"Is there such a thing as FoW light?" Topic

Just over a year ago I started looking for an alternative to FoW, as it just wasn't for me. I ended up with Nuts! by Two Hour Wargames – which I have an absolute blast playing (once I got used to everything). Even went out and got my four standard armies (US Airborne v Germans and Winter War Finns v Soviets) in 28mm. For me, it works very well for squad and platoon size operations with just a few extra assets.
But that leaves me the problem of what to do with my 15mm FoW armies – as I have a lot: US Airborne (Normandy), Germany (early or late war), Soviets (Early or late war) and Finns (Winter War). Is there a game out there that is a quicker and simpler system than FoW but at the same time would let me use my FoW armies?
Here is what I am looking for:
• 15mm armies based for FoW
• Similar to FoW in that it is stand based for infantry (platoons shoot at platoons, not individual bases, casualties removed by base not individually, etc.)
• More or less company size: 3-4 infantry platoons, some support weapons, a few tanks once in a while.
• Solo-friendly (I live in the Calif mountains and never have a live opponent; not interested in tournament style play, etc.)
• Simple and easy to learn (Between Fantasy, LotR, Ancients and WWII I play about half-dozen rules sets on a regular basis. Plus getting older… LoL)

Is there such a beast?

I thought that FoW was already "light" to begin with. 🤷🙄

But here's what I would do.
Eliminate all "special" rules unique to certain countries. Specifically "hen and chicks". Drop Stormtrooper and all the wonky national artillery rules. That way you don't have to keep track of super powers that were just thrown in to make nations "unique".
Forget about Points and just do scenarios.

To sum it up, take FoW and throw out the crap that annoys you. This works, since you'll be playing solo anyway. I just eliminated the stuff that annoys me! 😄

Okay, it is not Company size, but I use my Fow miniatures for Spearhead, the classic from the 90th. One Fow stand is a platoon, you play a Brigade or a battle group.

Spearhead uses preplanning, but imo that is very interesting with solo play. You make three plans for your enemy and choose random aftermaking your own plan.

As Peterpig's PBI is played on a grid , you could probably use FOW bases .

Stephen Stanley's Hex rules were written explicitly to use FoW basing. They are on Wargames Vault.

Take a look at Fistful of TOWs. Covers WW1 thru around 2010. Modular so you can use what you like. Works well enough with FoW basing with a few tweaks.

For pure infantry fights, Crossfire is fabulous.

And maybe these summaries can helkp you decide

link

I've used FoW stands for both PBI and Blitzkrieg Commander. The only modification I made for PBI was to add bases for MGs. As Mark said, they would also work for Crossfire.

I thought that FoW was already "light" to begin with. 🤷🙄

But here's what I would do.
Eliminate all "special" rules unique to certain countries. Specifically "hen and chicks". Drop Stormtrooper and all the wonky national artillery rules. That way you don't have to keep track of super powers that were just thrown in to make nations "unique".
Forget about Points and just do scenarios.

To sum it up, take FoW and throw out the crap that annoys you. This works, since you'll be playing solo anyway. I just eliminated the stuff that annoys me! 😄

The other thing I would do is, if you use poionts, is play the game on a much larger table. FOW has always played very differently on a larger table. 6x4 you may as well just play Yahtzee.

One scale up would give you a battalion level game like "O Group". You generally need 27 elements for the basic battalion (3 sections per platoon; 3 platoons per company and three companies per battalion) plus some support – typically less than you might have for FoW. People often use a standard FoW base of infantry for a section.

As John says, just eliminate all the FOW chrome you don't like.

If you want whole platoons shooting at each other at once, you are out of luck, although no doubt you will get dozens of recommendations for everyone's favourite rules.

The only genuine company level sets of rules I've ever really liked have been Crossfire and WRG 1925 to 50, but they are both a million miles from FOW, although the basing would work. You might want to give 5Core Company Commander a shot though, bases are sections but it plays fast, and for a quick solo game, "Advancing Companies" by Shaun Travers. The latter uses a grid, which some people hate.

Lots of rules can use that basing (one thing I like from FoW).

All the above makes sense too.

No one has suggested the obvious. In the OP it is stated the poster:

A. Likes NUTS!
and
B. Has forces based for FoW.

May I suggest, NUTS! Big Battles? It uses basically the Chain Reaction system (the same as NUTS!) and is designed for use with FoW basing.

link

If you are interested here is a brief review and two quick AARs of the system I did when first trying it out.

link

Hope this helps,

Dave

Hail of Fire. The author was often pimping it on TMP some years back. It's PWYW on WargameVault. link

Clearly written by someone who was a FoW player but had become dissatisfied with some stuff about FoW. It's straightforward, easy to pick up, but has more decision points than FoW due to its action point based acitvation system. FoW basing is assumed. Special rules are few.

Thanks to everyonee who replied.
Food for thought

Have you played the current edition? It's honestly as easy as wargames get.

I guess you have Crossfire then. It doesn't require as many miniatures to play, is a lot of fun, and you can play the game with your current miniatures. The 4-5 man teams become squads, your command teams become platoon leaders, and your two man teams become company and higher commanders. Guns and tanks play as is. It's a simple enough game to learn, It is very dynamic for both players as they are actively engaged through out the game, and a Flames of War company easily translates into a battalion sized formation.

I would toss Fist Full of Tows, but if you think FoW is on the difficult then you'll think the same of FFoTs. For it your teams become platoons/batteries and your vehicles become platoons. However it does have a mod to go to team/individual vehicle scale too.