Mr Elmo | 16 Apr 2017 11:36 p.m. PST |
So I go into the FOW Digital app and notice I can buy the 4th edition rulebook for $14 USD give or take. Then I think: isn't this the book they were giving away for free? So let me get this straight: the digital version is $14 USD but the physical version is free? |
Puster | 16 Apr 2017 11:49 p.m. PST |
The physical version is only free if you can prove that you bought a previous version of their rules. As this is hard to verify by BF directly, they just send out plenty of free books to retailers for them to distribute to their previous customers. Many just send them out without checking too much, so you may get the impression its "free". |
White tiger | 17 Apr 2017 1:24 a.m. PST |
There's a difference between the 4th edition rulebook and the ones that are free. the free books are upgrade books for the early and late period army books and a small special warriors book. The 4th edition rulebook aimed at midwar isn't free. incidentally I only had the softbook version of 3rd edition which my local retailer for some reason wouldn't accept.. I emailed battlefront and a photo sent of my book, 4 days later received both free books in post free of charge…excellence service. |
Mr Elmo | 17 Apr 2017 4:19 a.m. PST |
The 4th edition rulebook aimed at midwar isn't free I had the impression there were 3 free things: The 4th edition mini rulebook And the early and late war coversions: aka FOW 3.5 editioon And yes, it is widely acknowledged that stores aren't checking ownership closely: want a book? Have one! But still, they are charging for the one that's free to make and giving away the one that needs to be printed. |
Col Piron | 17 Apr 2017 5:15 a.m. PST |
Only the EW/LW rule book was free , you have to pay for the MW rule book . The EW/LW is free to download on Flames of war digital . |
Your Kidding | 17 Apr 2017 5:19 a.m. PST |
4th edition mid-war book is separate and not free. Early and late "4th books" are free rules sets with proof of 3rd edition purchase. The free books streamline a few things and add others. So far our group has enjoyed them. |
daler240D | 17 Apr 2017 5:38 a.m. PST |
The very fact of needing to have this thread and explanation of a clearly byzantine situation is evidence enough of a ridiculous business model. |
Ostroc | 17 Apr 2017 5:40 a.m. PST |
Battlefront seems to have made some strange business decisions recently. It's current policy seems to be to cut out many of it's current players in the hope that they will get lots of new players. The current rules are at best iffy, The new lists are appalling, and the knee jerk reaction command cards are a joke. Interesting policy of annoying a lot of your current customers. |
YogiBearMinis | 17 Apr 2017 6:18 a.m. PST |
GW followed that plan to the tune of millions of profits … |
fingolfen | 17 Apr 2017 8:45 a.m. PST |
GW followed that plan to the tune of millions of profits … Not always… there have been some high profile misses (Age of Sigmar) |
Mr Elmo | 17 Apr 2017 11:14 a.m. PST |
4th edition mid-war book is separate and not free. Got it, thanks. Makes you wonder if BF could put codes in their physical books to get the digital version free. |
1905Adventure | 17 Apr 2017 12:12 p.m. PST |
The command cards are the first bad thing I'm seeing. It's like they took content out of the books that really should be there (vehicles that tow your guns) and put them onto these cards. My favorite thing about Flames of War is that the rules and the miniatures can never truly be married so anything I build for FoW is also for another rules set if I so desire. I'm certainly not going to pay for an incomplete book or cards that make up for it. The actual V4 rules though, I like. I've enjoyed every game I've played so far. I just may be concentrating on areas they are not currently selling like late war eastern front. |
1905Adventure | 17 Apr 2017 12:17 p.m. PST |
Shouldn't this be in the book under the entry for the unit? |
Mr Elmo | 17 Apr 2017 1:28 p.m. PST |
Shouldn't this be in the book under the entry for the unit? I wonder what the effects of this card are? Theoretically it could just add to the existing Dash move distance. |
Lion in the Stars | 17 Apr 2017 1:37 p.m. PST |
@Nathaniel: yes, it should have been. My group is looking at digging out the Africa books from v3 and converting as per the freebie books. |
JMcCarroll | 17 Apr 2017 4:33 p.m. PST |
Not to worry. By the time this thread is finished we will be in 5th edition. |
durecell | 17 Apr 2017 4:41 p.m. PST |
Not always… there have been some high profile misses (Age of Sigmar) AoS seems to have turned things around recently. They're not going to get back the players they lost with the setting change but with after the General Handbook added back points and introduced some limitation they got a lot of players who were put off by the lack of those things. Should v4 FoW not be as successful as BF want I think this shows that it is possible to turn it around. They might not get players who dislike the TY style rules back but from reading facebook and various forum there are a lot of players whose complaints centre around the quality of the army books (me included). I think a return to the more detailed earlier army books instead of the new slim ones + command cards would go along way to satisfying those players (or at least me). |
1905Adventure | 18 Apr 2017 9:04 a.m. PST |
Lion in the Stars wrote: @Nathaniel: yes, it should have been.My group is looking at digging out the Africa books from v3 and converting as per the freebie books. This is the exact direction I am headed. I bought the El Alamein starter to see if I'd enjoy painting up the desert colour schemes and for a mid war rulebook. I very much enjoyed assembling the new plastic tanks and painting them was fun as well. But with this approach to army books and cards to spread the rules for a single army across multiple products, I just can't get behind that. So I dug around and got my hands on a copy of North Afrika and Eastern Front. It's sort of funny that the best books for V4 are from V2. They're not super widely available anymore, but you can still find them. I'm going to use them as the basis for making my own cards.
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15mm and 28mm Fanatik | 18 Apr 2017 10:46 a.m. PST |
Isn't all the information on the cards also in the books? The cards are optional in TY so I'm assuming it's the same for FOW V4. |
1905Adventure | 18 Apr 2017 11:03 a.m. PST |
The Motor Platoon entry makes absolutely no mention of transports of any kind. Neither does the 6 pdr with portees. Or anything else. If you want the complete entries for your units you'll need these command cards and either the unit cards that come with each of the new releases or the book. I'm definitely not getting on this particular treadmill. I got my V4 rulebook in my El Alamein starter, but it's all North Africa book + V4 rules for me. |
durecell | 18 Apr 2017 12:44 p.m. PST |
The border lines on Brit desert cammo look really nice. Makes me thing I should add some to my Grants. Isn't all the information on the cards also in the books? The cards are optional in TY so I'm assuming it's the same for FOW V4. There are two type of cards. The first is the ordinary unit cards and those are the same as the book. The second is command cards and they are only available in card form. As it is not out yet we don't know all the cards but from we've seen it does includes transports and portees. |
15mm and 28mm Fanatik | 18 Apr 2017 1:59 p.m. PST |
Interesting. Just looked them up and saw that there's also a third type of card available for purchase, the so-called "Fog of War Objective Cards." BF's making a big deal about these Command Cards and how we can hold them in secret until we reveal them to add special bonuses to otherwise mundane units/equipment so as to spring a big surprise on our opponents. While I have no problem with unit cards, it does look like we're seeing card overload in FOW. |
1905Adventure | 18 Apr 2017 4:33 p.m. PST |
I really have no interest in a hand of cards you play throughout the game. I hope it doesn't end up being a key part of V4. Like if they make cards for all sorts of bonuses and they are totally worth it in the points so everyone spends 10%+ of their army points on it and then every turn both players are playing a card to get a better anti tank attack or a better blitz move roll or who knows what. I shoot that squadron of tanks over there. So that's … 4 hits divided as so. I play "tank pits" so once per game I get to reroll failed armour checks for any tanks in concealment! That sort of thing. |
1905Adventure | 20 Apr 2017 4:07 p.m. PST |
From the rules in the FAQ article: "Command cards are placed face down with the Unit card or Formation HQ Unit card they have been assigned to until they are first used." Ugh.
Double ugh. |