July 18, 2014 by warzan
Video Sponsor: Warmachine
It's time for more from Flames of War For the Win and today Warren & Dave are taking a closer look at the rules for using smoke in your World War II games.
What's your favourite way of using smoke on the battlefield?
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that is a really nice table
If memory serves, that table is all modular, as well.
Glad to see a new episode! It’s been a while since the last one, I was actually starting to wonder. 🙂
Great tips on the smoke. I try to think of it this way . . .
“There are 10 German PzKpfw IVs coming toward me. Do I have a weapon that will take five of them off the board in one swing (short of a tactical nuke? 🙂 )”
“No, but I have a tool that could reduce all their ROFs by 50%. In certain situations, I MAY have just achieved the same basic result.”
I know I’m over-simplifying here, but just to make the point of how devastating smoke can be. In defence, it hampers enemy covering fire, allowing your defenders to kill more of the enemy’s assault element as it approaches. In attack, it can cover your assault element as it crosses killing ground, hampering the enemy’s fire until you in and amidst them. 🙂
Great episode, guys!
Great video. Particularly interesting to hear Steve’s advise.
However, as a Soviet player, I will now cry a little. (Smoke vs Hen & Chick sucks!).
For the Germans I think Panzer III N’s and StuH42’s will direct-fire smoke? (Looking at my Fortress Italy book..)
Yeah the new Italy books help the late war Germans some what with smoke, this video was shot before they where out….
I think you guys are great, this video really makes me more curious than ever before about the sheer depth of this game 🙂 I so far only liked the painting and history but I think that smoke is a very interesting thing! In reality the Shermans used it a lot against the Panthers rendering their guns quite useless at their intended ranges, thus allowing them to be flanked more easily as well. I think Germany can solve smoke in FoW by waiting the smoke out though, or spread their assets from big and heavy tanks into smaller tanks like the Stugs!!! 🙂
FoW intrigues me more with each of these I watch 🙂
A very interesting and informative KYE this episode.
Panzer IV E or F ,in the copy of north Africa i have, have smoke.
Gorgeous terrain, great video again.
That was an interesting lesson. Good video.
Great episode, these are really good and very informative. I particully like the know your enemy interviews at the start.
I’ve only played a few games of flames of war but I’ve amassed over 4000pts of Germans.
Having been a long time 40k player It all seemed very similar to me and my friends. I don’t think any of used Reece or smoke. Through reading battle reports and seeing these videos it makes you realise just how much more depth the game has and how many more involved tactical decisions there are to make. I’ve really enjoyed the games that I have played so far.
I haven’t played a game of flames of war for over a year and a half now, after concentrating on my Horus heresy army but these videos have made me get my flames of war stuff back out of the case. I purchased some Pumas after watching the last video and now knowing what smoke does my Nebelwerfers don’t seem as utterly useless as they once seemed! Myself and a friend have both decided to enter the grand tournament this year so we need all the help and info we can get.
I know a lot of this is planned & filmed well in advance but I hope you’ve got a video on transports coming up soon as I’m struggling to get my head around them. Especially the German mounted assault rule and how best to make use of this.
Keep up the good work guys!
Cheers.
This table looks awesome!
Smokin!
Rule No1: No Smoking over the gaming table!
Well that was an easy rules explanation! 😛
that’s not smoke it’s fog of war?
Smog of War
You don’t want to mix fog and smoke.
End up with a right pea souper.
Won’t even be able to see what you are doing, never mind the enemy! lol
I must play this game :o) Good video, good series
great video guys and also super nice terrain.
This is like Smokey and the Bandit. 🙂
There were tanks that could generate smoke by injecting diesel into their exhausts to obscure the next wave from enemy artillery or long range gunnery.
The only concern for me is that smoke becomes like spam. Now if every war consisted of people blinding the other side with smoke and never shooting anything more dangerous at them, that would be fine, but at some point, heavy metal needs to fly. The Kingtiger you have spend six rounds keeping blind may not get a shot in but the platoon of PZIVH’s you forgot about now own your ass.
Always love FoWFtW! Now to break out the Open Fire set to play!
I want to play on that table
I always enjoy these videos 🙂 I have just finished building my Open Fire Box so will get a few games with that first but looking forward to putting these more advanced ideas into play!
Brilliant! Love the table layout.
Great explanation guys love the full scenery examples.
Nice video. I really liked the interview in this one.
Really enjoying this series, even though I know nothing about WWII (well, obviously I know the basics), nor played FoW. In fact, I think it’s my favourite thing on Beasts of War right now! The idea of focussing on a single tactic and discussing/demonstrating it in depth is really interesting. Would love to see this with other systems, particularly Warmachine/Hordes.
One slight quibble – using a camera placed the other end of the studio for cutting in on close ups is really confusing as it flips the action. Suddenly Warren and Dave are on opposite sides of the table/screen, as are their armies etc, and smoke is going in the wrong direction and chaos! 😀
Otherwise, keep up the good work. Looking forward to the next FoW FTW!
Great episode gang, always a joy to see FOWFTW. I believe smoke is an aspect very underutilized in WW2 gaming, but one of the most effective weapons available to the player. Thanks guys.
Sorry, forgot to put this in my comment above. Do not play FOW so can’t comment on how fire into smoke is handled. But in the several sets of rules that I play if you fire at a target IN smoke, the fire is handled as area fire. Thus because you can not see a particular target, your fire at that target is an estimation of where that target is. They may have relocated once that smoke is laid. So even if you know the target is in the smoke, you don’t know exactly where, and your visibility has been hindered by the smoke.
Would be interested to know how FOW handles this situation.
Hear, hear. In the exact same boat as @williamwidrick on this one. Don’t play FoW yet, but play lots of other systems and would be very keen to hear about how shooting into smoke works.
Panzer Leader/Arab-Israeli Wars, for example, says you can’t shoot THROUGH smoke at all. It’s fine to shoot OUT of a smoke hex (so if you want to blind a potential enemy you have to drop the smoke in FRONT of him, not ON him). To shoot INTO a smoke hex, you actually get a slight bonus if the target is IN the smoke hex (unit based game, the target unit cannot maintain its cohesion as well and is more likely to become combat ineffective.)
Like others have said, that’s a very nice looking table.
Agreed, great table, so good i just joined backstage to access hobbylab to have a go myself!
good explanation of the smoke rules and how to use them as always great videos and hoping more battle vids and maybe different armies keep up the good work and i hope to win the flames of war starter set so i can get into the game currently saving my pennies lol im planning on doings gen pattons 4th from BG&G
cheers guys this explanation of the rules really helped me understand the rules for smoke and really gave me a lot of ideas to try in future games using smoke and then combining that with the lesson in the last video with the artillery with pinning, thank you for making this series you guys rock! 🙂
Really informative, love the table. Wish they’d simply correct the video when they get the rules wrong… This video threw me a little more than the last few videos. I’d also love to see a more expanded explanation on the different types of situations. They talk about isolating the command or heavy units to be destroyed, but how does that work? Do you get to place the smoke, or does the smoke get assigned like normal gun hits? Additionally, lets see how the mortar works. Yes I can go look into the rulebook and probably find other videos, but it’d be nice to see it in this vid. Regardless, keep up the good work!
Great looking table and a smoking hot tip. 😀
One major issue with FoW FTW is the release-rate – way to slow!
Need one show at least once a week so pick up the pace and, again, thanx for a great one.
Keep it up!
Great Video really starting to get interested in this game.
I like the fact that in this game smoke is such a useful tool. That board does look awesome!
Put me in coach…….
As a USA player I do have to say that using smoke is almost a must. I helps keep your shermans alive. My German opponents hate it because they are then reduced to one shot per tank when they move because otherwise my tanks are obscured by smoke and generally are more than 16″ away. Therefore, if they don’t move they have no shot.
So I watched Season 1…..
Started watching Season 2…..
Open Fire set arrived yesterday…..
Agree on the table ! Really nice 😉
Ah so that makes the smoke rules a lot clearer, cheers guys
I am really enjoying this series and the way it is demonstrating all of the subtleties in the rules. Being successful at FOW seems to depend at least as much on tactics as on the list.
Gotta start playing this game. Great video as usual.
Excellent walkthrough of the rules of smoke and the tactics that follow.
It most definitely makes me rethink how viable Shermans are against a Russian tankhorde with Hens and Chicks, as so far I had just gone with the “oh well, I guess I’m just outgunned, outmanned and outclassed in every way”-approach and have just gone toe-to-toe with them directly. Which is most people will know is bad. Really bad…
Now I see that a strategic placement of direct fire smoke on all but a few tanks in a platoon, followed by some 76mm shooting at the few tanks that are not smoked might actually turn things severely in the favour of the Shermans instead.
So thanks for opening my eyes to smoke. 🙂
“Smoke gets in your eyes…”. Lovely show guys, lovely! The table is awesome!
Not only does the video is really informative and pushes me forth to starting playing FOW but also the scenery on the table is looking awesome.
YASSS more FoW!!!
This is one of the many reasons I like F.O.W.
It lets something simple like the use of smoke generate lots of tactical options/depth.
Great video, and I am really glad to see Warren and Dave presenting together again.
Love this series
A beautiful table you setup there.
As an actual Forward Observer with the US Army, it’s awesome to see this game show all of the intricacies of combat and tactical decisions that need to be made on the modern battlefield!
Great show it brought to the fore the ease of removing your opponents units by reducing their effectiveness over the harder and often costlier task of trying to kill them.
Another great episode. You have really got me interested in FOW.
To be honest I have never used smoke in the game! But I have only played a few games at the club with the starter set so they have been very basic. I do believe this all about to change.
I really enjoy the format of this show, the interviews are of great use and focusing on one rule with demonstrations is great.
Oh and that table looks awesome.
Great looking table, Great Know your Enemy, Great FOW FTW.
This series is really tempting me to delve into flames of war.
Just as always, great fun to watch. 😀
Time to re-evaluate my list…..lots of t-34’s is nice, but not going to win games
That is an awesome gaming board! The way it works with all of the options from the Hobby Lab show (now on Mondays as part of Backstage) shows how a modular system can really be used in a lot of different gaming.
As to the specific rules engagement of this version of FoW FTW has been a lot of fun. Even with this being a specific game set and rules it reminds the gamers to look for all the options in the rule book.
Why didn’t I know about this sooner. I would have won a couple of games I played lately.
The more of this I watch… Just itching to get me the starter set
Another great video and v informative.
Love it all again. Ive always wondered how on earth smoke could be used really effective other than making my opponent move
Good ‘un – aside from that the is just to get an entry in the draw 😉
I am very interested in how and when to use smoke during an actual game! I play with the Americans and have had issues dealing with the big tanks! I have never used smoke before, but I am interested in including a mortar platoon so I can use smoke!
Great table, great explanation. Up to now smoke has been one of those sections in the rulebook I’ve tended to overlook/ignore as it always seemed cumbersome. Now I’ve seen how straight forward it is I’m regretting not having used it in my games to date.
Just hoping my opponent hasn’t seen this with all the Sherman’s he has; they’ve been staple diet for my Stugs up to now.
Do like the tactic of firing smoke from the Sherman’s at three of the enemy tanks, leaving the fourth to the 17pdr of the Firefly to take out, no “big cat” is going to like that.
Also bear in mind if the Cromwell’s did the same and they had a Challenger instead of a Firefly, they get 3 shots of 17pdr instead of the Firefly’s 2 (not moving) no “big cat” is going to like that at all lol.
But really as we have seen from the last few FoWFTW videos, use these aspects of Recce, Artillery, and Smoke in a combination. Is where they are going to be effective, in fighting and controlling the battle.
Not sure if the series has it in the pipe line, as it has already been filmed, but it might be quite good to see it demonstrated, seeing the different aspects working together?
WOW! I wish I would have paid mofre attention to the smoke rules when I read the rules. No one in my area ever uses smoke. This will be a nasty little surprise.
So many intricacies to this game. What a great game.
Good video. Love FOW FTW
My US airborne never leave home without their smoke to cover their assaults!!! They get cut to ribbons otherwise!!! I usually use a mortar section to smoke – and then a have some Howitzers that can if somehow I fail to smoke, smoke instead.
Watching the video I have never really attempted direct smoke – but now certainly it seems like a very sneaky option to eliminate targets! I am most impressed at the level of tactics FOWFTW is going into, its certainly helping me out and seems to run along side my own understanding of the game itself!
Great video. When is the next one coming out? I learn so much watching these and have helped me out a great deal
Great video again guys! I really love the FoWFTW series and truly appreciate these explanations of tricky rules. I never used smoke much myself, but watching this video, especially the Know Your Enemy part, has made me redesign my German lists to have some smoke and have really like the results. Moreover, for my American 7th Armored list, using direct fire smoke has vastly increased the survivability of my M4A3s and Easy 8s.