Flames of War newbie

[Ramshackle_Curtis]

I am thinking of giving flames of war a bash. I was wondering if there is any free media available? Such as community or fan made army lists, free downloads, this that or the other.

Also, what actual size are the bases? Small medium and large, but whats that in mm?

[joroas]

Their own site is full of a wealth of information.  Take a look there.

http://www.flamesofwar.com/

[Ramshackle_Curtis]

YEah, I checked it but cant find any army lists or anything. THe article on basing is good, but no mention of sizes. Its nice fluff, and promoted thier product, but no actual content for the cheap ass gamer who wants to try out the system but doesnt want to commit until they decide if they like it or not.

[Anatoli]

Curtis, FoW is a maze for the newbie. Your best bet is to  get in touch with some FoW gamers IRL to get you through the introduction process.

Bases for FoW are specific for the game, and only those bases are "allowed". You could of course use custom bases using the same measurements but that honestly does not look as good as the originals imo.

What you have to know before you buy anything beyond the main rulebook is:

What country am I interested in playing?
What time period am I interested in playing (early/mid/late war)
What campaign or operation am I interested in playing.

Knowing the answer to the above questions will make it somewhat easier to pick up a book that suits you and that includes the army lists you need. The easiest period at the moment imo would be Early War. It has the Blitzkrieg book dealing with invasions of Poland and France and includes Poland, Germany, France and the UK and is pretty self contained. Then there is early war in North Africa.

Beyond that the mid and late war is crowded with books on campaigns and operations that makes it a bit harder. From what I've learned, mid-war seem to be the "standard" period of the game and the one played by most people.

So unless you are really interested in obscure battles and early war or want to play (again from what I've heard) a somewhat unbalanced late-war period mid-war would be a safe bet. But again as I wrote at the beginning, you really should get in touch with some FoW gamers and check out how the game plays before you decide. It certainly is not a cheap game to get involved in, especially if you fumble in the dark and accidently buy books and models you won't have any use for.

[answer_is_42]

YEah, I checked it but cant find any army lists or anything. THe article on basing is good, but no mention of sizes. Its nice fluff, and promoted thier product, but no actual content for the cheap ass gamer who wants to try out the system but doesnt want to commit until they decide if they like it or not.

Well, you're just not looking hard enough, are you?
Various free army lists can be found here: http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=108
(although, as you can see, they are mostly rather obscure formations)

Furthermore, a basic search of the product catalouge reveals the base sizes as: Small bases (32mm x 25mm), Medium bases (50mm x 32mm) and Large bases(64mm x 50mm).

Will there be anything else?  

[Ramshackle_Curtis]

\brilliant! Thanks for the help!

[NTM]

If I was going to base for FoW I'd use Warbases they do some very nice MDF ones, rounded corners but not bevelled edge. Would do this even though I have quite a number of FoW ones but I can't get on with them especially the bevelled edges.

[Ramshackle_Curtis]

Well, Im contemplating running an army of the greys, you know, the aliens with their big heads. I will make them myself, so custom basing here we come!

[H.M.Stanley]

YEah, I checked it but cant find any army lists or anything. THe article on basing is good, but no mention of sizes. Its nice fluff, and promoted thier product, but no actual content for the cheap ass gamer who wants to try out the system but doesnt want to commit until they decide if they like it or not.

As you're in Nottingham, you should check in with the boys at Maelstrom in Mansfield. There's a very active FoW community up there.

Look in on The Warhammer Forum too (Historical), most of the FoW guys hang around on there

[The Gray Ghost]

What scale is FOW in?

[fastolfrus]

FoW is 15mm

Our school club plays PBI - less arguments, no add-on/codex books, use any scale (often including 10mm 15mm & 20mm on the same table).

PBI also has a free PBI-quick start version as an intro:

http://www.peterpig.co.uk/PBIQS.pdf

[Ramshackle_Curtis]

FoW has a major distribution center in Nottingham, so Ive been meeting the guys who work on the game! Hurrah, they have helped.

Im also working on some 15mm aliens that I will use as stand ins for Ze Late War Germans.