Jared - The Beginning

A similar welcome from myself as well! Having been a Flames of War evangelist for a while now, I thought it high time that I put some words where my mouth is and contribute a bit in the form of a blog. When Ben asked if I would be interested in co-authoring with him I thought it was the perfect opportunity to share some of what I’ve worked on and also motivate myself through the mountains of lead and resin that sit behind my hobby area.

I started Flames of War a little over two years ago after a year spent trying to paint up and build an army for Warhammer 40,000. I could complain all day about the Games Workshop’s system, but at the end of the day it all really came down to complaints about scale. 15mm might be a bit abstracted in terms of range across a 6 x 4 ft. board, but the scale at which everything operates just feels right to me—and that’s what’s kept me at it the past few years.

It took some searching, but this was some of the earliest
forays into painting Germans. 

I’m also a bit of a WWII nut, so take that as you will.

I’ve played Flames of War long to have undergone a few evolutions in how I prefer to play the game. When I first started out I tended towards defensive lists and defensive units for an otherwise entirely reactionary, defensive game. While this is a perfectly viable strategy, I’ve grown to really enjoy aggressive themed lists that either win fast or lose fast. I don’t think any Flames of War players out there will argue how much more exciting an aggressive and fast-paced game plays versus two players picking away at each other from the safety of their trench lines for 15 rounds.

That said, I own a pile of partially-painted Germans and some Russians that can fit just about every situation.

This is a example of my most recent painting (Russian Tankovy.)
You can't tell from the first picture too much, but I've come a long way.  

The Goal

Similarly, I want to have a few fully-painted but well balanced list options for when I face off against Ben at Gen Con this August. Between now and then I aim to wrap up my brief foray into Russian Lend-Lease Tankovy that I picked up to break up the German painting monotony then return to wrapping up my German Lehr/Armored Panzergrenadiers. From there, I hope to finish some armored options of which to bring along as well.

I’m already sitting on a pile of modular terrain which I plan on bringing to Gencon to help flesh out a table when the evening gaming sessions commence—so I have a bit of a head start in not needing to worry about any of that.

The Plan

Summer is coming full swing here in Illinois, so I won’t set the expectation that I will make awesome progress, but I hope to be able to share something at least weekly. I’ll also have a bit of leave of absence coming up soon as my wife and I escape to Germany for a few weeks. That being said, I look to get the motivation and paint flowing.

Ben - The Begining

Welcome to the Blog Jared and I plan to create as we battle our way through the process of turning piles of metal and plastic into the parts we need to recreate the battles of World War 2 using the Flames of War game system.

The first Flames of War model I painted a Panzer 38t as a gift for a friend

Why Flames of War
While Jared is a Flames of War player of some experience, I am new to this game system and more importantly new to the 15mm scale used in this game. My previous experience has been with Warhammer 40k/Fantasy, Malifaux, Dystopian Wars and Warmachine and while I still love those games there is something unique about Flames of War. First is the scale, Flames of War allows you to more easily create a large scale battle with multiple tanks and hordes of infantry. Something I hope to be able to do, but perhaps not in this first installment. Additionally Flames of War is based in reality, no lasers, dragons or or armored super soldiers wiping the field. I know for a lot of people reality might make it harder to play or understand Flames of War as stems from real wars where people actually fought and died. However World War two is also History and hopefully by playing this I can learn more about it and in some way I can pay homage to people involved.

The Goal
My goal first goal is facing Jared (and hopefully some other players) over a table with a British force in mid August at Gen Con. This will require a fully painted force (personally I can't stand using unpainted models) and secondly it will require some knowledge of the rules. For me, this blog will primarily be exploring the painting and building aspect however if I am lucky enough to get some games before August it may include some game write ups.


The Plan
Currently I have a very basic understanding of the rules and a pile of models of which one tank and 5 infantry are painted. Each week I will be working on painting some of my models and posting up my progress.