FOW V4 Afrika Korps Command Cards

The long-awaited command cards for Version 4's Mid-War desert armies have finally arrived. Below is a recap of the command cards for the German Afrika Korps force.

If you'd like to see the full rules for using the cards, there is two-page pdf available here. This piece will discuss the appropriate rules for each type of card in the appropriate section.

Basic rules for using the command cards include two methods of deciding how to use the cards in your forces. Both depend on agreement between players. Chose either free use of the cards when building the force (up to the points for each force), subject to the limits for each type of card. Or, agree on a certain point value total that each player may add to their force.

Cards may be used multiple times in a single force, except for Warrior cards, and any cards with the Limited designation. Those may only be used once per force. A force may also include only one warrior card. Cards are also restricted by nationality of the force (German cards only apply to German forces and units) and by unit type.

Warriors
Many players on the forum have pointed out that the two books (so far) for force building in the V4 Mid-War period were rather thin, and didn't include many options players were accustomed to, such as Warriors. This set of cards provides two warriors for players to chose from: Rommel and Rettemeier.

Rommel's old abilities of Fingertip Feeling and Rommel at Point are gone. Instead, the new card, at 6 points, grants an additional two inches of command leadership distance to unit leaders. Rommel adds a victory point to your opponent's totals if you lose the game. If you win the game, you gain an additional victory point by fielding Rommel.

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Bolt Action Road to Victory: A Beginner View

Hey everyone! Seamus here with another community article for your reading enjoyment. Today's article is from a newcomer to Bolt Action who took the bold step of using the Road To Victory campaign rules for his first foray into the game. One of the best parts of this system is that it really shakes up the normal run of rulebook missions and cookie-cutter army lists by using dice rolls on tables to drive which units you can add to your force. Another great strength of the system is that you or your opponent may end up with a really strong unit, which then means you'll both have to be on top of your game to deal with less balanced forces. So, without further ado, I present to you a newcomer's experience on The Road to Victory....

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FOW V4 Desert Rat Command Cards

The long-awaited command cards for Version 4's Mid-War desert armies have finally arrived. Below is a recap of the command cards for the British Desert Rats force.

If you'd like to see the full rules for using the cards, there is two-page pdf available here. This piece will discuss the appropriate rules for each type of card in the appropriate section.

Basic rules for using the command cards include two methods of deciding how to use the cards in your forces. Both depend on agreement between players. Chose either free use of the cards when building the force (up to the points for each force), subject to the limits for each type of card. Or, agree on a certain point value total that each player may add to their force.

Cards may be used multiple times in a single force, except for Warrior cards, and any cards with the Limited designation. Those may only be used once per force. A force may also include only one warrior card. Cards are also restricted by nationality of the force (German cards only apply to German forces and units) and by unit type.

Warriors
Just as with the Afrika Korps cards, Battle Front has added two warriors to the limited options in the new Mid-War book for the British forces in the desert. John Currie, for eight points, allows tank units that do not have Tally Ho a Last Stand rating of 3+. Pip Roberts, at a cost of 4 points, grants tank units that don't have Tally Ho a tactics rating of 3+.

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Why We Fight: Episode 15

             In this shortened episode, the boys discuss what they have been up to recently, and their changing levels of interest in FoW and other games. In act two, they look at the newly released "Fog of War" cards and ponder the problems, challenges and the potential excitement these cards will add to Flames of War.

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The LRDG II Podcast - Episode 16 - Make Poland Great Again

The LRDGII is back with another three hour epic! 

Episode 16 begins with a beginners guide/ exploration of the Batman Miniatures Game. For this segment, Brad is joined by Liam from the UK's premier Batman podcast "Titan Dose." He talks us through the game, top to bottom and explains how everything works in the midnight clad city of Gotham. 

The rest of the episode is dedicated to our favourite game, Bolt Action. Experienced Polish players, David Xavier and Pat "Muddy Funster" come on to look at one of Bolt Action's lesser seen armies. Poland. The guys take an exhaustive look  at Poland in the game and the bigger picture of history that puts Poland into the context of WW2. 

Come on down and check episode 16 out and learn how to Make Poland Great Again!

You can find this fine episode in the iTunes store or download directly HERE.

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Behind Enemy Lines Episode 37

Download the episode here

Behind Enemy Lines is back again. Episode 37 is all about the HYPE!

In part 1, the guys take a look at all the hype around the latest Warhammer 40k edition and why they're excited about it! They also look at all the other Noob News they've found...

Part 2 see Dan and Damo talk about what happened at TCOW as well as more hype around new 40k! Greg regales us with tales of V3 Flames of War with a report from NICon.

Part 3, we rock it old school and answer listener questions! Be warned, fun may ensue!

Want to join the conversation? Please sound off in the comments below, or let us know on our forum!

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Fog Of War Cards Review

Battlefront will soon we releasing Command Cards.  The Command Cards, at this time, represent three releases.  One is specifically for the British, one for the Germans in MW and one that is not nation specific called the Fog Of War Cards.  Today, we will be taking a look at the Fog of War release and how it may affect play for Flames of War in the future for both casual and tournament play.

It is imperative to read and review the post on the use of the cards from the Flames of War website before you read the cards to understand how they are played.

Below are all the cards.  We review them in detail on the Why We Fight Podcast and I encourage you all to read through and draw your own conclusions.  We have a summary of our thoughts at the end of the article.  The cards are said to be used in the Dust Up and Free For All missions.  I believe that they could be incorporated in the Annihilation mission as well.  Currently, the cards are not designed to be used in any other missions.

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Bolt Action Tutorial: Scenic Artillery Bases

By Bryan,

Artillery units present great opportunities to create a mini diorama as the center-piece of your Bolt Action platoon, while still remaining game play compatible. Here in this tutorial I'll show you a simple process for creating one which doesn't require a lot of skill or time. I'll use my recent added PAK40 team for my Royal Hungarian Army as an example.

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Bolt Action - Baconburgers Podcast: Episode 6

Episode 6 - The Lost Tapes!

Uncovered in a dusty attic, these tapes were recently found and brought to light.  In them, the Baconburger command discusses the second edition of the Bolt Action rules, along with the hits and misses they felt came with the edition change.  So hold onto your seats, for another long awaited Baconburger episode!

Explicit language warning, mature listeners only.

Please find this episode in your friendly local iTunes store or download it directly HERE.

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FOW: EW V4 Indian vs French (Vichy)

Over the past few weekends, Raymond and I were able to work in a few games of Early War to try out the Version 4 Flame of War rules. We set up the latest battle one Sunday afternoon at the Brookhurst Club in Garden Grove California.

I found the depth the the EW lists refreshing after the past several weeks running demo and introductory games with the new and extremely limiting Desert Rats/Afrika Korps V4 books. Plus, it was fun to dust off the 2 pounder Portees and let Raymond get his Axis French forces out of storage for a bit.

We created lists of 1,500 points each. Raymond used the Burning Empires book, and I went to Hellfire and Back for my British Commonwealth Indian lists. I had to proxy my generic British Infantry stands for the Indians troops I don't have painted yet.

Unfortunately, I managed to forget to bring my dice tin. I got lucky, however, and scored a deal. Raymond had brought along an old Desert Rats dice tin with dice and markers, hoping to sell it to me. How could I say no to that offer?

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Bolt Action - Hermann Göring Division Project

Gaz is a great mate of the BAA and recently approached me to see if he could write an article on the Herman Göring Division. The BAA is all about community content and I gladly accepted the offer and not long after he delivered this fine article. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did and if so please let Gaz know by commenting on the post to show your support for his first effort and cracking miniatures! Patch

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Team Yankee North American Nationals 2017: Mission Selection

Over the last few weeks I have been planning the upcoming first ever Team Yankee Nationals that will be held at Historicon on 14 July 2017.  One of the issues that seems to have gotten a lot of comments on various forums are the missions we plan to select for each of the 3 tournament games. I held off on this decision for a while because I wanted to get the advice of others and I wanted to see what lists players planned to run at the event. I know that any decision I could make would draw the ire of the denizens of the forums.
My thoughts on making this decision were based on two major factors, 1) keeping the selection fair for all players and 2) not wanting the insane to run the asylum.

What I have notice so far in playing this game since it came out is that you do not have a very wide selection of lists from each nation to choose from and that there is a vast difference in the composition of the available forces. At 100 points an East German player can have 63 T-55AM2’s while a West German Player tops out at 9 Leopard 2’s, each list costing 99 points.  However list selection is left up to the players and that is something I didn’t want to get involved with. However based on the rules of the mission, a player can end up with a mission that their force is not built to accomplish. My thoughts on this is for players to build a better list that can handle any type of mission. However that thinking could be more based on Flames of War and may not be applicable for Team Yankee based on the lack of list diversity.

This lack of diversity is not Battlefront’s fault, modern armies are standardized and have a cross section of combat capabilities within them. The main difference in an armor force as opposed to a mechanized unit is one armor battalion is swapped for a mech unit. Combat support for both units will also be relatively the same.

So based on this I took a look at the “Expanded Missions” pdf that was put out to augment the number of missions that are available for players. Also in this expansion is mechanic called “Battle Plans” where players can bid to attack or defend and bases on that selection a type of mission is given o them and they roll off.  At first I did not care for this method, I felt that TOs should dictate what missions are played in order to make sure it is fair for all and that using battle plans rewards players who have on trick pony lists.

Another things I factored into the decision is that a lot of folks feel battles will time out. I feel that 2.5 hours per game is enough time and players who want to be competitive know they have to act aggressively and try to win the game instead of having a tie. Some players feel that certain missions lead to a tie more often than not, however I feel that good players know how to win and put forth tactics to achieve their goals in the time allotted. 

So after doing my research I feel that using the Battle Plans for the tournament is the right call and is a really neat mechanic. Deep down I still think it may favor certain types of lists which I will not go into here, however it is way we will go for the 2017 Nationals.

So let me set up the ground rules
- Players will have a copy of the Team Yankee Expanded Missions on them at the event. A link can be found here.
- Players will have 5 mins from the time table assignments are given to review the table and their opponents list, pick a “Battle Plan” and roll for a mission.
- Players will accept the mission that is rolled and will not re-roll even in both players mutually agree that they do not wish to play the rolled mission or have played that mission previously during the event.

So with this put to rest I want to once again plug the event.  The prize support and the fact that it is the first of its kinds means that you can have fun and be a part of history. Now if we can get more players who are not in love with the Leopard book we will be set.

You still have time to register; please send your list/force selection to WWPD2017wwiii@gmail.com


Twitter: @MitchWWPD
Mail: WWPDMitch@gmail.com

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Version 4 Mid-War US Nationals Practice Tournament Review

By Tom Burgess


Flames of War's Version 4 Mid-War has certainly not been without its controversies and mixed opinions since its release. A good bit of it is justified, with much of the consternation about the new rules and lists coming from tournament focused players. Many of these have opinions that the lists in the first two Mid-War books are too limiting, that formations would be too hard to break, and that games will just stagnate into dull draws. In short, some have claimed that the new version of the rules would not be viable for tournament play.

However, our local gaming group has been having quite a bit of fun playing Version 4 of Flames of War, to include the new Mid-War period lists. We did not see any reason why we should not at least try to run a Mid-War V4 tournament. So we schedule as small event that was conducted on May 20th, 2017 at Hard Knox Games in Elizabethtown, KY. We decided to make this a "practice" event for the upcoming 2017 US Mid-War Nationals as many of the players who normally travel to our events are already planning to make the pilgrimage to Fredericksburg, VA this July for the US Nationals. Accordingly, we set the event for 75pts forces coming from the two new Mid-War books, with two hour rounds consisting of a Basic Mission, an Advanced Mission, and ending with another Basic Mission.



We set our upper limit at 16 players. This is the most Hard Knox Games can accommodate without impinging on other card gamer space at the store. On May 20th, 14 players from Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and Arkansas answered the call! It should also be noted that this tournament did not utilize the new "Command Cards" as they had not been released in time for this tournament though they will surely be available by the time of this article's publishing.

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BLAST FROM THE PAST: D-Day Hit the Beach Scenario

This was posted quite a long time ago. Enjoy!

Joe Mezz decided it was time to put his boys through the meat grinder and try to storm Fortress Europe! Since this mission isn't exactly the type of thing that stays exciting on a turn by turn basis (each turn is basically- attempt to unpin, land more troops, try to get up the beach), instead I'm just going to do a big picture dump and you can let your imaginations fill in the gaps! Joe was running vet US Rifles, and I ran the 726 Confident Trained grenadiers.

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June 5th - DDay AAR - 1500pts British Airlanding vs. GrenadierKompanie

The Normandy Battles book has seen a lot of play around our neck of the woods this time of year.  For several years, we would put together our 30 feet of table, and launch a landing for the ages. Getting all that lead on a table is an awful lot of fun, but the smaller games are too.  And the Coup de Main glider assault is one of those missions.  Eager to try out some V4 with the D-day lists, My buddy Shane and I met over at his place for a pre-dawn face off. Shane played his Brits, and I brought my Germans with some Tigers in support.  1500 pts per side.

The Board

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The Ghost Army Podcast: Episode 25

The Ghost Army Podcast: Episode 25



Welcome to another installment of Bolt Action goodness to paint your all conquering armies too! 

In this episode we have Patch, Bryan and Brad discussing their latest painting projects and games. Topics covered include Bren Carriers, the new Sea Lion Campaign book, what to do with a horde of Soviet engineer models, gaming with the Australian Pacific army list, tactics for forward deploying units and a giant group game set in the battle of Sattleberg New Guinea. 

The guys also cover the new Vehicle Design System for Bolt Action, a PDF resource put together by Richard Humble and the BAA team to allow you to generate rules and points costs for vehicles as yet not covered by the army lists. 

So pick up those paint brushes and set your Order Dice to 'Listen'...

You can also find this fine episode in the iTunes store or download it directly HERE.

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Warlord Games new snipers in ghillie suits - review and painting guide

By Patch,

Warlord Games have just released a pair of British snipers in ghillie suits to coincide with the Sea Lion campaign book and I got my hands on a pair of pairs a few days ago. Of all the releases they have been teasing over the last month or so I think these were the most anticipated by the community, as they look absolutely amazing.

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