I have been considering getting into one of these two games to scratch a historical itch. I was wondering if anyone on here plays or has played them? Also what do you think of each?

Do you want a 28mm (Bolt Action) or a 15mm (Flames of War) game? How complex do you want the rules to be, Bolt Action is lighter on the rules as Flames of War i would say, also the "game size" is different, I don't know much about military terms but i would say Bolt Action is "squad based" where as Flames of War is "company based" or something like that, you have a lot less miniatures on the table with Bolt Action so if you want a tank company/platoon Flames of War would be more your game.

And do you want the game now or can you wait, because a 4th edition for Flames of War will be out in march.

That is all i can say, although i own the starter with the first edition rulebook for Bolt Action and the starter with the second or third edition rulebook for Flames of War i never have played those games much.

I don't play it, but Konflikt '47 looks cool as all get out.

I don't play it, but Konflikt '47 looks cool as all get out.

Yes but if you don't like weird war than you won't like this.

I've played both, but neither extensively. My personal preference leans heavily to Bolt Action.

The main reason being is the turn/activation structure. FoW uses what I feel is now a very out dated IGOUGO system similar to 40K and many other games. So one side does everything with their whole army before the other gets the chance to do anything, save some limited overwatch/ambush stuff.

Bolt Action uses a random/chit draw style activation which I feel has a better flow (one player is unlikely to be twiddling their thumbs for too long) and introduces an element of the fog of war. A potential legitimate criticism of BA is that there isn't a huge amount of differentiation between the unit types of different countries.

For what it is worth, if it's infantry combat/combined arms you're interested in then BA is likely to be cheaper proposition than FoW. If it's tank heavy Action you're into then FoW may be a better prospect.

While it depends on geography and you're level of interest in tournament/organised play I have a sense that FoW has a bigger following.

Oh both are just going through publication of new edition rules too. Although from the tidbits I've read FoW is going through a more radical change than BA.

I play Beyond the Gates of Antares, A Sci Fi version of Bolt Action. Great rule books and support. Fun game, and wonderful mixtures. When I need to buy something direct the UK company, Warlord, gets the stuff to the US (NM) in under a week. Also Conflict 47 is just additional models and rules to add the Weird to World War. A great way to add sorting new to a game without buying a hole new game.

And 'Hand in the Bag' is wonderful mechanic to show the vagaries of the battlefield.

I think the best place to start is ask yourself if you want a platoon size or company size game.

Bolt Action is going to be a couple squads, some support options like HMG's or mortars, maybe a tank or two.

Flames of War is a company plus support with things like 155mm howitzers, HMG teams, mortar squads and a couple tanks.

FoW is easier to paint for infantry anyway, since you can only get so much real detail on a 15mm fig, but the current rules are a lot closer to Warhammer's igougo system which is a turnoff for some people.

But again I'd say the first thing you should consider is what scale you want to play in.

Advanced Squad Leader. If you're dead-set on miniatures though I'd say Bolt Action since they look nicer than the flames of war ones IMO, which is to be fair a product of the difference in scales. On that note, as the other peeps in the thread have said, if you want larger scale combat, then Flames of War is the way to go.

Again though, Advanced Squad Leader.

I have a descent sized Flames of War collection and enjoy playing so i would suggest that, but I have not played Bolt Action which also looks like a blast to play. That's my 2 cents.

I have played both and played them extensively for a while. I think they both are fun and both have issues, but I lean towards Bolt Action. Also note that Bolt Action v2 just came out and I have not really tried it. It could address the issues with v1.

Flames of War is 15mm and smaller scale. It usually has a lot of historical details and can be more into that aspect. You pick different army lists from different time periods/theaters of war. You pick either Infantry, Mechanized, or Tank Battalions. It can be pretty fun for playing around. The problems come in two areas. If you only have 1 or 2 other players with 1 or 2 armies to play against, it can get pretty dull pretty quickly. I played my Germans vs. US Infantry over and over and over again and it got dull after a while. We needed more players. The next problem is if you play competitive. The issue is that the games can really be rock / paper / scissors more so than other games. One example is Soviet Heavy Tank Battalion. You either have the tools to defeat it or it runs you over. It's very hard to have a well balanced list and do well at tournaments. I took a Panzerpah Kompanie of armored vehicles, half-tracks, artillery, and a few tank hunters, but many games were just very hard to win against if they had lots of heavy armor. Also, dug in infantry with lots of artillery (especially if US) can also be really hard to deal with. Dug in Infantry can be very hard to kill.

Bolt Action has more of a hodge podge of different unit types that you can cobble together that really don't have to mix well at all. So...you can play some crazy list types if you want. Airborne US with regular Infantry and throw in a tank. No real historical relevance to tie them together. It is a lot more fun with the random chit picking not knowing who is going to get to move next. I found this more fun and more balanced overall. The exception is the problem. There were a few things that were just unbalanced in the game. Assault teams were over powered and not every team got them. Japanese Assault Squads were crazy good. Soviet Tank Hunter squads and Assault squads were OP. The Germans had a balance issue as they were the first army book out and their rules were just not up to snuff as the other. Not really impossible to play, but if you were playing competitive with a well balanced army you could get smashed by one of the OP ones. Now...that was all before V2 came out. I have no idea how V2 is.

Or play 30k.

I have quite a bit of FoW stuff but the rules never gelled with me. 15mm terrain etc is a lot cheaper though and there are some really cheap 15mm plastics out there now.

I would go with Bolt Action if I could do it again.

That said, I satisfied my WW2 itch in the end with 6mm micro armour:D

Bolt Action is the best games system I have played. I also prefer the 28mm scale to FoW.

I, personally, enjoy Tide of Iron, FFG was selling it dirt cheap at Christmas time, but I don't know if they still are.

There is also another option:

Operation Squad

It's quite simple, you can use Bolt Action minis (or any WWII 28mm) and is quite cheap as it focuses on squad combat (8 to 12 men, depending if you are using elite squads, or more common troops)

Part of the problem with lesser known games is that you have to find people to play them. Some of them are great, but if you can't find other players, then it's not as much fun.

I've played a game called Battlegroup that I like better than either FoW or Bolt Action. I'm a bit out of WWII games, but I get a game or two in a year. It's pretty fun.

Part of the problem with lesser known games is that you have to find people to play them.

Yeah that is the problem with mini games in general. There are better games than 40k, Warmahords or others... Although Warmahords is a great game, but does suffer like FoW from the igougo system...

But if you can't actually get a game in, being better doesn't mean much. Not to mention unless you like painting, spending all that time and money on models you never actually get to use kinda sucks.

The good thing about a game like Operation Squad, is if it uses 28mm WWII mini's then at least you don't have to buy stuff you can only use for one game... If you can't find someone to play that, you still can use them for Bolt Action.

I haven't played Bolt Action but have quite a bit of Flames of War stuff. Find out what is popular locally as there is no point buying into either system when there are no opponents. That is why all of my FOW stuff is Late War. Bolt Action models are bigger in scale and from what I've seen in price, there are third party suppliers to help with pricing. Maybe take at both websites and forums to see what suits your playing style/desires. WWPD.net has forums, info for both and other games.

If you do go FOW maybe wait until version 4 drops in March before committing to a list/faction/etc. Some stores/shops will have free FOW version 3 rule books to look through. Find the local casual game nights to find out more. Enjoy whichever system you end up playing.

Advanced Squad Leader. If you're dead-set on miniatures though I'd say Bolt Action since they look nicer than the flames of war ones IMO, which is to be fair a product of the difference in scales. On that note, as the other peeps in the thread have said, if you want larger scale combat, then Flames of War is the way to go.

Again though, Advanced Squad Leader.

This! ASL is THE game. Best ever, period. It is not for everyone, but if it is your cup of tea, everything else will pale in comparison, including X WING. The fact the game is 30 years old and still has an active world wide tourney scene is all you need to know.

I've only played FOW and have many armies for it. As mentioned above version 4 is coming in March so you may want to wait before trying it, version 4 should be getting cards similar to the spin off game Team Yankee. It would be best to find out what is popular around your area and what you'll have the most success finding people to play against. Example of jumping in without finding opponents; I have a complete Israelis tank force and noone to play against. I've heard some people use FOW scale models to play Bolt Action and some play FOW with 6mm models.

Have fun playing whichever game you go with.

Part of the problem with lesser known games is that you have to find people to play them.

Yeah that is the problem with mini games in general. There are better games than 40k, Warmahords or others... Although Warmahords is a great game, but does suffer like FoW from the igougo system...

But if you can't actually get a game in, being better doesn't mean much. Not to mention unless you like painting, spending all that time and money on models you never actually get to use kinda sucks.

The good thing about a game like Operation Squad, is if it uses 28mm WWII mini's then at least you don't have to buy stuff you can only use for one game... If you can't find someone to play that, you still can use them for Bolt Action.

Yup. It uses 28mm minis.

I have some Bolt Action minis. And i played the game with my British commandos.

Since you only need about a dozen miniatures, it's very affordable. If i can recall correctly, most of Bolt Action basic sets have 25ish soldiers. In case of plastic ones, fully customizables.