Avanti – What it means to the Tournament Scene
Today we are taking a look at what may be the most intriguing book to come out so far for Flames of War (FOW) MW V4, Avanti. In this article, you will read how Avanti will change the tournament scene.
Verison 4 has really become much more of a dice game than the more historical simulation that FOW Verison 3 was. In the shooting step, it is now easier to hit previously impervious units (veteran, gone to ground, concealed and long range). Players are now able to roll a 7 or 8. To do so is difficult, but not impossible.
It’s easier to get dig out pesky infantry since repeat bombardments force a re-roll of successful saves. The more dice you throw, the better chance you have of killing what you’re shooting at.
Currently, it seems the key to what Battlefront is pushing, is horde armies. The more models you’re pushing around the table, the better. Crusader Swarms. Gobs and gobs of armoured rifle stands bouncing around the table. Or that guy who brings as many Stuarts as he can fit in his list with some heavy guns behind them.
Heck, even my German list, which has done very well, is all about getting as many Panzer III Short 5cms on the table that I can. I support these with Marders and other low expensive German units.
But how does Avanti change this? Does Avanti have some secret tank that can’t be touched by Crusaders or Stuarts? No, it doesn’t. In this piece, I’ll look at the two reason I think the Italians are going to major players in the tournament scene.
First, Avanti fights fire with fire. It continues the trend of horde armies, it just does it better.
When I build a list for competitive play, there are several boxes I like to check. Most of us like to add, at a minimum, one template weapon. Some of us like a tank that can not be harmed from the front. We also have to make sure we have something to defend an objective.
My checklist is as follows: two template weapons, a mobile AT weapon (preferably one, that if it hits, will cause you go straight to firepower), infantry to sit on an objective and a fast moving unit to exploit gaps or catch units in the open. In addition, I usually like to take units that can assault objectives. These last are my primary points getters.
What I really covet in force design are Swiss Army Knives.
What does a red pocket knife with lots of doo-dads have to do with Flames of War?
A unit or weapon that gives more than one capability for an attack. For example, a tank team that can also bombard, but has the armor and anti-tank rating to also engage in tank duels. In Late War, this is the Sherman 105.
For Mid-War, I had been using the Panzer IV Short 7.5 cm to this point, but that changes in a big way with Avanti. The Semovente fills the same role for fewer points.
You can take up to six Semoventes in a single unit. You can use them to overwhelm your opponent in tank duels. rolling up an objective. They have the option to fire an artillery barrageif they don’t move. Six Semoventes with an artillery barrage of AT 2 FP 4+, or stop short and fire a six-gun artillery battery.
With either five or six guns in a battery, you can re-roll misses. If you drop your pre-ranged tokens in the right spots, you could start the barrage on turn one. Semoventes with re-roll misses (five or six gun batteries) and re-roll saves (repeat bombardment) will force your opponent to consider whether they need to move the units under the templates. I plan on taking two platoons of six Semoventes each to keep my opponent on their heels in the first turn.
Which is where you really can start having some fun. The M14/41 has six moving MG shots. Take a platoon of three, and you have 18 MG shots rolling up on an objective. Eighteen shots gives you plenty of chances to roll a six to hit Fearless Veteran infantry teams dug in and gone to ground. A six hits those troops just as easily as it will hit a Reluctant Conscript infantry team in the open. So with 18 MG shots, you’re hoping to pin the infantry if they un-pinned after that killer bombardment from the Semoventes.
The Semoventes, unfortunately, do not have smoke. You will have to look elsewhere for a smoke bombardment to help cover your M14/41s before their assault. Use the M14/41s to assault and clear objectives. The Semoventes should have softened up the resistance before the assault, and you should have multiple units of M14/41s to help keep the pressure spread out and catch any units moving in the open to help reinforce the objective.
The Italians in Avanti lack the mobile AT that I like. The 90mm on a Lancia? Yuck. Six Points each for something that causes a 4+ save and a firepower check. Unfortunately, my solution to this is to take a German Armoured Car formation just to take Marders, and then 2 formations of M14/41s and Semoventes.
Yes, this blocks you from getting access to the Italian support options. But, I couldn’t care less. I find the Italian infantry to be overpriced. The Italian Engineers strongly need a better tank assault rating. They were armed with explosive infantry and tank mines. You don’t think with tanks rolling over them they wouldn’t use these against the tanks?
They do have an ability called deadly, which says, “Will fight on until victory or death.” This gives them a 3+ Assault rating. I just guess they left all the explosive stuff at home before they hit the front. A platoon of five Breda, two Brixia, and two Flamethrowers is fifteen points.
I will say that I have not reviewed the cards yet for Avanti and that they could fix this issue, even though the Engineers are still to highly pointed to be worth it in competitive play.
Night Attack
I do know that one of the cards that the Italians get for Avanti is a card which grants the ability to night attack. If an Italian player chooses to take that card, combining the Italian formation with the German Armored Car formation with Marders just isn’t practical anymore. You will want to load up on M14/41s, Semoventes, L6/40s for the spearhead to get you close to the objective, and just mass assault as quickly and early as you can to win. The majority of people who use battleplans will choose to defend. I mean why not, there isn’t a lot of disadvantages to that. Using the Night Attack card with a list built to get in your face fast and early could change all of that.
Tournament Play
How will I use Avanti? Depends on the tournament. If you are going a tournament that is not using Battleplans than I would advocate for a balanced approach. That would include my two formations of Semoventes and M14/41s with no Italian support, so I can grab a German Armoured Car formation and Marders.
If I’m going to go to a tournament with Battleplans, then I would take the Night Attack card, and the two formations of M14/41s and Semoventes. In addition, include L6/40s for spearhead, and heck, maybe a third formation of just M14/41s, just so you can have a steady supply of tanks rolling on top of the objective, one after the other.
alright i think you have a couple issues wrong with your assessment of avanti. first though ,do horde armies really win tournies that often? not that it isn’t viable with the italians as they have big platoons that can take a hit but those lists tend to bleed points and though you might get wins every time you wont ever get the points you needed to get first place.
when it comes to what you have said about the tanks i pretty much fully agree. they are really nasty little buggers that punch well above there weight and the semoventes can be really nasty in bombardment with 5 or 6 guns.
the lancia 90mm is also a pretty decent little weapon system. though it is a little more vulnerable to artillery than its ground mount version it still always has a save and bulletproof cover, can move 14 inches with an avanti move, and also can use both shoot and scoot and blitz moves to attack from cover. also opponents love to freak out over them and focus there attention on trying to wipe them out which you can use to your advantage.
now my biggest problem is your dismissal of italian infantry. overpriced? for 9 points you get a full platoon of bersaglieri that if you compare to an american infantry platoon (the only comparable sized unit) has not only more shots can move almost just as fast acroos the board with avanti, are hit on a 4+ are confident trained compared to confident green and have the possibility to be elite making them even better. combined with there heavy weapons and everything rallying on a 3+ makes for a deadly combo.
i have done a couple games of flames with the rifle company and my british opponent gets run over by my platoons when they go on the offense as they are on top of you right away and you cant bring enough firepower to bear to stop them, especially if they smoke the hell out of you with both mortar platoons.
Thank you for your comment!
First, if you take a Horde list to a tournament, you can’t expect to win alone by the list. You need to know how to play it and play it fast. The more dice you throw, the better the chance you have at killing what your throwing dice at. Also, having a lot of stands may cause your opponent to not have enough shots to go around. In our area, we usually score out the rankings based off of Wins than Points. As far as bleeding points, if you watch Chris Fretts and Joe Lewis play, when they have a platoon getting ready to test, they will take it out of harms way. Is it a bit gamey? Yes, but I will say that when I followed suit, that my scores got better. It’s like playing Japanese, you are going to lose some stands, and you have to be prepared for it.
I think most regular tournament players will deal with the Lancia the same way I will, just put a template over it. Your opponent has a 50% chance to save, and you most likely have a 66% chance to pass the fire power. Granted you have to hit it. You could choose to ignore it. I prefer the cheaper Marders.
I’m sorry, I just don’t get excited about the Italian Infantry. I think at 9 Points for 9 Stands which have no AT asset is expensive. I’m rolling Tanks into that with little fear of rolling a 1 in my Save. I’d consider a Weapons Platoon if I had points left over and wanted to leave something on an Objective with a mobile platoon near by to support.
Yes. The cards will also make a bit of a difference as well. Having the access to the two different recon companies is huge (essentially turn the old squadron esplorante company from North Africa combat platoons and weapon platoons into a formation that is either purely L6/40s or AB41s) and then the Fucilieri option (-2 points for Rifle Platoons/Weapon Platoons or Assault Mortars or -1 for 47/32, 81mm mortars or HMGs, for a drop to Reluctant and Green skill) gives a bit more flexibility. While I feel the Assault Mortar platoon is expensive at 5 points for the 3 stands, at 3 points it’s absolutely worth taking since the green skill doesn’t matter much as their mission is going to be to sit back at about 14 inches from the assault target and Direct Fire Smoke before the Bersaglieri platoon goes in.
I agree on some points and disagree on others you made. I think the Assault Mortar Platoon is great. Roll up with your assault force, and have the mortars behind, either firing 18 shots not moving or 9 shots moving, good chance to pin your opponent. I don’t like the L6/40 or AB41 formation, as they need a 5 to hit in an assault. Yuck!
I wonder how a US rifle coy would fare vs an Italian footy list…. I think in a tournament setting there is a point where too much horde means you time out. For Cold Wars.. which is 115pts MW I have just about every single model in my collection on the table.. so if I have to attack.. not sure if I’ll ever make it past turn 4
We played 115 Points at Barragecon. Very few time outs. If you take a large army though, you need to be able to play it fast. Sitzkrieg and Large Armies don’t play well together. I agree with you, I’d be curious to see how an Italian Infantry list fares against either an American Rifle Company or an Armored Rifle Company.
Blah blah blah. Let’s see some Baterps to back up these theories! 😉
I plan on rocking a YUGE amount of Italians at the Cold Wars 115pt MW tourney. So we shall see if my bad dice rolling overcomes any theoryhammer 🙂
Grazie del bel regalo!