looking to play, but where to start?

As the topic states, im looking to start FOW, but i've got no idea where to start, or what army to be looking into.

I suggest you purchase the starter box. It comes with some German StuG's and American sherman tanks. All are models that can work equally well in mid or late war armies. Most importantly, it also contains the mini-rulebook. This is just like GW's mini rulebook in that it contains all the standard "tournament scenarios" as well as all the core rules. You will miss out on charts for rolling random terrain, a short campaign based around the Anzio landings, and some rules for fortifications. Those are in the big rulebook. Read the rules, play with those models for a bit, and get used to the way things work.

You now have a number of decisions to make:

1st- What period of the war do you want to play? Mid war armies are NOT compatible with late war forces or early war forces. An army is only balanced against other forces from the same period. Many of the models will transfer over, especially the basic medium tanks and of course, the infantry models are always good. Are there any other local players? If so, talk to them and see what period they play. BF (Battlefront- the company that makes FoW) looks like it is nearing the end of its focus on late war and will be going back to mid war next year. Early war material is also rumored to be in the pipeline.

Once you choose the period you can buy the intelligence handbook for that era. The currently available big ones are "North Africa" for the midwar period, and "Fortress Europe" for late war. You can also pick up one of the smaller books like D-1, which contains more specialized rules for allied paratroopers, or hammer & sickle, for some east front action. Those smaller books tend to contain more specialized lists than the big books, like a company of tiger tanks, but they are also 100% legal. If you do stick to one of the smaller books, make sure it contains rules for the nation and force-type you want to play, which leads me to points 2 & 3.


2nd- What army/nation appeals to you? These will change based upon the time period, but that said, it is possible to play things like a Polish late war force as a free-Polish company equipped by the allies. You just have to dig around the BF website for some of those PDF rules. Yes, those PDF's are 100% legal.


3rd- What type of force do you want to play? Infantry? Tank? Motorized/mechanized? Parachute? This will heavily affect the types and numbers of units and equipment you can take.


The books are pretty clear about points values and how many of the various support units are allowed in a given force. When basing your models just follow the little pictures in the books. For instance, the picture of an American rifle stand has 4 guys with rifles, so when I assembled mine I made sure to glue 4 little rifle guys to each medium base.

We can give more specific suggestions if you have trouble with how to base everything. The BF website and rulebook also gives some suggestions.


Lux

Thats very good advice from Lux. When we started playing FOW a few years ago I new immediately which army I was going to play. My grandfather and great uncle both served in the British army in the desert conflict, so for me I chose the 8th Army Motor Company box set to kick off my force. Since then I have bought the SAS and Long Range Desert group box sets plus a few other bits and pieces.

I'm also looking at starting up a german or british force.

If I was looking at a tank army with some foot troops as well how many tanks would i be looking at? when i have looked at the boxes o the website they only seem to have maybe six tanks and the rest are trucks and infantry.

is it important to have trucks in a tank army?

A 1500 or 1750pt tank army will always have a company commander in a tank, normally a 2iC in a tank, and then probably 2 platoons of 4-5 tanks. You will need other support. FoW is very good in that tanks are great for taking ground, but simply aren't able to hold it. Whether that support is assault guns, artillery, anti-aircraft, armored mortars, reconnaissance, mounted infantry, or some combination is up to you. You could also add in a heavy tank or some light tanks. Yes, light tanks still have a place in late war forces.

Since you like the British, do you want to play mid or late war? If late, then pick up either Fortress Europe or Monty's Meatgrinder. If midwar, then get the North Africa book.

Lux

I've also been getting interested in flames of war but not quite sure where to start. I think I would like a tank/mechanized infantry force and either play as Germans, Americans or Russians in late war so which would be the best army for this type of force and what would be the best way to start out?

The russians and germans both have the "best" tanks in terms of armor and big guns. American shermans are fine vs other medium tanks, but can't handle the big boys (tigers, IS-2's and such) in a straight up fight & need to get around and shoot those at short range from the flanks. That said, shermans are cheaper much than the heavies. The russians can field the most tanks for the fewest points, but they have some special rules that limit their effectiveness and keep them balanced.

Part of what you need to consider is what sort of tank force you want, and whether you want to be motorized infantry with supporting tanks, or tanks with supporting motorized infantry. You can also run a company of heavy tanks or medium tanks. So you could have company of tigers or panthers or IS-2s, but in that case you will only have a very few tanks and they'll cost a LOT of points. Think in the area of maybe 5-8 tanks in your whole 1750pt army with a couple hundred points of supporting units.


More info on the various countries' strengths & weaknesses:

Germans have some of the best equipment and training, but at a high cost. Russians have good tank equipment, but their training leaves a lot to be desired and because of the shooting rules, they'll often need 5's or 6's to hit when on the move compared to 4's or 5's for other countries. Of the 3, only the Germans & Americans have true mechanized infantry. The russians can take truck mounted infantry, but it's a little more limited. What they can take instead is tank riders- infantry that literally rides on the sides of the tanks.

I would definitely suggest you get the starter box because of the included tanks, and probably the fortress europe book.

Lux