Flames Of War 4th Edition Boot Camp: Day Two

Come and join us as we get stuck into the next day of our Flames Of War 4th Edition Boot Camp.

We have been working really hard on the tables and can't wait for the gamers to get stuck into them. Watch out for more videos soon as we get a demo game started and see if we can get some more armies finished off for the tabletop too.

Remember all you have to do is comment on the post here on the Live Blog to be in with a chance of winning...

• Flames Of War 4th Edition Rulebook
• Desert Rats Sourcebook
• Afrika Korps Sourcebook
• Rommel's Afrika Korps Starter Army
• Monty's Desert Rats Starter Army
• 25pdr Field Troop
• 8.8cm Heavy AA Platoon

We hope you enjoy the day!

Some of the Boot Camp members were in early this morning to get a bit more hobby done on their armies.

They have really been getting stuck into the desert theme and using all manner of quick and indeed more detailed techniques. Hopefully we'll catch up with some of the Boot Camp members later on in the day and see how their models have come to life.

Gaming happens very soon too!

We check back in with James (oriskany) to find out more about the campaign map which you're going to be seeing battled over this weekend.

The focus is on Map Unit Sizes for this video. Hopefully by the end of the weekend this isn't going to all feel like it's Greek to you!

Mike and Igor have come together to teach the Boot Camp members the basics of the game and get them stuck into their first engagements for the day.

This one is all about just blasting the enemies to smithereens. We'll have the video for you soon but in the mean time make sure to drop some questions in the comments below about your thoughts on 4th Edition and what you'd like to get answers for.

We're also gathering up a number of different players to battle out the games for the campaign map run by Jim, also known as oriskany on the forums.

People are beginning to get set up for their first games and we'll be stopping in with them as the day continues.

As well as the games now kicking off we're looking at some more hobby from some of the other Boot Camp members.

The desert paint scheme is one that isn't too hard to get right and you can really see some progress as they armies come together.

How do you approach painting up desert armies?

We had to get stuck in on some hot dogs since its a desert landscape. It makes sense right...hot dogs, hot place?

Look, we know it's not entirely authentic but it is darn good food!

We stop in with Mike and Igor and learn the basics of Flames Of War with them over a couple of turns. You'll get to know the basics of moving, shooting and more as they battle it out with the British and German forces that the Boot Campers will be playing with.

With that in mind watch out to see how the games play out across the day and we'll be back soon.

We catch up with Oriskany (Jim) and find out how we've been playing out the first game of the 'campaign'.

It looks like we're going to have some serious battles for the centre ground here today. So, with that in mind we'll dive in and find out how the gamers are getting on in a little bit.

If you're interested in doing some watching around the Desert War then you can check out the BBC Program, SAS: Rogue Warriors which talks about, in the first episode, how the SAS was formed out there in the heat.

You Can Find It Here...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08f00s0/sas-rogue-warriors-series-1-episode-1

Let us know if you have any other awesome resources that we can mine for Desert Warfare stories.

We take a look and see how quickly you can get stuff onto the tabletop.

Take a peek at some of the massed ranks of tanks and artillery that folks have been working on today which has turned into some rather special armies.

Washes appear to be your best friend!

We stop in with James (oriskany) and find out how his game went from the first round of campaign battles.

Things seem to be exploding all over the place which is in one sense a great thing...and in another, pretty terrible for the Germans.

We'll be catching up with more of the gamers over the next hour or so to talk to them about their games.

We stop in with Dave to find out how his game has been going today. You might remember him from yesterday as he was building up his big army to play out games on the tabletop.

There may have been some deadly explosions involved in this particular game...right across the battlefield by the looks of it.

We see how John and Andrew are doing as they get stuck into their game which is taking place within a built up area.

This provides you with some more interesting options AND plenty of cover too which is cool. We will be catching up with oriskany soon to find out how the campaign has gone and where we're heading off to next.

Much like in the actual Battle of El Alamein the British are kicking ass. It's nice to be historically accurate!

How will fortunes change as they move towards the next stage of the campaign and play out some more games on the tabletop.

With the British having the upper hand operationally will they keep their composure or drive into the heart of the German army like madmen.

...we'll leave that up to the Boot Campers.

Catching up back with some of the Boot Campers we see they have been making a lot of headway when it comes to their miniatures.

Later we're going to get a chat with John and some of the Boot Campers to see how they're doing but we dive in and get some close-ups of what people have been doing.

We stop in with John to find out what he's been building up today. The first of these is one of the tricky Artillery kits which is coming out for 4th Edition.

This is a gorgeous piece but it will take some time and patience to get right. So, dive in and follow along.

There have been a fair few moments where things have got tight between the tanks battling it out on the desert tabletops we've set up.

Some of those playing the game for the first time have been wrestling with the positioning of units and how to use them tactically on the tabletop.

Others have just been darn lucky and got away with shots just bouncing off the hulls of their tanks.

We stop in for a chat with Mike & Igor, who have been helping people out at the Boot Camp across the weekend, and find out how their own games have been going for the campaign AND what would be their two tips for beginners who are just getting into the game.

Do you have any top tips that you like to give to those getting into FoW?

Being novices to the world of Flames Of War and having not a long time with the new Edition Tom and Stuart are getting stuck into their first proper game.

It will be interesting to see if their tactics pay off (command by democracy is always a good thing right?) and how this effects the overall battle for the weekend at El Alamein.

We sit in with John and company to go through some of their hobby and find out where things are sitting in terms of the painted armies.

As you can see we've been seeing some more cool techniques being showed off and infantry kicking arse!

We stop in with John and find out about building up the M3 Grant Tank from the sets here at the Boot Camp.

Follow along for some tips and tricks and a little bit of history too.

The curry has now arrived for our evening meal and the hungry generals are tucking in as they get stuck into some final games for this evening before the only true accompaniment to a curry...the beer.

Now the real question is how do you have your curry?

We are looking at some interesting masking techniques which you can use with spraying. We've talked about this over the last few weeks on The Weekender.

We shall see how this pays off tomorrow and if the technique is worth giving a go yourself.

Things have been heating up as we move towards the end of the day. We focus in on some more of the key areas where people have been battling it out.

This also means that we have to look ahead to how these last engagements are going to go towards the end of the day and where we'd like this to go tomorrow.

Justin managed to get in a game of his own and it hasn't been going too well. In his own words it looks like he might have got a bit 'shafted' by some big guns.

We hope that he is going to have some better luck over the next day as he gets stuck into some big games and more.

As a special gift to Tanya we got together and wished her Happy Birthday AND gave her a nice bundle of goodies to take back with her.

Now she's the proud owner of a British army alongside her Germans. Get sticking and painting Tanya!

We bring day two to an end and get stuck into a look at the campaign map. We have got something awesome stacked up for tomorrow so make sure you come back and find out about the MEGA GAME!

Yes, we said MEGA GAME. It has to be shouted. We hope you join us for the awesomeness tomorrow.