ETC 2025, the event of the year for the Flames of War players!

By Paolo Paglianti

As every year, the ETC – European Team Championship for Flames of War takes place towards the end of July. It’s probably the most important tournament of the year for fans of the game, and the whole FOW community, including US and New Zealand.

I was lucky enough to take part in 2022 as a “mercenary” for Team Iceland in Belgium, then returned in 2023 and 2024 with Team Italy, again in Belgium and then in Poland. This year, the ETC was held in Austria, in the town of Loben, and Team Italy was back on the field! Let’s see how it went!

The ETC works a bit differently from standard tournaments: there’s a good amount of strategy even before the actual games begin, when team captains try to secure the most favorable pairings possible.

Here’s how it works: each captain makes a “first offer,” and then two players/armies are assigned to the opponent’s choice. Each player put forward as a first offer chooses which of the two opposing armies they want to face. This process is repeated twice, and the remaining players are then paired automatically.

This year’s format was Mid War, including the newly released Pacific book, and played at 100 points. Each six-player team could only field a specific army once. Additionally, in each of the six games, teams had to assign two Attack, two Maneuver, and two Defend stances. The stances were not fixed but had to be secretly selected before the pairing phase.

Below you’ll find the lists submitted by each team, which were published about a month before the event.

ETC 2025 Lists

As you’ll notice, the American army was by far the most popular choice, fielding a fleet of Lees that would make Patton jealous. This is because, between the last Mid War ETC (2023) and this one, Battlefront made some adjustments through the new Dynamic Points system: the result is that medium tanks have become much more cost-effective, while light tanks have become far less efficient. And what better medium tank than one with two guns?

My Army
Team Italy was led by our captain Livio Tonazzo, a Flames of War veteran, fielding a pure Hungarian defensive list. Also on the team were Flaviano Maggioni with a flexible Romanian list capable of both maneuver and defense, Antonio Soncini and Matteo Vertuan with German and Soviet maneuver lists, respectively. On the attack front, we had the brave Giacomo Velini with his Americans and a fleet of Lees, and myself, fielding the newly released Japanese from the Pacific book!

 

The Team Italy, ready for the first game of ETC 2025!

The Japanese list was the result of testing and theory crafting by Livio and Flaviano, who convinced me to try it out and eventually bring it to the ETC instead of my usual British list: “It’s perfect for a player who likes to attack and throw himself at anything in front of him – including machine-gun nests.”  I’m still not sure whether that was a compliment or a warning — but after a few test games, I was convinced. (You can find the article about how I painted the army — kindly sent by Battlefront for review on NDNG)

My list is made up of two formations: one infantry and one armoured. Japanese infantry has a very unique rule that no other army in Flames of War shares. Normally, when launching an assault, the defending player may shoot with any unit within 8”. If the attacking platoon takes 5 or more hits (even with no casualties), the assault is automatically stopped. This makes assaults risky and something you usually need to plan carefully — for example, with my Late War British, I’d use flamethrower tanks to inflict massive damage before moving in and reducing enemy defensive fire.

The Japanese? They just don’t care.

They keep charging even if every machine gun on Okinawa opens up on them. The difference is, instead of saving hits on a 3+ like usual, they do it on a 4+. That means about half of your bases will probably fall to defensive fire — but if any make it through, they hit hard.

Here is my army, ready for action!

The Armoured formation includes an HQ and two platoons of Chi-Ha tanks — small, lightly armoured Japanese tanks (Front 3!) with an outdated gun (AT 8 and Overworked). But they’re great for shredding light armoured vehicles like SdKfz or Universal Carriers, which are often bristling with MGs. They also assault infantry well, and they have a special rule: they fire during defensive fire and fight in assaults even if they’re Bailed Out.

Both formations have Night Attack — in the More Missions scenarios where the defender places minefields, the Japanese may choose to attack at night, making it harder for enemies to hit them.

The list is rounded out with:

• Three artillery batteries with smoke – essential to screen off the most dangerous enemy threats during assaults.
• One scout recce tank platoon with Spearhead (never go to a tournament without one!).
• Two Human Bullet command cards, which improve rolls against enemy tanks in close combat.
• And finally, the Akinosuke Oka card, which makes the HQ very “persuasive”: within 8”, it grants Rally on 2+ and Counterattack on 2+, instead of the usual 4+ and 3+.

Game One – Ian Brook’s Hungarians (Team England)

In the first pairing, luck wasn’t entirely on our side — we were matched against a very strong team: Team England, led by captain Graham Wilmott. I was paired with Ian Brook, a very skilled player whom I always enjoy facing — like at the Warfare tournament. Unsurprisingly, his list was a defensive one.

 

Here’s the battlefield: a pretty standard setup for the Japanese.

 

The mission was Bridgehead, (here you can find the PDF with all mission, BTW) with minefields and Night Attack. Ian kept one platoon of veteran infantry in ambush, and deployed two lines of defense spread across the entire front.

Analyzing his setup, I noticed he had left a gap on the right flank, on a snowy hill that I immediately liked. Since the minefields were concentrated on the left, I decided to commit my entire army to pushing on the right.

On Turn 1, I advanced across the line, but my infantry failed their Follow Me, so I couldn’t get close enough for a first-turn assault. My tanks moved along the right flank and began flanking Ian’s line. Eventually, Toldi and Marder reserves would arrive, so it was essential that my Chi-Ha were already in place on the hill to welcome them.

A not-so-happy Ian staring at all those Japanese pouring and coming from fields and hills.

On Turn 2, I prepared for the first assault. I successfully pinned the Hungarian infantry and launched the charge, pushing them back toward the objective. The infantry held firm, but once I had cleared out the MGs, they lacked the firepower to do serious damage — every turn, I managed to push them back by about 6”.

As expected, the reserves came in, but by then I was on the objective with two healthy platoons. With a final decisive charge, I forced the remnants of the Hungarian troops back beyond 4” from the objective. 8–1 to me.

The Italy–England match ended 3–1 in our favor.

Italy and England teams after the game: the Italians are the ones gesturing wildly while talking, the English the ones holding beer bottles!

 

Game Two – Robert Jones’ Romanians (Team Wales)

In round two we were matched against Team Wales, which included my friend and NDNG colleague Tom Gall, playing alongside his son. I would’ve loved a rematch with Tom — the last time we played, he beat me in the final turn at the 2024 US Masters.
But the dice of fate (and captain decisions) paired me with Robert Jones and his Romanians.

Unlike the Hungarians, the Romanian army has impressive mobility, and most importantly, Robert’s list featured 10 T-4s — essentially Panzer IVs — against which I could rely only on hope and luck.

Here’s his list:

Robert played Maneuver, but thankfully the mission was Fighting Withdrawal, the only one in the More Missions grid that includes minefields even in Attack vs Maneuver — so once again, I attacked at night.
The bad news: Robert had all units on the board from the start, and thanks to Strategic Withdrawal, he’d begin removing one unit per turn starting on Turn 3. If I didn’t seize the objective by Turn 8, he would win automatically.

Here’s the deployment:

Robert placed one infantry platoon and a tank platoon on the left, protected by minefields and hills. On the right, he positioned motorized infantry (with SdKfz support) and another T-4 platoon in the center. The third tank platoon was held in ambush.

Just like in my game against Ian, I spotted a wide opening on the right flank, free of minefields. So I decided to attack there, choosing to face two T-4 platoons rather than charge headlong through the mines.

Turn 1, I advanced with all three infantry platoons — spaced out and in line. Since it was night, units had to roll for visibility, and by staying at 12”, I ensured about one-third of enemy units couldn’t shoot. My tanks also moved right, ready to roll up the flank.

Robert revealed his ambush immediately: he deployed it in the wheat field behind his infantry — an excellent position. From there, they opened fire, together with the rest of the line, and eliminated around ten infantry bases across my three platoons.

But this allowed me, in Turns 2 and 3, to shift my Chi-Ha to the right and start targeting the SdKfz transports, shielded by those T-4s pretending to be Panzer IVs. Robert had to move his tanks to get shots off, halving their ROF — even so, he destroyed a few of my tanks. I could only imagine the damage if he’d been firing at full ROF.

Just after the final assault: the tanks on the right pushed away infantry and Panzer IVs, while the infantry assaulted and destroy the last infantries on the objective. The white stripes are the smoke barrages.

Turn 3, I launched smoke and made my first infantry charge on the outermost edge of the Romanian line. This limited defensive fire, and by winning the assault, I managed to push the tanks back over 6”.

That gave me the opportunity to charge the remaining infantry with my tanks, while the T-4s — now over 8” away — couldn’t intervene. My brave little Japanese tanks did their job, and cleared the objective of cleared the objective of the last Romanian infantry. 8–1 to me.

The Italy–Wales match ended 6-0 in our favor.

The Wales-Italy teams. Thanks God, we didn’t play rugby! Notice our friend Tom Gall crushed under my arm!

Third Game – British Pacific by Nathan Krahn (Team Northern Ireland)

On Saturday morning we faced Team Northern Ireland, and I was glad to reconnect with old friends like John Cedarberg and Keith Gilmour, who I often meet at tournaments in the New World. My matchup was against another US player, Nathan Krahn, fielding a British Pacific force with a stunning 30 6-pdrs and 15 Universal Carriers.

Here’s his list.

It wasn’t an easy matchup: the 6-pdrs shredded my tanks, and the Universal Carriers could easily mow down my infantry. On top of that, the list included solid British and Indian infantry — extremely dangerous in assaults, almost on par with my Japanese. The mission was Dogfight. Here’s the deployment.

 

I placed one forward objective and one further back, hoping to force Nathan to split his forces. But he didn’t fall for it. Instead, he laid down a line of minefields and deployed three UC units, a platoon of infantry, and 6-pdrs to cover the exposed objective. Then he built the rest of his defensive line with two more 6-pdr platoons and infantry. He kept one UC unit in ambush and placed the American Shermans and three more 6-pdr platoons in reserve. Clearly — and rightly — he feared my infantry more than my light tanks.

Should I attack the nearby objective, heavily defended by 9 UCs, 6 6-pdrs, infantry, and mines, or try the longer route, which was less dangerous? Since the left flank (bottom of the image) had fewer UCs and I was relying heavily on infantry charges, I chose to avoid the minefields and attack from the opposite side.

I advanced across the line and launched a charge on Turn 1, pushing back the Indian infantry and 6-pdrs with the help of a well-placed smoke barrage.

Nathan re-formed his line and started moving the UCs toward my infantry, springing his ambush as well. Fortunately, with night and smoke in play, his shooting wasn’t too punishing.

On Turn 2, I laid down another smoke barrage and assaulted the center. The key was to eliminate the 6-pdrs — if they failed their counterattack roll (4+), they couldn’t fall back and would be destroyed. The first Japanese platoon failed the charge, but the other two succeeded, taking out a total of 10 6-pdrs.
This opened the field for my tanks, which moved toward the left side and the more distant objective, now lightly defended. Meanwhile, my infantry reorganized and aimed for the initially exposed objective — but now from the center woods, thus avoiding the deadly minefields.

By Turn 4, my tanks had wiped out five or six UCs and were moving toward the now-vulnerable objective. Nathan brought in his Shermans and sent them toward the upper objective, threatened by my infantry, but he soon realized the real threat was coming from my tanks — and couldn’t stop them in time.

The final turn. My tanks are on the fartest objective, while the remenant of my infantries are preparing to charge on the other one. 

The next turn, I cleared the UCs from the objective and won the game 8–1.

Meanwhile, Team Italy vs. Northern Ireland ended 4–2 in our favor. A very good result, with a super team like NI.

North Ireland and Italy teams pose for a striking photo! Ciao John and Keith, see you at next US tournament!

Game Four – Japanese by Tony Davis (Team USA)

Like the Northern Irish and the Swiss, Team USA is a regular opponent at our ETCs. Until now, at past ETCs when paired with USA, I had always played my friend Vicente Arroyo, but this time I faced Tony Davis and his Japanese in an Attack vs Attack mirror match.

Here’s his list: a lot more infantry than mine, but no tanks at all.

The mission is Counterstrike, and I win the roll to attack — a great start, since being the attacker in this mission is a real advantage.
I have two options: I can go for the objective in Tony’s deployment zone, where he’s packed in a wall of Japanese infantry, or I can go for the one in open ground, which I’ve placed more than 4” away from all the ruins to favor my tanks. I go for the open-ground objective, because if I take it first, Tony will have a hard time pushing me off it with infantry alone.

Here’s the deployment:

It’s similar to Warhammer 40,000 Horus Heresy. At the bottom, the Army of the True Emperor. At the top, the Navy of the False one. 

Thanks to the Spearhead move from my tankettes, pretty much my entire army starts within 16” of the objective.
Tony has the first turn and moves toward the artillery I’ve set up in my backline, as well as the strip of ruins and tank obstacles on the top edge.

In my first turn, I move up and secure the buildings around the objective with all three infantry platoons.

Turn two: Tony’s first reserves arrive and deploy on my left flank. That’s on me — I had mistakenly thought they’d come in from the upper quadrant. Luckily, the Japanese low AT guns don’t do anything. I respond to this new threat by sending over an infantry platoon and a tank platoon, which over the next two turns will wipe out a naval infantry unit and the anti-tank guns.

Meanwhile, Tony knocks out my 105mm battery, but the tankettes rush to support and heavily punish the infantry that took them out.

POV of a Gun Battery getting assaulted by 14 angry Japanese!

Tony then gathers his remaining two infantry units for a final assault on the center objective. He makes it to my tanks, and despite using his Human Bullet cards, he only manages to destroy one. I lose the assault and am forced to fall back.

However, in the following turn I counterattack and wipe out the rest of his infantry with my two tank platoons.

Final score: 6–3, in a fun and very one-sided match in my favor.
Next time, it won’t be so easy to beat Tony!

Team Italy vs Team USA: 2–3

USA and Italy team, after the match. Another bunch of very familiar faces!

Game Five – Americans by Kornel Kurtis (Team Poland)

Oh boy, this is trouble! On Sunday morning, we face the very strong Team Poland and, after pairings, I end up against Kornel with his Americans. Here’s his list:

Practically all US steel and guns! The nightmare of every infantry army, the horror movie for any Japanese player!

To make things worse, I draw Attack and he draws Maneuver: the mission is Valley of Death, played on a table almost completely free of obstacles for lines of sight. Here’s the deployment.

“I have a bad feeling…”

An impossible mission — but I’m going to try everything. I place one objective in the houses at the far-left corner, and another in the center. Since, besides all the other bad luck in this game, I also have immediate reserves, my plan is to deploy infantry as far forward as possible and then wait for the tanks, hoping to make something happen.

Turn 1: No reserves. I advance infantry on the left flank, where I have a hill behind and a nice wheat field to hide troops. Kornel doesn’t make mistakes: he keeps most of his Lees more than 6” away from the wheat field to avoid Sneak on Assault. Meanwhile, on his turn, he starts machine-gunning my three infantry units.

On turn 2, still no sign of my tanks. I decide to attempt an assault on the far end of Kornel’s line, also because there’s another bad news: if I’m not within 8” of the central objective by turn 4, I lose automatically. Better start gaining some inches. Unfortunately, despite a smoke Next turn, the tanks arrive, but the left flank is already compromised with two infantry units reduced to scraps. I try a desperate dash toward the center objective, while using artillery to try and take out some transports and jeeps, but with no success.

Over the next two turns, I push with my two tank platoons, but Kornel gives nothing away: he moves all his Lees to create a well-prepared reception committee.

Turn 6: I manage to get on the objective, and if I were extremely lucky and could bail out some Lees, I might even hope for an undeserved victory. But the dice gods, rightly so, don’t give me a shower of 6s, and the match ends as expected: 1-8 to Kornel, who played as the favorite without making a single mistake. The Polish team is getting more and more dangerous!

Italy – Poland ends 2-4, ouch!

Italy – Poland teams, another match happening often at ETC!

 

Game Six – Germans by Stefano Regazzoni (Team Switzerland)

To close the ETC in style, what better match than one against our cousins from Switzerland? Their team is full of phenomenal players, and I already know it won’t be an easy game. I’m paired against Stefano, a longtime friend and a regular at my tournaments in Milan.

His list, from practice games, has always given me a hard time: he truly has everything—artillery, assault tanks, medium-heavy tanks, excellent infantry, even flamethrowers.

Since it’s Attack vs Attack, the mission is the classic meeting engagement Encounter. Here’s the deployment:

Stefano holds in reserve the T-34s stolen from the Russians, the Nebelwerfer battery, and two Bunkerflaks, which are almost useless against me. He deploys infantry on each objective, then on the left the nasty assault Panzer I (Top 2 and Front 8!) and on the right flamers and Stummel.

I leave all tanks in reserve, position artillery as hidden as possible, and place infantry on each objective, with the third in the center ready to support wherever needed.

Stefano starts advancing with the Panzer I toward my infantry—and I literally have nothing to stop them. I sacrifice some infantry to slow him down and prevent him from shifting into high gear, hoping the tanks arrive as soon as possible. Luckily, Stefano is a bit hesitant attacking with only three tanks: on the fourth turn my first platoon finally arrives, but it comes in on the wrong side of the table, on the right.

Since the best defense is attack, I advance with tanks and infantry on the right flank and take up position on the hill, protected by a smoke screen. My tanks are also overworked, so if I shot after moving against the Stummel or flamers in the woods, I’d only hit on a 6—better to hold and wait behind the safe screen of the smoke.

Meanwhile, Stefano’s T-34s arrive on the left flank, and he launches a combined assault. Fortunately, the first attack fails, and with the return fire from one of my guns, I manage to knock out a T-34. Stefano reorganizes, but meanwhile my tanks arrive with the HQ—fortunately on the left flank, or the game would have been lost.

I’m tempted to send the HQ behind the T-34s to hit them from the rear, but I prefer to play it safe: I move close to the objective and position myself so the T-34s can neither move nor fire on me. Within two turns, Stefano tries to assault with the T-34s and Panzer I, but my Chi-Ha tanks survive three T-34 hits. They reply from stationary positions with their AT8 guns and, to the great satisfaction of the Emperor, manage to bail two enemy tanks. My infantry assault and wipe them out.

With the left flank threat neutralized, I move to assault on the right. The tanks position to target their natural enemies, the Stummel, while the two surviving flamers from the Japanese artillery fire take out some infantry in the houses near the objective (I was very luck to destroy many open top vehicles with artillery AT2!). My Te-Ke tanks flank the enemy, destroy the newly arrived Nebelwerfer, and assault the infantry from behind, also eliminating a Bunkerflak that fails a cross check in the woods. Unfortunately, their morale breaks at the worst moment, and Stefano manages to repel them.

But he doesn’t give up: despite the setback on the left, he sends his Panzer I toward my exposed objective on the right.

On the final turn, one of us will win. If I manage to assault with the Chi-Ha tanks and avoid Stefano’s counterattack, I win. If I’m repelled, Stefano captures my objective and wins. His surviving Bunkerflak hits two of my tanks but only manages to bail them. When his infantry assaults, three tanks react—even those bailed, thanks to the Japanese special rule!—and I manage to repel the assault.

A very contested 6-3, and a fantastic, thrilling game down to the last dice roll!
Team Italy vs Team Switzerland: 4-1

A Surprise Finish

After the loss against Poland, I had considered the podium out of reach. But then, a twist! The United States and Northern Ireland draw 2-2, while Poland loses 4-2 to Spain. This allows us to climb to the podium in second place, tied on Big Points with Poland, who take the victory thanks to the Battlefront point difference. A well-deserved win for them, and we’re absolutely thrilled with this fantastic second place! Third place goes to the United States, also a regular fixture on the podium.

 

 

As usual, Italy gets an ammunition… I mean, admonition for partying too loud and hard!

But it’s not over: our captain Livio Tonazzo also wins the Best Axis General award, while my Polish opponent Kornel takes home Best Allied General—both absolutely deserved!

 

Below, you can also see the Best Painted Army, the stunning Russian army by Petter Therén from Team Sweden.

Best Painted army – team to France! I love that dog!

Most Sportsmanlike Team: USA (with Iceland and Sweden)

 

What can I say, it was a fantastic weekend, where I caught up with over 120 friends from all over Europe, the United States, and even New Zealand. The ETC continues to be the most challenging and engaging tournament of the year, and a big applause goes to the Austrian organizers, Kevin and his team, who put together an absolutely flawless event.

Thanks also to Ian for his score management software, which I will start using in my tournaments next season. If you organize tournaments, I suggest to have a look at his Combat Command site.

Finally, a big thank you to Battlefront and especially Matt Sulley, who continue to support these events magnificently!

The ritual dinner with the English Team. Matt from Battlefront and Claire got a delicious Italian Pasta!

Italian team on the way to Austria, facing the most challenging action: three days without decent pizza and lasagna.

 

“Do you know how good is Italian espresso with sakè?”.

For three days, a random town in Europe becames the capital of WW2 wargaming! Every pub has some friendly faces! Here is the US Team testing European beers

My friends Morten Peter and Richard Hardy, my beloved and favourite Scottish Captain! Thanks, Richard!

 

The Spanish team, ready for action! They did very well at the tournament, beating the Polish Team!

 

My teammate and dear friend Davide Ranzani, my long-time sparring partner from the Milan Club, proudly playing with the Austrian team.

The Belgian team with Robby Notermans and his wonderful wife Hilde — and yes, we’re organizing the European series for the FOW Nationals again!

 

North Ireland team, again testing some European beers!

 

The venue was great — lots of space, very clean, and plenty of tables for everyone! Each team had a table and each player received a personalized Dice Tray. Love it!

This is what happens when you ask the Swiss guy Raphael to take a photo of your team — you find a surprise in your camera roll!
‘You’re way too loud and chaotic — you should be playing with Team Italy!’

 

Kristian Lyngvald from Team Denmark and Etienne Dufour from Team Swiss

Team England Captain Graham Willmott and the Portoguese one Antonio Costa. And some beers.