STRIPES - Making New Lists from Team Yankee's Newest Book

As a mostly West German player up until now, I haven't been tempted by other armies.  It took me 6 months to paint the one I currently have.  But looking over at the new previews for Stripes has me considering my options.  I still want to work on a Soviet or Warsaw Pact Force eventually, but the Americans were not on my radar.  This was mostly because it appeared that they wouldn't be as competitive as their other NATO allies.  This book changes that, and gives the kind of tactical flexibility I would want in a force.  I will be making some lists out of the new kit, and let you know what I would want to be playing when the book comes out.

I apologize for the quality of the pictures, getting selected PDF copies of the pages proved a titanic pain.  I resorted to the phone.  I'll have it figured out next time.

1. US Airborne - with Sheridan
2. A Patton Company (marines)
3. Armored Cavalry Troop

For the sake of this tournament season, I'll make all my lists at 64 points, since that will be what a lot of North American places use.  I think its a good amount,

List #1 - 82nd Airborne

 UH - 1 Huey Infantry Combat Team

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Iron Maiden: My Wish List

Many of you can accurately say that I beat the Iron Maiden release to death this month! I did feel the need to cap off the month with an article on what my future IM list will look like. I think you may have gathered from my previous articles - and the podcast dedicated to IM - that I really like this book for a lot of reasons.  With IM, Battlefront really changed the scope of the game away from it being an fight based on just tanks, and gave us some really good infantry to disrupt the “meta”. It’s not that the British tanks are bad - in fact they are quite good and appropriately priced - it is just that the strength of this list is the amount of missiles you can throw at your opponent. While tanks do feature on my list, I know going into this that I have to play them differently that I would the Leo’s and T-72s.

So here we go with my 100 point list:

Formation 1: Chieftain Armoured Squadron
HQ: 1 x Chieftains (6 Points)
Platoon 1: 3 x Chieftains (18 Points)
Platoon 2: 3 x Chieftains (18 Points)
Platoon 3: 2 x Swingfire Troop (4 Points)
Formation Total: 46 Points

I know I said my list would be based around the infantry, and here I go spending half of my 100 points on tanks. My defense of that is simple: tanks cost more, and a full up list based on tanks would have a lot more tanks in it.

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Team Yankee: Contemplation and Collecting; the Soviets

Back in December 2015 I covered the Team Yankee demo put on by the guys from Battlefront.  While I liked the game I did state that the period wasn’t my thing and I would pass on fielding an army.  While I read the book Team Yankee and was a fan of the game, I just did not want to collect either army - I never play Americans, and while I have painted a ton of WWII Soviets for friends, I do not have a Soviet army in my collection.  What changed?  Well a few things actually changed my mind which should not surprise anyone.

My first worry stemmed from my work on the Great War line. Ehile I love the period and the game, few folks I know have built a Great War army, and I found it tough, even in the player rich I-95 corridor, to find a lot of folks playing the game. I did worry that Team Yankee would not gain the popularity it deserved. However after a few months, I have seen the popularity of the game grow and a bunch of folks I know play the game.

The Army on parade, oops no Hinds..

The second issue I had was that neither of the two initial armies did much for me.  I cannot explain why this was, but after reviewing Leopard, I got excited about the game and it caused me to look into collecting a Team Yankee army.

The last two issues are the same we call have: time and cost.   I stopped serious painting well over a year ago, the last army I collected was my Napoleonic Brits, which I sent to Ceylon for painting.  When I clean my storage room, and moved my painting area to my part time man cave, I had tons of unpainted men and vehicles.  While I love the Great War stuff, I have a full French and American army in boxes and blisters.  I have 5 each of Plastic Soldier Company and Battlefront Panthers which I won at tournaments still clinging to their sprues.  I just lost the desire to paint.  The other is cost, since starting a new army can cost anywhere from $250-$500.  While I am not cheap, I just wondered if starting a new game after I made a huge investment in Malifaux was worthwhile.  This changed when I realized I had some credit coming from my Great War work with Battlefront, and July being my birthday. I decided to treat myself to a few boxes of Team Yankee.

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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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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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Myth Busting: The Meta in Flames of War

By Mitch Reed

Big Cats, Arty Parks, and Strelk Spam are all terms I have heard in my time playing Flames of War; these terms are in reference for what some folks call the current “Meta” of the game.  Let me first define this term which is really short for “Metagaming” and defined by Wikipedia as “any strategy, action or method used in a game which transcends a prescribed ruleset, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by the game.”  So by definition it’s more than just what is popular, it is something that breaks the game and gives players an unfair advantage.  Having been a gamer for a long time I never believed in the “Meta Myth” and feel the term is improperly used by gamers. Let me take you through some examples and facts in order to de-bunk this very popular myth.

The Landkreuzer could have created a real "Meta"

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Flames of War List Building 101

 by Chris Fretts

I find list building to be one of the fun challenges of playing Flames of War.  Finding a list that suits your playing style will increase your enjoyment of the game.   It can be frustrating for a player to fight both his list and his opponent on the table.  Hopefully a well-designed list will help you be competitive in a Tournament.  I don’t feel like there are any lists that will win always –it always comes down to who is playing the list, your Opponent and his list, the mission and the table.  Here are some of my thoughts on list building.

A Combined Arms list is a must for me.  I like lists that can be aggressive on the attack but  I must be prepared for missions where I need to defend.  Several missions, especially the Fair Fights, require lists that can do both to be successful.  While a list with all heavy Tanks  and little else or a static Fortified list can do well in some missions, they can fall apart in others.  Static lists always have trouble with Fair Fights when they need to get up and attack.  Heavy Tank lists with little else make for easy pickings for Bazooka, Panzerfaust, Gammon bomb-laden infantry lists.  While a combined arms list may not immediately dominate in any mission, it will almost always have a good chance of doing well in every kind of mission.

In a Tournament setting, you need to have a list that can have a chance in all the missions.  Especially in a 3-round tournament you don’t want to go into that event having a mission where your force has no chance of playing a competitive game, much less winning.  My objective in any game is to have fun and a well-built list will help to make that happen.

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EW 1390 Tournament - German List

By "Dirty Jon" Baber

Early War seems to be my jam this past year. With another tournament coming up at the awesome Huzzah Hobbies, I had to take a look at what I might play. The tournament will be 1390 Early War and open to everything. I decide pretty quickly that I will play Germans - my only other option is the Finns, and I am a bit tired of them.  Plus, why change something that is working!

I have a ton of options for lists, but at a low point total and taking into account that ANYTHING could show up, I go for a list that has all the options - Czech Panzers from Blitzkreig. I considered a couple of other lists, but at this low point total, I think this is the best at handling all comers.

HQ & 1st Platoon

Two Panzer 38(t)Bs in the HQ and five more in a platoon  I did not even consider the 35(t).  First of all, I don't have the models. Second, I don't want to pick up Unreliable for only a savings of 5pts per tank. The 38(t) is a great EW tank at a cost of ~88pts each.

In EW, this tank is likely to stick around and be pretty effective. First of all, it is Veteran and this makes it both hard to hit (especially at range) and also gives me a good chance to make Stormtrooper checks. The FA of 2 is not fantastic, but it makes me immune to MGs and gives a good chance to bounce AT 5 and 6, which is fairly common in EW. The platoon is 5-strong, which means it can take a ton of abuse and still stick around. Last - and certainly not least - having Protected Ammo is just fantastic because there is a TON of 5+ Firepower out there.  Three quarters of the time, my tanks are re-mounting. This is a huge advantage in the relatively low lethality of EW.

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Back to Late War: Getting my Hermann Goering Sorted

By "Dirty Jon" Baber

For the past several months, I have been fooling around with some fairly weird lists on the German side, and I think I am ready to get back to something more "normal" and also fun for me - the HG lists.

Instead of focusing on my beloved Panzer IIIs, I think I will take a look at working the Infantry Company and StuH42 angle.  The StuH42 really is a great tank, and I want to see if I can still make a decent list considering the explosion of technology in Late War.

Combat Platoons

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Lists We Play - The Airborne

By Mitch Reed

Since earning my “jump wings” back in the 1980’s I have had a fond interest in the use of airborne forces in combat and the Second World War was both the genesis and high point of the use of paratroopers.  Flames of War contains many lists that feature these soldiers who have a very unique way of getting to work. In the latest installment of “lists we play” I will feature the airborne forces found in FoW. Airborne forces appear in all periods in Flames of War and most of the major nationalities can either field   complete paratrooper list or include a platoon of them in other lists.



 Development

The thought of employing ones troops behind the enemy by the means of the air is very old and can be traced back to the visionary thoughts of people such as Benjamin Franklin and Leonardo Da Vinci, it is the period in-between the two world wars where technology caught up to ideas and many nations developed airborne forces. Many of the key players in this period would be; Germany and the Soviet Union, with the United States and Great Britain close behind. One development that was made prior to the war was that airborne forces would consist of paratroops that deployed by parachute and airlanding troops that would deploy via gliders.



 German Fallschirmjäger in jump gear

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List Spotlight: Mid War Compagnia Carri

Many longtime readers of WWPD will likely recognize that I am a big fan of the Italians in Mid War! I've taken them to several tournaments and done well with them, and they've featured in many of our battle reports. It's now been quite a long time since my last game, and I'd like to change that soon! To that end,  I wanted to noodle out a good Tank list for mid war at 1650. Won't you join me?

In Mid War, our tank choices are quite limited! In fact, we have no choice other than the M14/41. So let's remember what the M14/41 is like in Mid War.

Armor 3/2/1, standard tank movement, and a 47mm gun puts this tank on roughly equal footing with an M3 Stuart. While the Stuart has Light Tank, the M14 sports a twin hull MG. With optional AA MGs that means the M14 can be spitting dakka... but as the core of our list, we must recognize some very serious weaknesses right off the bat. We cannot stand toe to toe with medium and heavy armor we expect to face: Grants, Shermans, Churchills (historically) or T-34s, Panzer IVs, Tiger I Es (mostly a-historically).

BUT this list is also elite- meaning it's got a good chance to be Confident Veteran and a slim chance to be Fearless Veteran.

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Building a Better German Tournament Tank List

By Bill Wilcox

I’ve had several requests to provide advice on constructing potential tournament-winning LW German tank lists.  I have to start with a big caveat; as I see it in the current Version 3 Flames of War Late War environment, there are no really good German tournament lists – tank, mechanized, or infantry. 

Let me explain what I mean by that.  For me, a good tournament list is one that can handle the greatest number of opposing armies, in any scenario, and on any board.  It has ways to deal with the greatest number of enemies, while minimizing or masking its own weaknesses.  A good tournament list must be able to defend as well as attack: sitting and waiting for the other guy to make mistakes or hoping that they will break their army on your defenses doesn't always work.  Knowing how to win in both Encounter and in Breakthrough (and in every other scenario) is equally important.  German armies have problems achieving the above in V3. 

This is not to say that German lists can’t win LW events as player ability is still the number one distinguishing factor in tournament placement.  What it does say is that German lists have more to overcome than many comparable Allied lists.  For example, German infantry platoons lack numbers, and even if they are all machine gunned and fausted up, they still have the same 3+ save as everybody else.  You pay a points premium for those teams, and the platoon’s capability decreases with losses faster than that of a comparable US infantry platoon that loses a rifle or bazooka team.  Armored companies face the same challenges; German tanks are great, but they are very expensive, and their traditional high FA has been mitigated by speed and higher Allied AT.

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Lists we Play: The Japanese

By Mitch Reed

When I started playing Flames of War I swore I would only do one list and stick with it. I chose late-war Canucks at first and then it just exploded, I ventured into mid-war with my Gurkha rifle list and then tried out early war with adding some Matilda's to my mid-war figures. At first I wanted to try out the EW Poles, but I had a hard time finding all the boxes and blisters I needed. So last last year at Historicon, Battlefront settled the matter for me by having the new Rising Sun book and boxes of Japanese ready for purchase.

Unlike the later periods of the war where I switch around from Commonwealth and German lists, I only play the Japanese in early war. To many, the inclusion of the Japanese was a surprise by Battlefront and especially in early war. However the Japanese were fighting since 1937 in China and in 1939 had a border skirmish with the Soviet Union, so I felt picking them for a new early war list was a smart move and opens up a lot of possibilities in the future.

Where to Find the Japanese

Right now the only book where you can find the Japanese in is Rising Sun, however you can find 4 different Japanese lists in this book that covers; light and medium tank companies, infantry, and cavalry. The Japanese also have the ability for both the infantry and cavalry companies to be turned into fortified lists.

The first thing to note about all the lists in Rising Sun that they all have a Fearless motivation rating; which is certainly an accurate and well deserved rating. As far as training, you can pick from both Trained and Veteran options in you tank and infantry lists.

Type-89 Chi-Ro Medium tanks

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Lists We Play: the Waffen-SS

Lists We Play: The Waffen-SS

By Mitch Reed

In the last article I discussed my first army, the Canadians, now I will go over my second army, the German Waffen-SS.  While I play this game for fun, and stay as politically agnostic as possible, I did have some hardship in fielding a force whose mark on history was so disturbing.  However, taking the history out of it, and looking at a force that is competitive, I was able to put my issues aside to build an SS list.

The Waffen-SS, which means Armed Protection Squadron has its roots in the Nazi party and was a military force separate from the regular German Army (Heer).  This is why the game has Reich Divided national rule for lists that have both SS and Heer units.

Where to Find the SS

Almost every book that features the Germans (the one big exception is the North Africa book) has the option to field both Heer and SS lists.  The one distinction of the SS in the game is that they have a Fearless motivation rating through all periods.  This is due to the recruiting standards, political indoctrination and aggressiveness the SS displayed during the war.  While many could argue why certain forces are rated as Fearless, I have never heard anyone say that the SS does not deserve such a rating. 

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Riha's Power Plays - SS-Panzerbrigade Westfalen

Now that the new Remagen book is out and about in the hands of most Flames of War players, I'd like to take an in-depth look at a list I think has potential as a Tournament Topper in a new segment I'll call....

Today, we're looking at SS-Panzerbrigade Westfalen. While it may not be the next NGFS Assault Boat Company, it checks all the right boxes and brings enough to the tournament scene to be a very solid sleeper list.

In previous "List Dissection" style posts, we'd usually examine a set list at a set point limit, then go through each piece of that list to point out how and where it really shines. Here, I'm going to take a slightly different approach: I'll explain my list methodology a bit, go into detail on how the bits and pieces of this list fits into this methodology, and then wrap up with a few list examples.

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Hail to the King: Part I

Here at WWPD, you've probably heard us go on for hours about how to deal with German big cats in Flames of War. Rarely do we discuss how to drive them. With the list options in Remagen, I've been giving serious thought to the issue. Enough thought to currently be assembling 6 King Tigers!

In part one, I am briefly going to discuss a possible army list, while in part two I will detail how I intend to run the list in various situations. Pending the commitment of a guinea pig, hopefully subsequent parts will detail battle reports featuring the list!

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The Wonderful World of the StuH 42

By Eric aka "Das Riha!" aka "The Mathmagician" Riha

On the off-chance you haven't received your invitation to the StuH party, consider this your RSVP. We're going to take an in-depth look at the mighty StuH 42 and compare its Flames of War combat effectiveness to the old standby StuG III G - all through the lovely lens of statistics! (I know - big surprise!)

Oh yeah! StuH party!

Real World Numbers

(from Wikipedia)

In 1942, a variant of the StuG III Ausf. F was designed with a 105 mm (4.1 in) howitzer instead of the 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/43 cannon. These new vehicles, designated StuH 42 (Sturmhaubitze 42, Sd.Kfz 142/2), were designed to provide infantry support with the increased number of StuG III Ausf. F/8 and Ausf. Gs being used in the anti-tank role. The StuH 42 mounted a variant of the 10.5 cm leFH 18 howitzer, modified to be electrically fired and fitted with a muzzle brake. Production models were built on StuG III Ausf. G chassis. The muzzle brake was often omitted due to the scarcity of resources later in the war. ~1,299 StuH 42 were produced by Alkett from March 1943 to 1945, the initial 12 vehicles were built on repaired StuG III Ausf. F and F/8 from autumn 1942 to January 1943.

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Projekt DAK Part 4: Historicon list finalized and Vehicle Detailing..

By Matt Varnish

Hey gang, Matt Varnish back with the next installment of my DAK Projekt.   Now that we know Historicon 2014 is Mid War, I have settled on a nice list, which sadly does not use any of the models I had already painted!  Lets dive straight in.

As you can see, it is armored cars supported by anti-tank assets, some Nebs and the FK-36(r) in the artillery/anti tank role.  32 inch range, 2 shot, AT 10 in an artillery slot? Bring on the captured Russian guns!

Courtesy Easy Army

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On the Pole -- Building a Polish Army, Part Three

TKS Tankette. No, there is NOT a bicycle in there. Source: http://www.wp.mil.pl

 By Tom "The Crotch" DeMayo

“Fathers, our only job is to keep our daughters off the pole.”  - Chris Rock

If you may remember, I had two early articles on starting an Early War Polish army here and here for Flames of War.  For various reasons, this project never came together, and my initial purchase of several Dismounted Cavalry platoons ended up un-assembled in my basement.

This Christmas, I decided it was time to revive things.  So I splurged on more platoons, and began assembling.  Back to Early War!

More Dismounted Cavalry

I purchased another blister of Dismounted Cavalry.  This enables me to assemble three full Companies of 15 stands each.  I usually do not put all five figures onto a base like Battlefront recommends -- so I bought the last blister largely to get the final AT rifle I would need.

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