Early War WWII

[Luddite]

Guys

A colleague wants to start wargaming, concentrating on the early World War II in France 1940 and I wanting some advice on rules.

I did play combined Arms in 6mm, Rapid fire in 20mm/28mm and bought Flames of War years ago and Crossfire but never really got into them.  Now I'm not a huge lover of loads of tanks, so the rules needs to cater for infantry, artillery and some tanks.

Crossfire's good but falls down once armour hits that table.

FoW is the worst set of WWII rules ever written.

Ideally it sounds more like skirmish gaming... I do like one figure = 1 man, but happy to try something else. 

I've looked at all the articles on BKCII and wondered if they are slanted to lots of armour on the tabletop, plus I've looked at the new FOW...but wondered if I should try IABSM, Rules of Engagement or Bolt Action?

For one-man to one-man skirmishing, Rules of Engagement is pretty good.  Its definitely a game and is a lot like Warhammer 40k so make of that what you will.

IABSM is dreadful.

Haven't tried Bolt Action yet and i've heard mixed reviews.  I think we'll be trying it soon.

Something to consider for early WWII might be the new Osprey rules 'The World Aflame'.  It's designed for the interwar period (Spanish Civil War etc.) but i've no doubt it will therefore work pretty well for early WWII (1939/1940).  As i understand, it's single figure, and places a lot of emphasis on things like logistics, ammunition, as well as the nasty business of warfighting.  I'm looking forwards to my first AVBCW game with them...

BkC is highly popular on these boards, but i find it...meh...at best.  It's generic so lacks period flavour.  It's not bad at all, just sort of unremarkable.

However, if it's larger scale WWII action (company level) you're after, i'd highly recommend Spearhead.  Its a little 'old school' and is a struggle to read but is an excellent game, dripping with period flavour and a serious tactical challenge to the players.

[Conan]

I started with FoW, but thats long ago.
I like very much BKC II (have British and Germen late war Troops in 6mm (sorry ))

For large battles this is imho the best ruleset.

Regards,

Peter

[Luddite]

For large battles this is imho the best ruleset.

Have you tried Spearhead?

[freddy326]

I (re)started with FOW, but gave that up! moved to BKC II and have stuck with those. Yes I suppose it could be generic, but I only play early war, the only thing I don't like about them is the way they handle cavalry. I did think about using them for AVBCW but felt that I would just be playing BKC with different figures.

Played a few games of IABSM and enjoyed it but do think that it works better with an umpire. Spearhead is a possibility depending on how flexible it is with basing as my figures are based for BKC and if I can ever lay my hands on a set of the rules!

haven't played Bolt Action or Rapid Fire!