Hey, folks, SinSynn here.
Talkin' Flames of War.
:)
Yesh.
What can I say? I'm happy.
Flames of War 3rd is da awesome, especially when combined with some of the new lists in the Grey Wolf book.
Well, for me it is, cuz I play Axis.
Tee-hee.
My Grenadiers have gotten considerably better, thanks to some of the new rules, like Combat Attachments increasing the stand count for platoons- ever so important for 'more than half' morale checks.
HMG teams are RoF 3 when pinned or moving, and are cheaper in the Grey Wolf lists, etc.
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| *My Grenadiers- now moar shooty! Xenos HQ guards the objective, a burning Sherman. Arty Observer has the blue base* |
One of my favorite things about FoW is that when one is digesting the 'core rules' of the system- meaning the basics like movement and maneuver, shooting/hitting/damage, wound allocation and saving throws, in most instances you'll nod your head and go, 'yeah, that makes sense.'
Especially now, with the new rulebook. Battlefront did an amazing thing with the layout- virtually every important fact and 'need to know' thingy is diagrammed, and the accompanying text (which often reads like a very binding legal document) is unneeded, except in 'fine print' cases.
...You'll be glad of that very dry, lawyer-ish styled text when a niggling issue does arrive, though. The comic-book graphic presentation, combined with the finely-tuned, excellent explanations of the rules you'll be living with work perfectly together, I must say.
It may be a little too good, however. I'm starting to look askance at most other Rulebooks.
-_-
No game system can exist without making a few sacrifices in the 'common sense department' for the sake of game balance, it seems, and Flames of War is no exception.
(We'll just completely forget that the Armored Train rules exist, shall we? Just gonna gloss right over those eight pages...)
I did find this one kinda odd during my first 3rd edition game-
-Tanks that Bog Down while assaulting into terrain automatically recover if the assault fails, and they're forced to fall back (mini rulebook page 154).
So, the tank that gets Bailed via defensive fire is captured (destroyed for game purposes), but the guy right next to him who threw a track miraculously recovers?
No dice roll or ANYTHING is required to save that Bogged tank? He just...leaves? No penalty?
This...makes little sense to me.
In game terms, however, I suppose this is sort of a 'balancer' for the fact that tanks are now forced to break off from assault if they suffer two effective hits.
In 'common sense' terms, it makes me think that maybe Sgt. Jenkins wasn't really feeling positive about the assault, and decided to fib about throwing that track, and when the whole thing went south he came up with a heroic story about fighting off ze Germans and repairing it.
Sigh.
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| *My Tigers engage double-timing American Paratroopers at range, as a Platoon of Shermans arrives from reserves on turn one and appears on the horizon. Gulp! That was quick! Grab yer ammo, boys!* |
These weird little design decisions are few and far between in Flames of War as a whole, though, which I suppose is what makes their appearance so off-putting. Altogether, it's a pretty sensible system, and much more intelligent and tactical than...well, you know...I won't mention names, I'll just refer to them as 'they who shall not be mentioned' for the foreseeable future, I think (no riffing rule in full effect).
Despite the win that 3rd edition will be for those of us that already play it, I still feel that Battlefront missed an opportunity to expand the fanbase beyond those that were already interested. Many fence sitters will be pulled in by the free rulebook, but many more will not, for the same two reason that kept them away before:
1) The insistence by both Battlefront and a large swath of the community that Flames is a 'historical game,' and not a fun-filled miniatures game...which it IS, actually.
2) The Missions... dear lord they're awful.
 | |
| *Like the gang fight in 'Anchorman,' this escalated quickly, and I killed a man with a trident :) | * |
Regarding point one:
I would never be playing FoW if the Ultimate Rival didn't literally annoy me until I did.
All it took is one game to convince me that it's friggin' great, and now I luvs it.
'Historical' in hobby terms is a turn-off to many, including myself. Other than an odd smattering of storytelling in the Army Books, there is little to no connection between the game that FoW is, and any sort of 'historical gameplay.'
It's a mini game with WWII models, basically. A collection of rules and statlines, with lil' dudes to push around on a tabletop.
*shrug*
They take actual Historical figures from the the most horrific conflict ever, and give 'em statlines of ridiculousness...They're like, Special Characters in-game...Heroes, if you will.
Once you've changed actual Historical TO & E's to better fit gameplay, haven't you 'jumped the shark' as a 'Historical Wargame?'
0_o
FoW is a fast paced, easy to learn, fun game, and deserves to be presented as such. Having folks on the forums expressing disdain for anyone using certain units in certain lists due to 'historical considerations' hurts the game, overall.
If Battlefront wants this game to extend beyond it's current 'niche,' then they need to consider some changes for the sake of 'fun':
-Blue on Blue, and red on red at some official events.
The Ultimate Rival is chompin' at the bit to face a Russian T-34 horde, and I played against a fellow Axis player at a recent Tournament due to some disparities in participants- in 'historical terms,' these are no-no's.
Blah, I say.
Keeping the game strictly 'Allies vs. Axis,' for whatever reason, is boring. We can get a lil' funky sometimes, can't we? I'd love to see Flames of War as a whole ease up on this restriction in an official capacity.
Battlefront needs to throw some cool events, or release a 'what-if' expansion...or something.
-Themed tournaments, like 'Eastern Front only,' means anyone that only plays Americans are not welcome. 'Western Front' means no Russians, etc.
Sigh. That's not convincing 'casuals,' who may very well be potential customers, that Flames of War is fun, now is it?
Themed events sound...boring and restrictive, don't they?
That's how I perceived it, for the longest time, in fact.
I'm glad I was friggin' wrong, in this case.
Not everyone will get pulled in by their knucklehead friends, however, and I think if Battlefront wants to really bring the game to the next level, popularity-wise (and sales-wise as a result), then maybe some marketing/image changes are in order.
Regarding point two:
I lost my first game of the new edition (the pictures you see here are from that game). I didn't lose because I was outplayed, or my list sucked, or my opponent's list was O.D. (the Ultimate Rival's lists are always O.D.- that's a given), or any of those reasons.
I lost because I was defending on a mission with Delayed Reserves, and my opponent got his reserves in on his first two tries (turns one and two), and I failed to get any reserves on my first two tries (turns 3 and 4), so I was stuck holding off five platoons with just three.
Attacker's reserves arrived on a flank of their choosing, allowing them to apply pressure wherever they chose, while the defenders arrive from the OPPOSITE BOARD EDGE ONLY.
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| *Surprise! 76mm Shermans arrive from reserve, and blaze a Tiger* |
This is the 'new' Cauldron Mission.
Yes, it still sucks.
My fate was more or less assured when I failed my first two reserve rolls, and it wasn't a lot of fun to watch as the inevitable unfolded.
Sadly, it wasn't a lot of fun to play, either.
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| *My valiant Grenadiers die defending their objective, dragging the Paratroopers down to hell with them. Tigers roll in to hold the objective. The two surviving Shermans (in range to contest) have no Platoon Leader- his Tank and the 2ic died here. They ain't goin' nowhere without orders, so we're sorta left staring at each other for a turn or two. I've gotta take bog checks to go anywhere, and even with Wide Tracks I tend to fail, and the Shermans are enough of a threat, and can throw enough dice to maybe mess up my day here. I hang tight for the moment* |
 | ||
| *This is what hit the East flank, and killed a Tiger upon arrival. Since the two surviving Tigers are holding the West, these Grenadiers are very, very sad, and I'm down to two platoons, with no reserves in sight. My inability to roll a five cost me the game- yay (this is turn 3, and the game is basically decided already)! Three of these are 76mm's (the 4th is burning), so it would be unwise for me to try and bring the Tigers here. Regardless, I tried after multiple reserve fails. The Tiger platoon leader left his teammate on the West objective and tried to reinforce here, only to be swarmed and face raped by lil' tin foil tankies. Blah* |
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| *When my reserves do show up, they come in so far away that all I can do is shoot up some armored mortars to ease the suffering of the troopies on the objective. DIE YOU BASTARDS! Sigh, too little, too late. It's turn five, and my Troopies and Tigers are getting treated like new fish at a federal penitentiary over on the other side of the table already* |
I have a really hard time reconciling such a great system with such unfun, frustrating missions.
The game you see here was over before I could even get all of my army on the table, all because I failed to roll a 5up on a single dice in turn three, and on two dice on turn four. I was forced to fend off the bulk of my opponent's army with half of mine, nailed in place to the objectives while he pounded on me. Despite the fact that defenders benefit from bulletproof cover, you can and will fail when the attacker is rolling 20 plus dice at you every turn.
Your reserves are unlikely to save you when they A) don't begin to arrive until turn three, and B) arrive on the opposite board edge when they finally do.
Now, despite the Mission Design sorta-fail (they can always re-work them, and do PDF's- Battlefront is good like that, actually. And maybe I shoulda guessed that Cauldron still sucked), how cool does Flames of War look, even here in my somewhat completely unprofessional pics?
(Thanks to Lauby's Blog- which I call Lauby's blog cuz I dinna wanna try to say it's official name, which has a ton of cool stuffs regarding hobby photography, and a very helpful e-mail filled with advice from my Xenos compatriot and brother-in-arms Sorrowshard, youse guys will maybe be getting like, some actual good pics in a couple of months. Yay!)
Flames of War is tanks, and troopies. Who doesn't love tanks and troopies? The game is mad fun.
No, it's NOT perfect, but in many ways a game's quirks are part of it's charm, aren't they?
Again, Flames of War is no exception.
;)
Go- get yerself a free rulebook (a few big online retailers are doing promotions), grab yerself some tankie-tanks (you know you want to), and get to it...
Just...maybe stick to Free-For-All for a while, is all I'm sayin.'
Unless you plan on attending a Tournament, that is. If that's the case, hope that the Cauldron Mission will continue to be shunned by T.O.'s everywhere.
:D
Until next time, folks- Exit with catchphrase!
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