2. Austrian Flames Of War Day! A report by Thomas Isopp 22nd September 2007 The local Warhammer Club Steckenpferd had the pleasure to organize the second Flames Of War day in Austria at Klagenfurt (Capital city of Carinthia).

This year has seen a massive increase of FOW players around the country. Campaigns have been held, new players recruited and with the move of a distribution centre to England many shops have started to sell FOW stuff. So for the first time the games is having a massive impact in Austria. Last year we had the idea to organize a “get together” at Klagenfurt in order to meet new people, help new gamers with the rules, see new armies and have a good day. Unfortunately the first event just saw a handful players, who nevertheless had a lot of fun and we agreed to try it again in 2007.

We made it clear from the beginning that this is not a tournament, so no best players-awards, no ranking. What we tried to achieve was a second event, where FoW-players from Austria could come together and learn from each other. This idea seems to be new to the more competitive orientated players as we allowed everyone to come and didn’t care too much about his playing ability level.

What we did was provide some nice prizes (army transport case, Bersaglieri Company Box, US-Rifle box) worth about 200,-- € , which were presented to the best painted armies, the best army of a under 18-year player and the most interesting army. So it was all about army composition and painting. Our idea was quite a success as many were interested in it. Shortly before the event some people had to cancel their attendance, but fortunately there are enough players now in our own club so we could compensate the losses and were able to host 16 players.

This meant that our club-room was full, so having eight tables this was perfect. We agreed on a mid war event as most people have started with this period and most players who have late war armies have also mid war armies. It was a one day event in order to get people who tend to avoid longer absence from home and as we had the social aspects in mind this would do. Starting with a 1250 points “free for all-battle” we opened the day. We tried to pair axis vs. allies, locals vs. players from abroad and beginners vs. more advanced players. This worked quite good as the majority of the players knew how to play and armies were evenly divided between axis and allies.

Beside the more common German, British, Russian and American armies you could also see a Hungarian army (winning the prize of the tourney for the most interesting army), a Romanian army, a Bersaglieri army and a US Ranger army. And some of the armies are really painted at a stunning level. After a short break we continued with two games at 1500 points each, scenarios to be chosen by the players themselves. We tried to come up with different tables to provide interesting settings as this game wins a lot through interesting and demanding terrain. Among the tables were an African table, one with a massive station, railways, ruins and more common tables. Thankfully some of our guests provided even more terrain as you need a lot just to fill 8 tables.

The day was a success as we really managed to get players from all the other major FoW-Gaming groups in Austria. My thanks to the guys from Vienna, Salzburg and Styria who managed to come and join the event. I saw many happy faces and while not all games on such a day might be brutally demanding the relaxed atmosphere meant that we all had a lot of fun. As some of the best Austrian FoW players were present we also learnt a lot rules wise, which will help develop new ideas, new concepts and new tactics. And who knows, perhaps we will see some new players in the future as there were many visitors too.

I am quite sure that we are looking forward to the next event of this type. And while tournaments and campaigns are great I can recommend such relaxed events to everyone as they can give the communities a new boost and are great especially for beginners to break the ice. Enjoy the pictures and if you have some questions or comments don’t hesitate to contact me. Greetings from Austria! Thomas Isopp