban rubble bases to make my life a bit easier...

and thats where I'm at now...