Worth a read....Flames of War- Seven Things That Went Wrong With Version 3 - My thoughts.

Interesting read - posted today on House of Paincakes :

Flames of War- Seven Things That Went Wrong With Version 3

http://www.houseofpaincakes.com/2013/11/flames-of-war-seven-things-that-went.html

I recommend any FoW player should read it through.

This article got me thinking. This may be why I only want to run scenarios or historical based games these days.......we were talking about getting something specific going over the winter at our Friday night games. I am enjoying Warmachine immensely right now, and I don't want to stop play FoW, but tournaments hold 0 appeal to me know. I kind of feel like its a "been there, done that" kind of thing. Not all tournaments in general, just FoW to be honest.

I have always been more interested in campaign/league play. I think some of the appeal to Warmachine for me now is the way Privateer Press runs leagues every quarter, along with regular "Journeyman Leagues" for new players, or people wanting to start a new faction. This is something Battlefront and Flames of War, arguably, is better suited to. Their infantry/tank aces ideas were awesome, if not fully fleshed out. But alas....

Our group, while still mainly a FoW group, has always seemed driven by the next event - a tournament. This is not a "bad" thing. We all know the motivation that comes with having to get models built and painted in time for an event. This coupled with wanting to "test" lists leads to many games getting arranged and played - these are all great things. The rut that this can lead to (speaking about myself here) is always pushing for the next event means one of two options: 1) Take the same lists/army - one that I know works, and I can expect to place well with or 2) Take the new "hotness" that is stronger than option 1, and may make option 1 obsolete. Talk about a choice....
I am not some power creep mad competitive type (at least I don't think I am) but I like to put a good fight, not get rolled over. Flames of War, since version 3, has some clear issues with power creep, specifically in Late War (the most popular time frame, where most events take place). Late War also has most of the gear and models people want to paint and play. Hence the issues mentioned in the article posted above. 

Do I have the answers? No, I have but a few ideas, and they all stem from the mindset of league/campaign player. I think Flames of War really shines when everyone is playing out of the same area - the same setting, locale, lists, and "Front". The game just works better. But it isn't that easy - there is no guarantee that everyone wants to play armies from the books for a specific theater of war.....so it makes it tricky to build a campaign all will want to play in. We were actually discussing this very thing this past Friday, so Dice Devils may be kicking off something soon....

I am also playing more Warmachine, and other games, on a regular basis. I see this as a positive, as it expands my gaming and I am meeting other gamers that are in the area. Infinity is also a solid game that deserves more of my time. All this to say, expect this site to start showing coverage of different games going forward.

Cheers,

Ca$h