Flames of War?

So I've been looking into Flames of War lately simply because I LOVE World War II.  I'm such a WWII buff that when I went to Europe and visited Normandy, I knew more about the history and events than our tour guide.  If I ever move to Europe, I would probably consider being a guide.. I just have to learn a couple of languages first.

Right, so how does this tie into minis?  Well.. for one.. I got confused to all hell when I first started doing research on the game.  I come from the GW's line of wargaming so I'm spoiled by army books and codexes.  Yeah.. there's no such thing in Flames of War.  In order for you to build an army list, you must first choose the era that you want to play in (early, mid, late war) and then choose a campaign book to build your army from.  This pretty much means you have to have a good idea of what you wanted to play.  There's 4 main factions in this game:  Germans, Russians, Americans and the British.  There's also sub-factions within these main factions like the Finnish and the Canadians; but aside from a few special rules and minis, they don't really add too much.

Personally, if I was planning to play this game, I would go late war and go Germans.  That's when their soldiers are the most veteran and when the technology of the game is the most advanced.  If you like big tanks, die-hard troops and earth-shaking artillery that can rock the field, late war is the place to be.  From a historical standpoint, it makes perfect sense too!  The Germans are mostly on the retreat with Allies gaining air superiority and better priced units (to show the economy advantage).  The Russians are pressing hard on the Eastern Front and things are pretty intense on both fronts.  I don't know enough about the game to say anything about the balance just yet.

For anyone who wants to get involved, I would imagine that you need to know what you wanted to play.  An example of this would be:  I want to play.. Armored Rifle Company, Russian Tank Company, Germans with a mixed arms approach with both Infantry and Tanks, Paratroopers, Mass artillery, Tanks + artillery..etc.  Once you got that, you need to hunt down the campaign that has that army.  For a non-WWII buff, you probably need to do some asking around on the official forums so those guys there can point you to the right direction.

With that being said, how exactly do you make a army list in FoW?

1. Pick out the Era you want to play in.
2. Pick out a campaign book that has the army you want to play.
3. Construct a army list with the list requirements.

For me: Late War, Germans with Tiger Tanks and a strong army list that can take on all-comers.  I used a few pdfs found on the FoW main website, the Cobra campaign book and the Villers-Bocage book to make my two army lists.  The first is just Wittmann + Tiger tanks and the second one is more balanced:

1750
101.SS Schwere

Wittmann = 350
Tiger 2iC = 240
2x Tigers = 480
2x Tigers = 480
3x Squads of Motorized Scouts = 200

+++++++++++++++++

1500
1.SS LSSAH

Company HQ + Shreck = 80
3x Panzergrenadier Squads (SMG + Faust) = 250
3x Panzergrenadier Squads (SMG + Faust) = 250
2x MG Sections = 155
2x Pak40s = 135
3x Nebels = 150
2x Tigers = 480

Now that my army list is done, I need to read up on the rules. For some reason, the rules look a lot more complicated than GW's games. They make sense from a historical game design standpoint.  A veteran unit will hit a non-trained conscript a lot easier..  a Confident soldier will make his motivation roll more frequently than a "reluctant" soldier.. or if you penetrate the hull of a Tiger tank, you have to roll to see if the shell detonates or goes right through by rolling for firepower values. You know, stuff like that.

It's a little daunting at first since so much info is thrown in your face. No wonder why the starter set has like 2 German tanks and 3 Allied tanks and that's all you get (plus mini-rulebook). They don't want to scare you away with all the crazy infantry rules (the assault phase is incredibly complicated imo). I think at the end of the day, I'm stilling standing between the fence. On one side, the game is cool because it's WWII and I love the German Army.. but on the other side, I have inflexible lists (something I'm not used to), a less popular game and complicated rules. Any help?