"Advice on WW2 rules and miniatures" Topic

Hmmmm………….
Well, it's advertised at Caliver, but is not in stock so although they will take your money, you may have a bit of a wait. (from personal experience)

Thanks again. I'm keeping on looking, but from the advice above, it looks like Chain of Command won't really suit my plan, so its off the list.

If Battlefront WWII is complex, then I might skip it too. That leaves Flames of War and Battlegroup. I think I can run to two rulebooks and give both a try.

I'm in Cheshire at the moment, but not for much longer. I might try to get to a show as advised, see if I can see a few games being played and have a look in the rulebooks too. Just depends on dates. Cheers all, thanks for the benefit of your experience.

"So, miniatures and rules? I've been looking online, and there seems a big choice. FOW? Bolt Action? "

I have a huge 20mm collection started from in my youth so no point in shifting scale, but if I were doing it again now from scratch with friends I'd try and go 15mm – slightly smaller, looks more real at tabletop ranges.

As far as rules go we are having a lot pf success with Fistiful of TOWS for WW2 it plays at the bigger scale of game you prefer.

Archie, I wouldn't say Battlefront is that complex, in fact, its pretty good in terms of explanation, every rule is accompanied by explanatory diagrams, if anything its a bit excssive in this regard, its certainly no more complex than FOW and has the added benefit of not being written in a style assumming the reader to be both 14 years old and know nothing at all about WWII.

Archi Bald,

Warwick Kinrade is running demo games of Battlegroup at the Derby show in October… Not exactly close but would give you the chance to try out Battlegroup with the author and get an idea of the mechanics and the rational behind them.

Be warned though… He can talk the hind legs off a donkey about playing toy soldiers! ;)

Till then, this may help;

link

You may also want to look at the Battlegroup AARs on The Guild;

guildwargamers.com

That's actually good advice and I'd say try before you buy at a few shows.

I've played many WW2 rules sets in four different scales. Flames of War w/ 15mm figs/models has proven to give me the most consistiently enjoyable experiences and value for my limited wargaming time.

However, you need to look at what's going on in your area. FoW may be of little use to you if your gaming mates are deep into something else. That being said, FoW does have a huge, if not the largest, player base and games of FoW have always been easy for me to find even when I travel for work.

Good luck!

VB

If you are interested in one model= one vehicle, Mein Panzer fits the bill in any scale. Despite its name it gives a really good infantry game. Check it out here odgw.com.

So many rules sets… all a bit over-choice really. Opponents isn't really an issue as I have one and for our time, that is enough. Maybe in the future we'll find some more, but I'm looking for occasional quality games.

Checked out the Guild Peirs, looks superb… edges Battlegroup I think. Can't see anything for the desert though. Can't make the Derby show, have other stuff that weekend.

Is there anybody who has experience of Flames of War and Battlegroup, both seem to have their positives and followers. Which would give the best historical accuracy for 15mm tank battles in the desert? I like a bit of realism.

Archi

As things stand right now, if you want to do Western Desert tank battles I'd say Flames of War is your best bet. Mainly because Battlegroup haven't gotten around to doing the Western Desert yet.

Hmmm, well you defined what you wanted very well and as a WW2 heavy gamer, I have to say 6mm or 10mm… I prefer 10mm as you can get a lot of the board, do "proper battles" AND still have the aesthetics of soem very nice sculpts.

I mostly do mid size now (FoW 15mm) style games, but for skirmish… 20mm is the scale because of the off chance of larger skirmishes every now and again. Anything larger and you must invest a fortune to play… keep in mind, if you do not scratch build your scenery… the larger you go, the more pricey the pieces… then the games become a huge investment for variety or you wind up playing on the same 6-9 pieces of ruins, etc… and it gets old fast.

Lots of factors to consider, but as you said… you want larger battles… 6mm or 10mm would be the way to go… if you have the money and space, you coupld play anything at any scale…

As much as I love FoW, I really miss my skirmish days… at 20mm… I grew up on making scenarios in 20mm based on the "Combat" TV series using the Under Fire rules set… best skirmish rules evert made… IMHO… I have many times tried to buy the rights to finish flushing them out.

Not convinced that scale is the issue unless you are very focussed on lovely figures – in which case maybe 28mm is the answer. Rapid fire works well with 15mm figures without changing the ranges, but you really need plenty (buckets even) of scenery.

For fast-play, combined arms battles, my fave is Blitzkireg Commander: link

Any scale works fine with it. I'm an iconclast and stick with HO – 1/87 (~18mm). If I were starting WW2 today, I'ld give N Scale (1/144/10-12mm) a serious consideration.

If you are in Cheshire and want to see how FoW works there is an active group in Stockport and also at Stafford Games.

Not sure if either is accessible for you but it may we a way to test the waters.