Open Fire!

Like many gamers, I have an interest in WWII.  Something about titanic tank battles and the industrial capacity of the whole world turning to wartime production is captivating.

The primary game that I have played for WWII (if you do not count the innumerable battles with soft plastic army men I staged as a child), is Axis and Allies, which is an abstracted high level game covering the entire conflict post Pearl Harbor. As I mentioned yesterday I just got Duel in the Dark, which is a abstracted game about British bomber fleet raids.

Another game that I have always been interested in, is Flames of War (FoW).  FoWis the simplified company plus level game produced by Battlefront, with glossy rules and supplements, and boxes and blisters packed to build units in the game.  It uses 15mm miniatures, and has rules that many have compared to Warhammer 40k (often derisively).  I bought some figures and tanks five or so years ago to get into it, and subsequently they have languished in boxes. (like a good number of my projects, although I did build up a Panzer IV)

Battlefront has recent released the third edition of Flames of War, and as a follow on has now revealed their starter boxed set (does this model sound familiar to anyone?).

(Pictures cribbed from Battlefront)

The game will come with two platoons of Sherman Vs, two Sherman Fireflies, a STUG platoon, a company of German Grenadiers, and a platoon American paratroopers.  Plus a V1 terrain feature.  (Must be for Market Garden?)  The Germans look pretty good from the preview pictures, but the Americans do not look quite as good.  And the Shermans seem a bit... squashed.  In any case, I am cautiously excited about this boxed set, and hope that it builds local interest in FoW again.  I am also hopefully that ebay sellers will follow the GW game starter model, and break up the components of this game for sale individually. I could certainly see getting that German company, or the American paratroopers if the price is right.