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Flames Of War D-Day Boot Camp: Saturday

Flames Of War D-Day Boot Camp: Saturday

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Chris Explains How To Introduce Your Friends To Flames Of War

48 Comments

John asks Chris a few questions about how he introduces people to Flames of War.

So you’ve got your new starter bundle. A Hit the Beach box set for you and a friend. You’ve read the rules and built both forces. But how do you go about taking your friends through their first game? Luckily Chris is on hand to showcase years of convention experience to get mucked in with your forces and start blowing things up on the table.

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kruppe
Member
315xp

The best demos I go through focus on getting you to roll five asap and killing a few things!

lawnor
Cult of Games Member
25939xp

Simple enough. How about a segment for getting in toWWII hostoricals but coming from existing competative games that don’t have different time periods with different tech levels. Getting used to not pulling out the model with the best stats, and coming to terms with everything not being balanced against everything.

avernos
Admin
33947xp

interesting idea, with @lloyd @dignity @warzan all kicking off with armies I wonder if we could work out something.

lawnor
Cult of Games Member
25939xp

Cool. Ignoring time, money, and opponents, this is my biggest hurdle in to WWII. I have the El Alamein set and I was looking at this Hit The Beach set thinking if I got it I could add it to my army, but then I hear its late war and my stuff might be mid and I don’t have any clue if they would be on the real battlefield together, or could be on the table together, or if they can, if they would be effective. I’ve no idea if FoW or Bolt Action adjusts points costs based on which… Read more »

avernos
Admin
33947xp

not over thinking it at all. No one made desert specific tanks, although some were modified, but most of the British armour was replaced by the time of Normandy. The German 88s are fine as is, but the Pz III and IV, while still being used, were up gunned and in some cases up armoured. FoW is split into periods, the early, mid and late war don’t adjust points as equipment was redundant and retired or changed into other functions. French tanks having anti tank guns replacing their turrets or using inferior turrets and guns in fortifications instead of on… Read more »

lawnor
Cult of Games Member
25939xp

As a non-historical gamer it would never occur to me to think of such things. These are extra hurdles to getting in to historicals, and hitting these without knowing I had to plan for them would be quite offputting. Especially if my friend and I had paid for, built and painted our armies only to find out that even with matched points one of us cannot lose to the other. I haven’t read the FoW rules yet so I do not know how apparent they make this. I do not recall seeing anything too obvious when I last read Bolt… Read more »

avernos
Admin
33947xp

for flames of war it’s not in the rules because they don’t change, instead it’s with the books they’re all dated for specific times.
it’s like getting into any game you need to know what it is before you start splashing the cash.

lawnor
Cult of Games Member
25939xp

Thats very true, but all the games I’ve played so far haven’t had models that get “outdated”. Everything is always somewhat valid, no matter what my opponent brings. Not entirely true, I know, but this seems more pronounced with historicals. But perhaps thats just my limited view from the outside? Tell you what, make sure I win one of the “On The Beach” sets and i’ll play that, my El Alamein stuff, and then merge the two for one battle and see how I feel and get back to you.

mattcapp112
Member
472xp

I’ve always had a passion for historicals, especially WWII. The thoughts of all those brave men doing what they did is absolutely fascinating to me. This is a game I’d absolutely love to get into

Robert
Guest
0xp
Robert

Just have to make friends now 🙂

avernos
Admin
33947xp

come visit us, @lordsanes has even said he may come down on occasion from Belfast for games of KoW and other things

torros
Cult of Games Member
23816xp

One day I’ll make it

lordsanes
Cult of Games Member
6512xp

I approve this message

torros
Cult of Games Member
23816xp

You should join the FB groups I mentioned Robert

gmatt55
Member
362xp

I agree. Being new at this myself it’s fun to just put the pieces on the table and seeing what I can do with them.

korvydae
Cult of Games Member
705xp

Just get stuff on the table and have fun and learn the rules as you go has always been my mantra.

olliep
Member
6011xp

Ah yes how to corrupt, I mean “introduce” your friends…

ghent99
Cult of Games Member
3589xp

I thought you were to alpha strike during the demo.

lblunchboxlb
Member
2015xp

I found people also need to be interested in the time period to consider joining in. It’s tough getting die hard fans of one game/system to try something else.

astralwraith
Cult of Games Member
5661xp

it’s always great to have your first game (or games) with someone who really knows the rules, I’ve found too much stopping & starting (especially when having to look through the rulebooks) can put people off playing

chrisjensen1975
Member
1064xp

For some people it can seem a bit overwhelming starting a new game but these starter kits make it a bit less intimidating.

paulvr
Member
851xp

that’s some nice advice, you just need to be able to implement it 😉

zorg
Cult of Games Member
18801xp

Rules what rules?

wolf320f
Cult of Games Member
3885xp

thats alpha strike justin (allegedly) out of the intros then

shoop77
Cult of Games Member
4457xp

A lot of action really helps getting people into games, that’s true. But as far as I can tell from my own experience (dragging a friend of mine into Bolt Action) try to make the table / terrain you play the first game on as appealing as possible. This helps in turning the game into an immersive experience…don’t just use grey plastic and books and such but instead have painted up models, mdf buildings for instance and some of the other jazz that makes a great (war)gaming experience….and for sure you’ll end up with a new gamin’ buddy.

krowek
Member
379xp

I must start play game, looks cool.

khy0te
Member
905xp

Keeping things interesting and moving, got it!

lorddraconum
Member
489xp

Great info on how to get people excited about a game

msenli
Member
374xp

Love these video’s, now I only need friends to play with 😉

coachjose59
Cult of Games Member
2311xp

If your minis look good ( no grey plastic) it will go a long way, some terrain doesn’t hurt. The boards are have the battle really:

darkdanegan
Cult of Games Member
21470xp

It’s looking good on the table!

andre77
Cult of Games Member
13013xp

Yeah killing some stuff fast helps. So going with tanks at first is a good idea. Not so like infantry dug in and getting them off a target.

dane001
Member
6780xp

Great little piece of advice there. Its always quite difficult to get someone into a new game especially when it can be quite slow paced.

skodamarine
Member
4163xp

Good advice.

jemmy
Member
2428xp

Tempo, excitement and manageable, i. e. followable chunks of rule sections. Less is more at the beginning.

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