"Second World War Wargaming by Neil Thomas" Topic

In my persistent quest to find a set of WWII game rules that allow me to use my troops based for Flames of War – without forcing me to re-base them – I decided to try Thomas' Second World War Wargaming from his book Wargaming an Introduction.

link

I did some crazy stuff in an attempt to push the rules (… yeah, right …) and found they were fun and produced a good result, although I found the ranges a little shorter than expected.

Not a long report because I flubbed at the end and killed more units than I should have, but it shows some of the challenges of both the rules and using basing with multiple figures per base rather than singly based figures.

Plus it has some eye candy of some of my better painted WW II miniatures.

Dale

I'd recommend Panzergrenadier Deluxe, which seems to have been written exactly for models based a la FoW – and a pretty good set of rules too.

Main Panzer from ODGW can use the FOW basing also. A good solid game with good support.

Panzergrenadier Deluxe looks pretty complex at 250+ pages. I am definitely looking for something lighter.

Hey yo
link

Not mine, though I've given some advice on the design way bak when, but these rules are aimed specifically at letting people use their FOW toys, but with a bit of a different focus.

It's a really interesting system too and on a pay what you want basis.

Thanks for the link. They do look interesting.

Hey thanks, Weas! Dale, I actually commented on your page earlier (as Retro)! Well done report.

If you're interested, check out Hail of Fire and let me know what you think :) They're intended for FoW-sized games with FoW based forces (since thats what I have!) but simpler and with a different approach mechanically. I'm still soliciting feedback so fill me in on how to keep making it better!

I know you're already familiar with No Stars In Sight, but in case you haven't tried it, I have to also recommend Fivecore Company Command. You can use your Flames bases fine and its a great, fun, and intuitive system. It's intended for 12 or fewer bases per side, and works great that way, but there are multiple ways to house rule it for something with more toys on the table. And it's only $5.99 USD for tons of content!

Since Cheese gave me a shout, I would be amiss if I didn't also mention Crossfire, particularly as Company Command was intended to play Crossfire sized games pretty directly.

FOW figures work great for both (instead of half-squads your stands are squads now and they all use single vehicles).
Crossfire is well OOP but its not too too hard to track down a copy of.

If you haven't played it, everyone owes it to themselves to play Crossfire. Even if you decide it's not your cup of tea, you have to experience it. Even with all the great new games out there, they can only stand next to Crossfire, rather than replace it.

Hey Retro Cheese. I bought your rules and gave them the once-over and I like their simplicity. I want to try NT SWWW once more with some of the changes I outlined. Then I will try HoF.

You might want to look at your Ping rule though. If I read it right – and I usually don't the first time around – it looks like the weaker the weapon is, the more likely it will score a hit (because you roll more dice). Or did I screw that up miserably?

I have played Crossfire. I am not sure I would agree with the FoW basing part, but okay. If I recall correctly, I was told by a few on the Crossfire Yahoo forum what I was told on the PBI forum, that I would probably have to make LMG bases for it to play better. But it was a looooong time ago. I do own the rules. A group about 75 miles away used to play them.

I own 5Core Company Command, but have not played it. As you indicated, I played No Stars in Sight though and liked it. So that should probably go on the list.

I am trying to go through some of the rules that I have owned for years and give them a try finally. The list is long!

Dale, thanks for checking them out! You're not the first to make the "Ping" mistake, weaker weapons roll fewer dice, always. Check out the discussion on the wargamevault page where I try to give an example for another gentlemen.

While I'm obviously not familiar with your particular Crossfire experience, in mine FoW bases have always worked great. Crossfire doesn't distinguish between rifles and LMGs, so no need to rebase or mark or anything.

Keep at it and writing more reports/analysis and I'll keep reading!

I am trying to go through some of the rules that I have owned for years and give them a try finally. The list is long!

I know that feeling! I get distracted by my own rules when it comes to WW2, so never get very far in trying all the ones I own.

And hello Dale! It has been awhile since we last chatted. I have been reading all your blog entries – very worthwhile they are – but have nothing particular I think I can contribute so have not commented.

I am trying to keep up with your blog Shaun. I do want to try out your Ancients rules some time as they keep getting good mentions.

Dale – don't tell anybody but you could run a pretty good game of NEIS with using fire team bases instead of individual soldiers ;-)

On crossfire, the scale is 1 stand = 1 squad. So its basically double that of FOW, but since most people only put a few figures on their stands while FOW basing assumes you do 1-to-1 figures per stand, it ends up pretty similar.

The tanks will take up more space than they ought which is probably an issue but it never did bother us.

Good luck and do keep us posted :-)

Battlefront:WW2 and Crossfire and Spearhead (and probably Fireball Foreward) will all work fine with FOW based figures.

Yeah, I don't know why I got it into my head that Crossfire was not compatible with FoW-based figures. I dug up my rules and looked through them again.