Flames of War Introduction




Flames of War

Flames of War is a tabletop wargame played with 1/100 (15mm) scale models. The combatants use
company level forces drafted from a variety of units. For example Germany can field Grenadier
Companies (infantry), Panzergrenadier Companies (mechanized) or Panzer Companies (tank).

The game takes place during 3 major phases of the Second World War:

Flames of War
Early War (1939 – 1941)

Weak tanks and not much in the way of technology, the EW period still has some fans out there that actually like to see shells bouncing from the heavily armored French tanks.

The following books are available:

Blitzkrieg: The German invasion of Poland and France 1939-1940
Hellfire and Back: Battles in North Africa 1940-1941
Burning Empires: The battle for the Mediterranean
Rising Sun: Russia’s war with Japan and Finland 1939-1940

Flames of War
Mid War (1942 – 1943)

Best known for the German/Russian starting conflict and the African adventure, Mid War is great for re-creating battles from the turning point of WW2.

The following books are available:

North Africa: And the Mediterranean 1942-1943
Eastern Front: 1942-1943

Flames of War
Late War (1944 – 1945)

The last period offers all armies a chance to field the best that they have. It is not uncommon to see whole Panther or Tiger companies, huge hordes of T-34/85’s or American Paratrooper lists in this period. Some say it is the most exciting way to play FOW as you can actually use most of the cool toys we all got into wargaming for.

The following books are available:

Grey Wolf: Axis forces on the Eastern Front Jan. 1944 – Feb. 1945
Red Bear: Allied forces on the Eastern Front Jan. 1944 – Feb. 1945
Market Garden: The Allied invasion of Holland Sep. – Nov. 1944
Market Garden: The German defence of Holland Sep. – Nov. 1944
Atlantik Wall: The German defence of France Jun. – Sep. 1944
Overlord: The Allied invasion of France Jun. – Sep. 1944
Dogs and Devils: Breakout at Anzio, Italy May 1944
Blood, Guts and Glory: Tank battles in the Lorraine Sep. 1944 – Jan. 1945
Devil’s Charge: The battle of the Bulge, Dec. 1944 (German)
Nuts: The battle of the Bulge, Dec. 1944 (Allied)
Normandy Battles: Wargaming D-Day and beyond

Flames of War

Gameplay is based on the IGOUGO system. Opponents take turns in moving, shooting and assaulting with their units. While not as realistically as other simulations it does provide with a very clean turn sequence and is easily recognizable by anyone who played Games Workshops games (Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40k, etc).

A major difference between Warhammer and FOW is the fact that units do not have weapon skill or ballistic skill to relate to each other when trying to hit. Instead units have skill ratings (Conscript, Trained or Veteran). The skill rating of a unit determines how hard it is to hit the unit on the basis that the more experience and trained combatants knew how to use cover more efficiently and put themselves in advantageous positions that made them harder to hit and easier to hit the enemy.

A second major factor is Morale, which determines both command range (units need to be in command range to be able to act, which is pretty reasonable) and how well the troops handle stress (and we’re not talking about “tomorrow morning in the earliest” deadlines but seeing their friends shot, blown or ran over) and how prone they are to tail it if things go bad.

As a general rule infantry is pretty hard to shift from position by shooting alone and close combat assaults have to happen if you want to have a real shot at dislodging them, however close combat is also very casualty heavy.

Tanks can roam around the field picking targets and concentrating their firepower and charging together against the enemy however good anti-tank positions can easily render them quite useless, as is Air Support, which is why you want either immobile or mobile AA support following your forces. Well, you guessed it, the game is all about paper, rock and scissors and that’s a good thing since it means no actual weapon or list dominates the playfield and allows you to play different combinations to good effect.

And lastly here’s a nice wallpaper that is Copyrighted by Battlefront (as are all the images in this article) which are the creators of Flames of War. Click on the wallpaper to go to their site and check the awesomeness!

Flames of War



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