WS&S

Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy

Friday, July 29, 2016

Narrative and Team Yankee


One thing I really enjoy about Flames of War is how dependent on the narrative of WW II history it is. To be honest, the narrative is what it's all about for me - as far as playing a game anyway. I crave a good back story and purpose to my battles. Having the entire history of WW II as your backdrop makes the FoW rules really shine for me. However, when it came to the cold war era of the 1980's I definitely had some reservations. For one, open war never happened! This dance with the hypothetical was something new to me in wargaming - at least in terms of known history. It was in fact something more along the lines of a hard sci-fi type of background. Anyway, I decided some time ago to give it a shot, fan that I am of FoW.

The new rulebook is really high quality - to be expected from Battlefront. Although
smaller in dimensions to the core FoW rules for WW II, this baby packs a lot of detail!
Boy was I surprised when I got the Team Yankee rulebook today. After a quick read - focusing on the initial pages covering the history and background of the conflict, I was drawn in to the story big time! Take note that I have never read the Team Yankee novel itself, so I am pretty much restricted at the moment to the information provided for Battlefronts rules themselves. Regardless, after a read all I can say is I am hooked! In fact, I have decided that I need to get a copy of the Team Yankee novel ASAP! Of course, marketing is what it is, and I am sure all those concerned with the sale of this product will be pleased. However, all I can say is that it is worth it. That narrative and back story is exactly what I was hoping for with this new set of rules in the FoW family.




Anyway, as I peer through my new and shiny rulebook with a giant smile running across my face, I realize that I haven't been this excited since I first got back in to the hobby four years ago. How amazing is that?! With such a fascinating background how could I resist playing this with my favorite set of rules. Again, backstory and narrative is everything to me. Flames of War offers much regarding that, for me anyway. The game play is almost always full of drama and story. Of course, not everyone can see it, perhaps too caught up in the game-play itself. But for me, I like to hang back a bit, take my time, and absorb it. That is my play-style.

I hope to get more stuff up on this soon. I already have my tokens all bought, and the Leopard book on its way - I am going for the West Germans and Russians initially. After a good read of the Leopard book I will be buying my actual units. So stay tuned folks, good things come!

Until next time,

~K



No comments:

Post a Comment