jhilahd Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 So I've been reading about Flames of War and it looks cool. I just don't know that I want to drop $200 in an army, especially a teeeeeeny tiny one. I've got a hard enough time painting 28mm, let alone 15mm. So besides FoW, what other good wargames are there for WWII and why? Do they have great mini's? Great support? Lots of players? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRigger Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 What size battles do you want to play? Do you want skirmish action with a squad or a platoon or more along the lines of a company battle? Lots of armor, or just infantry etc... There are *tons* of different WWII games for different scales (some work fine with multiple scales) For starters, you can take a look at http://freewargamesrules.tiddlyspot.com/ Then check with local gaming clubs to see what they might be playing. Flames of War has a pretty big following, and is probably one of the most accessable games. "Nuts!" and "I Ain't Been Shot, Mum" are pretty decent as well. Also, lots of companies make decent miniatures (but no rules) and vise versa For WWII miniatures look at companies like Artizan, Bolt Action, Victory Force, Peter Pig, AFI .. For a really big overview - take a look at the WWII Miniature Showcase at Frothers (Might have some rough language) http://wk.frothersunite.com/sc/pulp/ww2.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heisler Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 Also FOW is one of the few systems that has the game and the miniatures. They are very a typical for an historical miniatures company. There are at least 5 other companies that make 15mm WWII miniatures and at least 3 that are doing it in 10mm. Good sets of rules that I have played are: Spearhead, Blitzkrieg Commander and Command Decision. My group prefers Spearhead for its command and control rules and its ease of play. I guess some of this depends on what you are defining as small. A typical 15mm tank is going to run $6-9, 10mm is going to run $3.5-$6. Microarmor runs about $8-$9 for five tanks. GHQ also has their own set of rules although I'm not fond of them. $200 for FOW is actually a pretty good size forced but as you move down in scale you will be able to play larger and larger games. I think that if I were going to invest seriously again I would go with 10mm, but probably stick to Spearhead. I play FOW now because there are lots of people playing around here so its easy to get in games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhilahd Posted November 7, 2006 Author Share Posted November 7, 2006 Well... I'm used to skirmish type games. Warlord, CAV, Heavy Gear and a few others. I'm spoiled by the playing of I go with a couple, then you go, continue until all pieces have moved. I really don't have anything against FoW. To the contrary, it looks great and the tanks... man... those tanks rock. I know, from just looking at the website, FoW covers more of an Epic playing style than say CAV(which is a skirmish game). I have, but never got to play, Easy Eights Battleground WWII. Which is a skirmish game, I have the basic box set with a squad of US Airborne, and a squad of Wermachts(I believe). The company was going out of business, unbeknownst to me, and so I never was able to get the support and troops to play. AND there wasn't/isn't players around who did play the game. trideau, is the the only one on the boards, that I know who did. I actually blame him for getting me interested in it. Hear that Terrence, its your fault. ::D I see that FoW has support, and I think that there is at least one group that plays that I know of. That would be the group that meets at Lone Star in Arlington. When I saw a similar discussion on another board(rpg.net) about FoW and the cost to enter into the game, ouch. Scared me off. But now I'm finding myself looking at the site on a daily basis. So I'm torn. I'd like a decent skirmish game, if possible, but if this is the king and the only game supported by rules and mini's I might be better off saving money and picking it up when I can afford it.(and learn not to have lots of run-on sentences). I think that if I were going to invest seriously again I would go with 10mm, but probably stick to Spearhead. I play FOW now because there are lots of people playing around here so its easy to get in games. This, Heisler, is one of the strongest points I think about in regards to FoW. It seems to be the top dog in this genre right now. Thanks guys for your input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRigger Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 If you are looking for something just fun to knock around with some friends, you might wanna check out .45 Adventure and the new WWII supplement "Amazing War Stories". It gives a pulp feel to WWII, so you can play a skirmish with just a few troops (to something larger if you wish) - in the vein of Sgt. Rock, the opening of Hellboy, any 1950-1970 WWII movie etc. Or, you can go the route of Indiana Jones with nazis vs. archeologists etc.. It's pretty simple to learn and quite a bit of fun to play, plus it doesn't require a huge investment http://www.rattrap-productions.com/PulpHeroes/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRigger Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 I posted twice :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heisler Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 Actually for 28mm Skirmish games I like Disposable Heroes. Fast dirty and lots of fun. It does include armor rules which are called Coffin for Seven Brothers ( I have never understood that reference). With skirmish games though I pretty much stick to my own group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars Porsenna Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Re: The cost of playing FoW. No one says you HAVE to use their minis. I personally find the BF minis to be overexaggerrated caricatures and totally unappealing. Also I find their QC a bit suspect. I bought a boxed set of M4A1s (the pieces are nice, perhaps the nicest 15mm Shermans...and most accurate...on the market right now) and the tank castings had...overzealous trimming of the pour vent on the hull bottoms). A few tankers (for the dismounted crews) came with no heads (ewwww!), and one of the others I tried to correct the head just snapped off (poor quality metal alloy IMH). Beyond that, the dismounted tank crew had a disproportionate number of pistols, and none of the M1 Thomsons such crews would be issued as well... On that note, however, a large percentage of my troops are from Old Glory Command Decision. Quality can be hit or miss, but when its hit, its good. Although I wasn't impressed with their Shermans, the M3 H/T are very good, and the Hetzers are great! I also have the Pz. IIIMs (OK) and the StuG IV Early (quite good, no sideskirts though...). The price is right ($18 for 3 vehicles, or $12.50 for 50 infantry) when they're not having sales (Warweb is having a 40% off sale till December 31st!!!). When sales are in full swing, they're practically a steal! Damon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uthgar Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Any reference to 7 brothers and WW2 is most likely in reference to the Sullivan boys. There were 7 of them, 4 died in Europe I believe and 3 in the Pacific. And if my memory is correct it was within a few weeks or couple of months of each other. By the time the news got back state side and an officer was sent to inform their mother, when she answered the door and saw who it was, she asked which one. Of course by then they told her it was all of them. There is some rule in the military about brothers serving together because I think some of them died on the same ship. I don't know if all these numbers are exact, but that's a summary of it. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Froggy the Great Posted November 8, 2006 Moderator Share Posted November 8, 2006 I do know that the U.S.S. The Sullivans is a museum ship somewhere near western New York. It was named for the Sullivan brothers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubbdog Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Well, I know that Darkson Designs is working on a pretty good game too. And their line of miniatures looks pretty darn good to me. They gave me a couple of them pre-release to paint for them. They are just a little smaller than Warlord, but not much. But, I can really only say from the minis point of view, but I know that based on the items I have seen discussed and whatnot, it is going to be very cool. On a side note, the guy that runs Darkson Design is actually a war vet himself. He got called to Iraq during the middle of the making of his game, and just got back a few months ago. Ok, I just went over there to get updates and they have announced that they are looking for beta testers.... If you are interested: http://darksondesigns.proboards21.com/inde...read=1162626741 Oh, and here is a link to a short story and background on their new game: http://darksondesigns.com/aeww2.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRigger Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 There were 5 Sullivan brothers - and they all died on the same ship, which is why the navy doesn't assign family members to the same ship anymore. The "Coffin for seven brothers" is what the russians refered to the M3 Lee as, because they were somewhat problematic in the field - and they HATED it. They thought we gave them sub-standard equipment and were surprised to see we were fighting with it in the field as well. Mainly the tank is very tall and and has a low mounted 75mm gun which presented all sorts of tactical problems (mainly not being able to fight from a hull down position. Also, one of the dangers of a riveted hull is that upon impact, the rivets pop out and bounce around the inside of the tank with deadly consequences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars Porsenna Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 I thought that was the story behind it, but I just looked at my Squadron/Signal book on the M3 and it lists a crew of 6 (TC/Loader, 37mm Gunner, 75mm Gunner, 75mm Loader, Driver, Radio Operator), unless the Russians were stuffing a mechanic into those things... Damon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlfox Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 GHQ makes Microarmor, which is a good 15mm WWII game. And they have a large number of miniatures. You can check them out @ http://www.ghqmodels.com/store/military-models-rules.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRigger Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 I thought that was the story behind it, but I just looked at my Squadron/Signal book on the M3 and it lists a crew of 6 (TC/Loader, 37mm Gunner, 75mm Gunner, 75mm Loader, Driver, Radio Operator), unless the Russians were stuffing a mechanic into those things... Damon. The Lee had a 7 man crew, the Grant had a 6 man crew - I believe, so the Brits might have done it different. I've also see pictures of the Lee with a 6 man crew as well - so it might depend on how many men are available. It looks like someone could serve double duty as a loader/something else. I think I remember the Grant being able to do with one less crew because of where the radio was moved to. The Brits didn't like the big turret either, so they fitted it with their own making the "Grant" variant. (I think you can drive this while drunk *ducks*) * Commander in turret left rear * 37mm gunner in turret left rear * 37mm loader in turret right center * 75mm gunner in hull right front * 75mm loader in hull right center * Driver in hull front center * Radio operator in hull center http://afvdb.50megs.com/usa/m3lee.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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