Flames of War General: Soviet Battle Maid Edition

It'd still be a concealed shot because you can only see half or less of the tank.

Concealment says "half hidden by terrain", not "half hidden by anything". Smoke says it has no effect if there's any valid LoS that does not pass through the smoke.

I don't have the rules in front of me, but I don't think you're doing that right.

Smoke provides concealment. And each smoke ball is 2 inches wide, blocking almost the entire target vehicle. There are ways to get s shot where the smoke doesn't work, but you'd need to be basically behind the smoke screen shooting at the vehicle from the other side.

>And each smoke ball is 2 inches wide, blocking almost the entire target vehicle. There are ways to get s shot where the smoke doesn't work, but you'd need to be basically behind the smoke screen shooting at the vehicle from the other side.
That whole image is scaled so that 60 pixels is 1in. Those smoke balls are 120 pixiles in width, and the green boxes are 75x150 (about the size of most medium tanks). Pulling this off would require some very precise positioning (and of course hitting with the smoke), but I'm not seeing any reason it wouldn't work. If you mucked up the positioning (which is easy, given how tiny a window you have most of the time), yeah, you'd have to shoot through the smoke and the target would be concealed and gone to ground.

...

Well, can't you make a CT Comet company if you use the Forces booklet in Open Fire?

Bradley vs BMP: Desert Storm 1991 (Osprey Duel 75)

In the mid-1960s, the Soviet Union unveiled the BMP, the first true infantry fighting vehicle. A revolutionary design, the BMP marked a significant departure from the traditional armoured personnel carrier, with a lower silhouette and heavier armament than rival APCs. One of the most fearsome light-armoured vehicles of its day, it caused great consternation on the other side of the Iron Curtain as the Americans scrambled to design a machine to rival the BMP. The result was the M2/M3 Bradley. These Cold War icons first clashed - not on the plains of Europe, but in southern Iraq during the Gulf War of 1991. Featuring specially commissioned full-colour artwork, this is the absorbing story of the origins, development and combat performance of the BMP and Bradley, culminating in the bloody battles of the Gulf War.

mediafire.com/download/ajsd2849skmbhhr/Osprey - DUE 075 - Bradley vs BMP.pdf

No, they're only in Nachtjager and accompanying digital lists.

>Nachtjager
What's a Nachtjager?

*(Translator's note: Nachtjäger means night hunter.)

...

Am I hallucinating this, then?
>flamesofwar.com/Portals/0/Documents/OpenFire/OF-Forces-Lowres.pdf

Open Fire and Forces are basically the beginner mode for Flames of War.

The rules and the army lists are both significantly simplified from what they are in full Flames of War.

I'm not entirely sure if lists from Forces are kosher in full games of Flames of War.

Spent this morning painting a couple of BO-105Ps for a big Team Yankee battle. A small force of West Germans will be supporting the US against a soviet counterattack. The Americans liberated the city last battle.

Pictures and feedback to come.

Please excuse the shitty painting (especially around the windows). I have to go back and cleans those up when I gloss them.

You should give them a good hand of wash/ink imo, they look too clean and the details don't stand up too much by themselves

Those lists are basically missing 90% of the actual rules used in a full FoW game.

They're for learning the basics, not normal gameplay.

Yeah, I figured as much.

Still, I am the kind of person masochistic enough to run a Comet company anyway.

I gave them a wash with 50:50 clearcoat:black wash. Maybe I will go back and do a targeted wash over a few details.

Also, jokes on me. Missed the battle because the actual time was 3 hours earlier than listed on facebook.

which WWII weapons, barring the little boy and fat man, would be best for killing giant monsters?

How giant are we talking? House-sized? King Kong? Godzilla and beyond?

Anyhow, all in all, aircraft carrying bombs might be the best bet. Monster's aren't usually known for toting AAA, and even the smaller aircraft bombs usually carry more boom than even the heaviest shells that most artillery use (excepting extra-huge railway pieces, maybe). Even the biggest beast is probably going to be in trouble if they get booped on the nose with a 500kg bomb.

>Missed the battle because the actual time was 3 hours earlier than listed on facebook.

Idiots. This is why information posted online about dates, locations, start times, etc. needs to be **accurate**.

Anything long-ranged and high-powered with either good armor penetration or lots of high explosives.

What are your favourite gimmick lists and why?

Vickers Mk VI Bs and Universal Carriers with Always Defend, thanks to the Divisional Cavalry Squadron from Blitzkrieg. Infantry companies get rekt by the absurd number of armored machine guns you've got while they're forced to advance. 2pdrs and 18/25 pdrs supply enough anti-tank and bombardment to take care of mechanized and tank lists.

>fowlists gets team yankee up
>still doesn't have Nachtjager or Berlin non-digital
Fuck.

For an example list, see here. Infantry dig in on objectives, carriers split 50/50 to assist. HMGs, 2 pdrs, and arty added to taste, while the Mk VI Bs act as a mobile reserve against infantry. Air support is literally the only option available against enemy air. Only thing I'd consider changing would be Regular infantry instead of Guards in order to free up points for gun transports.

New episode of Eagles Nest is up.

Eagles’ Nest Episode 10

In this Episode Screaming Eagles, Bartosz, Lord Viruscide and Guybrarian discuss:

- Game of Thrones - Including a Books vs TV rant, and Eagles literally judging books by their covers.

- Rogue One, Star Wars concept art, and novels from the New Expanded Universe.

- Summer movies of 2016.

- Gaming and Hobby Activities - Including Mordheim, X-Wing, Team Yankee, and Star Fleet: A Call to Arms.

- Eagle's friend Andre coming in dead-last at the New York X-Wing Regionals. (Sorry Andre)

panzerfunk.podbean.com/e/eagles-nest-episode-10/

Also, new Panzerfunk is currently in the process of being edited. Expect that in the next week or two.

It's a dude's club resource, he isn't actively updating it anymore except where he needs it for his club.

Well in their defense, I think there was a bit of glitch with the event time. I had missed the post about the event time actually being 11 or I had read it when it was posted a week ago and forgot.

I was able to catch the second part of the battle which they handled as a separate engagement.

>Afgansty held up in the "Löwenbräu brewery" in Munich.
>Damn Commies drinking our beer.
>Well defended in buildings with RPGs and PKM support. AT-4 outside.
>American Mechanized attacking on one side, West German Mechanized on the other. They have some mortar carriers for support.
>Americans set up and use Mortar Carriers and Dragons to pound the soviet infantry in the buildings and wipe out the outside stands with an assualt.
>German player is able to eliminate a few stands with Marder fire, but Soviets still outnumber his infantry.
>German assault is stopped. Just didn't have enough firepower to dig out the Afgansty.

Overall it was a minor NATO victory, but they had almost double the points of the afghasty. The West German player could have used his Milans better to dig out infantry in the buildings. The Marders were consistantly pinning the afghansty, but didn't really kill to much. West German infantry will struggle in an assault due to their limited numbers. Made me think about what things I could bring to dig up infantry.

I also heard complaints about the BO-105P from how it performed the first game, but I think it was just misplayed. They let a gopher unit roll in and shoot them up.

In still iffy about NATO helicopters myself.

Needing to remain stationary to fire makes it hard for them to get any shots off, but does make them decent for area denial.

Their range is insane, and they're usually at 6s to hit; I've found them really resilient. Especially since they can just shoot everything with how air LOS works.

Huh... Looks like I've been getting aircraft line of sight wrong.

I honestly thought buildings being in the way would block line of sight to units on the ground.

Eagles, I never imagined we would have to say this to you of all people...

Read the rule book.

The game might resemble Flames of War in a lot of respects, but it is technically a completely different game.

Make sure you know the rules.

You've probably completely underestimated Cobras and PAHs because you didn't understand how line of sight for aircraft works in Team Yankee.

Is it me, or are heavy tank lists paradoxically better off with the new 1420 limit? Yeah, you get barely any... But your opponent's probably not got a cheeky team of sappers to hedge against them if they've had to trim the list.

>I honestly thought buildings being in the way would block line of sight to units on the ground.
You would assume so, but you would be wrong.

Honestly, I think it's nonsense and is probably the second worst-looking thing after the mandatory tank/helicopter carparks the new command rules encourage, but if there's anything like trees or buildings near the middle of the board you can pretty much guarantee they'll shoot things from concealment, possibly GTG, all game, and quite possibly out of AA range for many AA assets. They're tricky to remove.

>Eagles, I never imagined we would have to say this to you of all people...
>Read the rule book.

Yeah, yeah. I done goofed. Everyone point and laugh at the namefag getting the rules wrong.

To be fair, I've probably only played less than a dozen games of Team Yankee so far.

>You've probably completely underestimated Cobras and PAHs because you didn't understand how line of sight for aircraft works in Team Yankee.

Looks like. I shall have to use them again with my new knowledge and reassess their performance.

>Is it me, or are heavy tank lists paradoxically better off with the new 1420 limit?

They potentially can be depending on what else is fielded alongside them.

The tools required to effectively deal with them tend to be semi-expensive. But not quite as expensive as the Heavy Tanks themselves.

>you can pretty much guarantee they'll shoot things from concealment, possibly GTG, all game, and quite possibly out of AA range for many AA assets. They're tricky to remove.

Huh. I guess I have seriously been looking at them the wrong way this whole time.

I keep saying, the only qualification what we have is the ego to put on a name.

Heavy tank lists have gotten better because they've gotten worse trained in my opinion. Once you've stripped off Tiger Ace skills and Fearless, you've got a big fat cat with a big gun and fuckloads of armour.

the su76 swarm.

Nothing will ever have that level of shenanigans

>not got a cheeky team of sappers to hedge against them

You're right, I have about 20, not to mention support

I'm not very well informed on infantry equipment IRL, so what's the reason that American and British Pioneers are TA 3 while everyone else seems to be TA 4?

Because they're more like Assault Engineers and their jobs were to remove obstacles in the path of the advance. German and Soviets and Finns expected theirs to go and deal with tanks as well.

Yeah, but what was the difference in issued equipment that results in the different ratings?

I'm no expert either, but it probably has something to do with carrying more powerful explosives or specially designed anti-tank mines and so-forth.

As for the exact names of the equipment and how it works... That is not something that I know anything about.

German Pioniers were issued with AT mines and AT grenades basically from the beginning; also the Germans had some fairly advanced shaped-charge explosives originally intended to use on bunkers (See: Fallschirmjäger at Eben Emael), but were also of considerable use against tanks.

Finns had satchel charges everywhere, and were enthusiastic users of petrol bombs into the engine compartments of tanks. They were the ones who coined the name "Molotov cocktail", after all.

Quick question.

Did Hind helicopters always have their underside painted sky blue?

I haven't really been paying attention to FoW stuff lately and only now realized the existence of TANKS. The idea of a tonk skirmish game is certainly appealing, but is it worth buying and/or fun? If yes, does the starter pack give you rules for other tanks or do you have to buy the expansion packs too?

German Pioneers were equipped with Teller Mines and sometimes the Hafthohlladung shaped charge (also known as a Panzerknacker). Additionally, they carried plastic explosive and enough regular grenades to be able to assemble bundles , each of which had some utility against light armour and weak spots.

mp44.nl/equipment/pioneer_bags.htm

Most of the time, yes.

I just started repainting ny soviets and do you guys think Dark wash or string wash would would good with the tanks? What about the infantry?

Strong wash*
Work well*

Yes in my opinion you should use a dark brown wash, it works well with the green. I usually apply a uniform green coat, paint the details like tracks or satchels, apply some weathering with a sponge, some metallic color for scratches and some brown for mud and finally i give it a generous brown wash. Pic is the end result, i like it since it gives a good grimy and battle-proven look with very little effort.

>Most of the time, yes.

Ah, damn. I was hoping to cut down on a little bit of the painting I'd have to do.

So I've not been at all impressed with the resin+metal vehicles I've ordered from BF; I've found them very slightly better than QRF, equivalent to skytrex, and worse than PSC's plastics by far.

Recently I picked up some finnish infantry however, and good god, the quality on those is fantastic. I have a few mould-line complaints, but they're tiny, and in general the detail stands up really well to painting.

So, I have to ask: Is this a worn-out moulds issue? Is there a cutoff date where I don't want to pick up older models? Or is it just sheer luck?

their process has gotten better, but in a lot of cases, we are talking about old master-models that were made in 2002....the Panther and Elephant come to mind.

they did re-release a few early Panzers, and we got new M3 Stuarts ....one who watches BF closer than i can probably list all the changes that were made.

its got a stupid cheap buy in, thats for sure.

The starter set is like $25 and comes with generic cards for all the supported tanks. You only need a single blister of each tank and the rest can be fleshed out with regular plastic boxes.

Ive been dying to try it but I can never find it in stock

I buy plastic whenever I can, and do not like to buy resin/metal models sight unseen anymore. Some have absolutely stunning detail, while others have insane mold wear.

I need to find him, but I have a German with a Flamethrower thats so bad his face looks like he's wearing a cobra commander mask.

Battlefronts plastic stuff is excellent though.

> Is this a worn-out moulds issue? Is there a cutoff date where I don't want to pick up older models?

I've been playing/collecting for 15-odd years. IMO the problem is one of quantity vs. quality: BF pushes out so much stuff that the quality of their casts is often ignored in favour of volume. I exclude the newer plastics from this, as they are very good, but the metal and resin components do suffer. Sometimes you can get great casts, and other times they're bad to awful.

The main problem (IMO) is not usually the quality of the molds or similar (they are replaced/remastered fairly regularly), but rather a lack of attention being paid during the casting process and an acceptance of sub-standard casts in favour of volume. Because really, most gamers aren't that picky and BF can get away with it a lot of the time.

> Or is it just sheer luck?

Sometimes, yes. You get figs/models from a good batch, six months later you buy the same thing and it's awful (and vice versa). Case in point: Team Yankee US infantry. The initial run was fine, the subsequent "we did not make enough - PANIC" run was very poor quality. So, you want to buy early and hope to get the best? This is nice in theory but in practice is not true. A recent example: US Marines. The Marine infantry were fine, the support weapons and crews (MG, Mortars, etc.) were terrible, and those were both initial releases. I've bough figures/vehicles after the initial release and then bought the same thing a year or more later and the later-produced stuff was better quality (and, again, vice versa).

So honestly, I really don't know why. I suspect in part it has something to do with *who* is doing the actual castings, how many are on order and how fast it is being done. If you have problems, get hold of BF customer service and do not take "no" for an answer.

It's fun as well as cheap. You get enough cards for what's in the box, as well as one for each tank in the first wave (what BF have released in plastic so far), so you don't NEED to get more. However, the expansion packs contain heroes and special equipment for the tanks (well, the nation) of the pack. They show you what you can get, but to get the most out of it, you need to buy more. Kind of a nice compromise, IMHO

Appreciate the responses.

It's disappointing to hear it's not just mold wear; I'm not sure I can justify paying top-dollar for figures where there's a reasonable chance it's going to be a bubbly warped mess or even odds on being kinda lumpy and badly detailed.

I've mostly had good experiences with BF's resin stuff.

The old resin Panzer IV Hs were good, as are the resin Pumas and Panzerwerfers.

That being said, I tend to buy plastic as much as possible.

I prefer the model-kit like assembly process of plastic kits over the more simplified "superglue these three bits together" assembly process for metal and resin kits.

Even though plastic kits take more time to assemble, I much prefer them to resin/metal kits. Most my metal and resin kits have been good to great quality. It's the assembly that's the kicker. A good plastic cement is a dream to work with while superglue is usually fiddly for all but the simplest kits. The added detail is just icing on the cake.

Yeah, that seems to be my thoughts on it as well.

Superglue and I tend not to get along.

I tend to glue my fingers together, or my fingers to the model, almost every time I'm trying to superglue something together.

Thanks lads, decided to buy the starter box because why not. Now for the obligatory 2+ week "Battlefront is replenishing stocks AGAIN"-wait.

Ok, I've got a challenge for you guys.

Since it looks like I might have to put together a Soviet force for Team Yankee so that my club has one, I'd like to know what you guys think is the cheapest way to go about doing so.

If it matters, I have access to a starter set with 10 T-72s.

I personally run a solid core of T-72s.
They're good points for money and two or three units of 5-7 provide a lot of mobile battlefield presence.

Next up, some AA (Shilkas are good since they're multifunctional), some arty (I personally use 2S1 Gvozdikas) and probably a recce unit of BMPs.

That actually gets you most of the way there.

you want my input? on the best easy?

--HQ T-72
--9x T72
--6x T72
--3x Gozvidkas
----6x Grads *
----4x Hinds
----4x AK's, 4x RPG's --with the hinds

that's 5+42+27+5+8+10+4, for 101 pts.
or, Starter, extra T72, Zvezda T72, 2x Grad Box, 1x Gozbox, SovInf blister and extra hind box.

drop 3 Grads, add 4 shilkas if you like.

it will get beat to shit, but it will be a fun rush every time.

I'd split the T-72s up into three units at least, Team Yankee's rule set punishes larger units mobility wise.

I'm probably thinking either 2 units of 7, or 3 units of 5. Depending on the points values.

I also have 2 Hinds from the starter set.

Maybe add in some BMP-2 recon for the expanded deployment zone.

Then maybe cheap Shilkas from Zvezda.

Cheap artillery from Zvezda is also a possibility.

Maybe cheap 1/144 Frogfoots from Academy.

I honestly don't know yet what I want to put in the list. But I'd want it to be decent, but also cheap.

I still am going to be building West Germans as well.

does zvezda make BMPs?

Go with 3 units of 5, unless you want perfect honeycomb targets for artillery to focus on. You could go line abrest, but you risk having a tank out of command if your command tank is hit.

This list might be the cheapest you can get away with. If you rather have artillery, take 3 carnations instead of the Hinds. You should have an extra T-72 from the demo kit, right? If that's the case you just need 5 T-72s, Shilka, BMPs, and the Frogfeet (is that the correct plural form?). That should be under $200.

No.

Nope.

Just T-72s, Shilkas, Carnations, and BTRs.

And some trucks. Although converting those into the rocket trucks is probably a bit more complicated than I'd care to attempt.

I'd like to get 4 SA-14s with one less T-72.
My initial list was just like yours, and 4 A-10 crushed all of T-72s. Without infantry, T-72s take forever to dig a mech platoon out of buildings(tanks can't assault into buildings) and 4 A-10s destroy 4 T-72s when they come.
Zsu-23-4 can't stop A-10s.

thought you guys might be interested to hear about this

> dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/698101.pag

Battlefront is looking for more playtesters. Linked Dakka because it has the whole spiel where you can see it no problem without signing into Battlefront's forum.

Long story short

>Be a special tester
>Be part of a super speshul secret society that gets to see stuff before it gets released.
>dont spill the beans or the Battlefront gestapo will find you
>get credits in the book/list/whatever and or free shit as payment

>Battlefront is looking for more playtest groups, so now is your chance to get involved!

>What Do Playtesters Do?

The most important thing playtesters do is to play games that test new games and expansions that we are developing. If your playtesting group has been assigned to a project, everyone in the group will be expected to play at least one playtest game each week for the duration of the project and report on the outcome. Playtesters also provide less structured feedback on the project, highlighting issues that they see and contributing their unique experiences and insights to the design process.

>How Do I Become a Playtester?

The simple answer is: ‘Form a playtest group!’

A playtest group is a bunch of six to twelve committed players under a playtest leader. The group must have a venue where they can meet and play weekly games in an environment that allows them to maintain confidentiality (so not in a shop during opening hours for instance).

Once your group is signed up, you will be given access to the secure playtesting forum where you can see the latest playtest material, give feedback from your playtest games, and discuss the outcomes. Your group will then volunteer for projects as they come up, and run playtest games each week until the end of the project.

Agreement and you’re ready to volunteer for your first project!

>Your Responsibilities

Aside from playing weekly test games, a playtester’s most important responsibility is to maintain the confidentiality of the material they are provided with – You DO NOT talk about Playtest Club!
This confidentiality does not end with the public announcement or release of the product. Even if Battlefront staff members are discussing an unreleased product on a public forum, you as a playtester may not do so. Once the final product is released to the general public, you may discuss it product to your heart’s content, but anything that happened in playtest stays in playtest.

The group’s playtest leader has additional responsibilities. They are responsible for their group’s behaviour and will be held accountable for both the groups’ contributions and indiscretions. The playtest leader is also responsible for the group’s administration. They recruit new playtesters as needed and remove inactive playtesters from the group. They maintain communication with Battlefront about the state of their group and administer rewards.

One important thing to note is that you don’t have to be any particular sort of gamer to be a great playtester. We want a wide range of playtesters so we can evaluate the project across our entire audience. So, if you are a hard-core tournament gamer, you’re welcome as a playtester. If you’ve never played in a tournament in your life, you’re welcome as a playtester. If you are new to Flames Of War or Team Yankee, you’re welcome as a playtester. If you’ve been playing Flames Of War for longer than you care to remember, you’re welcome as a playtester.

>Your Reward

Yep, that’s right, you don’t just get the satisfaction of making great games greater, you also get rewards for playing games (and reporting them, but that’s not too hard!). The rewards vary from project to project, but typically include acknowledgement in the credits and some product related to the project.

>What to Do Next

Organize your playtest group and get the playtest leader to apply to [email protected] with the following information:
•A short biography highlighting why you should be a playtest leader
•A short description of your playtest group
•Where and when you are planning to run playtests
•The name and email of each of the playtesters in the group
•A sentence or two on each playtester highlighting why they’d be great playtesters
Once your group is approved, the playtest leader will get everyone to sign a Non-Disclosure

T-shirts for Soviet players, spam for everyone!
redbubble.com/people/jcdent/works/22670684-straight-outta-fulda-gap/

Drop the gvozdikas for some recon and an observer and you have a solid list, personally i'm not a great fan of small infantry platoons on hinds, i think they either limit hinds a lot when dismounting while they could have done much more with their turn or they don't get used at all.

What the fuck is this guys issue?
He is the "that guy" of flames of war holy shit.

A 9mm bullet kills a 1.8 meter tall person

A single 90mm canon round should be able to kill an 18m tall monster

The square cube law should do the job.

One of the few lists that can afford to use both is2 and Air support

He's a bloody moron who's been spoon-fed gee-dubs shit and fails to realise that not everything must have lazors.

The problem is that he's the face of their website, has no interest in history at all, loves pulpy Indiana Jones style Weird War stuff, and fully buys into the "my doods" philosophy of basically doing whatever you want with your army and then coming up with a story to justify it.

Then add in the fact that his FoW teacher is a Doctor Who look-alike with all the charisma of a wet paper bag...

Be glad they have John back to handle all the Leopard and TANKS stuff.

Literally who?

Basically, imagine if you decided to work with a guy who knew nothing about history to promote a historical wargame.

Now imagine that he not only knows absolutely nothing, he makes a point of saying how boring history is and how he doesnt care.

THEN, imagine trying to get this man to show off the game when he doesnt do the book scenarios because theyre "boring", talks over the guy teaching him the game, and makes a completely terrible list on a whim to show the game off with despite constant advice that he shouldn't.

Then he names it "The Nachtwulfen" and makes something so outlandish the Red Skull would passout from laughter.

Thats Warren.

I guess the big mistake was made by who put him to show off a game he clearly doesn't like/isn't cut for. Why didn't they make him show off another game and took someone who actually cares to show off FoW? Also the other guy being borderline creepy isn't helping at all.

>most of my FOW group are hardcore tourneyfags who travel all over the continent to win harder
Oh man I'll have to tell them about this, if anyone can playtest they can.

Warren is the guy who owns Beasts of War if I remember right.

He's not so bad if you give him fantasy or sci fi, but he's notorious for his abuse of historicals. There's a bolt action episode where they made him a soviet army and specifically mentioned it, something along the lines of "I better not see any were wolves when youre done". Apparently even his partners are sick of it.

Hopefully Konflict 47 will give him something to vent that into so he'll stop messing up other historical rulesets. Not to knock K47 of course, it actually looks like a lot of fun and I cant wait to start picking up stuff, its just a Warren magnet.