"Playing Flames of War in 6mm" Topic

Does anyone know if Flames of War works in 6mm?

My initial research into the subject seems to be a positive yes

Yes. Like most rule sets, it will work with just about any size figures.

Yes, the only thing we changed at the club was the size of the artillery template, other than that we kept all things the same.

I do it all the time. Adjust the template and you're off. By the way I game at 50%. When adjusting remember to adjust TOTAL AREA, not dimensions. Half of 6" x 6" is NOT 3" x 3".

I have a ruler marked off in half-inches which makes the math easier…

Thanks for the tips

I suggest you stick with 15mm ranges and templates.
This will deal with the esthetic "problem" of hub to hub tanks. Of course if you are dumb enough to crowd even more stuff under a template…..

IMO Flames of War should always be played at 6mm to avoid the traffic jams and hub to hub tanks that 15mm often causes

What I want to do is double all the available figures in the Open Fire box set, and buy them in 6mm from Heroics & Ros.

Haven't much of an idea how to do this though. Do I look to build a force going by individual infantry figures or by the base/strip? Tanks and guns are 1:1 ration but not sure about infantry.

OPEN FIRE
73 Grenadiers
2 PAK 40s
3 Stug G Assault Guns

32 US Paratroopers
6 Sherman V
2 Fireflys

It doesn't help that H&R don't have many images for the figures you're buying, so I don't know how many figures are on a strip.

All it says is something like "GUN CREW STANDING X 2"

So how many figures are involved and what does the 'x2'stand form anyone know?

I fully agree. I always played it with 6mm – I didn't even bother adjusting the artillery templates, you shouldn't be squeezing troops that close anyway. But I have given it up long ago now, when they started to release new Codexes (sorry, Army books) making the old ones obsolete, it was all getting a bit GW for my liking.

Hub to hub tanks occur mainly when people opt for too much armour on a small playing space….oh, and it's not only Flames of War where this happens.

Can we please put this old cliché to bed now?

Infantry are also 1:1. So you need 150 Germans and 64 Paras. I suggest contacting H&R to getvpack details.

Uber, your are of course right that any ruleset could produce such a result. But when Battlefront showcases a battle report with pictures like this, it is just too much a target of opportunity.

Note that I called an esthetic "problem". I was merely suggesting something to appease those who actually consider it a problem. I'm not one of them.
And it is an artifact of figure to ground scale in all rules.

Yeah FoW gets unfairly bashed for this all the time. Then there are the rules where (a) a vehicle represents an entire platoon but (b) they still use target facing as if every tank in a platoon acts in unison.

@ Extra Crispy I contacted H&R last night, so hopefully I'll hear something later today.

So in respect to infantry, should I order models by the number of individual figures or by the number of individual bases?

For example, the US Parachute rifle platoon in Open Fire, consists of 32 individual figures made up like this:

6 rifle/mg bases (4 figures per base)
1 bazooka team base (2 figures per base)
1 m2 60mm mortar base (3 figures per base)
1 command rifle/mg team (3 figures per base).

Thanks all

The H&R packed have roughly 50 infantry on five strips made up sections, the weapons also have four to six strips with a mix of MG, mortar, AT etc on them.

To do the bases at 1:1 you need exactly the same number of figures as the original 15mm ones. Two bags of infantry and one of heavy weapons fir each side will be loads. The gun crew strips usually have half a dozen figures on, many of whom can be appropiated for HQ and engineer stands.

Sorry Martin, I'm not sure what you are saying :/

This is what I've placed in my order:

As far as infantry are concerned, the above list is based on the notion that there are 5 figures per strip and you get two strips (the 'x2' part) per individual purchase.

I do not see any regular US infantry. Did you mean to do that?

@ paulgenna

I thought the 'gun crew' meant they had rifles/mgs. Now you mention it, they probably don't, they're probably the crew manning an anti tank gun or something.

All they have for US infantry is something called "US Infantry" for £2.50 GBP. That's it. No picture, no other details. The same with the Germans, it just says "German Infantry" £2.50 GBP, again with no picture or any other details.

How are you supposed to know what you're buying?

Sparky:

If your platoon calls for 24 total figures on 6 bases, order 24 figures. If they come 5/strip, order 5 strips for each platoon. Use the extra as an NCO or save for later.

It is also perfectly acceptable in the civilized part of the world to occasionally use fewer figures per base. In order to get my 15mm armies fielded, I went with 3 German and 4 Soviet figures per base. I left them unflocked and then added more figures as I finished painting. Once I was up to "full strength" I flocked. I left a lot of German bases at 3 figures just because I liked the look.

If you care about these things, you may need to also order the MGs for those bases. It may be the infantry strips are only riflemen. Then order a strip of LMGs as well. In 6mm I don't worry about it.

My infantry are GHQ and one pack has 50 figures. So I get a LOT of bases from one pack.

Here is a German platoon (the bases are 1/2 size of a normal FoW base):

Close Up:

Group Shot:

They look nice Crispy. I hear GHQ figures are one of the best out there.

This is what I've got so far (I changed it because as paulgenna pointed out, I didn't include any infantry):

The problem with ordering what you suggest I get (lmg etc), is that there's very little to no information with the models. I just don't know what I'll be getting.

Try calling the company and tell them what you are wanting. They should be able to tell you.

@paulgenna I've emailed them twice, so perhaps a phone call is the next step

EDIT: Their telephone number seems to be missing a digit. It has 10 when it should have 11. I still rang it anyway, and of course the number is invalid. Oh well.

No worries, I found the information I was after.

Excellent

Where did you find the info?

A fellow poster on another wargaming website took it off the Yahoo group.

Pretty cool that.

"When Battlefront puts out a photo like this…"

I don't think that argument holds water either. They used staged scenes designed to sell products. Some people do play like that, many don't. Many people judge Flames of War on looking at photos like those without having played the game. I've challenged FoW's critics to find me the bit in the rules where it says you have to have tanks in formation like that. No one ever has found it.

Ok uber … It might not say that but it is encouraged by point costs for "standard " games , standard board size and "on board" artillery hence why FOW plays better in 6mm than 15mm

Who says you have to play "standard" TY games?

For example, even in 6mm I still like to keep most artillery "off board." My group has been doing this with WW2 FoW for years in our historical campaigns and scenarios. We work Off-board artillery just the same way as air availability and air interdiction in FoW.

I'm primarily playing TY with 6mm myself…but I am doing a 15mm US Tank Company at some point as a modeling project and to maybe play with the 15mm focused players on occasion.

VB

Thing is, with 6mm you'll have a bigger force to move around the battlefield, but if the ranges and movement are the same, how do the dynamics change, won't you still be running into tank car park syndrome just as quickly, only with twice as many tanks?

I realise this issue isn't exclusive to Flames of War, but I use it as an example.

Force Creep
One problem related to gamers is we always put way too much on the table. The last comment shows just that. Play a 15mm game in 6mm but use the same forces.

The resulting visual change can be quite pleasing. For example, with a 6" command range, T72s in 15mm have to cluster around – the proverbial parking lot. Tanks practically hub to hub with bigger units.

But now take 10 tanks in 6mm and spread them out across 6". You get a much different "look." The gaps between tanks are now bigger than the tanks.

Rulers
I play FoW with 6mm figures and using a half-scale ruler. It is marked in half-inches. So now my 6x9 table is effectively 12 x 18. Even with 5000 points a side, there is a LOT of room on the table. And playing the long way really gives you the ability to play a "defense in depth" game.

Half scale ruler? Can't say I've ever heard of that, but it definitely sounds like something I'd be after. Do you have a link so I can buy one in the UK? I've looked but couldn't find one

Where is your 6' x 9' table, in the house or an out building?

A half scale ruler is just marked in half inches. I made one by painting stripes on a yardstick and numbering them with a sharpie. Then I had a bunch made with a laser cutter/etcher.

The table used to be in the house but now it is in the shop/office.

Sounds pretty cool

I'd happily send you one but postage to the UK would be silly expensive!

Yep, that does look cool.

How do you find using the half scale ruler impacts on games, specifically the shooting and movement? I can imagine combining that ruler with 6mm figures would make for an epic battle.

And that's why the game is called "Flames of Epic." My next game will feature 5000 points per side and there will STILL be loads of empty space to maneuver in if I choose. As it happens this time it will be a defense in depth scenario with a dense attacking Soviet formation against a German deplyed in depth. We'll be going the long way on the table – effectively 16"

Other than getting players used to the game viaully it plays exactly the same.

You're going to have to post pics of that battle!

What base frontage do I use for 6mm figures?

Figures on a base in Flames of War are usually:

3 figures (Command team), or 4 figures (rifle/mg team)

Vehicles are usually not based and the Pak40 is one to a base (plus the gun crew)

No problem, I know how to base them now

Does anyone know about how many RPG infantry the GHQ "Modern Individual Heavy Weapons" pack comes with?

i ran Kursk 5 years at cold wars. i changed nothing. it works fine. i did use centimeters instead of inches. it shows how limited artillery really is.

If anyone was wondering, 8 RPG infantry come in the GHQ Russian Modern Individual Heavy Weapons pack (not the c. 2001-14 pack, which comes with no RPG troops, but the other one).