[Caramel KHORNE!]

The full Calgar & Friends Complete 1st Season set is prolly around $40 and $18-25 at employee discount. 

The problem with FoW being relatively new is its trickey finding a good forum where one can look up army lists that are very clearly broken and use those to totally ruin the game for everyone else discuss strategy and find a good starter list.

[Bustafer Jones]

Exactly.  I am planning on a british Comando force, with some light armor and at support.  When i checked teh stats on tigers, i pretty much shat myself.  I have very little in my force that can scratch the paint of a tiger, and i assume those guns will be priority tragets.  However, in terms on infantry, there are litterally non better than my commandos.  They are the terminators of FoW, in terms of toughness and assault power, though they lack the firepower.  however, my force is well rounded and hase some mobile elements and some staying power.  since it is not always about crushing the enemy, i might be able to weather the tigers if i have to.

Also, there are sooo many goodies in this game.  And they are often cheap/free.  It's great.

As Fred says, it is hard to track down solid info on a lot of FoW stuff.  But since the force orgs are far more historical (and restrictive) than 40K, it is less likely that you will choose totally worthless units.  If it worked in the war, it will most likely work on the table.  Also, none of the rest of us will be net-decking it either.

[Cairnius]

Have you checked the forums on thier website, Fred?


I checked with the WW II buff friend of mine (he knows so much about the war it's amazing sometimes) and he said that my company is actually very on the money in terms of the solider:tank ratio and the other elements.

Like I said, historical recreation/accuracy is a big part of Flames of War, so it stands to reason that this was a major component in the design process.

Which is why you need so many Intelligence Books, to clearly delineate that you wouldn't be running a Late War Panzergrenadier Platoon in Africa with Rommel, for example.


I could see how people could view this as restrictive, but I think balance and restriction go hand in hand.   I'll trust the designers to have designed the game properly, like I did with another game very recently.

[Cairnius]

1944 huh?  Be careful of all the nice goodies you will be tempted with.  Tigers and Panthers are wonderful examples of Germans being better at life than basically everyone else, but the soviets can have many many T34's for the same price.

Tigers are WAY too expensive for 1,500-point battles.  Four of them are like 1,100+ points.

The only way you'll see me playing with real tanks is if I am doing a straight-up Panzer Platoon.   Otherwise, tanks are just supporting elements.   My StuH42's are meant to support the infantry, and the Jagdpanzers are more of a security measure than anything.   I considered taking a battery of four Pak anti-tank guns instead, but liked the mobility of the Jagdpanzers.

The StuH42's can take down tanks as well - they're just mobile 10.5cm guns like my artillery battery (enjoy having those stuffed in your face, Leland).

[Bustafer Jones]

Ha.  A word on infantry:

All infantry are broken down into teams mounted on bases.  Since these are not single models, it doesn;t really make sense that a single shot will take them all out cleanly.  to represent this, all infantry get a 3+ infantry save.  This makes them the rough equivilent of space marines in terms of staying power.  but it gets better.

So the 3+ save means that teams will hit the dirt, scatter, or lose a man but keep fighting.  But each platoon has a motivation/training rating as well.  My commandoes are fearless veterans, which means they pass all motivation tests on 2+, and enemies need a 5+ to hit them.  This represents thier ability to spread out and use every bit of cover to avoid enemy fire.

So, when dennis shoots at me, he needs 5+ to hit, and then i get a 3+ save.  Things look good, but i can't count on that.  he does have a not of guns.  So to up my odds, I can go to ground.  If i don;t move I can hit the dirt, and increase my to-hit number by 1, meaning he now needs 6s to hit me, and i get a 3+ save.

But lets say he is still keeping the pressure on, and leavs me with no choice but to dig in an wait it out.  If i was already gone to ground, i can forgo moving and shooting to dig foxholes and slit trenches, which provide me with bulletproof cover.  Now Dennis needs 6s to hit me, i get a 3+ save, and any saves I fail force him to make a firepower test to destroy the team.  Rifles and mgs have firepower 6+.  A Hvy MG might have 5+.  But his assault guns have 2+ firepower, which is a big problem.  He'll need those big guns to blow me out of my entrenchments, otherwise i might as well be having a picnic which his infantry pour on the fire.

Fred, I just looked at the Soviet section.  Each selection is litterally 3-5 times larger than those of other armies.  the reds do it big, and i mean HUGE.  A platoon to them is a company to anyone else.  While a hoard army will tend to cost a bit more, it seems nigh unstoppable.  They have a selection of a platoon on flame tanks.  That's pretty wild, since the base selection is 4 tanks.  most armies it's 2-3, and flame tanks are a rather special item.  But the soviets?  They can take 10 in a single platoon.  That is more vehicles than i will be putting on the table for my entire company.

[Sapphon]

Soviets in FoW are straight-up broken when played by someone who is good.

The T34 is the finest tank available for the price (FOR THE PRICE), and the disadvantages of bad crew are largely mitigated by the Red Guards upgrade, but who even cares? Don't take tanks.  Take hordes of fearless conscripts and some rocket artillery.  You won't be sorry.

Whoever designed FoW had a huge hard-on for the Red Army.

[DarkApostleSilas]

Mmm, Katyusha batteries.    Always nice to have a regimental/division sized shotgun on hand.

I've noticed that lists in the game are based off the era/theater of operations.  What time period/theater are people planning on?  (The SAS and Pink Panthers are hardly appropriate for fighting in Belgium or France, and I've heard talk of T-34s and Tigers so I'm thinking 1944ish?)

[Caramel KHORNE!]

Soviets in FoW are straight-up broken when played by someone who is good.

The T34 is the finest tank available for the price (FOR THE PRICE), but who even cares? Don't take tanks.  Take hordes of fearless conscripts and some rocket artillery.  You won't be sorry.

Sold!
Soyuz nerushimy respublik svobodnykh
Splotila naveki velikaya Rus'!
 

[Sapphon]

Soviets in FoW are straight-up broken when played by someone who is good.

The T34 is the finest tank available for the price (FOR THE PRICE), but who even cares? Don't take tanks.  Take hordes of fearless conscripts and some rocket artillery.  You won't be sorry.

Sold!
Soyuz nerushimy respublik svobodnykh
Splotila naveki velikaya Rus'!
 

You should watch the 'Let them Shing' part of The Hunt for Red October before every game for inspiration.

EDIT: http://www.arvardardboyz.com/SMF/index.php?topic=623.0

[Cairnius]

Mmm, Katyusha batteries.    Always nice to have a regimental/division sized shotgun on hand.

I've noticed that lists in the game are based off the era/theater of operations.  What time period/theater are people planning on?  (The SAS and Pink Panthers are hardly appropriate for fighting in Belgium or France, and I've heard talk of T-34s and Tigers so I'm thinking 1944ish?)

We are using the Festung Europa Intelligence Book, which is January - August 1944.