Getting Started - Part 1: Editions, Eras and Books

Not long ago, I answered a question on Reddit about rule book and army book compatibility. This seems to be a pretty common question for new players, so I've decided to make the first post on my new blog address this topic. Getting started means picking a version of the game (that'll be your rule book), and a combination of an "era" and a particular nation (those will point you towards a certain army (source) book).

I've also included some handy information at the end about some of the things which don't fit neatly into the basic Edition/Era/Army Book landscape. Apologies for the fact that it's a long-ish read, but the goal here is to be as comprehensive as possible.

Editions

Flames of War, published by Battlefront Miniatures, has, as of 2025, four editions. The latest (4th Edition), was published in 2017. Although some local communities seem to still prefer V3, V4 has been widely adopted, with most communities in Europe (and to my knowledge the US) playing V4. The ETC (European Team Championship, which includes the US) uses V4, as do all large scale European GT/Nationals tournaments.

In my opinion, unless you're being introduced to the game by a local community which only plays V3, V4 is the way to go. It may not be perfect (is any wargaming ruleset?) but it is an improvement on V3 in many ways and the community seems to agree based V4's widespread adoption.

One of the most obvious changes which will help you identify if you're looking at V3 or V4 information is the scale of the points used for list building. V3 used ~2000 pt armies similar to Warhammer 40,000, but V4 uses ~100 pt armies. If you find an army source book with units priced at 245 pts (for example), it's not compatible with V4.

This means you'll need a copy of the V4 Rulebook. Unfortunately there are a few versions floating around out there. You want product code FW009. This is the most up-to-date version and has some small (but important) changes from FW007 and FW008 which were released in 2017. You can tell if you have FW009 because it does not have "1942-1943" on the cover. Battlefront published this handy guide to telling them apart, as well as a free PDF with the changes in case you find yourself in possession of FW007.

The good news is that if you buy a starter box (such as Hit the Beach, Kasserine, Tobruk, etc.) there will be a rulebook in there. They're also such good deals that many veteran players buy starter boxes just to stock up on more plastic kits, and have a stack of rulebooks to give away. Someone in your local community might have one for you for free.

Alongside the rulebook, you'll need two more pieces of literature. Don't worry, they're free and available online:

1. Lessons from the Front (LFTF) - This is essentially an FAQ, but also includes some game-changing rules and price adjustments so it's important to take a look at it. Most tournaments will specify that they are using the V4 rules "including most recent LFTF" (or similar).
2. Missions for Flames of War - Although the rulebook has some missions for gameplay in it, this missions pack includes quite a few more, and like LFTF is typically considered a sort of add-on to the rule book. It also introduces a mechanic called "stances" or "battle plans" which can have a big impact on list building (more on that later in this series).

Eras

Flames of War is divided into "eras" for balance and unit pricing purposes. These are Early War (1939-1941), Mid-War (1942-1943) and Late War (1944-1945), commonly abbreviated as EW, MW, and LW, respectively. Although the gameplay mechanics are (basically) identical between eras, the unit availability (both in terms of "what" and price) vary. This means that when playing Flames of War, you and your opponent must be playing the same era (and of course game size/points).

There is also another era (which is not so much an era as a "pricing bracket") coming in April 2025: The Pacific (P). The Pacific book contains both MW prices (so that the armies can be used in mid-war tournaments) as well as special P prices which reflect the fact that equipment availability and effectiveness followed a somewhat different trajectory in the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO) compared to the European and Mediterranean Theaters (ETO & MTO). As above, two players must agree on what era/pricing they will use in order to keep the game balanced.

The fact that I mention theaters might make you ask, "Is that represented in Flames of War V4?" The answer is unfortunately, "Sort of."

Flames of War V4 strikes an interesting balance between keeping things historically accurate and being a "what-if-machine" where you can see how an American armored division would fair against, say, Romanians armed with a mix of German and Soviet equipment. In principle, Flames of War V4 is designed so that as long as two armies are from the same era, and the same size (in points), they should allow for balanced gameplay. That being said, many players and tournament organizers choose to create some additional limitations to maintain a certain level of historical accuracy. This might mean restricting army building to a certain set of source books or banning certain units which did not see combat in a particular theater.

Books & Theaters

So, you're going to start with Flames of War V4. Maybe you have a nation in mind, or perhaps a theater or phase of the war is of particular interest to you. What army book do you need? Below is a list of all the current army source books. Did you find a different Flames of War book someone is selling on Facebook which isn't on this list? Don't buy it: It's not compatible with V4!

Early War

• Coming in 2025!

Mid-War

Mid-war is split into 3 theaters: North Africa, Eastern Front, and the Pacific.

North Africa

• Armoured Fist (British)
• Red Devils (British supplement for airborne units)
• Afrika Korps (German)
• Avanti (Italian)
• Death from Above (German & Italian supplement for airborne units)
• Fighting First (American)
• All American (American supplement for airborne units)
• North Africa (Compilation, includes all the above books in one volume)

Eastern Front

• Iron Cross (German, 1942)
• Ghost Panzers (German, 1943)
• Enemy at the Gates (Soviet, 1942)
• Red Banner (Soviet, 1943)
• White Death (Finnish)
• Brave Romania (Romanian)
• Hungarian Steel (Hungarian)
• Eastern Front (Compilation, includes all the above books in one volume)

Pacific

• The Pacific (Compilation, includes British, Australian, American, and Japanese forces)

Late War

Late war is split into "themes" rather than "theaters" and these are conveniently included in the book titles which is nice for new players. There's also a "bridge" book between MW and LW, featuring MW equipment at LW prices called Fortress Europe (including American, British, German and Soviet forces).

D-Day

Covers Operation Overlord and Operation Cobra, up to the collapse of the Falaise Pocket.

• D-Day: Americans
• D-Day: British
• D-Day: German
• 21st Panzer Division (German supplement for 21st Panzer Division)
• D-Day: Waffen SS
• D-Day (Compilation, includes all the above books in one volume, including some new formations)

Bagration

Covers the entire Eastern Front during 1944.

• Bagration: Soviet
• Bagration: German
• Bagration: Axis-Allies (Finnish, Hungarian, Romanian)
• Bagration (Coming August 2025) (Compilation, includes all the above books in one volume, including some new formations)

Bulge

Covers the Western Front during 1944 and early 1945 including action in the Lorraine, Hürtgenwald, Operation Market Garden, and the Battle of the Bulge.

• Bulge: American
• Bulge: British
• Bulge: German

Berlin

Covers the final days of the war as the German army collapses and the Battle of Berlin.

• Berlin: German
• Berlin: Soviet

Additional Books and Supplements

There are a few other books (and supplements) floating around which need to be mentioned.

The first is Armies of Late War. Although this is technically a V4 book, it is not usable and should not be purchased. Updating army books (and pricing) is time intensive, so when V4 launched with the North Africa books (see above), an Armies of Late War book was created to allow players from V3 which a large collection of LW models to play with V4 rules, but using V3 pricing.

The next is Mid-War Monsters. This is not a book, but rather a sort of add-on to Mid-War, allowing you to field prototype vehicles which may or may not have seen combat, or even production. You'll find these vehicles in the Eastern Front and North Africa compilations as "Wildcard" slots in the force diagrams. Whether or not they're allowed on the table is something you'll have to agree with your opponent.

Finally, Battlefront recently (end 2024) launched Late War Leviathans. This is the LW equivalent to Mid-War Monsters and features prototype vehicles which may not have seen combat (or even production). Like its mid-war equivalent, its units can be mixed into LW games if both opponents agree. The book also suggests larger scale games (to the tune of 150 or 200 points) so that you can fit a few more units on the table.

Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or feedback, please reach out!