Wednesday 7 March 2012

FOW 3rd Edition: First Impressions

Well I've had my copy of the 3rd Edition rulebook for a couple of weeks now and I've read enough to get a pretty good first impression of the changes. For those of you that have been reading BLMA for some time you'll know that I'm not great at sitting down and reading rulebooks. I'm much more of a hands on player and learn best at the elbow of an experienced player. So the fact that I'm halfway through this book and still going strong says a lot about the ease with which this new books works as a training manual.

The general approach seems to employ repetition to get rules into the head of the reader. But the manner in which this is done maximises the learning curve and I'm rather impressed with the subtlety of it. Each chapter starts with a contents page outlining the sequence of play. Then there are the rules in detail with a summary page at the end of the chapter. But within each section the three layers of repetition are also used. There is the detailed descriptive text explaining the rule. Then there are summary boxes breaking the rules down into bite sized bullet points. The last element - and the moment of genius in my opinion - the new annotated diagrams (described by Battlefront as fumetti or ‘photograph comics’) which give a visual primer to important rules concepts.

One of the problems I have had with lots of rulebooks in the past is the tendency to have dry blocks of words detailing the rules. On more than one occasion I've found myself having read an entire page and at the end couldn't even remember what the subject was let alone the details. What Battlefront have managed to do it turn their rules into an audio-visual presentation which really does improve the learning experience.

These rules won't satisfy everybody however. There is a whole section dedicated to the basics of wargaming and for many old Grognards they may well find this section a little patronising. But my view is that existing or experienced players can just skip this section and move straight onto the rules. Personally I'm quite excited by this section because it gives me an introduction to wargaming FOW which I can hand to my Brother-in-Law Ray, (a complete wargaming n00b) to get him up to speed.

I've still got some the rulebook to read through but I really feel like I'm assimilating the rules easily. In fact Ray and I are planning on having our first hands on play with the new rules this Saturday. It won't be a full blown game (we are also babysitting at the same time! ...long story...) but more along the lines of rules play-testing session. Needless to say I'll report back on how we get on.

On Saturday I'll also be getting Ray to pick the winner of Monday's Prize Draw by pulling a name out of a hat. If you haven't entered yet you have just a couple more days to do so.

14 comments:

  1. A game is a game and I'm looking forward to my prize, I mean draw on Saturday and a few pictures as well.....

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    1. Hang on a minute, you told me the Sharpe book was mine????

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  2. Good luck with it, I hope you enjoy it. Personally I found FOW too complex and detailed for my taste. I'm increasingly looking to more simple and skirmish-oriented (company-sized)... must be the age... I have experienced a reverse relation between rules complexity and my age. :-)

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  3. That sounds very interesting. I have found repetition can be very helpful when teaching. And you're right about experienced gamers being able to skip portions they find too basic.

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  4. Glad I'm not the only one who suffers from 'rule book blindness'!... I too have to re-read some stuff several times before it finally starts to make sense.

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  5. I've never found that reading alone a good way to learn. Even when I was a student (many many moons ago) I would seek out different types of source material because sitting reading a textbook just felt like it was having the nett effect of lowering my IQ! Its very much a personal thing, some people learn perfectly well this way others like me respond better to audio visual presentations, or better still by practical experience.

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  6. I've always found that playing out the rules is better than just sitting reading the rules.

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  7. Never played FOW, although the associated minis are very nice; must admit, I am a skirmisher at heart due to a lazy aversion to painting hundreds of figures and tanks. I stick to FOF or Nuts1 - but everyone to their own...
    Regards,
    Monty

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  8. Lee, is FOW strictly for 15mm or can you adapt it to other scales?

    I've too many figs/kit in 20mm and 10mm to consider starting up in 15mm but if scaled up or down then it would be worth having a look at

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  9. Great read your blog lee so much very interesting. I have finished the final part of my Grandad History

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    1. I've been following it and it has been very interesting. Its great having that family link back to a particular bit of history. It make's the dry facts so much more 'alive'.

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  10. Haven't played FOW for years but I do share your thoughts on reading rules. Not a great way to learn.

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  11. It's funny you have that problem with reading rules. I usually do as well. Sadly, I'm often the guy pushing a new set of rules on the group, so I have to figure everything out on my own ahead of time.

    It's nice to know I'm not the only one.

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  12. I agree with you on the layout; very nice presentation and I like the way they are laying out the rules. Didn't hurt to get the free copy too. Can't wait to grab a copy of the hardbound rules.

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