Two things I'd add - one about what makes it accessible, and one about what makes it unique. For accessibility, the turn structure (and even force building, with black box mandatory units and grey box optional units) should be pretty familiar to anyone who has played a GW wargame, which for better or worse remains a lot of people's route into the hobby. But the unique thing, that I haven't seen much elsewhere is about the combat: ranged combat is based on the quality of your opponent, rather than your own marksmanship. The theory is that anyone can more-or-less point a rifle; what makes the difference in combat is small-unit tactics, use of terrain, cover, smoke, etc. All of these are below the scale of this game, but are abstracted into higher quality units being harder to shoot.
Played since 2nd edition came out and well into 3rd edition. Spent many thousands on metal and resin tanks, good to see that I've come back to a much more accessible game.
Been into this game for a year... It's fun and I rate the newer models at the top for details and clear instructions. Looking forward to seeing the rest of this series.
Great Intro but a word to those thinking of starting - If you like late war 44/45, big tanks or experimental vehicles that never saw combat then you can get endless amounts. If you want what's shown in the books outside of 44/45 they still publish then tough luck. Want to do mid war Desert? Well you can get some of the tanks and AT but all the other stuff hasn't been available for over TWO YEARS with no info on when it will be available again (but they're all still shown all over the website and in the books). But BF do do a great job at recruiting new players with their partial starter sets only to then drive them straight to other manufacturers or worse to other scales. So if you want anything outside of 44/45 DON'T buy the still sold mid war Desert sets unless you just want tank v tank. If you want the other models then 3D printed resin is the only source and figures have to be metal from Peter Pig etc. Truth to tell if you want a starter set and then the supplements necessary to build a realistic army of vehicles, infantry and support weapons for Early War, Desert War, Pacific War, Invasion of the UK, then just go for Bolt Action 28mm who actually understand product strategy and don't just sell tanks and AT but infantry, lorries, support teams etc in related packs for ALL time periods not just their current pet favourite. Hope this helps anyone else starting out not to get burned as I did.
First, your experience there is really rough. I am so sorry you got stung with that. I have a Brit mid-war force in the attic for the self same reason. I believe that the issue is partly caused by the pandemic, so hope that in the not to distant future it'll get resolved. But yes, for now, Late War is a much better call than mid!
@@thedicegodswg The main army I have is German. But, I also have some American and British from the Open Fire and Hit the Beach starter sets. My co-worker is starting to collect Soviet.
This looks really cool, a mate of mine recently got me into historical wargaming, he is more of a Classic age type of person, but I think I could convince him to have a bit of a go at WW2!
I picked up some Flames of War plastic models on the cheap (mostly Sherman variants), initially just as a fun painting side project to take a break from my usual 28mm scale fare. They are very fun to build, and easy enough to paint up to a reasonable standard. Might be fun to give the actual game a try, though.
@@thedicegodswg Oh yes I am! We've been playing other "Indie" systems before, but FoW was what really showed me and firends the spice of true wargaming. Of course it has it's flaws but I still love the accesability of it. ;)
@@thedicegodswg hehe, that would be awesome. Gotta say the minis do look really good. How popular is flames of war in the UK? Say compared to bolt action or chain of command (another two systems I am looking at).
Nice overview. Fourth edition covers mid and late war Europe and Africa generally, third edition covers almost everything in Europe and Africa with some books very detailed on one event and also covers Japanese & US Marines in the Pacific. Second edition has almost completely been superseded except if you want to play the early desert battles of 1940-41. For very special units (pre-war Finish & Soviets, early war Dutch, etc.) Battle front released just over one hundred free PDFs. These vary from one page to twenty pages. Many of these were later incorporated into published books. Though some of the details in the PDF intelligence briefings are a nice read. These are hard to find now. Battle front also promised a PDF on the forces in Asia and the Burma campaign (British, Indian, and Americal Armies), but I have not been able to find it anywhere. .
Great video for introducing people, what starter set do you think would serve the best introduction? I feel it might be hit the beach as it introduces armored forces, infantry forces and at guns
The game is split into three periods; early, mid, and late war. You can play any armies within the same period against each other, but not across periods. So, I think your suggestion would be mid vs late war, so not possible, unfortunately.
I really enjoy Flames of War. Even though as a Soviet player I often feel put upon! Like I should be playing the Americans or Germans... haha! Well I do my duty for the Motherland. Seriously though it's a great game, I can't get enough of it.
As a rule, they are self contained. The US D-Day one, for example, is pretty strong and comes to 100 points! By comparison, the new Berlin Soviet starter force needs a box of IS-2s to get to the magic 100 points. But, usually, it's there or there abouts.
Only the late war ones and hit the beach. Steer clear of any of the mid war desert starter sets as the supporting figures and other essential elements aren't available and haven't been for nearly two years.
This is an interesting system. I dislike the part a player's turn uses all of their units. Second player can be in a big disadvantage there. I'm curious to see how this is balanced in the actual gameplay.
Being a modeler, not a wargamer, and I am turned off by the 28mm "wargaming" figures that have gigantic, ridiculous looking heads and weapons. To me they must be realistic. I build 1/72, 1/48, 1/35 armor and figures, plus I collect 1:18 21st Century Toys and Ultimate Soldier. Sorry, but the Rubicon line is the most realistic of all the wargaming manufacturers and could be used to flesh out my collection, but the 1/56 scale is neither here (1/72) or there (1/48). Too bad because I would buy all that they make!
@@thedicegodswg indeed, as while we do not use FoW in our group, the only times I've seen it done properly is with 3mm or 6mm rather than 15mm. It just looks silly at 15mm - the tanks and vehicles look like they're in a parking lot and the infantry look like they're at rock-throwing range. I don't expect 1:1 figure to table top scale matchup, but getting closer than 15mm is a must for any kind of verisimilitude.
not sure if this review is entirely accurate, a six turn game is going to take you at least six hours with how FOW's rules are often needed to be checked and reviewed. not all kits come with unit cards which drag the game out into book delving which is a real pain, unit cards are great but for more $$$ battlefront removed them from their kits to have customers buy their books and card packs :/
Interesting perspective. Not our experience with the game at all. Agree that selling unit cards isn't the best, but then individual unit boxes can be used for more books then, without giving away redundant cards. The longest game I've had was 3 hours, and that was my first.
![Postmodern Era (Ascended Royal Carriage!) [Forge of Empires]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n91XdFzPXA8/mqdefault.jpg)
Excellent rundown of the basics of the game.
Thanks!
Thanks for the video. Looking forward to the rest of your series for FoW.
It's in the way! 👍
well done looking forward to more.
Thanks!
Good overview, look forward to the next episodes.
Next one drops in a week!
Very well done video offering a solid overview of FoW
Thanks!
I just got started with Flames and this has been really great to watch. Thanks!
Awesome! Welcome to the game.
Looks amazing and very helpful I must look into this a bit more
You should!
Love this explanation 👏 and hope to see more 😀
Thanks! Next one lands on Monday... 😉
Two things I'd add - one about what makes it accessible, and one about what makes it unique. For accessibility, the turn structure (and even force building, with black box mandatory units and grey box optional units) should be pretty familiar to anyone who has played a GW wargame, which for better or worse remains a lot of people's route into the hobby.
But the unique thing, that I haven't seen much elsewhere is about the combat: ranged combat is based on the quality of your opponent, rather than your own marksmanship. The theory is that anyone can more-or-less point a rifle; what makes the difference in combat is small-unit tactics, use of terrain, cover, smoke, etc. All of these are below the scale of this game, but are abstracted into higher quality units being harder to shoot.
Yup, very good points! Thanks for mentioning them. 👍
I recently got into Flames of War and am looking forward to more of these videos.
Welcome to the game. Next video is Monday!
This video seems the best place to start!
By design! 👍
I used to play flames of war, but not for some time. Your videos are really tempting me to get back into it.
Dooooooo it!! 😉
great video
Thanks!
Excellent video clear concise and informative looking forward to getting a desert war going
Thanks!
Looks interesting, intrigued to find out more.
It's on the way!
Thanks for the Introduction to FOW looking for to getting back to playing in V4
Welcome back!
Love the video’s
Thank you!
Played since 2nd edition came out and well into 3rd edition. Spent many thousands on metal and resin tanks, good to see that I've come back to a much more accessible game.
That's awesome to hear. Welcome back.
Definitely a helpful overview for new and potential players!
Thanks!
Thanks for the info guys! I’m looking to dive into the game
Welcome to the game
Been into this game for a year... It's fun and I rate the newer models at the top for details and clear instructions. Looking forward to seeing the rest of this series.
Thanks and completely agree on the new minis.
I’ve never known much about the earlier versions (just got into Flames a little over a year ago), that was super interesting!
Glad you enjoyed it.
You forgot to mention Early War. I know its not V4 standard, but its a very fun part of the war/rules.
True and good point
Nice introduction :)
Thanks!
Great Intro but a word to those thinking of starting - If you like late war 44/45, big tanks or experimental vehicles that never saw combat then you can get endless amounts. If you want what's shown in the books outside of 44/45 they still publish then tough luck. Want to do mid war Desert? Well you can get some of the tanks and AT but all the other stuff hasn't been available for over TWO YEARS with no info on when it will be available again (but they're all still shown all over the website and in the books). But BF do do a great job at recruiting new players with their partial starter sets only to then drive them straight to other manufacturers or worse to other scales. So if you want anything outside of 44/45 DON'T buy the still sold mid war Desert sets unless you just want tank v tank. If you want the other models then 3D printed resin is the only source and figures have to be metal from Peter Pig etc.
Truth to tell if you want a starter set and then the supplements necessary to build a realistic army of vehicles, infantry and support weapons for Early War, Desert War, Pacific War, Invasion of the UK, then just go for Bolt Action 28mm who actually understand product strategy and don't just sell tanks and AT but infantry, lorries, support teams etc in related packs for ALL time periods not just their current pet favourite.
Hope this helps anyone else starting out not to get burned as I did.
First, your experience there is really rough. I am so sorry you got stung with that. I have a Brit mid-war force in the attic for the self same reason.
I believe that the issue is partly caused by the pandemic, so hope that in the not to distant future it'll get resolved. But yes, for now, Late War is a much better call than mid!
I have many units to build. I have been building up for a few years, but just finally found somebody to play against.
Awesome news. Which nation are you each playing? Sounds like this field manual series is good timing then?
@@thedicegodswg The main army I have is German. But, I also have some American and British from the Open Fire and Hit the Beach starter sets. My co-worker is starting to collect Soviet.
This looks really cool, a mate of mine recently got me into historical wargaming, he is more of a Classic age type of person, but I think I could convince him to have a bit of a go at WW2!
Sounds like a plan! Get him to check out this video series, comment and he (or you) could win a 2 player start set too!
I picked up some Flames of War plastic models on the cheap (mostly Sherman variants), initially just as a fun painting side project to take a break from my usual 28mm scale fare. They are very fun to build, and easy enough to paint up to a reasonable standard. Might be fun to give the actual game a try, though.
It would be rude not to give it a go, especially as you have the minis... 😉
been playin this for a year now. :)
Nice, enjoying it?
@@thedicegodswg
Oh yes I am!
We've been playing other "Indie" systems before, but FoW was what really showed me and firends the spice of true wargaming.
Of course it has it's flaws but I still love the accesability of it.
;)
Was thinking of getting into historical war-gaming, this looks like it might be a good candidate.
Absolutely. More videos coming soon should help your decision, and if you win a two-player starter set too? Bonus!
@@thedicegodswg hehe, that would be awesome. Gotta say the minis do look really good. How popular is flames of war in the UK? Say compared to bolt action or chain of command (another two systems I am looking at).
@Odyssey last I checked, there's a thriving community over there with some of the biggest and oldest channels over there too. 😉
Nice overview.
Fourth edition covers mid and late war Europe and Africa generally, third edition covers almost everything in Europe and Africa with some books very detailed on one event and also covers Japanese & US Marines in the Pacific. Second edition has almost completely been superseded except if you want to play the early desert battles of 1940-41.
For very special units (pre-war Finish & Soviets, early war Dutch, etc.) Battle front released just over one hundred free PDFs. These vary from one page to twenty pages. Many of these were later incorporated into published books. Though some of the details in the PDF intelligence briefings are a nice read. These are hard to find now.
Battle front also promised a PDF on the forces in Asia and the Burma campaign (British, Indian, and Americal Armies), but I have not been able to find it anywhere.
.
Wow, thank you! Thats really helpful background, appreciate it. 👍💪
I play battlegroup on 15mm. And i wanna try flames of war becouse i thing is interesting. I enjoy alot your video. Thanks and best wishes 😁
Thanks very much. You totally should give it a go!
Great stuff, can’t wait for the rest. The micro art studio buildings look great, not available yet? I only see bolt action scale on their site
Not yet, alas, available in the next month or so.
Glad you enjoyed the video. More Monday...!
Great video for introducing people, what starter set do you think would serve the best introduction?
I feel it might be hit the beach as it introduces armored forces, infantry forces and at guns
Agreed, hit the beach gives the broadest jntro, 100% 👍
Can you play any periods against each other? Like 1943 Italians against 1944 Germany?
The game is split into three periods; early, mid, and late war. You can play any armies within the same period against each other, but not across periods. So, I think your suggestion would be mid vs late war, so not possible, unfortunately.
I really enjoy Flames of War. Even though as a Soviet player I often feel put upon! Like I should be playing the Americans or Germans... haha! Well I do my duty for the Motherland. Seriously though it's a great game, I can't get enough of it.
It is indeed, comrade! Let's hope Berlin Soviet redresses things a little.
Yes
Indeed!
Looking forward to seeing more, how big are the forces in the starter sets, are they enough/balanced by themselves or do they need additional units?
As a rule, they are self contained. The US D-Day one, for example, is pretty strong and comes to 100 points! By comparison, the new Berlin Soviet starter force needs a box of IS-2s to get to the magic 100 points. But, usually, it's there or there abouts.
Usually the forces are around 50 points per side in the boxes, personally the smaller games are more fun but many play the usual 100 points
Only the late war ones and hit the beach. Steer clear of any of the mid war desert starter sets as the supporting figures and other essential elements aren't available and haven't been for nearly two years.
One thing you're misinformed about - the "soft plastic" figures are the newest ones and the range that is being expanded. They suck.
Ah good to know. All my latest ones have been the better ones, hence the assumption!
This is an interesting system. I dislike the part a player's turn uses all of their units. Second player can be in a big disadvantage there. I'm curious to see how this is balanced in the actual gameplay.
The balance comes from how hard it is to kill stuff. Early game, you're often hitting targets on a 7!
@@thedicegodswg ah okay, thanks for the quick answer.
3:06
After the army builder?
Being a modeler, not a wargamer, and I am turned off by the 28mm "wargaming" figures that have gigantic, ridiculous looking heads and weapons. To me they must be realistic. I build 1/72, 1/48, 1/35 armor and figures, plus I collect 1:18 21st Century Toys and Ultimate Soldier. Sorry, but the Rubicon line is the most realistic of all the wargaming manufacturers and could be used to flesh out my collection, but the 1/56 scale is neither here (1/72) or there (1/48). Too bad because I would buy all that they make!
Fair enough. To each their own.
@@thedicegodswg indeed, as while we do not use FoW in our group, the only times I've seen it done properly is with 3mm or 6mm rather than 15mm. It just looks silly at 15mm - the tanks and vehicles look like they're in a parking lot and the infantry look like they're at rock-throwing range. I don't expect 1:1 figure to table top scale matchup, but getting closer than 15mm is a must for any kind of verisimilitude.
not sure if this review is entirely accurate, a six turn game is going to take you at least six hours with how FOW's rules are often needed to be checked and reviewed. not all kits come with unit cards which drag the game out into book delving which is a real pain, unit cards are great but for more $$$ battlefront removed them from their kits to have customers buy their books and card packs :/
Interesting perspective. Not our experience with the game at all. Agree that selling unit cards isn't the best, but then individual unit boxes can be used for more books then, without giving away redundant cards. The longest game I've had was 3 hours, and that was my first.