Force balance method is employed to predict forging information such as forging load, tool pressure and normal stress at the surface of tangential velocity discontinuity. The incipient stages of deformation for the plane strain forging of rectangular billets in V-shaped dies of different semi-angles are analysed. To construct an approximate model for the analysis of deformation by the force balance method in the incipient deformation stages, slip-line field is used. When the deformation mode by slip-line method is the same as that by force balance method, the slip-line method and the force balance method give identical solutions. The effects of die angle, coefficient of friction, billet geometries and deforma- tion characteristics are also investigated. In order to verify the validity of force balance analysis, the rigid-plastic finite element simulation for the various forgig parameters are performed and performed and find to be in good agreement.