Flames of War pt I

I recently started playing Flames of War. I've had a small force for sometime, but only really got busy with it recently. I probably have a good 3000 points at the moment, though I aim to amend that. My current collection:

7 Panzer IV H
7 Panther A's
4 Panzerwerfer
3 Wespes
4 StuG G
2 full Fallschrimjager platoons
2 Jagdpanthers
1 full platoon of motorized scouts in Swimmwagen

And oddly, I am yet to win a game. Mind you, I've only played about 4 games. Mostly it seems as though I simply have lousy dice and luck. Despite my losses I'm rather keen on this game and would certainly like it to gain more steam in my local gaming community. Which it is, slowly, but I managed to get a friend hooked on it the other day. So it's slowly gaining steam. And that's good.

Now, what is Flames of War, you ask. And why should I play it, that you also ask.

Well, it's a World War Two based tabletop wargame set in the European Theatre. And from what I've seen there is no such thing as a broken list. Infantry companies are numerous and inherently defensive. Mechanized companies are fast, mobile and well suited for nearly any situation. Tank companies are small aggressive forces that may seem unstoppable at first glance.

Well the game is surprisingly well balanced. Some players that have experience in other wargames may see the balance straight away. For the inexperienced, the difference is a bit harder to see.

One may say to themselves, "Tank companies must always win. I mean, they're tanks! I know something about WWII and those German Tiger tanks are tough nuts to crack. A whole army of them must be unstoppable." That can be true. Tigers can be unstoppable beasts in even inexperienced hands. However, a well entrenched infantry platoon can destroy a Tiger in close assault. And artillery just ruins everyone's day.

The gameplay may seem complicated at first, but is surprisingly smooth. I've also found that it can be inexpensive to get into. The "American Rifle Company" box contains nearly 1300 points of infantry. Mortars, bazookas, snipers, and lots and lots of little men. Mind, a Panther platoon box contains nearly the same amount of points for a mere 5 tanks.

I'll cover more on this game later. Battle report to come this week.