FoW Scenario analysis - Defensive Scenarios Balance

Hello Everyone, time for another gaming article by Sexy Sixes :)

This time, I would like to share some of my own thoughts on how Flames of War Defensive Battle scenarios are balanced.

It actually occurred to me while preparing some materials for the ETC pairings that all of the scenarios with the Defensive Battle rule in Flames of War can be described with a set of characteristics. These features, can then be used pretty much like ratings to define who has an edge in a given scenario. By knowing who is more likely to win a game in a given scenario and understanding how these characteristics work, lists can be tailored to be able to mitigate the connected risks and capitalize on the opportunities.

Sooo, what are the characteristics that I was talking about?
I divided them into two separate sections: defender advantage and attacker advantage to clearly point out who do I think benefits from each of them.

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Know the Mission VIII - Fighting Withdrawal

Know the Mission VIII: Fighting Withdrawal

Steven and Dirty Jon get together and discuss one of our favorite missions - Fighting Withdrawal.  The guys cover all the rules for the mission in detail, as well as discuss objective placement, deployment and strategies for both attack and defense on this fine mission.  Tune in a crush your enemies in Fighting Withdrawal!

Click here to listen to After Hours

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News from the Front Episode 82

Welcome to Episode 82!

This is a jam-packed episode with some serious red meat!

In Act I, the guys do the normal AAR and cover recent games, upcoming events and introduce some new sponsors.

In Act II, the boys dive in to a deep overview of the new Barbarossa book.  Lists, special rules, detailed points discussion and more!

Act III begins with the guys thoughts on Barbarossa -- what they like, predictions and such.  The guys also weigh in on the recent announcements from Battlefront about Easy Army/Forces of War.  The episode wraps up with our favorite segment - Commonly Overlooked Rules.

Click Here to Download Episode 82

Know the Mission VII: Cauldron

The guys take you through setup, deployment and strategies for Attackers and Defenders.

Click here to listen to After Hours

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Seize the Flank! A new mission for Tank and Mech armies.

by Eric Lauterbach

Living in Virginia, I have always admired Grant's 1864-65 Campaign on Richmond.  His strategy of go around the left flank, go around the left flank  all the way to the end of the war ground the Confederates down.  Grant's tactics of outflanking the enemy have been around for some time and will always continue to be sound strategy.  The Flames of War Seize the Flank Mission tries to capture that phenomena, as it happened in WWII a lot.  Two large forces have made contact and each is attempting to out flank the other with fast mobile units. If you can turn the enemies flank, your job is a lot easier.  

The Set up is a long edge game with one objective placed on one side of the short edge board and deployment on the other.   The strategy here is study the terrain and how it will help you obtain victory do you go for the flank or try and break the enemies army before he takes it?  The objective turns hot turn 6 in this mission.  The first thing that happens is a die roll to be attacker or defender - it does not matter if you are Mech or Tank.  High die is the Attacker.  As the attacker, you get the first turn, so choose your long edge side accordingly.  The Defender now has the choice of which side he puts the objective.   You better have a plan for withstanding the attacker getting the first turn if he decides to come right at you.  Choose your ground and orientation of the game wisely. The objective is placed 10" from the short edge and within 4" of the center line. Any obstacles are placed now. Both sides now choose half their army to deploy in their deployment area.  The attacker places his army on the table all at once, with half in reserves. Do not alternate placing platoons.  The Defender then places his half. The remainder of both the attacker and defenders forces appear on turn two with no reserve die roll needed.  These forces enter from the board edge of the deployment zone 12" in and 18" out. A Defender tactic is try and enter behind the attacker from the 12" zone.

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Know the Mission II: Defensive Battles

We're back with episode 2 of Know the Mission!  This one was compiled in large part by our friend Eric Riha, the Mathemagician.  

Without further ado: Know the Mission II- Defensive Battles

After our second attempt, the guys are finally able to get this episode "in the can".

In the second episode of Know the Mission, the dudes put "Defensive Battles" under the microscope.  We primarily talk about "No Retreat", but include "Hold the Line" and "Pincer" in there as well, thanks to their similarities.

Editor's note: I (Steven) mention Pincer having 2 ambushes.  It only has one!  Sorry!

Don't forget to listen using our new App!  Search the Apple App store or the Amazon App store for android.

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WWPD Now Available for your Apple or Android Device!

At long last, you can listen to "News From the Front", "After Hours", "On the Road", "Know the Mission" and our brand new "Bolt Action Radio" podcast in one easy to use place!  Available for both Android and iOS!

Features:

• Streaming access to play episodes from anywhere
• Always updated with the latest episodes and an archived back catalog
• Playback resume (when interrupted by a call or other distraction)
• Access to exclusive extras like show notes, wallpapers, interviews and bonus content
• Quick access to all the contact methods for the show like call, email, web, Facebook, and Twitter

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Know the Mission I: Free For All

We are proud to bring you a new premium episode series- Know the Mission.  This will be fairly irregular, recorded when we have an opportunity.  Make no mistake, it will not interfere with the regular podcast!  Additionally, for those of you subscribing to After Hours, these episodes will of course be available at no extra charge!  After Hours, News From the Front, and now Know the Mission- that's a lot of WWPD...  Can y'all handle it?

Without further ado: Know the Mission I- Free For All

The dudes have been wanting to record this for a while, and finally found the time right before Dirty Jon ran off to Aruba to escape his mountain of lead!

In the first episode of Know the Mission, the dudes put "Free For All" under the microscope.  Some of this may be old hat to you veterans out there, but we hope you may find some nugget of wisdom buried somewhere in the ranting and raving!

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