How To Start a Flames Of War League Part Two by Nathan Howard In November our game club started an escalation league as a way to introduce new players to Flames Of War and help them build up their armies to tournament size over the course of three stages. In stage two the army size increased from 600 to 1000 points enabling players to expand their force beyond the required Company HQ and Combat platoons to include more weapon and support platoons. With the release of the Total War rules in Das Book, we also decided to run a massive multi-player game at the end of the stage. Read part one here... Read part three here... Learn more about Total War here… Learn more about Das Book here…

It was interesting to observe the types of platoons that players chose to include with the additional points available to them. Quite a few players added motors or artillery in order to more easily pin enemy platoons or limit visibility in a key part of the battlefield with a smoke bombardment. Other players used the additional points to fill out their Combat platoons and were able to field a greater number of infantry stands or tanks. With so many units on the table their opponents often had trouble bringing enough firepower to the bear to deal with these hordes. In other cases players chose more specialized units such as Anti-tank or Anti-aircraft platoons to cover gaps in their army’s capabilities. However players chose to expand their armies, the significance of mutual support between platoons was an important learning point.

Although there was some experimentation with new units in the league games it was nothing like the unit diversity we saw in our Total War game. We decided to play Soviet versus Germans as they were the largest factions represented in the league and there were enough models to make several loaner armies. Although only a half dozen players signed up before hand all but a couple of the league players ended up being able to play.

We even had a few new players jump in, eager to try things out. In all we had a total of 13 people participate with 9000 points a side. Needless to say insanity ensued, but we were able to keep things moving by limiting each turn to 45 minutes a side and assigning team captains to help keep things focused. When the dust finally settled the Germans had won out, denying the Soviets access to key objectives, while stubbornly holding their own. The game was so much fun that we are already planning another one to kickoff an Operation Bagration Firestorm campaign in the Spring.

The third and final stage of the league increases the point’s level to 1500. As a capstone we will be holding an open tournament and inviting players from around the region to participate. Tune in next time to see if 12 weeks of training  is enough to prepare for battle against the local veterans. ~ Nathan.