V3 for the rabbit. Played FOW since 2004
V4 as mentioned above is gone too far to ease the game play.
The current released lists are questionable at best, and a poor relation to the available pile of lists in V3. Will take years to cover the basic theaters of war releasing a "list or region" once a quarter. I would have retained the lists of V4 with all the teams/platoons unchanged and configured the V4 rules to them.
Points is a joke for two thirds of the game (EW/LW).
The FAQ file is growing larger, and larger, with basic ruling everyday.
Weird rules….. rifles taking out bunkers, moving snipers, planes cannot hit or cause damage, artillery wipes out dug in teams…. how WWII unit survived those heavy bombardments and still fought???, tanks hull machine guns rear firing… flamethrowers work best in defensive fire but cannot hit enemy teams dug in, how large is bombardment template with 4 rocket launchers, with 6?….there are dozens and dozen more to list…the simplified rules keep giving pause to this V4.
Infantry movements…. out running tanks. 16". 18". 20"….funny to see and read AAR reports of V4 games posted to the internet. Jeep movements, if I heard or read correct, cross the table on road in one move? Blitz move and fire…. with that heavy cannon. Games scenario over before defenders reserves arrive on the tabletop due to the speed of the units.
As for cards…. I made my own to identify the components of a platoon, basic stats etc. Not needed for play unless a new player needs the help. Also makes process for pickup easy with a photo of the actual models making up the platoon to return to storage box… which has the same photo in zonal storage compartments. But to use cards to enlarge the unit or platoon availability…. that is just cheap when the lists should have covered the same, in the released books. Now cards to cause "events" in scenarios…. maybe. But TO's will ban.
Tournaments will grow smaller after V3 events die out in coming year. Only V4 will be promoted….the stores cannot promote the older V3 and BF will only cover V4 events. So all the players staying with V3 just stay home…. with their smaller club games.
New V4 players, if they can see the older V3 games, will feel jealous of the larger established V3 collections and scenic boards. Will they convert to V3?… hard without some of the dropped teams in platoons painted and availability of books / MRB in future.
In short time… BF will no longer support V3 questions on their forums. No rule questions answered by staff. It will come down to house rules… a sort of V3.1. The game will, in time, play differently in different regions. Any form of National event would become history for V3.
The big problem…. the V3 vs. V4 schism in the active FOW player ranks, in the established clubs, in the small groups, at the gaming store.
Good luck BF. Hope all have their games, in V3 and V4, locally, regional and national. But history tells of a similar time… in the ancients gaming world. Now, ancients is so scattered under different rules the ability to game locally is questionable and small scale at best. Rarely does ancients have regional events. National event possible.. as the smaller number of players using that rule set collect to make a mass of gamers at national level. But for regional…. iffy. Will the same happen to FOW as now there are two versions of FOW?
All the other new WWII rules sets former FOW players are looking into. If one or two key members in a group change out…. the group or gaming cell dies away. Seen it happen within my own gaming group, sure to happen in others.
takes a look at flexible roads made from long-lasting flexible resin.
