Great War Forces- Teased

Many of you have been wondering about what will be in the Great War book, which is due out in March 2019. Before we delve into that I need to ask if you have taken advantage of the Great War sale being offered by Battlefront? If not, this article will make you want to stock up on what is left in stock.
The new book will be a lot like ‘Nam and Fate of a Nation; and it will contain the updated Version 4 rules for Great War and they will be the same as the new standard rules for all of the games. The Great War book will also contain all of the forces and special rules for the Great War in one big beefy volume.
The game is still played on a 4’x4’ table and the four missions developed especially for the Great War game is also included in the book. The special rules in the previous book are the same unless they have been incorporated into the rules with the switch to Version 4.

What is New?
Most of the formations in this game are infantry units and are broken down as either being a line infantry formation or an assault formation.
Germany
Infantry Formations
– Infanterie Kompanie: Same as in the first book but only comes as Confident/Trained.
– Siegfriedstellung Kompamnie: New unit representing troops who defended the Hindenburg line.

Assault Formations
– Strosskompanie Same as from the first book.
– Jagerkompanie: New unit representing the Prussian 27th Jager Battalion (Finn), made up of ethnic Finns
No new support formations.
Both new formations use the German infantry platoon blisters.

Great Britain
Infantry Formations
– Line Division Rifle Company

Assault Formations
– Elite Division Rifle Company
– ANZAC/Canadian Rifle Company: These units were available via a digital download

Cavalry Formation
– Cavalry Squadron: New unit
Support Formations
– British Armored Car Troop: New unit
– Canadian Armored Car Troop: New Unit
– All other support units are the same

France
Infantry Formations
– Fusiliers Company: The Metropolitan force from the first book.
– Fusiliers Russe Company: A new unit that brings the Russian Legion that fought in the west into the game. Uses the French infantry platoon blister in the Tirailleur brown uniform.
Assault Formation
– Tirailleurs Company: The Colonial force from the first book,
– Harlem Hellfighters Company: Digital Download from 2015, was a “US” unit and now is under the French. Uses the French infantry platoon blister in the Tirailleur brown uniform.

Breakthrough Formation
– Cavalry Squadron: New Unit

Support Units
– French Armored Car Troop: New unit
– All other support units are the same

United States
Infantry Formation
– 42nd Infantry Division Company
– 1st Infantry Division Company

Assault Formation

– 4th Marine Brigade
Support Units
– No change

Belgium
– Belgian Infantry Company: New unit, uses the French infantry platoon blister in the Tirailleur brown uniform. Uses French HMG and 3” Stokes Mortars and Field Gun models.
– Support formations: Can take French and British tank units in support.

Other New Stuff
– HMG nests and pillboxes have their own stats for each nationality which clears up the rules on how to use them.
– The “More Missions” section adds 9 additional missions and uses the “More Missions” format to determine mission selection.
– I also know someone will ask, yes cavalry can dismount.

What to purchase?
I would buy a bunch of French infantry blisters and a few of the French Command packs. Based on how you paint the models the French forces can be French, Belgian, Russian Legion, or US Harlem Hellfighters since they all share the same format and models.

Also, remember that a lot of the colonial troops were from places like Senegal, so you can have a platoon that can be either Tirailleurs or Harlem Hellfighters. The British units can be any of the four formations mentioned above because they all had identical uniforms. If you plan on fielding a US force the fact that the Hellfighters have been rightfully moved under the French you can use the same models for both the Army and Marines.

I do realize that the Marine uniform was of a darker green shade (mine are painted Brown Violet), however by 1918 most of the Marine uniforms had worn out and they were issued army brown uniforms, but retained the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor on the army issued clothing. If you need your Marines in green, now is your time to grab a bunch extra blisters to make your force more historical.

I think this is all the folks at Battlefront will let me talk about for now. Please check out the Great War discussion in the NoDiceNoGlory forums.