Flames of War: Russian Levitation edition

>What should I buy if I wanna start FOW from nothing?

Assuming you don't mind playing British or Germans in the Late War (19944-45) time period, the Open Fire starter set is an excellent place to begin.

What is the size on that table? it seems a bit narrow.

Also, it also seems a bit open. You want some stuff that blocks line of sight or offers concealment.

Otherwise the deadliness of modern battlefield technology will be seen pretty quickly as things slaughter each other pretty quickly over clear lines of sight.

I'm enjoying the road made out of bread.

...

the fuck is that thing?

The green strips counted as forests, it was glorious the way all the tanks were exploded by turn three

Table is 6x4
Btw

Freaky Mine Clearance Vehicle if I know my 'Wacky German Engineering'

The Krupp Raumer S.
130 tonnes of heavy breakthrough ram tank baby! Wünderwaffe suicide vehicle loaded with enough explosives to take out an entire jk it's a minesweeper.

There's no way that's real

I mean I know they were hyped up on panzer chocolate and unlimited nazi bucks but nobody is that goddamn crazy to actually build one of those.

Why not? Seems like a good idea (if you were USA with industrial capacity to spare). Mine clearing was a bitch.
Ok manning that vehicle seems like a bitch too.

>panzer chocolate
... now I want little chocolates shaped like a panzer IV

Chocolate laced with cool refreshing meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeth.

>There's no way that's real
>I mean I know they were hyped up on panzer chocolate and unlimited nazi bucks but nobody is that goddamn crazy to actually build one of those.
They were cranking out near-suicidal jet aircraft so something like that seems almost sane in comparison
>Why has it got no landing gear?
>Because Fritz you won't be landing

Uuh m8, that's not a jet that's a rocket.
And it had both a landing skid and rear wheel. And photo cell activated up/backwards firing grenades in the wing bases.
See? Totally reasonable.

>Landing Skid
You say that like it's an improvement on matters. When basically landing on it was a 50-50 chance of the entire fucking thing exploding, that being of course if you could actually stop. Because it's a fucking Skid.

Well the exploding issues was not because of the skid rather the very explosive rocket fuel fumes.

Not that I'd advocate skids instead of proper wheels outside of landing on snow.

I love how everyone else just had mine rollers and the germans tried building a crazy-huge tank for it.

Reading up on the Berlin Brigade... What was the point? To divert some resources into holding them out? It doesn't seem like a couple of battalions of infantry and some chieftains would've been a meaningful obstacle to multiple divisions of tanks and infantry that could've gone at them from all sides.

a is a grognard's take
b is actually FoW.

Might be useful for some of you, just ran across it at random earlier and figured I'd share.

>What was the point?
Symbolism, national prestige, emphasizing West Berlin was still free, giving the finger to the Soviets

There was an expectation of some serious urban fighting in Berlin; while they were outnumbered like you say the NATO forces there would have at least gone down shooting.

Time for the second batrep I've got for you guys. This time it's 2000 points of Shtraf vs 2000 points of Hohei infantry, in the battle of crazy people.

On the Japanese side, we have a long time friend that decided that maybe he'd like to start a japanese army for flames. Since nobody here has a japanese army, his force is 100% proxied. Using spare models, we were able to mock up a 2000 pt FV Hohei Chutai force for him.

>Hohei Chutai HQ - CiC Sword, 2iC Sword w/ Regimental Standard - 125 pts
CiC was represented by the based british platoon command team, 2iC by the Open Fire american paratrooper command team.

>Hohei Platoon - Command Sword, 9x Rifle Team, 3x Light Mortar, Banners - 360pts

>Hohei Platoon - Command Sword, 9x Rifle Team, 3x Light Mortar, Banners - 360pts

>Hohei Platoon - Command Sword, 9x Rifle Team, 3x Light Mortar, Banners - 360pts
The Hohei platoons are represented by Russian, British, and American Rifle or Rifle/MG teams. Light Mortar teams were represented by blank cuts of flooring tile.

>Hohei Machine-gun platoon - Command Sword, 4x Type 92 HMG - 160 pts

>Hohei Machine-gun platoon - Command Sword, 2x Type 92 HMG - 85 pts
The HMGs were attached out two per Hohei platoon, to bulk them up and give them a better chance to stop the communist horde.

>Hohei Rapid-fire Gun Platoon - Command Sword, 2x Type 1 47mm - 55pts

>Hohei Rapid-fire Gun Platoon - Command Sword, 2x Type 1 47mm - 55pts
The rapid-fire guns are represented by 6pdrs and some spare russian guns.

>Scout Platoon - Command Sword, 3 Rifle - 140 pts
Represented by the based but unpainted russians

>Field Artillery Battery - 2x Command Sword, 2x Observer Rifle, 4x Type 38 75mm - 310 pts
More spare russian artillery peices.

Overall army is pretty simple, and could probably be more optimized, but we wanted to keep it as simple as possible for the new guy. He decided not to take any Nikuhaku teams, since the enemy only had 3 tanks.

On the Soviet side, we have our resident commie and veteran to the game, fielding a semi-proxied Shtraf company. There's a method to the infantry proxies, but the shot detail isn't great enough to tell the types of teams apart. The DShKs were represented by halftracks, while the Katyushas are represented by a mix of actual Katyushas and amphib jeeps.

>8ya Otdtelnaya Shtrafnoy Batalon HQ - CiC SMG, 2iC SMG, Battalion Komissar, 4x PTRD, 2x 45mm obr 1942, 5x Pioneer Rifle, 4x Flame-thrower - 415pts

>Shtraf Company - Leytenant Pyl'cyn, Komissar, 21x SMG - 430 pts

>Shtraf Company - Command SMG, Komissar, 21x SMG - 430 pts

>Shtraf Machine Gun Company - Command SMG, Komissar, 6x Maksim HMG - 175 pts

>Shtraf Motar Company - Command SMG, Komissar, 6x 82-BM-41 mortar - 115 pts

>Assault Gun Company - Command SU-122, 2x SU-122 - 130 pts

>Anti-aircraft Machine-gun Platoon - Command DShK AA truck, 2x DShK AA truck - 55pts

>Guards Rocket Mortar Battalion - Command Rifle, Observer Rifle, 3-ton truck, 8x BM-13-16 Katyusha with extra crew, 2x DShK AA truck - 260 pts

He decided to combat attach everything he could to the Shtraf companies, making them both over 37 teams strong. Shtraf means the odd platoon count doesn't matter for him, as long as he can keep at least one of his megaplatoons alive.

Once again, I forgot to take pictures of deployment. Same field as last time. Mission was a simple Free-for-all, decided upon by both players for its simplicity and being able to place everything on the table at once. The japanese objectives placed in the two farms, while the Soviet objectives were in the center of town and in the eastern woods (directions being taken with the japanese side as south).

The russians have their choice of deployment zones, and decide to start on the open side, figuring they can advance into the town quickly and take advantage of the cover of the buildings as they assault the japanese off the objectives. They deploy the Katys in the farm complex to the west, then spend 15 minutes on each shtraf platoon, which are placed in the center, aimed right at the town. The AA trucks hold the eastern flank, while the SUs are in the middle to support the infantry.

The japanese, in response, occupy most of the buildings with two Hohei platoons and the 2iC, while the third and the CiC take the woods with the objective. Their artillery and guns end up with pretty restricted deployment options due to the buildings and roads (the japanese player having learned the value of Digging in after the previous game), and end up with one platoon of each type covering the flanks. The scouts are placed to push into some of the middle buildings during their recce move, and do so sucessfully.

Despite having a +1 for the first turn, the russians fail the roll, and the Japanese get to go first. They promptly spend the turn digging in, suceeding with everyone but the 75mms that the Katyusha observer can see. No bombardments or shooting, as the japanese only have 24" range guns and they can't fire bombardments due to meeting engagement.

The russians advance with everyone but the Katys, who manage to destroy one of the 75mms and a rifle team in their bombardment. The SUs drive hard towards the city, avoiding the only guns that can hurt them. The katys fail to remove their smoke trails.

Red markings show the buildings the various Japanese platoons are in.

The japanese respond with some counter-battery fire after the 1-gun battery manages to dig in, but only manage to kill one Katyusha. Shots from the AT guns and two of the HMGs manage to take out a few infantry teams, but the shtraf don't care.

To end turn 2, the russians advance again. The rockets fail to kill any of the japanese, but do manage to pin several platoons. This marks the first of many turns that the western Hohei platoon will fail to unpin.

I just remember that there's a Strategy and Tactics which covers this too

mediafire.com/file/gx8wk87brbxzn8q/S&T 079 - Berlin '85.pdf

Turn 3 sees 7 more Shtraf teams die for the motherland, as the japanese unleash another volley of shots. The platoons able to be seen by the SUs hold fire to avoid being hit on 5s instead of 6s, while one of the AT guns on the east flank repositions through the woods.

The russians advance, reaching their first building and cresting the hill. A lucky shot kills the observer team in the tower (us all having forgotten that he'd be forced to join the Hohei platoon in there with him), and two more rifle teams in the western hohei platoon die to rockets.

On turn 4 the western Hohei fail to unpin again, along with the one-gun battery, but at this range the HMGs start opening up in ernest. Another 9 Shtraf meet their end, but this is still just a dent to the horde.

At this point, a critical error was uncovered. The japanese player had forgotten to pull his scout platoon out of the central buildings despite reminders from observers, and they're too far away (and have too much brick in the way) to get supporting fire from the HMGs in the other buildings. This, of course, results in the Shtraf advancing forward, and then charging the strung out platoon. The Portee guns on the AA trucks are dismounted and move into the damaged hotel.

An ungodly hail of SMG and HMG fire pins the scout platoon, who fail their critical roll to disengage. No teams die, but then the music starts: youtube.com/watch?v=U06jlgpMtQs

The remaining 50-odd teams of Shtraf charge the poor scout platoon. At this point, the absurdity of how fucked the scouts are hits us, and everyone spends the next few minutes too busy laughing their asses off to actually move anything. Eventually we all recover, though the soviet commander keeps breaking out into chuckles as he moves teams. The anthem repeats TWICE before we manage to get to the whopping four shots of defensive fire, which all miss because the Scouts are too busy pissing their pants.

Needless to say, the scout platoon is pretty handily destroyed. The command team survives, and decides that running is better than letting the russians get another move to get more teams into the building. The russians duely consolidate into their new holdings. At this point it's time for the new player to head to the airport, leaving the local brit (me) to take over when we resume the next day.

(And side point, the oval in is showing where the one gun battery is hidden)

Turn 5 rolls around, and the scout command team decides to commit seppuku (fails sole survivor test). The western hohei fail to unpin yet again, showing that fearless is worthless when your dice are shit. Desprate to hold the russians off, and sure I can manage an assault with smoke and artillery support, I charge the eastern Hoehi platoon in, intending to shove the Shtraf off with my full 13 team platoon of vets. The smoke and HMGs manage to pin the Straf and the dismounted AA guns. The assault is launched, glorious victory assured!

...Except this one asshole on the end, Steveu, is out of the smoke. The hotel, which currently has two HMG teams and the DShK's dismounted guns, pours fire onto the barely exposed assault. Of course, he is one of the few teams that passes their save. Shouts of "Banzai! Banzai!" go up across the japanese line, and they do a second assault. Since they don't move into contact a second time (or at least that was how we read the rule), Steveu results in the second assault still failing, and is litterally the ONLY team to save from defensive fire the second time.

They fall back, Steveu failing his skil test to enter the building and so having to move around into the open (the street being too narrow to leave teams in it and more than 2" away). The platoon passes their morale check to not go even more bugfuck crazy, but the hopes of the japanese are destroyed by one team being out of place.

Let this be a lesson kids: Remember to declare Non-Assaulting Teams, or Steveu (or his appropriate national counterpart) will ruin everything.

The russians see this as an opportunity, and move up their flamethrowers and infantry to assault the weakened platoon and the central platoon. The SUs and Katys rain more shots down, killing two more teams from the western platoon. The second Shtraf platoon occupy buildings in preperation for an assault next turn.

The flamethowers kill another 4 japanese teams, thankfully including Steveu. Then the assault begins, soviet anthem once again filling the air... But this time there's 4 HMG teams getting defensive fire, along with a lot of rifles. The japanese get the exact 10 hits they need, and the assault is forced to fall back, leaving 4 dead Shtraf teams on the cobble and a salty russian commander.

Japanese turn 6 is entirely unremarkable, being yet more desprate shots that kill another 4ish teams of Shtraf, though they do also manage to pin the dismounted DShK platoon, killing one.

The russian player spends forever deciding if he's going to launch an assault against the western Hohei, despite his fire wittling them down to two (pinned) HMGs, a Light Mortar team, the command team, and a single rifle team. The failure of the last assault makes him cautious about assaulting into a meager 11 shots of defensive fire, half of it at +1 to hit.

Eventually he decides to go for it. The anthem blares again, the soviets charge, and defensive fire is as ineffective as I expected. 7 hits, but he passes every save. The assault sees everyone but the platoon commander dead, and he promptly fails his 3+ roll to stay in and at least stab one of them with his sword. He'll commit seppuku at the start of turn 7.

Turn 7 opens with the soviets contesting the objective. The two surviving Hohei platoons have been severely weakened, but the one in the church is still able to contest. I open up again with my guns, and manage to kill a handful more, inclduing another DShK team. They fail platoon morale and run, the only dead soviet platoon.

Soviet turn 7, with confidence restored in assaults, the larger western Straf platoon moves up to finish the job. Their flamethrowers are murderously effective, killing most of the remainder of the middle Hohei platoon. Only four rifle teams, the 2iC banner, and the command sword remain alive. The rockets kill two of the guns, leaving just the command team for one of the artillery batteries. Then the assault comes. The 2iC managed to kill one with his pistol in defensive fire, but... Well, even a big fancy banner isn't going to make two teams win against 14. They promptly die, and the soviets occupy the chapel. A red flag waves over the objective.

Deciding to finish the survivors of the platoon off for good, the weaker Shtraf company moves up and assaults with 5 teams against the survivors. Two of the rifle teams die, but the CiC joins the platoon and they counterattack. The japanese katanas kill two teams, before the soviets kill the remainder of the platoon, leaving the CiC. However, the commander is a true Samurai warrior. He cuts though one, then two stands of shtraf, katana flashing as he efortlessly slices through their infer-

*blam*

The Soviet command team is having none of that and finally just shoots the maniac with a sword, then consolidates and claims the building.

Desprate to buy time, the command team for the eastern battery charges towards the objective. The soviets are spread out such that he needs to launch an assault to have any hope of contesting. Japanese artillery and HMG fire rings out, killing 2 more stands of Shtraf, but it's too little too late. The artillery officer raises his sword, runs through a covered side passage, and yells "Banzai!" as he charges the Shtraf.

He is promtly filled full of bullets. Soviet turn 8 sees them in total control of an objective. Victory for the motherland.

For those that missed last thread, the other batrep is here: Any thoughts on the forces or tactics involved in either battle?

Well, now I suddenly feel like running shtraf.

>The russian player spends forever deciding if he's going to launch an assault against the western Hohei, despite his fire wittling them down to two (pinned) HMGs, a Light Mortar team, the command team, and a single rifle team. The failure of the last assault makes him cautious about assaulting into a meager 11 shots of defensive fire, half of it at +1 to hit.
Wouldn't he have lost QoQ at this point and been driven back on 5?

There were still over 15 soviet teams in the Shtraf, the tiny remains there were the Hohei platoon getting assaulted. I was wondering why the hell he was so nervous about assaulting into 11 shots (two from Light Mortars in the church platoon) when I needed 10 to pin him.

Ah, the hohei were on 4 teams, not the shtraf. Gotcha.

To prevent salami tactics, basically. They were a trip wire. Military force would have to be used to remove them, and THAT would set everything else off. Nobody was going to hand over land like what happened to Poland.

I like be the layout of that table.

Ah, so primarily a diplomatic use outside of war, then.

The primary purpose of any army, yes.

What if I wanna play USA?

A few boxes of whatever from Plastic Soldier Company are a cheap place to start. BF also does a bunch of starter boxes which are essentially a pair of platoons and some HQ teams. There's a heap of different ones, though, depending on the army and period.

What sort of list did you have in mind? FoW tends to break them up into Infantry, Mechanised, and Armoured.

Open Fire would only give you paratroopers, which only a few American armies can make use of.

I'm not a big fan of The PSC's American infantry (some inaccuracies...) but BF has great infantry (rifle platoons), armored infantry, and Sherman box sets. Then you could pick up a few resin special Shermans (like Jumbos) to supplement them. There will soon be an M10/M36 tank destroyer plastic box, too. Those are useful in a wide range of American lists.

The plastic Pershing box is good too but heavy(ish) tanks are tougher to use in the game because they pay a large points premium.

The resin M24 Chaffees are fun to use, though a little tricky.

For other light tanks (M3/M5), get The PSC kits.

I wanna do mechanised USA but I also want something I can use to demo to my friends?

Should I just pickup pattons eagles and open fire and proxy the patton's eagles shermans as lent m4a3s when playing normal game?

Yeah, get Patton's Eagles and Open Fire - it's good for the German side, and all the stuff that isn't minis is useful. But you might not use much of the Open Fire Allied stuff.

Where'd you get those decals user? I think I'll need some for my own tank list.

Speaking of Shtraf:

Many years ago now when it was second edition and I was younger and less handsome, I went up against a Shtraf Battalion with my British Armoured.

The interesting thing being, he failed a Morale check.
That doesn't sound like much, but consider it in action
>2+ Shtraf motivation
Failed. Then into:
>2+ Shtraf Commander Re-Roll.
Failed again. Into:
>2+ Commissar Reroll
AGAIN FAILED.

So he's breaking away from an assault, and is down two teams.

company-b-models-and-miniatures.myshopify.com/collections/pop-culture-decals

>no GDI, Nod, or other C&C factions

Disappointing.

Malaya and Singapore 1941-1942: The Fall of Britain’s Empire in the East (Osprey Campaign 300)

For the British Empire it was a military disaster, but for Imperial Japan the conquest of Malaya was one of the pivotal campaigns of World War II. Giving birth to the myth of the Imperial Japanese Army's invincibility, the victory left both Burma and India open to invasion. Although heavily outnumbered, the Japanese Army fought fiercely to overcome the inept and shambolic defence offered by the British and Commonwealth forces. Detailed analysis of the conflict, combined with a heavy focus on the significance of the aerial campaign, help tell the fascinating story of the Japanese victory, from the initial landings in Thailand and Malaya through to the destruction of the Royal Navy's Force Z and the final fall of Singapore itself.

mediafire.com/file/ycpd3gi1vuwic52/Osprey - CAM 300 - Malaya and Singapore 1941-2.pdf

>mfw Anzio school decals
You're a good guy, user. I hope you have a good day tomorrow.

Mighty tempted by the cobra decals.

>company-b-models-and-miniatures.myshopify.com/collections/crews-for-afvs/products/miniatures-afv-italian-female-tank-commander-15mm

they make more than decals....

So, I've been looking into FoW for a while now. How fucked would I be wanting to run a Churchill Armored force (providing I can find the rulebook)?

The Ruleset is bloody easy to find, and you could always get it direct from Battlefront who are pretty okay with their shipping at times. Or from the Scan Database at the top of the thread.

Midwar you're pretty good because of your high armour and okay gun.

Late war's a mixed bag. Your Armour's less amazing as is your Gun. Pros: You can get Crocodiles which are all that and a bag of chips.

They're pretty solid, just remember to bring a troop of M10C Achilles along in case you run into heavier opposition *cough*panthers*cough*

Just what ever lets me run IV's, V's, and VI's.

And I've only thumbed though a handful of the books at my store, but its only a few late war books.

I guess I couldn't run Firefly's and Churchills at the same time.

Sadly I don't think you can run Fireflies and Churchills together in Late War.

>Just what ever lets me run IV's, V's, and VI's.
That'd be the Late War versions then, most likely using Overlord, Road to Rome, or the one list from Nachtjager (digital). Each list has their advantages:
Overlord is your generic NW Europe Churchills, being Trained makes them cheaper than the other options and your armor is heavy enough that Trained isn't a big problem.
The Nachtjager list (attached) specifically covers the Guards Churchills as they were working with the airborne forces in Varsity and Plunder. They're basically a more elite version of the Overlord list.
Finally, the Road to Rome list covers your Italian deployments. Wider range of time in a single list, and has slightly different variants (75NAs instead of VIs, more IIIs than IVs instead of the other way around) and support options available.

>I guess I couldn't run Firefly's and Churchills at the same time.
Afraid they weren't really used together IRL. There was a brief period in Italy where they had Shermans bulking them out because of a shortage of Churchills, but those were only basic Shermans, not fireflies. Your 17pdr support is going to be of the open topped type.

Yeah I figured, from a historical standpoint.

Thanks for the books. I'll see if any of those books are in the shop I'm at before ordering online.

>I guess I couldn't run Firefly's and Churchills at the same time.

Yeah, I was hoping from a ahistorical standpoint. But I don't know how historically accurate FoW is. I'll definitely be picking up the core rulebook when I go in next time.

Thanks mates.

>But I don't know how historically accurate FoW is.

They make a solid effort. They don't always get it 100% correct, especially when information is difficult to come by, but they do their best to make things historically realistic and historically plausible.

Anyone have a good comparison between PSC and BF M5 Stuarts? I've heard that the PSC kit is surprisingly large, but how accurate is it (including size)?

Aussie TY confirmed OP. Banned at Cancon due to whinging opponents.

Wut? Please do explain

Peter S gave us at MOAB a copy of the upcoming Aussie list for TY. People complained that it wasn't fair to use unreleased material because then they couldn't use it. Offers were made to show all entrants the list well ahead of time, but people still bitched.

So, no Aussies allowed, but they are happy to accept East German lists when they are released a week before the event.

Post list

Australian 1st Brigade Combat Team

Leopard AS1 Armoured Squadron
2x HQ Leopard AS1 - 6
4x Leopard AS1 - 12
4x Leopard AS1 - 12
4x Leopard AS1 - 12
3x Leopard AS1 - 9
Short M113 Cavalry Troop - 4

M113 Mechanised Company
HQ - 1
Full M113 Mechanised Platoon - 6
Full M113 Mechanised Platoon - 6
Full M125 Mortar Platoon - 5
Full Anti-tank Land Rover Section - 4
Short M113 Cavalry Troop - 4

Support
4x M109 - 10
FV432 FOO - 1
Redeye SAM Section - 2
Full Tracked Rapier SAM Section - 6

>Land Rover

With trademark Aussie style they were called gunbuggys

What're their ratings? Also, are the Leos in AUSCAM or are they loaners from Germany?

West Germans with worse morale, but better courage. Australian Leopards in 1985 were olive green, but I'll do mine in AUSCAM.

What are some good techniques for snow weathering tanks? I've got the army painter snow for my infantry bases and it's nice looking, but I don't know how it'll look on tanks.

what year did our boys get auscam? regardless im doing mine in baked bean suits.

>What tanks did St. Gloriana use in the show?
Matilda II and Churchill VII in the original series. They threw in some Crusaders for the movie.

What do you guys think of my 1500 point list for early war french list? Comments suggestions improvements

...

Looks pretty functional, although I'm seeing attacking or mobile scenarios causing you trouble.

Yeah but the french are good at defense and my guys are going to be in trucks

Yeah, but in say, counterattack or encounter, or if you have to attack another infantry company. French are good at defence, as infantry in general are, but they need a few tools up their sleeve to give them at least some counterattack chops. You've got tanks, so that's something, but what's going to happen if you have to attack another infantry company in say, Fighting Withdrawal?

usually I prime them white then drybrush the original colors back onto it on corners, areas where the barrel travels from recoil, and any areas that get a lot of wear from crew climbing on it.

I also like to use a dark mud color around the bottom since my force was themed around when the snow would've started melting, but that wouldn't be appropriate for all theatres or timeframes

Good point what do you suggest that I add or change