Das Book - A Flames of War Compendium

I've said it before, and for any new folks, I'll say it again - I am not much on strategy or tactics. Unfortunately, though we love Flames of War (FoW), we don't get to play very often. If I recall correctly, within our little group, Consul Scipio and I were the last to play, and most recently - and that was in a tournament at Fall In. (Fall In, by the way, was an awesome convention, lots of fun, good friends, surprisingly good food, and more games than you can shake a bag of die at!) I believe my last game, prior to the tournament, was nearly two years ago. Yup. Been a day or three!

With that in mind, and given the fact that real life and online game addictions keep me focused on things not on the tabletop, I have trouble remembering the basic rules - forget about all the special rules, scenarios, and scenario special rules!

Our friends down under at Battlefront (New Zealand, not Oz!) have released a compendium of special rules for each army in the mid to late war range, called "Das Book". Included in this small tome are all the charts for the arms and equipment of each army, as well as all the missions and mission special rules!

One thing that I have not tried yet is the "Total War" rules. These are games from 3000 points and up! Amazing!!! I can see dozens of tanks and hundreds of infantry moving across a table, ready to smash into their opponents!

I call "Das Book" a bargain at $10.00 (U.S.)!

Once, long ago, an old soldier told me that "plagiarism is the highest form of a compliment" - or something to that effect. Therefore, I present to you, directly from the FoW Web site - copied from the back cover of "Das Book" - an overview by the lads in New Zealand! If you want to read it and get a view of the book and all the great charts, you can go here.

Oh! And please tell me I'm not the only one that doesn't get the "Das Boot" reference? ;)

"Das Book is the Flames of War field manual for the consummate WWII general. With all the tools and tactics you need to play a one on one engagement with a friend or enter the tournament arena and destroy your opponent’s forces. Know your enemies strengths and weaknesses, understand the missions and objectives, learn how to use the terrain and fortifications of the battlefield to your armies best advantage.

Compiled from across the Flames Of War book range, Das Book includes:
- Nine Combat Missions: Free-For-All, Encounter, No Retreat, Fighting Withdrawal, Breakthrough, The Cauldron, Roadblock, Hasty Assault, and Breakout.
- All mission special rules.
- Late-war Airborne Assault Special Rules and Mission.
- Amphibious Assault Rules and Mission.
- Bocage Rules.
- River Crossing Rules and Mission.
- Fortification Rules, with updated bunker rules and two Fortification missions, Trench Fight and The Big Push.
- Street Fighting Rules and Mission.
- Complete Mid and Late-war Arsenals for all of the major forces."

So what's the bottom line? In one small book, you have all the information you need, from all of the books - mid-war to late war - to play any era of game you like, save the new early war games! That saves having to tote around 3-5 larger books!

Like I said, at ten bucks "Das Book" is a bargain!