Flames Of War does things a bit differently from other games.

The ability of a player to pick their target mirrors this

This sometimes leads to questions from gamers asking why logic. You choose the obvious target to determine the score
we do things the way we do. Here are the answers! required to hit and then allocate excess hits to other nearby
enemy teams.
TACTICAL AND DASH SPEEDS
Soldiers face a dilemma: speed brings victory, but haste will GONE TO GROUND
get you killed. In an impromptu ambush, say when a tank rounds the
At the right time, moving rapidly can throw the enemy off comer straight into the sights of a waiting anti-tank gun,
balance and force them to react to your plan rather than the gun will usually get the first effective shot. That is unless
controlling the battle. On the other hand, fights are usually the tank figures out what’s about to happen and prepares a
won by the side that shoots first. The problem is that in order surprise of its own.
to shoot, you need to see the enemy, and if you are moving The turn sequence means that the tank will always get the
rapidly not only do you make yourself an obvious target, but first shot. However, the Gone to Ground rule will make it
you don’t give yourself time to carefully scan the next piece very difficult for it to score a hit on the hidden anti-tank
of terrain for the enemy before exposing yourself to their fire. gun. Combined with the reduced rate of fire of the moving
On top of that, shooting accurately while moving quickly is troops, it means that although the tank has the first shot,
very difficult. its chances of detecting the ambush and hitting the hidden
Tactical and dash speeds reflect this. You can move quickly anti-tank gun are minimal. When the gun opens up in its
at dash speed, but you won’t be able to shoot effectively. turn, the tank is easy prey. Its movement and shooting have
Alternatively, you can move slowly and carefully, stalking the given away its location.
enemy at tactical speed. So while the tank gets the first shot, the gun is likely to get
Fast tanks get to show off their performance when dashing the first effective shot.
across the battlefield at high speed. This is ideal for quick-
ly repositioning or closing the range. If they want to fight AMBUSHES
though, they end up spending most of their time stopped, In a carefully-organised ambush, the attacker won’t know a
searching for the enemy, or moving slowly to avoid attract- thing until the defender is good and ready.
ing attention while they get into a firing position. In real life, there are many things that help a defender to
position an effective ambush. The details of the terrain and
ROLLING TO HIT the intelligence on enemy dispositions and plans often give
The skill of the target is a bigger factor in real life casualties the defender a good idea as to where the attack is coming.
than the skill of the person shooting at them. The enemy may expect to be ambushed and send scouts
Perhaps the easiest way of demonstrating the logic of this out to check potential ambush positions, but ultimately it’s
is an example. Imagine a horde of barely-trained conscripts always going to be a surprise.
attacking another mass of conscripts manning machine- The ambush rules allow players to keep troops off the table
guns. No doubt you have visions of rows of troops scythed so that the enemy doesn’t know where the ambush will
down as they charge. The casualties would be horrendous. be are until it is revealed. Then the ambushing troops are
Now imagine an elite commando unit attacking anoth- placed wherever they are needed most. This has two advan-
er across the same ground. The vision now changes to an tages. Firstly you always get to spring your ambush, which
empty battlefield with soldiers occasionally making brief is a lot more fun than having your big 88’s do nothing all
dashes from cover to cover. The attackers expose themselves game because you put them in the wrong place. Secondly,
far too briefly for the defenders to easily hit them. Whether ambushes are a lot less predictable this way. When you are
they succeed in the assault or not, the attacking commandos attacking, you really have to work on your reconnaissance
would not take many casualties from shooting. and flank protection.
No matter who’s shooting, the conscripts will be slaughtered
and the commandos will use their experience to minimise
A GAME OF TOY SOLDIERS
their casualties. Perhaps the most important thing to remember about
Flames Of War is that its a game of toy soldiers. It’s supposed
HIT ALLOCATION to be fun.
There’s no point in trying to hide when there’s a big signpost If you and your friends run into anything that seems odd in
pointing out just where you are. your game, don’t get too hung up on what the rules say. Just
decide what makes sense for you and the game you’re playing
A tank’s commander spots a lone tank beside a wood and
and do that.
quickly figures out where the other enemy tanks are—in the
wood. With that big hint to guide him, he will find the rest
of the unit in short order.

Game Designer

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