Flames of War

Flames of War
The World War II Miniatures Game

Cover of 2nd Edition Rulebook
Publisher(s) Battlefront Miniatures Ltd
Publication date 2002
Years active 2002 - present
Genre(s) table top wargaming
Players 2-4
Website http://www.flamesofwar.com

Flames of War (abbreviated as FoW) is a World War II tabletop miniatures wargame produced by the New Zealand company Battlefront Miniatures Ltd. The 1st Edition set of rules was published in 2002.

Flames of War allows players to wargame company level battles from the European, Pacific and North African Theatres of World War Two, using 1/100 scale miniatures (15 mm figure scale) and miniature armour. In the 1st Edition rulebook basic army lists were provided for the mid-war period (1942–1943), while Battlefront published early (1939–1941) and late war (1944–1945) army lists on their website (subsequently these early and late war lists were removed). The 2nd Edition of the rulebook was published in 2006. The 3rd Edition of the rules was released on March 10, 2012.

Gameplay

Gameplay takes place over a series of turns, with players alternating movement, shooting and close assault. This simple sequence of play, often called "I-Go, You-go", helps people who are unfamiliar with wargames or who are familiar with other games with a similar structure to quickly learn the rules. The game is optimised for two players, although it can be played by a larger number of players playing against each other or grouped in teams.

Play revolves around company-level tactics, with each stand or element representing an infantry fireteam (half-squad/section), an artillery piece and its crew, or a single vehicle (such as a tank, jeep, or armoured car). Air support is also available, in the form of fighter bombers (like the Hawker Hurricane) and ground attack aircraft (like the Ilyushin Il-2 "Shturmovik"), with aircraft generally being represented by 1:144 scale models.

The main rulebook has numerous scenarios players can use for their games, with all of these scenarios centered on capturing objectives. Additional army sourcebooks contain further scenarios, usually centered on historical events relevant to that particular book. Game play utilizes six-sided dice to pass various skill tests used to shoot at enemies or pass motivation based tests. Movement distances and weapon ranges are provided in both inches and centimeters and are usually measured with tape measures or other measuring aides. Tokens are used to indicate pinned down troops, bogged down vehicles etc.

Current army sourcebooks are based on particular campaigns and include lists for the German Wehrmacht (including the Deutsches Afrikakorps, the Waffen SS and Luftwaffe ground troops), the U.S. Army (including Rangers and Airborne units), the armies of United Kingdom and Commonwealth (India, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and New Zealand), the Red Army of the Soviet Union, (including the Soviet 8ya Gvardeyskiy Strelkovy Korpus), the Italian army (including elite Bersaglieri and Paracadutisti, regular Fucilieri, and fascist Blackshirts paramilitaries), as well as nations that played as smaller role such as the Poles, Hungarians, Finns, and Romanians. Sourcebooks have so far been restricted to the European theater and Mediterranean theater; Battlefront has indicated that future releases may include coverage of the Pacific theater, but only after army lists and campaign supplements covering the early and late periods of fighting in Europe have been released.

Flames of War provides players who are interested in World War II wargaming but lack an in-depth knowledge of the period with a "one-stop shop". The rulebook and sourcebooks provide not only the rules of the game and scenarios to play but also background material on historical forces and battles and simple guides to organising, assembling, and painting miniature armies.

Rules and sourcebooks

Battlefront divides World War II into three periods. Early-war (1939–41), mid-war (1942–43) and late-war (1944–45). Each period has its own point values aimed at recreating actual battle situations that would have occurred during the respective time periods. Sourcebooks are compiled to represent forces from one of the time periods, some only cover specific battles (Blood, Guts, and Glory, Devil's Charge, etc.) other books cover broad campaigns with lists that span multiple years (North Africa, Eastern Front, etc.).

The current rules are found in the Third Edition Rule Book, which was printed in a hard cover and paperback edition. The paperback edition includes all of the rules found in the hard cover edition with the exceptions of the Fortifications and City fighting rules. Unlike the first edition, where individual nation army lists were included, the second edition rule book does not include any army lists. Army lists for each nation must be purchased separately and are required to play the game. However, if purchasing the budle rules bundle pack, a second book has the basic army lists. Legal army lists for tournament play typically include only Third edition source books and selected "Web Briefings" published on Battlefront's web site.

Third Edition sourcebooks

Second Edition sourcebooks

Early-War period

Mid-War period

Late-War period

Both Grey Wolf and Red Bear have been revised, and are current to 3rd edition rules.

First Edition sourcebooks

These books have been replaced with the sourcebooks listed above which reflect the 2nd or current 3rd Edition rules. All of these supplements below are now out of print. Battlefront provides updates on their website that detail the changes between these old sourcebooks (but not the first edition rulebook) and the new mid-war army lists provided in Afrika and Ostfront. With these changes, players may continue to use these (corrected) sourcebooks for tournament play in the mid-war period.

Web briefings

Battlefront publishes additional army lists on their web site.[3] These lists are official Battlefront lists and are eligible to be played in many tournaments. Additionally, Battlefront will host "unofficial" briefings developed by fans, although such lists are generally not eligible for tournament play.

Models And availability

Battlefront Miniatures also has a line of multipart metal, resin, and plastic models, at roughly 15mm scale, for use in playing Flames of War. This includes models for ground forces, such as infantry, vehicles and field guns, along with a limited range of 1/144 model aircraft. The models are sold in blister packs and assorted boxed sets.

Other manufacturers produce 15mm figures for wargaming World War II, which can be used in addition to or instead of Battlefront's figures, in either private or tournament play.

To Battlefront's immense credit, they welcome the use of third party models, even in officially run tournaments, something which is rare among the community.

Tournaments

Battlefront supports the tournament scene that revolves around Flames of War. Flames of War tournaments are held across the world and through the Flames of War website players have access to listings of upcoming events through the Flames of War Events Calendar. Each area of the world has a specific events calendar that players can use to find events near them. In North America Battlefront promotes a National Tournament Season in which winners of regional tournaments are qualified to play in any of the three National Tournaments. Players winning an Overall Championship or Best General Award from the three Nationals receives an automatic invitation to the North America Masters tournament. Other spots on the Masters Tournament are filled by the top ranked players on the Rankings HQ website. Individuals, clubs, or shops wishing to run a Flames of War sponsored tournament can contact Battlefront through Battlefront's website.[4]

Reception

William Jones comments: "Historical miniature gamers will certainly continue the quest for the perfect new rules systems — the same quest that, in part, brought Phil Yates to create Flames of War. But his marvelous design offers quite a lot, especially to those tabletop tacticians who long for a game where strategy is dominant, who want to dedicate more time to plotting a battleplan and less to worrying about the rules. Flames of War boasts a wonderful balance between speed of play, detail, and flavor."[5]

Successor games

In November 2009, Battlefront announced Flames of War Vietnam - The Battle for la Drang. This rule set was released in Wargames Illustrated Magazine #266, and received a limited release of supporting models. In April 2011 Flames of War Vietnam was made a permanent rule set when the first sourcebook was added as a free addition to Wargames Illustrated Magazine #282, along with the re-release of the original miniatures (In new packaging) and several new box sets. In March 2013 the first softback released through the Flames of War brand rather than Wargames Illustrated was released. This book contained several lists previously seen in releases from Wargames Illustrated such as those for the United States as well as PAVN and will be supported by a full range of models. New forces include those from ARVN, the ANZAC Brigade sent to Vietnam, as well as new force diagrams for the United States and PAVN.

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ German for Fortress Europe
  2. ↑ Flames of War: Fortress Europe Spotlight
  3. ↑ Official Web Briefings
  4. ↑ ["Upcoming Flames Of War Events in North America," Flames of War, retrieved 10/23/2011, http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=1984]
  5. ↑ Jones, William (2007). "Flames of War". In Lowder, James. Hobby Games: The 100 Best. Green Ronin Publishing. pp. 113–115. ISBN 978-1-932442-96-0.
Bibliography
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