Welcome to the Overlord Games! Your ultimate destination for all things Flames of War.
Be prepared to explore the world of Flames of War as we explore different battles, unit breakdowns, tactics, list building and army showcases! Whether you're a seasoned hobbyist or just starting out, join us for informative content which is designed to help you progress and meet your hobby goals.
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I’m doing my research before getting into either Flames of War or Bolt Action. I’m an armor officer, so I like the tank focus of Flames of War, but I like the random turn order of Bolt Action. The starter sets of Flames of War do make entry easier. If I were to get either Spearhead or Combat Command, plus a German starter, would I have all of the rulebook and accessories required to play, or would I have to get another starter set also?
Hiya, Each box would come with the correct unit cards and an A5 copy og the rules? You'd need a tape measure, dice and a template, although you could make one of these out of paper/card. Welcome to the game. :)
The thing that always stopped me playing flames of war are the tank parking lots and a unit of tanks moving in a Napoleonic-esque line. It's completely immersion breaking. I have been looking into maybe adapting Bolt Action for 15mm though.
As you said I like 15mm for company sized battles. You can't really play that size tank battles with Bolt Action. I have some Bolt Action and 40k 28mm models, but I used to play Command Decision with 6mm tanks, so 15mm seem large. I generally like FoW, but I don't like "I go you go" systems. Watching teams move from cover through open terrain back to cover without opportunity fire drives me crazy. Therefore I play FoW with Bolt Action activation dice and with opportunity fire and overwatch. I find it fun and easy to adjust play with both players always engaged and not taking a nap when its not their turn. I also don't play tournaments, so house rules aren't a problem.
Thanks for your interest in my "house rules" and I'd be interested in any recommendations. 1. Set up teams on the board as normal, except "Ambush" units are handled as Hidden units with their positions on board written down during unit deployment. 2. Both players go through the normal Starting Step. Units in Overwatch are marked with a Bolt Action die showing "Ambush" (I'm going to 3D print some custom dice.) Overwatch units can not move, but they can pivot and fire at any time during the turn including when the other player moves a unit. 3. For each remaining unit (including artillery, but not Hidden Units) put a Bolt Action die in a bag and draw one die (just like Bolt Action). That unit can shoot, or move and then shoot using normal FoW rules. Mark units that Dash with "Run", units that move using Blitz can fire as normal or Opportunity Fire (mark as Ambush") later. Units moving at Tactical are marked with "Advance". Once a unit shoots change the die to "Fire". A unit that does not shoot leaves the die as "Ambush" (units that Blitzed using Halted ROF) or "Advance" (moving ROF) and can fire as Opportunity Fire later in the turn like Overwatch. 4. Hidden Units are concealed and revealed when within 4" of an moving enemy unit or at any time by the owning player (even when their opponent is moving a unit). They are placed on the board in Overwatch, or announce they will Assault, or they may move doing a Dash or Tactical move to avoid an enemy unit. If they move they are subject to receiving Opportunity Fire. If they Assault the unit assaults immediately. (need to play test this more) 4. Artillery is kept off board unless it is a mortar unit or a unit the player wants to use for direct fire at some point. A die drawn from the bag can be used to shoot or move that artillery unit as normal. 5. When all dice have been selected and played, units that have not fired need to do so before the Assault Step. 6. Play the Assault Step as normal. Concealed Infantry and then Armored Tanks assault first. Units that were in Overwatch can't assault. Defensive fire and Counterattack work as normal. 7. Pick up all the Bolt Action dice and begin a new Stating Step. Other ideas: 1. Veteran Units: I believe that Veteran units would be more accurate and have a higher ROF than just being harder to hit than just trained units. I want to play test adding +1 ROF to both Halted and Moving ROF. I also think Veteran units should get a -1 to the Hit Number. This would make Veteran units much more powerful and may require adding some more points to the cost of a Veteran unit. Based on looking at unit card options this may just be 2 points, but it would require some play testing. 2. I'm think about using split-fire for using part of your ROF on different targets, or using a reduced machine gun ROF for the hull machine gun against infantry while the turret fires on a different target (tank). 3. I plan on using Building Destruction rules I found at "mostlytanks.wordpress.c o m/2015/03/19/flames-of-war-house-rules/". I put spaces in the .com because I have had RU-vid delete posts were I have a real link. 4. This doesn't change the game, but the "Bailed Out" term bugs me. A crew isn't going to jump out of and back into a tank like a Jack-in-the-box. Except for the "Gentleman's War" early in N. Africa, crews bailing out were machined gunned. Soviet crews were told not to bail out unless the tank was on fire and could be shot if they disobeyed. Late German crews were told to do the same thing. What makes more sense to me is that the crew is "stunned", having received some damage or minor injuries, and they can't move or shoot until they recover. Sorry for the long post , but I wanted to explain what I'm doing. I am open to any suggestions or additions.
If painting infantry is a worry for you, lots of players are using contrast paint to great effect. And for infantry and guns, a little extra work on the basing with static grass and tufts goes a long way as it is the base you will see most on the tabletop.
I grew up playing games like third Reich by Avalon Hill, panzer leader and pander blitz among many others with my dad, when he was a kid these games were new and he also played with HO scale tanks with his friends as a kid... I know this game is kinda "dead" but theres a rerelease happening in 2025? Anyway I'm happy to start buying up everything and your channel has been the main one that has had content on this game I've already told my 72 year old father about it and he seems interested! Thanks for the videos about this! Subbing!
Thank you so much for your kind comment. Its great to hear you and Dad are still interested after all these years. Early War is being redone (Poland, France etc)
@@OverlordGamesStore Oh that's awesome! And yea he decided he wants to get the kasserine starter kit cause he wants to play that battle, I'm hoping he likes the game so that we have something new to play with each other.
Archers it is true will die to morale.. but. Where they shine is in ambush. A 9 point unit that can pop panthers or tigers is pretty good. Also true sexton has no armour but it's not needed to be super close to the frontlines so the front armour one ain't so bad.
I got the hit the beach set way back and the booklet that came with it for quick start rules was called Open Fire. The infantry component of the allies were the US Paratroopers, and the armour were British Army tanks. The rules covered the profile of each unit.
Oh yeah, I forgot, in a unit of three or four tanks you have the added bonus of mistaken ID allowing you to allocate a hit on the Firefly to another unit in the squadron.
Question, how do you separate a Firefly from the Platoon/Squadron legally in the game. I ask this given that the rules state a squadron loses any unit that drops out of formation. Or how can you use a Firefly independently as a single unit when it would be required to test for moral every turn? The enemy does not even have to worry about it that much because you will blow the moral test sooner or later.
I got this about a year ago and was amazed at the amount of models I got in the hit the beach starter set. Built all the Shermans most the troops but then stopped videos like this one gonna have me breaking them out and getting them painted thank you!!
Hi Rik. It can sometimes devolve into parking lots rather quickly if the situation requires it. That is a criticism which i've always found to be reasonably accurate. The models are so much better. With most of the combat platoons in hard plastic is such an improvement from my old falling apart panzer 4s! The soft plastics i've had a few issues with but Battlefront have always replaced bad casts with no questions asked.
Give it a try. I've had a real blast playing Flames of War. If you are ever passing by Somerset in the UK let us know and we'll gladly give you a game. :)
Is there anyway to disable a tank in the rules so that it cannot turn i.e. getting a shot at the wheels track and throwing a track! I’ve checked the rules, and I don’t see any way to disable a tank or AFV in this game immobilizing vehicles, especially assault guns would be a very good tactic!
A lot of FOW playing groups either shrunk or disbanded post 2017 , some came back others didn't . Some groups switched to other WW2 games , or went to a different era to game in . On the bright side though FOW figures and models can be used in other WW2 games , so BF will still gets some sales that way .
One point you didn’t cover in your vid was the value of starting a WhatsApp group, keeps players in touch so they don’t feel isolated. Opening it up to potential players as well is a good hook.
Newcastle warlords has a growing community due to one man’s persistence. A few of us are older players and played Flames way way back. He got us back interested by having multiple Forces and running a demo game. Anyway we are back into playing though still learning and we have 8 players at the club taking part in a League over the next few weeks. A good mix of axis and Allies forces. Planning a DDay game for June, and so the Russian player(s) don’t miss out we will have a Bagration game as well after all that happened in June as well. It can work to grow a community, yes the 40K players are unlikely to come over to historical gaming but in a club there is likely to be players who just need a nudge. Good luck with the Vids.
Going good. We are getting a good mix of local and travelling players signing up. This is what we are really aiming for, mixing the local with the wider FOW community and establishing an annual focus for the Scottish players.@@OverlordGamesStore
There will be coverage, though not any reports from the competitive matches. Hopefully from some of the more sociable games. We should be live on the days too to let folks see how things are going as well as the awards. @@OverlordGamesStore
Very simple to play. Still a move shoot assault system. Not too much to keep track of and this is easily achieved with the marker sets. It's not a 100% historically accurate rulesset but does fill that Hollywood vibe.
@@RobTheHandsome1 I do like this store, but they claim they "cant order" FoW products. I know they were not a decent sales item before, so I understand them not stocking it anymore. I actually just found a fairly local store that I can get FoW from, so all is well now.
Any battle reports or unit breakdowns in the works? It would be nice to see the Italians get some love beyond the starter set. They add some nice flavor for the Africa campaign.