Flames of War

World War II tabletop wargame

Flames of War (abbreviated as FoW) is a World War II tabletop miniatures wargame produced by the New Zealand company Battlefront Miniatures Ltd. The 1st Edition set of rules was published in 2002. Flames of War allows players to wargame company level battles from the European, Pacific, and North African Theatres of World War II, using 1/100 scale miniatures (15 mm figure scale) and miniature armor. In the 1st Edition rulebook, basic army lists were provided for the mid war period (1942–1943), while Battlefront published early (1939–1941) and late war (1944–1945) army lists on their website (subsequently these early and late war lists were removed). The 2nd Edition of the rulebook was published in 2006. The 3rd Edition was released on March 10, 2012. The 4th Edition was released in March 2017.

The gameplay takes place over a series of turns, with players alternating movement, shooting, and close assault. The game is optimized for two players, although it can be played by a larger number of players playing against each other or grouped in teams. The play revolves around company level tactics, with each stand or element representing an infantry fireteam (half squad/section), an artillery piece and its crew, or a single vehicle (such as a tank, jeep, or armored car). Air support is also available, in the form of fighter bombers (such as the Hawker Hurricane) and ground attack aircraft (such as the Ilyushin Il 2 "Shturmovik"), with aircraft generally being represented by 1:144 scale models. The main rulebook has scenarios that players can use for their games, with all of these scenarios centered on capturing objectives. Additional army sourcebooks contain further scenarios, usually centered on historical events relevant to that particular book. Game play utilizes six sided dice to pass various skill tests used to shoot at enemies or pass motivation based tests. Movement distances and weapon ranges are provided in both inches and centimeters and are usually measured with tape measures or other measuring aides. Tokens are used to indicate pinned down troops, bogged down vehicles, etc. Current army sourcebooks are based on particular campaigns and include army lists for the German forces (such as Afrika Korps, Waffen SS and Luftwaffe ground troops), the U. S. Army (including Rangers and Airborne units), the armies of United Kingdom and Commonwealth (India, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and New Zealand), the Red Army of the Soviet Union, (including the Soviet 8ya Gvardeyskiy Strelkovy Korpus), the Italian army (including elite Bersaglieri and Paracadutisti, regular Fucilieri, and fascist Blackshirts paramilitaries), as well as nations that played as smaller role such as the Polish, Hungarians, Finnish, Romanians, as well as the Japanese and United States Marines for the Pacific Theatre campaign.

Battlefront divides World War II into three periods. Early war (1939–41), mid war (1942–43) and late war (1944–45). Each period has its own point values aimed at recreating actual battle situations that would have occurred during the respective time periods. Sourcebooks are compiled to represent forces from one of the time periods, some only cover specific battles (Blood, Guts, and Glory, Devil's Charge, etc.) while other books cover broad campaigns with lists that span multiple years (North Africa, Eastern Front, etc. ).

Desert Rats released in Feb 2017 covers North Africa British desert forces 1942–43, this was quickly superseded with the publication of Armored Fist. Afrika Korps released in Mar 2017 covers North African German desert forces 1942 43. Avanti released in Jan 2018 covers Italian North African desert forces 1942 43. Fighting First released in Dec 2017 covers U. S. Army forces in the North Africa desert Area 1942 43. Armored Fist released in April 2018, supersedes Desert Rats and like that covers North African desert British forces 1942 43. Iron Cross released in late 2018, covers German forces at the Battle of Stalingrad 1942 1943. Enemy at the Gates released in late 2018, covers Soviet forces 1942 though the Battle of Stalingrad 1942 1943. Red Banner released in early 2019, covers Soviet forces during the Battle of Kursk 1943. Ghost Panzers released in early 2019, covers German forces during the Battle of Kursk 1943. North Africa: Mid War released in March 2022, includes all content from Armored Fist, Fighting First, Afrika Korp, Avanti, mid war Airborne forces. Eastern Front: Mid war released in August 2022, includes all content from Iron Cross, Ghost Panzer, Red Banner, Enemy at the Gates, White Death, Hungarian Steel, and Brave Romania.

All American released in November 2019, covers American Airborne and Rangers during mid war campaigns 1942 1943. Death From Above released in November 2019, covers German and Italian Airborne forces during mid war campaigns 1942 1943. Red Devils released in May 2020, covers British Airborne and Commando forces during mid war campaigns 1942 1943.