"Quick" Reference Sheets

Greetings and I hope you all had a Merry Christmas or (other holiday).  I am almost done with the Brit Para 75mm Battery and should be posting that soon, but wanted to get opinions on something else I have been working on.  We have been trying to build the Flames of War community whee I live and had an excellent "Flames of War Day" at our local store.  We have a lot of new players (me included), so I wanted to help everyone enjoy the game a more instead of looking through the rulebook.  I saw in the Battlefront forums that Monty X had posted a fantastic Guide to the Assault Step.  This helped our group alot, but there were still rules that folks were having trouble with.  So I took it step further and made a guide to cover a lot more.  At first it was to cover the other Steps but it grew to cover terrain, fortifications, etc... These guides with the FoW Quick Reference Sheet answer just about anything I can think of that you run into during a typical game.  Please have a look and let me know if I have something wrong or need to add something.  This is a work in progress.  With the upcoming Version 3 Rulebook hopefully it will still be mostly intact and will serve a s guide to capture changes.

Let me know what you think.  Thanks and have a Happy New Year!

Cobblestone Street Bases and Brit Para Surprise!

I mentioned earlier that the first time I based my Para Assault Platoon I wasn't happy with the result had had to rebase them....one of the main reasons was that I used a few of the cobblestone street bases and the gap between the models and the base were still very pronounced.  So I had a dilemma...I could choose not to ever use the cobblestone bases or try to figure out how to get the right effect and make some really cool stands.

The main problem I had was on how to hide the gaps between model and base.  On the standard rubble bases you can fill the gap with sand or in my case the handy dandy Pumice from Vallejo.  That fights in real nice with the rubble and you never see it.  Cobblestone streets are very different.  Unless you want ever figure on the street to be standing in a little rubble, you need to somehow model the cobblestones underneath and around the model.

It was then that I rember before we had the plastic rubble bases, to get the cobblestone effect, folks would cover  a flat base with greenstuff and after it dried they would cut the stones into the clay and viola!  You had your cobblestone street.  Downside, was you had to cut the figure from his base and then pin each on to the street...or build the base up with greenstuff to cover the figure's base and then cut the stones in...this made the bases pretty thick...and heavy.

I also wasnt happy with the gray cobblestone streets I had painted first go around.  A little research and I found a nice brick cobblestone street that I used for inspiration for my models:

So I hit on a compromise. I painted the figures and bases first. Then I would fill the gaps in with greenstuff. To make sure I didnt get any on the figures I glued a figure in place, then filled his gaps with greenstuff and moved to the next figure.

And the completed ---rebased---Flamethrower team for Para Assault Platoon

 Now for the Surprise.....

Lieutenant Colonel Johnnie Frost!!!!

 Not one but TWO surprises!!!!

Major Digby Tatham-Warter.  Commander, A Company 2nd Parachute Battalion.  He will be my Company CiC when I play a Frost's Perimeter Force.

 VERY happy with the results on all the bases.  You REALLY have to look to see the gaps.  On the closeup pictures you can see the rough edges of where I had cut into the greenstuff.  In real life it is hard to see.  Next time I will have to file a little more.

Back to 75mm Parachute Artillery Battery.  About half done with the first platoon's gun crews...so maybe 2 more weeks till I am all done.  And I have a surpise mod in the battery that will be pretty cool if I pull it off  :-)  Until then I will post some of my older works so visits won't be a waste of time for you.

Bocage!!!!

It arrived!!!!

Christmas came early!!!



I trade Luke from WWPD a US Parachute Company and a US Glider Company both a bunch of options for 30 feet of Bocage....and it came in the mail ... 

It is really a first class job.  The bases are VERY sturdy and not warped at all.  A great mix of dark and light foliage on the bocage and a good mix of tall and not quite as tall sections.  The trees Luke adds to the sections are pretty cool and a great mix of styles....and pretty cool way how he makes most of them too that gives a really good scale effect. 

All in all I would say 7 1/2 out of 7 1/2 bottles of Miracle Grow. 

Now for some pictures!!!!!!

Ain't no mistake that its Bocage and not a wall or a simple hedge.

Great Job Luke!

1st AT Plt (6 lber) Rebased

Just finished the rebasing of my 1st At Platoon (6 lbers) where I mistakenly based them on the large bases instead of the medium bases.  A little bit of the paint got messed up in the unbasing and rebaseing process, but I think I covered it up OK.

What they looked like before:

And after the rebasing:

A very tight fit on the medium base, but in game play it will make a big difference.  In fact in the game that I BatRep'ed earlier I had 2 platoons of 6lbers....one painted on the large base and one unpainted on the correct, medium base.  Having the smaller base allowed me to fit troops in better in the defense and when I was hit with Mike's mortars, he could hit the larger bases easier than he could the smaller.

Well worth the extra effort.

Still rebasing the Flamethrower team to 4 man team on a medium base from the 2 man team small base...and 2 other surprise teams....all on the cobblestone bases from Battlefront's plastic rubble bases.  Should be able to post those around mid week.  Then its a little finishing up 2 platoons from the 2nd Polish Dismounted Cavalry Company and back to my Brit Paras...the 8 gun 75mm Artillery Battery!!!!

BatRep Brit Pars vs American Tank Company

A friend (Mike) and I have been doing Blue-on-Blue "training" missions for a while. Each time we get a little further. First only lasted 1 1/2 turns....then we made it to 3 turns and then last Friday we not only made it to 7 turns we actually finished the game. It was a long game...almost 5 hours...mostly because we are both still pretty new at this and had to look a lot of stuff up. It also my first time using Frost and his special rules and it was Mike's first go with an American Tank Company. Normally he runs American Armored Rifles Battle was Cauldron and my brave Brit Paras were the defenders. Cauldron puts 1/2 my force in the center of the map. They have successfully infiltrated behind enemy lines and established a defensive position. The rest of my force would come on no earlier than turn 3 with delayed reserves. I did have 1 platoon standing by for an immediate ambush. The Americans placed half their platoons around my position at random and the rest of theirs would come on with normal reserves starting on turn one. Each side was 1500 points. The map was a road running across the middle of the short edge of the board through a little town with hills and woods and wheat fields all around that. I wanted to take my camera, but forgot and then about turn 2 I remembered my IPhone and started taking pictures (sorry for any quality issues). We do have some unpainted units as we are both still growing our forces and we had to use a stream to proxy for the road.

US Tank Company 4th Armored Division CiC (Sherman) 2IC (Sherman) Sherman Platoon (x4) Sherman Platoon (x4) Stuart Platoon Armored Pioneers Armored 81mm Mortars

Brit Para Frost's Perimeter Force Frost (Super-Uber Hero) CIC/ 2IC and 3 PIATs Para Infantry Platoon Para Infantry Platoon Para Assault Platoon (with PIAT and 1 Flamethrower Team) HMG Platoon 6lber AT Platoon 6lber AT Platoon 75mm Field Artillery Battery (8 guns)

SETUP AND DEPLOYMENT

UNITS IN RESERVE
US Tank Company 4th Armored Division 1 Sherman Platoon Platoon Stuart Platoon Sherman Platoon Stuart Platoon	Brit Para Frost's Perimeter Force Para Assault Platoon HMG Plt (2 guns) 75mm Artillery Battery Artillery Para Assault HMG

DEPLOYMENT SUMMARY

US Tank Company 4th Armored Division:- One Sherman platoon with CIC and 2IC go through the wheat fields on my right - Engineers come up over the hill in front of me (along the edge where my reserves will come) - 81mm Mortars deploy behind a hill to by front right (along the edge where my reserves will come) - Hellcats deployed along the left side closest the edge where Mike’s reserves would come in... Brit Para Frost's Perimeter Force:- Attached 2 guns from one AT Platoon to each Para Infantry Platoon as well as one HMG I know NOW that I can not do this...the Para list does not allow for combat attachments of these and this did have an impact on the battle.  Sorry Mike  :-(    ). - 6lber AT Platoon held in Immediate Ambush

TURN 1

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
US Tank Company 4th Armored Division None	Brit Para Frost's Perimeter Force

TURN 1 SUMMARY

US Tank Company 4th Armored Division:Shermans shoot at AT platoon that popped up in front of them from Immediate Ambush and Pioneers trade HMG shots with units in the town. Halftracks from Pioneers move up the hill to engage the AT platoon from the side (didn’t realize at the time these guys were out of command) Brit Para Frost's Perimeter Force:Immediate Ambush pops in the gap between a building and a hill in front of his Sherman Platoon and his CiC and 2IC, HMGs in town trade shots with Pioneers to no effect. AT gun with Para Infantry shoots at Pioneer halftracks with no effect.

TURN 2

Hellcats move to Wheat field and go after infantry

Shermans and AT guns trade shots

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
US Tank Company 4th Armored Division 1 Sherman 3 Hellcats & 1 Jeep 2 Pioneer halftracks and a team inside None	Brit Para Frost's Perimeter Force Para Infantry Squad and PIAT

TURN 2 SUMMARY

US Tank Company 4th Armored Division:Shermans come on board and join the Hellcats pounding the infantry in the town after several turns they start whittling down a few stands, but lose 3 Hellcats (we forgot the disengage rule). The CiC and 2IC and their Sherman platoon trade shoots and after several rounds of bailing and remounting lose a tank...Pioneer halftracks get as well. Brit Para Frost's Perimeter Force:Turns 2-4 were roughly the same...AT guns and Shermans trade shots; bailing a lot of Shermans and finally getting one! The AT Gun nearby gets a pair of Pioneer halftracks Then on the Hellcats side a Sherman platoon joins them and an AT gun in the town takes out 3 Hellcats!

TURN 3

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
US Tank Company 4th Armored Division 2 Sherman TD Platoon Break Pioneers Break None	Brit Para Frost's Perimeter Force Para Infantry Squad and PIAT

TURN 3 SUMMARY

US Tank Company 4th Armored Division:Shermans lose another tank and 2 more bail out on the CiC side but kill 2 guns (forgot to roll for Frost's special rule this time). Shermans on the other flank manage to take out an AT gun but Frost saves it and an infantry stand is lost instead. TD platoon lost another vehicle and break. Brit Para Frost's Perimeter Force:Para Assault Platoon comes in and hits the dug in US Pioneers from behind and break the platoon during assault; but lose a stand in the process

TURN 4

Para Assault head towards the mortars

Brit arty come on board

Shermans, 2IC and CiC work on the 6lbers

Stuarts take out PIAT teams and prepare to join the building assault

Shermans prepare to assault the buildings

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
US Tank Company 4th Armored Division Pioneer Platoon TD Platoon Most of the Mortar Platoon	Brit Para Frost's Perimeter Force A few Para Infantry squads PIATs

TURN 4 SUMMARY

US Tank Company 4th Armored Division:Mortars get surprised from behind by Brit arty direct firing and remaining mortar and PL move up the hill to hit the Para Assault Plt. Shermans and CIC/2IC continue to trade shots with AT Guns and knock one out but Frost saves it. Shermans assault and clear one building moving onto one objective...but it is contested by Paras still in a nearby building. Stuarts clear out some PIAT teams and prepare to join the Shermans. Mortar Platoon Leader kills one Para Assault team in shooting...but the Platoon Leader passes his Motivation test. Brit Para Frost's Perimeter Force:Para Arty comes on board and 5 guns direct fire into the mortars killing 2 of them. Para Assault platoon moves after the mortars and Mr. Hotstuff Flamethrower takes out the remaining mortar, but it passes its motivation test.

TURN 5

Shermans clear one building and head for the second....and the objective! And Paras assault back!

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
US Tank Company 4th Armored Division Pioneer Platoon TD Platoon Most of the Mortar Platoon	Brit Para Frost's Perimeter Force More Para Infantry squads PIATs

TURN 5 SUMMARY

US Tank Company 4th Armored Division:Shermans move into assault building on last objective and clear it...Killing Frost in the process!!!! Only the CiC is there and he can’t contest. Mortar Platoon leader fails his motivation test and that platoon breaks...Mike passes his Army motivation and can stay on board turn at least and if he passes his Army test at the start of his next turn he will win...if he fails it then he loses. Down to a single die roll Brit Para Frost's Perimeter Force:Arty hits the Shermans and Stuarts and do no damage. Nearby infantry assault the tanks...One platoon is stopped in defensive fire, but the other platoon is able to kill one tank..but not enough.

Game Summary

Mike rolls his Army Motivation and....he fails. Americans pull back and the Brits win the day. Fantastic battle and a great opponent. We played at a new FLGS in town and a lot of folks came by to see what we were up to and were VERY interested in joining us. Awesome. We did run into a lot of rules questions and some errors that we found out we made. Will post on those later.  One bigge is that I couldnt combat attach the HMGs and 6lbers to the Infantry platoons.  Sorry Mike  :-( Big lesson learned is BatReps taking alot of planning to make sure you get things done right.  Next time I will take better notes and more pictures  :-)

Generated by WWPD's BatRepper Software.

Brit Airborne Heavy Anti-tank Platoon

Finished the big boys of tank destruction!

Platoon Leader

1st Gun Section, Gun 1

1st Gun Section, Gun 2

2nd Gun Section, Gun 1

2nd Gun Section, Gun 2

Next up is a battle report of my first COMPLETE Flames of War game.  On the painting table now is the 6lber AT Plt being rebased...will finish that this week and then the rebasing of my Para Assault Flamethrower team.  I am also doing a couple of friends for him that I will keep a surprise.  Figured since I was doing rubble bases for the flamethrower team, I would do a couple more units I know were going to go on rubble bases.  And I am going to try and do a couple of cobblestone bases so stay tuned!