Flames of War

I am considering starting up a FoW force and I was wondering if anyone around here has experience with the system. I am interested in opinions of whether the game itself has well balanced rules, and whether the rules are relatively easy to figure out (as compared to warhammer fantasy). Currently, no one in my gaming group plays this game, so I wanted to do a little bit of looking around to see if was something that we as experienced wargammers would like.

Thanks.

It's a great game, especially if you like WWII history. You could say it plays roughly like 40k with a move-shoot-assault system.

Model quality isn't quite up to GW standards but many of the models are still very nice.You can also use alternative manufacturers freely as no one can copyright WWII vehicles (look up Plastic Soldier Company).

If you want to do competitive play you're going to run into the same kind of rules lawyering and power builds as you do in Warhammer.

I haven't played in a while but that's mostly because I simply don't have time to play more than one game seriously at a time. I still consider FoW to be one of the 'Big 3' alongside WFB and 40k.

As a bonus point, once you get over the tiny details 15mm armies can be painted a lot faster than 28mm ones. Of course, there is also a downside as you don't have as much artistic freedom as you do in a fantasy game. I think I played FoW actively for 3 years or so and I have about 10,000 points of German and US troops to show for it.

Thanks for the reply. I think I will pick up the starter set and take a look at the rules. On that note, the starter set looks like a fantastic deal compared to the starter sets for 40k and fantasy. Heck, its the same price as a Bastiladon, and it comes with over 100 models and rules/dice/markers etc.

Sounds like you're in Australia or something if the Bastiladon is that expensive. I'm seeing about £30 for the Bastiladon and £45 for the FoW starter set.

It's still cheaper than a 40k or WFB starter and the armies you get are comparable. In earlier starters you got lower quality tanks and no infantry but with this one you get much better variety and full quality vehicles as far as I can see. Just bear in mind the model count goes up very quickly for 15mm infantry and 3-5 infantry models effectively count as 1 model on the table.

A great starting point in any case, assuming you want to play Late War Germans and British.

Both are 70$ Canadian which works out to 42 pounds (don't know key for pound sign). The starter sets for Warhammer fantasy and 40k are 120$ Canadian. Obviously the model count will be different, but I still think that it is a pretty good deal. Especially considering that the starter forces look much closer to a 1750 pt tournament army than the Warhammer starter sets.

Anyway, I'll have to wait a couple of weeks for my set to arrive because the local store was sold out. I've been looking at some of the other forums for advice in the meantime.