Watch on the Rhine - Blackmoon Games, Lebanon, NH 1700LW

Hosted by Joey Laderoute and Jeff Mayo and taking place in Lebanon NH at  Black Moon Games, this would wind up being one of my last V3 tournaments before V4 comes out in March.

I brought up some of my terrain (I can proudly say I have two tables worth.) that's not Eric "Tarzan"  Lauterbach levels of terrain...but everyone needs to start somewhere.  Some shots of the setup before things get going.

This 1700 pt tournament was so well attended we wound up with an impressive wait list.  20 players from all over attended.  I decided to come up the night before, and stay in a hotel, then left from the store and headed back down to my Home in Danbury that night.  The whole thing was well run, the store was a fun place and the owner was a very generous and friendly guy.  If there are people looking for some gaming space and product, I highly recommend it.

Some shots of the store...

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Peiper Down: The New SS lists in the Ardennes Offensive

By Mitch Reed

One of the first articles I wrote for this blog was a piece in my “Lists We Play” series where I talked about some of my favorite Waffen-SS lists.  One of the lists I did mention in that piece was KG Peiper from Battlefront’s Devil’s Charge book, which at the time was relatively new.  The new Ardennes Offensive (AO) book augments the Waffen-SS force that took part in the offensive by adding two new lists which I will detail in this article.

Much like my last article on the Waffen-SS I want to reiterate my distaste of the actual SS, however their inclusion in the game does cause us to remember their history and helps us ensure that we never see another organization like that again.

KG Hansen
In my overview article on AO, the I said that KG Hansen is like KG Peiper without the tanks - however there may be more to this list than what I assumed at first glance.  The biggest reason why players would shy away from a list like this is because it is rated a Fearless/Trained instead of Fearless/Veteran like most other Waffen-SS units.  However, being that these guys are trained means that you are paying less for then as you would vets and in a true Bulge themed tournament, where they use the snow and fog rules these guys may not get shot up so much. 

One thing I didn’t like about this list was the lack of types of tanks you can pick, however I forgot how great the Panzer IV/70 (V) is.  They have a front armor of 9, and a gun which has an AT of 14, which at 390 points for a platoon of three is not too bad. They do have some downsides: they move slow, have glass sides (side armor 3) and are overloaded.  However placing these in ambush would be deadly to any American tank the Battle of the Bulge book.

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Going Deep; Building a Commonwealth Lists from the Bulge

By Mitch Reed

With the addition of the Commonwealth in Battlefront's upcoming Battle of the Bulge  I wanted to take a deeper look at the lists provided in the book and select two that I may play in a Bulge themed tournament.  My first army in Flames of War was the Canadians, I even painted them with the “greener” battledress and when I expanded my collection to play other commonwealth lists I made the choice to but new figures and paint their battledress brown, so I guess you can say I am dedicated.  This expanded even further when I collected an entire airborne army, and even more when built and painted an entire force just for the Mediterranean in Mid-War.  I must have about 15 Churchill tanks, and even more Cromwell’s and I always look for great lists in which to get these forces on the table.
For this article I plan to use a 1500 point total, and only select forces in which I have models.  I will try to pick a list that is both fun to play and somewhat competitive.  I know a lot of folks feel there is a “science” into picking a list, perhaps there is, however I am going to pick something I would bring to the table, not necessarily for a tournament.

7th Armoured Division: The Desert Rats

I have played the Desert Rats in the past; I liked the Reluctant/Veteran list from the Overlord book.  In this list you can put a ton of Cromwell’s on the table and with the “Cautions not Stupid” rule I was able to overcome the low motivation rating at certain times.
This is a pricey list, especially with what I plan to take.

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Preview: Commonwealth forces in the Battle of the Bulge Book

By Mitch Reed

History is usually biased by the nationality of the writer, which is why many Americans do not realize that the British participated in the Battle of the Bulge. After the Allies recovered from the shock of the attack, General Eisenhower gave Field Marshall Montgomery temporary command of all forces north of the German thrust.   To be fair Monty did not do a bad job and held the Germans on his end of the salient.  Problems did arise after the battle where Monty, true to form, took credit for winning the battle.  These claims did not endear the Field Marshall with his American boss and made their relationship deteriorate further.

The developers of Battlefront did their research when creating the new Battle of the Bulge book and much to my pleasure included the forces under Monty that took part in the battle.  I have been playing with Commonwealth lists since I first started playing this game and I am always looking for new lists in which I can use my huge collection of Cromwell tanks in.

The Lucky 7th
I was not disappointed in what the Battle of the Bulge (BoB) had in store for me; the Desert Rats yet again make an appearance in the game.  The last time we saw these guys was in the Overlord book and they were Reluctant/Veteran; however a few months later in the war BoB lets us play them as Confident Veterans.  I like the fact that you can have two Cromwell’s and two Firefly’s in a platoon for 435 points.  You can even upgrade the Firefly’s to Challengers for 20 points each.  Yes it’s pricey, but at 475 points you have a very strong platoon.  Personally I would go for the 3 Cromwell with one Challenger option at 425 points.  It takes some getting used to playing with fast tanks, however a lists that can field a lot Crowell’s is always fun. This list also lets you field Commandos which are sometimes a great option to have.  Other than the commando platoon the list is the standard British lists we have seen before.

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Why We Fight Episode 5: The Ardennes and The Bulge

Get ready for a bulging new episode of Why We Fight! In ACT I, the guys provide a quick update on some upcoming tournaments. In ACT II, we get an overview of the Axis lists in the new Ardennes Offensive book. Then in ACT III, we see what the Allies are up to in an overview of the new Battle of the Bulge book. Be sure to stick around for this special sneak peek episode.

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Flames of War Panzers to the Meuse from The Ardennes Offensive

I mentioned how much I liked the Panzers to the Meuse (PTM) lists in my overview of the Ardennes Offensive (AO) previously and I wanted to go over why these lists are so much fun and competitive.  These lists were first released as a PDF, and then again as part of the Devil’s Charge Digital Exclusive and now they find themselves in AO, and I hope that other German players will see how great these lists are.

Much like everything else in the German inventory you are paying premium prices for quality equipment. You will never have a huge force on the table with any PTM list, however you will have an aggressive force that is a blast to play.
The basic lists contained in all the PTM releases are a Panzer Company, a Gepanzerte Panzergrenadier Company, a Gepanzerte Aufklarungs Company, and a Panzergrenadier Company.  However each of these lists can be fielded for the 1nd, 9th, 116th, or Panzer Lehr Divisions that each have their own distinct flavor.  So PTM is really a collection of 16 very unique lists and the options each contain are vastly different.
Another key element of the PTM lists are how some of them are “Always Attacks” and some units get the “Spearhead” special rule.

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Flames of War - Vehicles of the 761st Tank Battalion

With the new Bulge compilations on the horizon, one of the new lists being added to the Allied compilation are light and medium tank companies from the 761st Tank Battalion - the first African-American armored unit to see combat in the U.S. Army. The unit has a very fascinating history fighting essentially their own version of a "two-front war" against prejudice and bigotry at home and against the Germans in Europe. I won't go through the unit's full history here, but there are several good books covering the unit including Joe Wilson's The 761st Black Panther Tank Battalion in World War II and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's (yes THAT Kareem) Brothers in Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Battalion, WWII's Forgotten Heroes.

Organized as a independent battalion with four combat companies and an HQ, the unit used a variety of medium and light tanks, though the exact mix was different than seen in some of the standard armored divisions. Companies A, B, and C were medium tank companies and used a variety of Sherman tanks. Company D was a light tank company equipped with Stuart tanks until the end of the war.

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The Ardennes Offensive Reviewed and Spoiled

As someone who loves to play with his Panzer’s, I was very excited when I had the opportunity to review “The Ardennes Offensive” the new release from Battlefront that covers the fighting along the German frontier from late 1944 until early 1945.  This book combines the German lists from a few previous releases such as Blood, Guts, and Glory, Devil’s Charge, Nut’s, and some downloadable content that was available from the Flames of War website such as Panzer’s to the Meuse.  In the past I have played a few lists that have come out of these books, and was interested to see what this new release had in store for these older lists as well as what new lists they had to offer. 

The 234 page book features all of the background history of the campaign and the units involved in the fighting; but most of us want to know about this lists.  The Ardennes Offensive (AO) features over 20 core lists, with a few of them having different options depending on what unit you wish to model your force after.  You have a lot to choose from in AO, from top of the line Panzer units featuring the biggest of cats to units that represent the last ditch effort of Germany to stave off defeat.

I plan to review each group of lists to give you better insight as to what this book has for the dedicated Germany player.

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FLAMES OF WAR Bulge Compilation Sneak Peak

By WWPD: Why We Fight.  Eric Lauterbach, Luke Melia & Mitch "The Meta" Reed

We wanted to give you all a sneak peak of the upcoming books from Battlefront; The Ardennes Offensive and The Battle of the Bulge.  We are very excited about this double release and plan on providing you with many in depth reviews on the books themselves and cover topics such as what is new, what is old and what has changed over the next few weeks.  We will also be covering these books in detail on the Why We Fight podcast.

The original books, Nutz, Devils Charge and Blood, Guts and Glory changed Late War play substantially.  The Americans, with new lists, equipment, stats and special rules became a major powerhouse in Flames of War.  Many folks have said that the Americans became overpowered to a degree and we saw tournament play flooded with 7th Armored and 99th Infantry Lists.  The Germans, with the infamous Panzers to the Meuse list, saw auto-attacking Germans in force and as they moved further into Late War more and more heavy German Armor.  When all of these books and lists were released Flames of War was at its most popular point and the excitement surrounding them was electrifying.  These compilation books promise to have the same energizing effect.  There are a number of changes in these books and although some players may not like all of them, I believe they will have a positive effect on the game as a whole.

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Bolt Action - Building A Themed Army: Operation Greif

By Old Man Morin,

After the D-Day landings, in the winter of 1944, Allied forces continued to push German forces back further and further towards Germany.  There was even optimistic talk of the war ending in a matter of months if not weeks.  These thoughts turned out to be a tad premature as Allied troops were in for a rude surprise.  Hitler had planned a secret counter offensive that later became known as the Battle of the Bulge.  As part of this push, one of Hitler’s favourite SS commanders, the infamous and flamboyant Otto Skorzeny, concocted an audacious and illegal plan to put the enemies of the Reich on the back foot.  Hitler green lit the plan and Operation Greif was born. 

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