Be the Best: From Mid to Late Desert British forces with Fortress Europe

Finally, the Late War has come! After two years from V4 release, we’re nearing to the most significant and hyped WW2 period, the latter two years of intense fighting towards Berlin. Battlefront is going to launch Late period with Fortress Europe, the first Late War book covering the period between the end of Mid-War period to D-Day.

The focus of this book is to ferry players from the desert and Russian plains to the later stages of war pre-D-Day. So, for British, we’re talking about the invasion of the Italian boot. In Mid, the British generals can count on a single book that is a bit outdated if compared to the last German Ghost Panzer army list. If you played a game between 8th Army vs Ferdinand or Panzer IV spam you’ll surely have that “unbeatable” feeling.  We can still win the day, since FOW scenarios are based on taking and defending objectives, but it’s really hard when you face lots of frontally uncrackable tanks. Well, in late-war this is going to change…

Since we received the “review PDF” from Battlefront, I devoured it. On the whole, Fortress Europe is an awesome book. It has expanded army lists for all European major armies: US, URSS, Germans and British. Italy, in late ’43, already surrendered – if you want to simulate a Sicily battle, you’ll need to stick the Mid books, because Mid and Late lists are not compatible. The unit costs have been totally revised, both for better balancing and considering that in later stages, WW2 saw a far greater number of tanks in action. For this reason, the big winner is the medium tank: on the average, medium tanks like Sherman and Panzer IV cost half in Fortress Europe of what they cost in Mid books. Since infantry price isn’t changed, in general, I think we will have much more armors on our battlefields in Late war games.

What the British Generals lost from Mid to Early

Basically, all the “light” tanks like Crusaders, Grant, Honeys, and Valentine are gone. So, no more “light tank spams” so hated (by our opponents, at least) in Mid, and no more 109 points armies with 19 Crusaders. We also lose the mighty 17/25 battery (but you will be happy for what get in exchange!) and the Hurricane – sadly it seems we left all of them in Africa.

The full British order of battle in Fortress Europe; we lost the Hurricane, but we have plenty of 17 PDR to field.

New costs, lots of tanks

The Sherman platoons will be a common sight: with a new cost of four points per tank, they are the real bargain. Armour and stats are identical, but now they come in platoons of four tanks, one of which can be upgraded to the feared Firefly – actually, the only new vehicle from Mid, together with the Russian T34 / 85mm. Another good news is that the morale is now on 4+, no more “Fight another day” trait. The Firefly has a powerful 17 PDR gun with AT 14 and 3+ of firepower, so a real headache for every tank commander except the Ferdinand.

Another good value is the Churchill. Gone are the days when you paid 11 points for a single Churchill: now for the same price you can almost field three of them (actually, 12 points). You can mix up Churchills, Shermans and Stuarts in huge, almost unbreakable 6 platoons formation.

“When a man with a Panzer IV meets a man with a Firefly, the man with the Panzer IV will be a dead man” – Lieutenant Clint Eastwood, discussing the strategy after Rome fell. 

Bulldogs!

Infantry is almost identical to Mid counterpart: slightly cheaper (10 points instead of 11), and it comes with an upgraded PIAT (AT 10/5+) base. Good news also for the 6 PDR detachments: the same cost, but AT 11, so they are able to worry almost any medium tank in sight, and be totally ruinous if charged (but no more 3 guns platoons, only 2 or 4 of them).

Great news also for supports: the Priest is cheaper (four tanks for 16 points), but the real star is the M10 SP Anti Tank. Four M10 with a devastating British PDR 17 gun (AT 14/ 3+) for a mere 18 points, something every British player in his right mind will field. A nice upgrade also for the Daimler troop: you can have the same troop as in Mid (but cheaper, 2 points) or upgrade one of the Daimler with an 8 AT gun, for the same 3 points you spent in Mid.

“Ho Ho Ho, now I have 8 M10s!” – Captain John McClain, somewhere near Montecassino, March 1944.

My (first) lists

Since I already fielded the M10 as US Allies in Mid, I can play the following list right out of the box and with no more expenses/paint, except the single Firefly.

Rifle Company

HQ (2 bases)

Rifle Platoon (7 Bren, 1 PIAT, 1 mortar)

Rifle Platoon (7 Bren, 1 PIAT, 1 mortar)

Mortar Platoon (6 bases)

Vickers Machine Gun Platoon (4 bases)

6 PDR Platoon (4 guns)

Support

Priest troop (4 tanks)

Sherman troop (4 tanks, one of which is a Firefly)

4 M10 17 PRD (4 tanks)

Sherman Observer

Bofors AA Troop (3 guns)

Kittyhawk flight (2 planes)

Uncle Sam, can you lend me some Sherman tanks? 19 would be nice, thanks! – The Brits.

This is a “classic” list working on the best part of the British army: its infantry, still the best around with 3+/3+ of Assault and Counterattack. I think we will see fewer infantries in Late war games and tournaments, but two huge units will still be able to defend or contest the usual two objectives we place in almost all scenarios.

The huge upgrade from the Mid-War period is in those five tanks we now have with AT 14. They can knock out almost any tank. I also think the Bofors will come really handy as the “new” planes we will see in Late-War could be really a thorn in the flesh. Since we have one of the best AA units, why not field it?

An “all tank” version would be

Churchill Italy Armoured Squadron

Churchill HQ (3 tanks)

Churchill Troop (3 tanks)

Sherman troop (4 tanks, one of which is a Firefly)

Sherman troop (4 tanks, one of which is a Firefly)

Support

Priest troop (4 tanks)

4 M10 17 PRD (4 tanks)

Sherman Observer

Bofors AA Troop (3 guns)

Daimler Armoured Troop (3 tanks, one with 8 AT)

A more fragile army, but much stronger list, with a respectful punch and an infantry unit to keep one objective. The Churchill is unstoppable if they charge infantry with their top armour of 2, and on the whole, this list can theoretically shoot 36 hits each turn with 10/14 AT. Germans have better armour on their tanks so the survivability balance is still on their side, but our tanks cost less and are a good match.

I don’t think many British Mid players have more than 3 Churchill tanks, so this list will probably need some shopping. Obviously, in both lists, we will need to buy a couple of Fireflies, but this is a good investment since D-Day British will probably have even more of them. Another good list could be combining the “British” M10s with an allied M10 unit from the US Fortress Europe list. They cost 16 points and have the “old” 12 AT gun, but are still a match for lots of enemy tanks and have the “Seek, strike and destroy” trait. Speaking of US allies, a single Armoured Rifle Platoon, with a boasting 11 bases, 5 of which are Bazooka, is also a good idea and costs almost the same (and now they are “trained”, despite still easily spotted with “hits on” 3+).

 

“I live my life a 17 PDR a time; nothing else matters” – Sergent Dominic Toretto, speaking of his new brand M10 SP.

Both these lists should work well in Blue vs Red games. Our opponent will field lots of tanks since the Tiger now cost 12 points (less than half of the Mid cost) and Panthers come for 11 points. But the most common German tank will be the Panzer IV, comparable with the Sherman ad costing 5-something points. Ferdinands now cost 13 points instead of the Mid-War 17 points each, so they are now relatively much less expensive. Since they don’t have good anti-infantry capabilities, however, I think German players will be less keen on fielding them.