Flames of War: "Open Fire!" Review

Having made out like a bandit I found myself with a ton of holiday gifts in the form of cash to buy new toys with.



In the past I have toyed around with 15mm in the sci-fi arena and found it to be fun. However, I have been hearing really good things about FoW since 3rd edition came out.

So I traipsed down to my local game store and bought the starter set known as, "Open Fire".

I was unprepared.

You get ton of stuff in this box; over 100 miniatures, a quick-start guide, a rulebook shrunk down to pocket-size, bases, laminated full size army lists for included forces, and terrain (in the form of cardboard punch-outs and a sweet V-1 rocket objective/terrain piece). You also get the magnets for magnetizing the turrets on your tanks!

Fantastic stuff.

The quick-start guide and portions of the rulebook are photos of a game in progress, with overlaid graphics and explanations written in comic book form. The quick-start guide was worth a read no matter what.

The miniatures are fantastic. The eight tanks come on a sprue and have to be assembled. Kind of a pain at 15mm scale but fantastically detailed. The sprues even include optional stowage for each tank so that even at 15mm scale you can individualize your vehicles.

The men are included on two sprues, are one piece, and are glued to the bases in "teams" which is a concept that works within the rules.

My only complaint at this juncture is that while the vehicles are in separate poly bags and are either US green or German grey the soldiers themselves are uniform grey/green color and are intermixed on the same sprues. So, be prepared to use a magnifying glass and a well lit area for assembly. Of course, at 15mm if you should get some mix ups it is doubtful anyone will notice.

As mentioned, terrain is included in the form of punch out walls, houses, and trees. Also in the set is damn sweet V-1 rocket and launch rail that just looks great. Terrain matters in the game and it is awesome that it was included.

Points-wise both armies are close in points; 790 to 830 if my math is correct. I have heard that most games are in the 1500-2000 point range. This means that purchasing two starter sets and splitting it with a buddy is very viable in getting a functional army on the table at club levels.

I cannot speak to the mechanics as yet but I know it is an IGOUGO rule set (not my favorite kind). However, from a cursory inspection of the quick-start guide the rules seem to be fairly decent. They are however, not deep into simulation territory. So, if you are looking for a rule set that distinguishes between the individual weapon capabilities of a regular soldier, then it is probably not the game for you.

If you like really nice miniatures, have only a little room to play (as opposed to 28mm), enjoy a fairly tight yet abstract rule set then you might want to look more into FoW. I know I am.

For $70 USD I rate this a 9.0 out of 10 on my own personal satisfaction scale.

5150: Star Army

For my first foray into 15mm sci fi gaming I decided to use Two Hour Wargame's 5150: Star Army.

This book is a revamp of the original 5150 and centers exclusively around military combat from skirmish up to company level.

For $25 I received a comb bound soft cover book of 97 pages. The front and back cover are color with a black and white interior. A .pdf copy was also included for free. I happen to carry my .pdf copy on my phone.

Inside we are treated to a genre specific treatment of the Chain Reaction 3.0 rules. This is not an IGOUGO set of rules.

Truth be told, even on your activation not much seems to happen. The beauty is in the reaction system. As you meet the enemy (or THINK you do) things begin to happen. Sometimes involuntary movement triggers new reactions which cascade into a whole different set of reactions. This is all handled very simply and moves quite quickly.

In the end it is not impossible that you discover the enemy and the initial contact quickly reaches a crescendo of violence that leaves one side or the other quite dead. This is roughly what happens in the real world. As the old military axiom states, "No plan survives contact."


This is a nice set of "loose" rules. They move fast and do not require a ton of time to learn. Ed (the author) has also included a little "STOP" point at the end of each major section with a suggestion to play with the new pieces and parts until you are comfortable before continuing.

These rules do not have points values assigned to the units. Period. This is not a tournament set of rules. It cannot be played that way.

What I like is that the rules can be played head-to-head, solo, or cooperatively. In fact the rules mostly seem to revolve around the solo gamer. Which is why I picked this set of rules. You do not need anyone to play against and the "enemy" army plays realistically even though dice rolls decide their actions from moment to moment.

Oh, one other thing, you only have a modicum of control over your own forces. Once the Chain Reaction is set off, your forces can fight bravely or even flee the board whether you want them to or not. The one exception is your Star. He is your, "in-game" avatar and will do what ever you want every time.

Miniatures scale is left deliberately vague and the rules work quite well with either 15mm or 28mm (the two scales I game with).

Terrain, buildings, cover, concealment, and vehicles all receive their due and are quite comprehensive.

There are seven premade army lists and a brief fluff/background section that I cheerfully ignored because I brought my own. The background is based off a RPG setting written by Wes Davis. So, you could always go there to learn more if you wanted to.


My gripe. My only real gripe is the editing. I would love to edit this rulebook for Ed.

The sections seem illogically placed for roughly 75% of the book. The are are no real section breaks in terms of page breaks. One section stops and the next immediately starts. Even though it would have made more sense to continue on a new page. Campaign rules are before the mission rules, etc. Just seems to me, to be illogically laid out in most places.

Charts...Ed loves himself some charts. They are neat and easy to read and I fully understand why they are needed. What I would have liked to have seen is ALL of the charts compiled at the back of the book so I could print them out as a booklet of only charts. That said, most of the charts aren't even needed in a typical game but, it would have been nice.

However, I would not let those two things discourage you. For the price you get a very flexible and robust set of rules. There is a very active Yahoo Group that supports these games and publishes a lot of user content that you can drop right into your game.

I give this set of rules a rating of 75%. Damn good with room for some improvements.