Last Sunday I picked up my copy of the Flames of War V3 bundle. Although there are already several reviews of the book to be found on the net I like to share my thoughts about this bundle.
The bundle contains 3 books. The Flames of War V3 rulebook, the Flames of War Forces book and the Flames of War Hobby book.
The Flames of War V3 rulebook:
What can I say. It is an copy of the free give away small rulebook only now as a nice big hard-cover book. The page-numbering is the same as in the small rulebook. 293 pages. So no longer, when you asked something about the rules, you have to tell on which page it is in which book. The hard-cover book also contains some extra pages. Which is a time-line of WWII history and is numbered I - XVI.
The book looks excellent with well written text and clear diagrams. Of-course there is always a rule to find that can be a little unclear but I have never seen gaming rules that are 100% perfect.
A great book for new players and veterans.
The Flames of War Forces book:
This is a 100 page soft-cover book like for instance Fortress Europe and replaces more or less the Fortress Europe army book. It contains the basic list for the 4 biggest nations; United States, Germany, United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. For each nation there are 3 briefings. A Tank Company, a Mechanized Company and a Rifle Company. The Germans get 1 extra briefing. Beside 1 for the Grenadier Company there is also a briefing for a Panzergrenadier Company.
For new players it is a great book to start your first army. A lot of the diagrams of the platoons in the book come with pictures of the models and there stats. I think that this is very well done. The company's in the book are a great way to learn the rules of the game because you don't have all kinds of extra rules that you find in other army- books.
For veteran players the lists maybe a bit standard because most of the time they play with a company out of a more special army book like Red Bear. But personally I think because you have most, if not all, of the models you can built a nice company out of this book which can be handy if you play against a new player to learn him the rules.
The Flames of War Hobby book.
The last of the three books. It has 40 pages and a stapled back. This book contains everything about collecting, modelling and painting an army as well as information how to set up a good battlefield. The last part is about community and clubs.
For people new to painting miniatures or new to painting 15mm miniatures the painting information is good and detailed. For the more experienced painters there is not much new to find. And here is one of the negative things I have to say. I also would have liked if they have told more about painting using an Airbrush. The part I liked the most is the one on how to set up a good battlefield. I think that a lot players can learn from this.
Overall.
I paid for the bundle a total of €40.50 that is with 10% discount. Knowing that the hard-cover army-books are close to €40.00 you can say that you pay for the big fat rulebook and get the Forces and Hobby book for free.
If I were a new player I would give this set probably 5 out of 5 stars. But I am not a new player and there are things that are not that useful for me so I should rate it with 4,5 out of 5. But if I take in account the price of the bundle I also give it a 5 out of 5.
Well this was my little review of the new Flames of War rule set.
Thanks for reading.
The bundle contains 3 books. The Flames of War V3 rulebook, the Flames of War Forces book and the Flames of War Hobby book.
The Flames of War V3 rulebook:
What can I say. It is an copy of the free give away small rulebook only now as a nice big hard-cover book. The page-numbering is the same as in the small rulebook. 293 pages. So no longer, when you asked something about the rules, you have to tell on which page it is in which book. The hard-cover book also contains some extra pages. Which is a time-line of WWII history and is numbered I - XVI.
The book looks excellent with well written text and clear diagrams. Of-course there is always a rule to find that can be a little unclear but I have never seen gaming rules that are 100% perfect.
A great book for new players and veterans.
The Flames of War Forces book:
This is a 100 page soft-cover book like for instance Fortress Europe and replaces more or less the Fortress Europe army book. It contains the basic list for the 4 biggest nations; United States, Germany, United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. For each nation there are 3 briefings. A Tank Company, a Mechanized Company and a Rifle Company. The Germans get 1 extra briefing. Beside 1 for the Grenadier Company there is also a briefing for a Panzergrenadier Company.
For new players it is a great book to start your first army. A lot of the diagrams of the platoons in the book come with pictures of the models and there stats. I think that this is very well done. The company's in the book are a great way to learn the rules of the game because you don't have all kinds of extra rules that you find in other army- books.
For veteran players the lists maybe a bit standard because most of the time they play with a company out of a more special army book like Red Bear. But personally I think because you have most, if not all, of the models you can built a nice company out of this book which can be handy if you play against a new player to learn him the rules.
The Flames of War Hobby book.
The last of the three books. It has 40 pages and a stapled back. This book contains everything about collecting, modelling and painting an army as well as information how to set up a good battlefield. The last part is about community and clubs.
For people new to painting miniatures or new to painting 15mm miniatures the painting information is good and detailed. For the more experienced painters there is not much new to find. And here is one of the negative things I have to say. I also would have liked if they have told more about painting using an Airbrush. The part I liked the most is the one on how to set up a good battlefield. I think that a lot players can learn from this.
Overall.
I paid for the bundle a total of €40.50 that is with 10% discount. Knowing that the hard-cover army-books are close to €40.00 you can say that you pay for the big fat rulebook and get the Forces and Hobby book for free.
If I were a new player I would give this set probably 5 out of 5 stars. But I am not a new player and there are things that are not that useful for me so I should rate it with 4,5 out of 5. But if I take in account the price of the bundle I also give it a 5 out of 5.
Well this was my little review of the new Flames of War rule set.
Thanks for reading.
Good, solid review of a good solid product. Matched my own reflections perfectly, you're paying for the big book, everything else is a bonus.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review! I have not bought the books yet but have the freebie.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to be generally well received by everybody, good honest review my friend....
ReplyDeleteThe only things i didn't like in the Forces book,are NO AA plt for the Soviets and No Rocket launches for the Germans.I'm glad i got the big rule book as the print is much easier to read,than in the mini rule book.
ReplyDeleteLES
I noticed that too. I also saw that in the Forces book Staff teams cannot shoot while in the rulebook it is written that Staff teams can shoot as Rifle teams.
Delete