Flames of War


Flames of War is a World War II tabletop miniatures wargame produced by the New Zealand company Battlefront Miniatures Ltd. The 1st Edition set of rules was published in 2002.
Flames of War allows players to wargame company level battles from the European, Pacific and North African Theatres of World War Two, using 1/100 scale miniatures and miniature armour. In the 1st Edition rulebook basic army lists were provided for the mid-war period, while Battlefront published early and late war army lists on their website. The 2nd Edition of the rulebook was published in 2006. The 3rd Edition of the rules was released on March 10, 2012. The 4th Edition rules were released in March, 2017.

Gameplay

Gameplay takes place over a series of turns, with players alternating movement, shooting and close assault. This simple sequence of play, often called "I-Go, You-go", helps people who are unfamiliar with wargames or who are familiar with other games with a similar structure to quickly learn the rules. The game is optimised for two players, although it can be played by a larger number of players playing against each other or grouped in teams.
Play revolves around company-level tactics, with each stand or element representing an infantry fireteam, an artillery piece and its crew, or a single vehicle. Air support is also available, in the form of fighter bombers and ground attack aircraft, with aircraft generally being represented by 1:144 scale models.
The main rulebook has numerous scenarios players can use for their games, with all of these scenarios centered on capturing objectives. Additional army sourcebooks contain further scenarios, usually centered on historical events relevant to that particular book. Game play utilizes six-sided dice to pass various skill tests used to shoot at enemies or pass motivation based tests. Movement distances and weapon ranges are provided in both inches and centimeters and are usually measured with tape measures or other measuring aides. Tokens are used to indicate pinned down troops, bogged down vehicles etc.
Current army sourcebooks are based on particular campaigns and include army lists for the German forces, the U.S. Army, the armies of United Kingdom and Commonwealth , the Red Army of the Soviet Union,, the Italian army, as well as nations that played as smaller role such as the Poles, Hungarians, Finns, Romanians, as well as the Japanese and United States Marines for the Pacific Theatre campaign.
Flames of War provides players who are interested in World War II wargaming but lack an in-depth knowledge of the period with a "one-stop shop". The rulebook and sourcebooks provide not only the rules of the game and scenarios to play but also background material on historical forces and battles and simple guides to organising, assembling, and painting miniature armies.

Rules and sourcebooks

Battlefront divides World War II into three periods. Early-war, mid-war and late-war. Each period has its own point values aimed at recreating actual battle situations that would have occurred during the respective time periods. Sourcebooks are compiled to represent forces from one of the time periods, some only cover specific battles other books cover broad campaigns with lists that span multiple years.
To play Flames of War you will need a Rulebook and a Source book containing Army Lists. The current rules are found in the Fourth Edition Rule Book, of which there are actually two. One covers the Early War and Late War periods and helps players effectively upgrade their Third Edition armies to Fourth Edition rules. The other rulebook covers the Mid War period only and sourcebooks containing army lists have now been released to accompany this new Fourth Edition. For tournament play, players are typically allowed to include either Third edition source books and selected "Web Briefings" published on Battlefront's web site, or, Fourth edition source books during this period of transition.

Third Edition sourcebooks

Third Edition Sourcebooks are currently being replaced by Fourth Edition Sourcebooks, however during this period of transition you can upgrade your Third Edition Armies by using the Fourth Edition Rulebook specifically covering the Early War and Late War periods.

Early-War period

Some, but not all, Second Edition Sourcebooks have already been replaced by Third Edition Sourcebooks. Those that have not already been replaced by Third Edition Sourcebooks are currently being replaced by Fourth Edition Sourcebooks, however, during this period of transition you can upgrade your Second Edition Armies by using the Fourth Edition Rulebook specifically covering the Early War and Late War periods.

Early-War period

Both Grey Wolf and Red Bear have been revised, and are current to 3rd edition rules.

First Edition sourcebooks

These books have been replaced with the sourcebooks listed above which reflect the 2nd, 3rd or current 4th Edition rules. All of these supplements below are now out of print. Battlefront provides updates on their website that detail the changes between these old sourcebooks and the new mid-war army lists provided in Afrika and Ostfront. With these changes, players may continue to use these sourcebooks for tournament play in the mid-war period.
Battlefront publishes additional army lists on their web site. These lists are official Battlefront lists and are eligible to be played in many tournaments. Additionally, Battlefront will host "unofficial" briefings developed by fans, although such lists are generally not eligible for tournament play.

Models and Availability

Battlefront Miniatures has released a line of multi-part metal, resin, and a growing range of plastic models, at 15mm/ 1/100 scale, for use in playing Flames of War. This includes models for ground forces, such as infantry, vehicles and field guns, along with a limited range of 1/144 model aircraft. The models are sold in blister packs and assorted boxed sets with 3-5 models each.
Other manufacturers, such as Plastic Soldier Company, which produce 15mm figures for war gaming World War II, which can be used in addition to or instead of Battlefront's figures, in either private or tournament play. Battlefront allows the use of third party models, even in officially run tournaments, something which is rare among the community.

Tournaments

Battlefront supports the tournament scene that revolves around Flames of War. Flames of War tournaments are held across the world and through the Flames of War website players have access to listings of upcoming events through the Flames of War Events Calendar. Each area of the world has a specific events calendar that players can use to find events near them. In North America Battlefront promotes a National Tournament Season in which winners of regional tournaments are qualified to play in any of the three National Tournaments. Players winning an Overall Championship or Best General Award from the three Nationals receives an automatic invitation to the North America Masters tournament. Other spots on the Masters Tournament are filled by the top ranked players on the Rankings HQ website. Individuals, clubs, or shops wishing to run a Flames of War sponsored tournament can contact Battlefront through Battlefront's website.

Reception

At the 2004 Origins Awards Flames of War was one of the winners of the Vanguard Awards.
William Jones comments: "Historical miniature gamers will certainly continue the quest for the perfect new rules systems — the same quest that, in part, brought Phil Yates to create Flames of War. But his marvelous design offers quite a lot, especially to those tabletop tacticians who long for a game where strategy is dominant, who want to dedicate more time to plotting a battleplan and less to worrying about the rules. Flames of War boasts a wonderful balance between speed of play, detail, and flavor."

Successor games

In November 2009, Battlefront announced Flames of War Vietnam - The Battle for la Drang. This rule set was released in Wargames Illustrated Magazine #266, and received a limited release of supporting models. In April 2011 Flames of War Vietnam was made a permanent rule set when the first sourcebook was added as a free addition to Wargames Illustrated Magazine #282, along with the re-release of the original miniatures and several new box sets. In March 2013 the first softback released through the Flames of War brand rather than Wargames Illustrated was released. This book contained several lists previously seen in releases from Wargames Illustrated such as those for the United States as well as PAVN and will be supported by a full range of models. New forces include those from ARVN, the ANZAC Brigade sent to Vietnam, as well as new force diagrams for the United States and PAVN.