Flames of War - Q&A

[Kage]

{under construction}

In order to generate some interest into Flames of War in Regina.  I'm going to start a Q&A.
People not in Regina can use it as well.  I'm just looking to get a bigger group in Regina, so we can get some tournaments.
There is a great group in Saskatoon and I will be going up there as often as I can to play.  But I would love to get a group going here.

I've already had a few people asking me questions, so I thought it might be best to post the stuff here for everyone to see.

FoW can be very confusing to get into, and I learned some things the hard way.  I will share what I know.

You can also visit my blog here...it has pictures...
http://www.kagefow.blogspot.com/
You will also find links to other FoW resources.

Where do I start?
First thing you need to do is decide on what force you want to play.
The best way is to decide what era and what country most interests you.

What do you mean by era?
There are 3 era's in FoW.  Early, Mid, and Late war.
Typically Early war is '40-'41, Mid is '42-'43, and late is '44-'45.

What Countries can you play?
A lot of this depends on the era.  Not all countries can be played in all era's.

Late War - Germany, Russia, United Kingdom, American, Canadian, Hungarian, Romanian,

Mid War - Germany, Russia, United Kingdom, American, Italy, Finland, Hungarian, Romanian.
You can build other UK countries like Canada.

Early War - Germany, United Kingdom, France, Poland

How do I build my force?
Once you have an idea of what kind of country you want to play and when, its time to get an Intelligence book.
These are based on era and a theater of combat.  

The one mistake I made getting into this was buying older out of date books.  These books are still valid, but the new updated books you can build the same forces for cheaper.
Typically a force is 1500pts.  With the newer update books I get more bang for my 1500pts then in the older books.  Its not a lot, but in a game it could make a difference if you even get one extra tank or squad.  So here I will list the current books and what they cover.

Eastern Front - This covers the mid war on the Russian Front in 1942 to 1941.  
With this book you can field mid war German, Russian, Finland, Romanian, and Hungarians.

North Africa - This covers the mid war in Africa and Sicily in 1941 - 1942
with this book you can filed mid war German, Italian, American, United Kingdom

Earth & Steel - Late war German Forces in France.
This is a great book and covers all German forces in France.  Even specific units like the Panzer Lehr Division.
Even covers fortifications.  

Turning Tide - This is the opposite of Earth & Steel, and covers allied forces in France 1944.
Includes, British and American forces including some specific units like the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and 4th Canadian Armored Division.

Blitzkrieg - This is the only early war book, and covers German, British, French, and Polish forces

Fortress Europe - This is a generic all around guild to late war Europe.  Includes all forces in europe like German, British, Russian and American.
But like I said it is very generic and not as good as the books above.

*Late war Eastern front is really covered by 4 books.  
Stalin's Onslaught, Hammer & Sickle, River of Heroes, and Stalin Europe.

There are other books, but I would say these are the main ones.
The best thing is a lot of forces of have lots of cross over.
Most infantry and guns can play all era's with any or much change.
Even a lot of the tanks cross over.  The main difference is the bigger newer tanks don't show up until late war.
But tiger tanks show up in mid and late war, in Africa, eastern and western fronts.
the only thing that might differ is paint.

I wish I would have known a lot of this when I first started.  I love Eastern Front, and as anyone can tell you I also like Russians.
But knowing what I know now, I would have never picked Russians for this game.
I am notoriously slow at painting infantry.  And the soviets would throw hoards of men at the Germans.  
What this means is that a Mid war German Platoon of 40 men is equivalent to a Soviet Company of 120 men.
That is a lot of infantry to paint.  The Romanians and Italians are the same.

But, even still I love this mechanic about the game which I find most WWII game don't do.
And which more realistically represents what the soviets did.  They would throw lots of crappy soldiers at the Germans in hopes to overwhelm their superior tactics and training.

Ok, I have my intelligence hand book...now what?
Now you decide on what force you build.  There are basically 3 types.  Armored, Mechanized, and Infantry.
But there are also lots of different types of each, like Pioneers or special forces.

The best thing about this game is that it is a combined forces game.  You can't win if you just take tanks.  
You can't win if you just take infantry.  No one force is superior to all others, and because it is a combined arms game, decisions need to be made when you build.
FoW is great for building a force that would closely mirror how it would have been built by its country in WWII.

Even if you take an armored force, you need support.  Infantry, Artillery, Air Power, Anti-Air, Anti-tank.  Anything you can think of in WWII, FoW lets you field.
But you can't have it all.  That is where the decisions come in.

How are units rated?
Every unit is given 2 ratings.  Motivation and Skill.  And each of these have 3 levels.
Motivation - Reluctant, Confident, Fearless
This is used for checking moral, how likely that unit is to run, or even if it would assault a scary tiger tank....

Skill - Conscript, Trained, Veteran
This is used to show how well trained you units are.  Unlike most games its your enemies skill that determines how well you hit.
Its harder to hit Veteran troops then it is conscripts because they hide better.
But this also determines, if your troops succeed at digging foxholes, or removing obstacles such as barbed wire.

So you should be able to see a picture forming here.
Most mid war Soviets are Fearless Conscripts.  Most German units are Confident Veterans.

So a typical soviet company will have 27 teams.  They are extremely easy to hit, but very hard to eliminate from the table because there are so many of them.
The same platoon of Germans will have 8 teams.  It wouldn't take much to remove them from the table, but they are so well trained they are very difficult to hit.  Especially dug in.

MODELING
You don't have to limit your questions to rules about the game.  Feel free to ask modeling questions.  Whether its from Airbrushing to tank markings.
One of my favorite things about FoW is the research.  I've done a lot of research to get things historical.  And if I don't know, I probably have a good idea where to look.

If you have interest, shoot your questions here.  Even if you want to check it out in person, I have everything needed for you to try it.
My door is always open.  Especially if it means spreading this hobby around.

[squalie]

Ok, so I have my eye on FoW box sets that are American armoured and Canadian armoured and infantry divisions.  If I was to choose the Canadian forces for example, I could play anyone other than early war? 

  Is there really much difference between the British, Canadian and American forces, (except for the obvious country specific military units) other than paint?  Meaning, if I bought a box of Sherman tanks, only paint would indicate what country they're from?

  I think I'd like to have a Canadian force, but that seems ultra rare.  Any reason why?

[Kage]

Ok, so I have my eye on FoW box sets that are American armoured and Canadian armoured and infantry divisions.  If I was to choose the Canadian forces for example, I could play anyone other than early war?  

 Is there really much difference between the British, Canadian and American forces, (except for the obvious country specific military units) other than paint?  Meaning, if I bought a box of Sherman tanks, only paint would indicate what country they're from?

 I think I'd like to have a Canadian force, but that seems ultra rare.  Any reason why?

Ya the only real difference between American, British, and Canadian tanks were the markings and paint.
And then the country specific tanks...like the British and Canadian's mounted a 17 lb gun on the Sherman, and that was the know as the Firefly.
Americans didn't do this.

Artillery and infantry there is definitely a difference between American and British.  
And the structure of how they deploy maybe different.  Although I've never looked very closely at the Americans.  

You could buy a box set of American shermans and use them as Canadian shermans.  but you wouldn't get the firefly option.
But you couldn't buy an American army set and use the infantry as Canadians.  the uniforms and guns would be wrong.

Nothing ultra rare about the Canadians.  The Canadians didn't 'really' show up until late war.  They did have a bit of a showing in Italy and the one failure at Dieppe.  And there are some rules in North Africa book to create a Canadian force.

But where they are really prevalent is in the Turning Tide book.  Half the British section is all Canadians.  3rd Infantry division, and 4th Armored Division.

It just might seem like there are no Canadians to buy because you just use British units.  they were equipped the same.

Again the only difference between British and Canadian tanks is markings.  For infantry and Artillery there is no difference.  If you build a Canadian force you just use British units.  The difference is the uniform color.  Even though they had the same uniform and equipment, the fabric to make those uniforms was different so it was a different color.

But, even if you painted your force british colors and used them as Canadians no one would know the difference.  And vice versa.
It all depends on how historical you want to get with your modeling.
nothing says you can build British and say they are Canadians.  But the Canadians do have their own special ratings and rules.

Its not just as simple as saying "I'm playing Canadians".  Every country has its own unique special rules to give it a unique flavor of playing that country.

If you are thinking about Canadians, British, and/or Americans...Turning Tide is definitely the book you want.

[Allan Luesink]

You're right about FoW being confusing to get into but it is a cool game.  I appreciate the quick overview of the books.  I bought the main rule book and at some point will be likely buying a late war army book.  However, I won't buy any models.  That's the deal I struck with my friend.  I'll play but I'm not buying the models - I'm already too invested into WHFB.

[squalie]

Allan, you could always trade some of your Warhammer to get a FoW force.  Just sayin' is all  We have a bunch of good guys here and it's be nice to get them together and pound those Germans back home -- unless you're Germans of course.

[Kage]

I've added to the top...

you don't have to limit your questions to rules. 

I can also help with modeling tips.

Whether its air brushing, or you want to make your models look more historical.

One of the coolest things about this hobby is the research.  but not everyone likes to do that.
So, I can help with that as well.  Even just a simple thing like uniform colors. 

I know its hard to believe, but I don't know everything.  :confused
If I don't know the answer, I'm in contact with a lot of FoW modelers, so I can probably find out.

[Kage]

There is going to be a FoW doubles tournament in Saskatoon in April.
So far its looking like April 23rd, if anyone is interested.

you and your partner will each build LW 1000pt armies and field them at the same time.
allies have to go with allies.  So, Germans can't be paired with Americans.

Maybe Dean and Don could put a team in? 
We can get together a couple times before to show Don how to play....or anyone else that is interested.

Someone will post on the Dragon's Den board once we finalize everything.

[Bob Newis]

I'd be interested in something like this if they do another one later in the year. April is too busy for me to make this one.

Bob

[Kage]

I'd be interested in something like this if they do another one later in the year. April is too busy for me to make this one.

Bob

We are planning one in June for sure. 
Looking like could be Late war 1500 - 1750 points

And then there is a Con in October, where we will be playing FoW.

Looks like the one in April is the 23rd for sure.

[Dean Dodge]

Hi Kage, are you going to do FOW at the FRAGcon this spring? I would be  up for playing. We are going to run warhammer as well so if we can arrange  to have those at different times I would love that.

For FOW if you needed extra terrain feel free to use what ever I have.