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Open Fire! Open Fire! Open Fire! Open Fire!  Open Fire! Open Fire!
Boot Camp Open Fire Boot Camp

Boot Camp was created to help explain the Open Fire rules to new players. This series of videos will take you through Open Fire and help you get gaming as fast as possible.

An updated version of the Flames Of War starter set will be released in conjunction with 4th edition.
Stay up-to-date with the latest news and information regarding the 4th edition of Flames Of War here...
Tanks:
Tank Against Tank (Page 6 of the Open Fire Rulebook)
The easiest way to learn the shooting rules is to start with a one-on-one engagement between two tanks, in this case
a British or US Sherman tank and a German StuG G assault gun.
Tank Against Tank
Tanks:
Firing On The Move
(Page 9 of the Open Fire Rulebook)
Tanks don’t just sit there pounding away at each other in real battles. They manoeuvre to get better shots and seek out weak spots in their opponent’s armour, all the while using terrain to avoid getting hit themselves. Allowing our tanks to move adds tactics to the slugging match.
Firing On The Move
Infantry:
Infantry Against Infantry (Page 12 of the Open Fire Rulebook)
Having fought it out with tanks, it’s time to get man-to-man with some infantry combat. As with tanks, the easiest
way to learn the rules is to set up a simple engagement between two infantry platoons.
Infantry Against Infantry
Infantry:
Infantry Moving (Page 14 of the Open Fire Rulebook)
Infantry may not be fast, but they can go anywhere. Once they hit the dirt though, infantry can be hard to hit, and if they dig in as well, they are very resilient to enemy fire.
Infantry Moving
Infantry:
Infantry Against Tanks & Anti-tank Guns (Page 16-17 of the Open Fire Rulebook)
Tanks are big, scary monsters, immune to a rifleman’s bullets, but with their bazookas and their German equivalents,
the Panzerschreck (Tank Terror) and Panzerfaust (Armoured Fist), the infantry are far from helpless against them.
Tanks’ main guns are overkill unless the infantry are dug in, so they usually return fire with their machine-guns.
Infantry Against Tanks

Infantry:
Allocating Hits (Page 18 of The Open Fire Rulebook)

Most soldiers simply blaze away at muzzle flashes or enemy soldiers glimpsed as they dash from cover to cover. Hitting the enemy is as much luck as skill, so even if a machine-gunner or bazooka man is hit by an unlucky shot, the commander can usually find another soldier to pick up the weapon.
Allocating Hits
Assaults:
Infantry Assaults (Page 20-21 of the Open Fire Rulebook)
It seems incredible that infantry survive on a battlefield under the fire of tanks and machine-guns, but once they take cover and dig in, they are remarkably tough. Sometimes the only way to dig them out is to launch an all-out infantry assault with bayonets and hand grenades.
Assaults 
Assaults:
Fighting In Assaults (Page 22 of the Open Fire Rulebook)
Once the enemy get close, there’s nowhere to hide, so its fight or die. Casualties are heavy with little chance of survival other than to kill the enemy before they kill you.
Assaults
Assaults:
Breaking Off and Consolidating (Page 24 of the Open Fire Rulebook)
A platoon losing the fight breaks off, trying to get away from the enemy. The victors either pursue them or establish
their own defensive position ready for any counterattack.
Breaking Off And Consolidating
Assaults:
Tanks Assaulting (Page 28 of the Open Fire Rulebook)
Despite the power of their guns, there are times when crushing the enemy under its tracks is the best tactic for aggressively-handled tanks. Tanks assault in the same way that infantry do, but with a few changes. Grab some Sherman tanks and launch an assault on a grenadier platoon backed by some anti-tank guns.
Tanks Assaulting
Assaults:
Anti-tank Guns in Assaults (page 29 of the Open Fire Rulebook)
Anti-tank guns are most effective at range, but if assaulted, will keep shooting to the last. The guns bark, hurling armour-piercing shot after shot as long as they have a target. When outflanked and threatened with being crushed under the tracks of a tank, the gunners use hand grenades to drive the tank off.
Anti-tank Guns in Assaults

Morale:
Checking Morale (Page 30 of the Open Fire Rulebook)

Most soldiers fight bravely, but everyone has their limits. As their comrades fall around them, even the bravest start considering the option of running away. If your platoons take too many casualties from shooting or assaults, they may just retreat, effectively putting them out of the battle.
Morale 


Last Updated On Thursday, December 15, 2016 by Blake at Battlefront