Something Different

This post is almost completely different than any other post I've done, and indeed different from this blog, and therefore I don't know how to start it, so I'll get straight into it: the topic of today's post is Flames of War. Flames of War is a miniatures wargame. For those who don't know what that means (don't worry, that was me a few years ago), this means that Flames of War is a game where you assemble little models of vehicles and people, paint them, put them together into armies, and then play a game with someone. Yes, physical models. No, no, don't leave. Not yet. Hear me out. I know this is a curveball, I know this is coming from nowhere, but I need to talk about this. Before I explain why, however, I have to fully explain what.

Flames of War is extensive. The rulebook is over 300 pages, for Pete's sake. I obviously won't be explaining everything, but I'll give you the basics: each player (generally two, but you could definitely add more) has an army that meet a pre-arranged point total (I'll explain this a bit later, just bear with me for now). The two players will set up a board that is generally 48"x72", though this is up to the players and can be changed for many reasons. This board can be anything from a plastic fold-up table with books and other household items set on it to simulate terrain, to a custom made, detailed 3D gaming table complete with trees and grass and houses and hills and cliffs and water and more. The two players will agree on a gamemode (or play a pre-set one if in a tournament) before beginning deployment: each game mode has different rules for how the two players deploy their armies, and then the game starts. Each player takes turns moving their miniatures around the table, shooting at the enemy, capturing objectives, assaulting trenches, etc. The game can take quite a while, depending on the gamemode and the point total, and moves far slower than almost any computer or console game.

All armies (forces) in Flames of War are assembled from some sort of book. There are three main time periods (early, mid and late) used to represent the technological developments throughout the war (because certain tanks were far less useful at the end of the war then the beginning, certain planes didn't exist early on in the war, etc.), and each book will come from one of these time periods. Flames of War has a wide range of books and, so long as you're in the right time period, all of them can be used (with some adjustments, as this game first came out in 2002). Each player will select a book, then pick one of the available armies within the book. These armies will have a diagram showing you what forces you are required to take, as well as the support options you have. This is where the points come in: everything gets assigned a point value, the idea being that you and your opponent should be pretty evenly matched.

The armies vary greatly, the options are overwhelming, and everything is very complicated. If anyone reading this is thinking that it might be fun, I highly advise finding a local shop that carries Flames of War products and going in to talk to staff/other players. Often the shop will run games, tournaments or campaigns, and many have spaces for you to play, as well as occasionally having spare terrain that can be used to set up your board. In addition, chances are someone owns more than one army (either a player or the shop might have display models) and you can play a couple games and get the feel for the game (as well as what's good and what isn't, even though it's not a video game there's still a meta). If you have the option, I highly advise playing around with different armies, specifically armies of the three main different types: armored (tanks), mechanized: (infantry in vehicles) and infantry (surprise, it's infantry), as well as armies of different nationalities (for late war the main nations are Britain, the U.S., Germany and the USSR). The reason I suggest this is that each army has its own distinct feel, and you'll quickly find that you have preferences as to what you use and what kind of play-style you play with. I personally play with German Grenadiers (infantry) because of their toughness and reliability.

Before you go out and buy a ton of models and paint them up, a couple quick words of advice; the first being have a plan. Flames of War is by no means cheap (I haven't played for long, but I'd say the average cost is at least $125 per army, not counting supplies), and you don't want to buy things you don't need. If you're looking for the most affordable and/or quickest way to get into the game I'd say take a heavy armor list. The reason I say this is that heavy tanks (German Panthers and Tigers, Soviet IS-2s, American Pershings, British Churchills) have a very high point-to-dollar ratio, meaning that you're spending far less money to get up to your point total (1500 is a good starting point, 1750 is a common tournament number). As an example, only five German Panthers (about $50) is 940 points in most lists, meaning you've got over half your force for "only" $50. In comparison, a single German infantry platoon (155 points in a comparable list) costs $15, so to get to a similar point total you'd be spending around $90. The second tip is also for players looking to just get in as easily as possible: don't, for the love of all things holy, take a Russian list unless you've thought very seriously about it. The Russians (ok, ok, the Soviets) in World War II took a "quantity over quality" approach to their armies, and their forces in Flames of War are reflected as such. You're average Soviet Infantry platoon, for example, has 20 or so stands of Infantry, as supposed to the German infantry platoon I mentioned earlier with only seven. Worth noting that this platoon is more expensive (point-wise) than its German counterpart, but it still comes out as more money for less points.

My final tip is this: enjoy the painting. Don't rush the painting to get the army done, the painting is so much fun in and of itself. I originally got into Flames of War by talking to the owner of the hobby shop I bought model airplanes from so I'm not exactly an unbiased observer here, but the painting is amazing. It's very hard, don't get me wrong, as each figure is literally 100 times smaller than life, but it is so satisfying and is quite calming. In addition, the feeling of finishing a section of your force after you've spent hours on it is simply amazing, something that few video games (with Rainbow Six being the main exception) can compare with.

So, I've given you all this information on a completely different topic from normal, and here's why: Flames of War is truly a social game. Yes, I know, video games involve online interaction, and I love that. I absolutely love how convenient they are, and how much fun I can have while only moving my thumbs (and, god forbid, my other fingers) but Flames of War is refreshing in that while playing it I go out and meet people face to face, and play games with them and sometimes just sit and chat about different Flames of War news or new books or new models. At the end of the day, Flames of War almost definitely won't replace video games for any of you, but I highly advise you check it out if you have any interest in what I've said in this article. Also, if WWII isn't your style, Flames of War has a couple of other time periods available. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me about them. If you're in my area, I'd be happy to meet and play a game or two once I have my new army painted!