Now that we are a few weeks into the New Year, I am looking ahead into what 2015 will be like for me on the FoW front. Last year it seemed like I was heading to a tournament at least once a month if not more, and by looking at my standings and counting the number of entries, it was a busy year for me. I also, like most of us added to my current armies or started some new lists. The one big addition was the introduction of the Great War period by Battlefront; I have written a lot on how great this period is to play and I will have more on this below.
So what does 2015 have in store for us?
New lists, old products
I always think there is something to finding your “list” in FoW. It’s a list that give you all of the capabilities you feel you need to be competitive, I picked the word “feel” with purpose, since I do not think there is a great amount of science in list selection. Many look over a list and say the same things; “..yep, yep, recce, template, this for smoke, yea it looks good”. I think that a list should be more tuned to a player’s style rather than a checklist of capabilities. Take recce forces for instance, everyone will state it is a must have on every list, yet I have seen few players use it well. In fact I learned more on how to use recce when it was used against my Westphalian Infantry list from Remagen. Finding out how some opponents used recce to push back my panzerfaust trap teams was a hard learned lesson in how to properly use these forces.
One piece of advice I decided to use in 2014 was to stick to one nationality and list type for the year, and for the most part I played German infantry lists in mid and late war. I think this was good advice because I got comfortable in playing these lists. However, by the end of the year I did get a bit burned out on my choice, in fact I dreaded playing yet another tournament with my Westphalian list.
I decided to change this around for 2015 and I decided to go back in playing with the forces I started out playing; which are British Commonwealth lists. In the past I liked playing with my Canadian or Indian lists and I do not know why I really went away from playing them (ok I was into big-cats for a while). With the 2015 tournament point total being a really high at 1900 points, I knew I had the opportunity to make a really fun list. I put together an Indian rifles list from Road to Rome for my first LW tournament this year. I think the two Italy books that came out last year do not get enough play, and I have liked playing some great HG lists from Fortress Italy over the last few months.
I like this list for a lot of reasons as you get a mix of some great National Rules, featuring US Tank Destroyers and New Zealand Artillery, who get those British artillery rules plus “Rumpus” which acts like the US “Time on Target” rule. Throw in Gurkhas, Kangaroos, and some Churchill tanks, I think this list will be fun to play. With this said, check in with me after I have tried this list out at a tournament once or twice, my opinion may change.
British Indian Rifle Company
Infantry Company, from Road To Rome
Compulsory Rifle Company HQ - CinC Rifle, 2iC Rifle (35 pts)
- Troop Carrier
Compulsory Rifle Platoon - Command Rifle/MG, PIAT, Light Mortar, 6x Rifle/MG
- 3x Sherman Kangaroo APC
- Upgrade Indian Rifle to Gurkha Rifle
- 3x Add .50cal AA MG to Sherman Kangaroo APC
Compulsory Rifle Platoon Command Rifle/MG, PIAT, Light Mortar, 6x Rifle/MG
- 3x Sherman Kangaroo APC
- Upgrade Indian Rifle to Gurkha Rifle
- 3x Add .50cal AA MG to Sherman Kangaroo APC
Tank Platoon - Command Churchill III or IV (late), 2x Churchill III or IV (late)
US Tank Destroyer Platoon - Command .50cal Recon Jeep, 2x M20 Scout car, 4x M10 3in GMC (late)
Royal Canadian Dragoons Armoured Car Platoon- Command Staghound I, 2x Staghound I
2nd New Zealand Field Battery, Royal Artillery - Independent Command Rifle, Independent Staff, 2x Command Rifle, 2x Observer Rifle, 2x OP Carrier, 8x OQF 25 pdr gun
- 2x Replace Observer Rifle and OP Carrier with Stuart V Jalopy OP
Air Observation Post- Auster AOP
As for mid-war, I have to be honest that the change in points does not make me want to go away from the German lists I was playing in 2014. In early-war, the reduction in points makes this period a curious one in 2015. I wrote about my new German armor lists from Barbarossa and have decided to try it out at least once at the 1390 point total. However based on how they play, I may go back to my Japanese infantry list.
New Lines
Battlefront is kicking off 2015 with their new Fate of a Nation book that expands the original pdf that covers the Arab-Israeli war of 1967. To be honest I have yet to play a game or seen anyone play a game in this period. While I would be into a modern game, I feel that modern combat at 15mm is too large and I would be more interested if the scale was closer to what Micro-Armor uses (in fact I have a Warsaw Pact tank battalion painted in that scale. I will wait to see if the updated book sparks enough interest where I can see an actual game and judge for myself if the game is worth my time and money.
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While it came out in 2014, I hope that Battlefront adds to the Great War period. I have written a lot about this new line and I am a strong advocate of it. Even if they stay in the 1918 time frame there is a lot to add; French and American forces would be great to see while they can expand the German line. Even the wishful thinking of the addition of Austrians and Italians would be great to see. I will shamelessly plug this period as much as I can to all I can reach; play a few games in this period and you will see for yourself how great it is. Right now I am painting a third British rifle platoon in the hopes to keep playing this line more often.
Battlefront will expand their late war coverage with the upcoming release of the Nachtjager book early this year. I am excited for this book, especially since I plan to play with British armies more in 2015 and due to the fact I have 3 Battlefront Comet tanks I picked up at the flea market at Historicon last summer. While there are few details other than the names of the six lists featured in Nachtjager, I am hoping that the 3 British will be fun and competitive to play. I also wonder how the three German lists will compare to what we have already seen in Remagen, since this period too covers the end of the German Army during the war.
Those of you who have read my posts on Outpost-Zero know that I love my Ipad and I am excited for the release of Flames of War-Digital. While I have heard a few gripes about moving to this format and even more about the delay, I feel it is a step in the right direction if managed correctly.
Time
This New Year seems to be ending off where last year ended; while my hope was that 2015 would not be as hectic as last year, I am already heading to two tournaments in January. I was concerned that continuing playing at the rate I did last year would lead to a bit of “burnout” on FoW. I am getting interested in other games such as Wings of Glory and Napoleon at War, which will take away from my FoW time.
One thing that has turned me off when it comes to tournaments is how some tournaments restrict certain rules of the game. While I am all for limiting the sources a player can make a list from, I do not understand why certain tournaments limit certain special rules or the amount of certain types of units that a player can have on their list (ex. template weapons). I can understand if they are doing this for a specific reason such as making sure they can meet a tournament time table by not having games go on forever. However the message I am getting from this is that the game has broken mechanics that are not being addressed. I would love to ban rules such as Time on Target or Tank Destroyer Doctrine national rules, I don’t advocate for this since they have been created to balance the game in the way in which the designers intended and that someday I would play forces that use those rules (see my Indian list above). With all of this said I still support a tournament organizer to run a tournament anyway they see fit.
So, 2015 may be yet another exciting year within our hobby.
