Bulge American, the US answer for Late War is ready – and it’s a solid “Nuts”!

By Paolo “Nuts!” Paglianti

The Russian has the ISU-122; the British can count on a double M10 17 PDR Troop, and Germans – well – they have plenty of Tigers, Panthers, and the cheap Panzer IV/70. The only army missing AT 14, the punch any player needs to kill heavy tanks, is the American one. Well, until now!

After delays due to the Pandemic, we’re close to the Bulge American book publication. It will arrive in early November, but we at NoDiceNoGlory were lucky to get our hands on a preview copy. And American players will not be disappointed!

Let’s start with a general overview of the US Forces for the 1944 Winter stage. This is the full Force diagram:

 

Let’s see: I can play with tanks, heavy tanks, light tanks, green tanks, veteran tanks, and other tanks. 

 

As you can see, US players will have plenty of tank formations, but also some new interesting infantry and supports. During the late war, the US improved the basic Sherman tank with variants, and the US Bulge book lets you choose which one you want to field for your battles.

The M4 Sherman Late Tank Platoon is the result: it’s similar to the “old” D-Day formation, but with some juicy new platoons and plenty of options to field exactly the combination of tanks you want. You can deploy an M4 Sherman Late Formation with no ordinary Sherman at all!

Hey Siri, please call all my friends with a FOW German army and tell them I’m ready to play against their Tigers, now. 

 

The first new entry is the M24 Chafee Tank Platoon, a new light tank of which you can deploy a good number. The cost is around 4 points per tank, and the platoon comes in 3 to 5 vehicles format. They have ridiculous armor (front 4, side 3) but a decent gun with AT 10 with ROF 2/2, plus the benefit of Remount 3+ and Tactics 3+. They are also fast: 30 cm/ 12” of tactical speed.

Need something heavier? Let’s meet the M26 Pershing, we Allied players are waiting for it from the Mid! It’s costly – 8,5 points per tank, on average, but frontal armor of 9 and side of 6. They also have the mighty AT 14 90mm gun, so now Tigers will need to be a bit shyer even when they meet the US players. Motivation, Skill and Hit on all at 4+, but the crew has improved Tactics 3+, so you can count on their expertise for Blitzes and Shoot and Scoots.

Let’s compare to the Tiger: same frontal armor, weaker sides (6 Vs 8), and basic Motivation (while Tigers have Last stand and remount 2+). Not Veteran as the Tiger, but Tactics 3+ allows you to plan to use Blitzes often. And they cost 9.6 points vs 12. 

 

A piece of good news also for British players, as both the M24 and the M26 are Black boxes, so we can field as Allied support, by the way.

If you want something really hard, you can also field a single T26 Super Pershing: 16 points for front armor of 13 (6 on sides and rear) and a punch-thru-anything gun with AT 18 with a range of 48”/120 cm. Something you normally see on Team Yankee battlefields!

“Ho Ho Ho, now I have a supertank, too!”. Commander John McClane, somewhere around Ardennes on top of his Super T26 reinforced tank.  Yes, it’s AT 18 under the watermark. 

 

Prefer to stick with the old Sherman tanks? All platoons, including the HQ, can be upgraded to the Late 76mm option we already know from D-Day book, but also to the Easy Eight (+2 points each) and up to 1 tank per platoon to the mighty Jumbo one (+3 per tank). The Easy Eight platoon has frontal armor of 7 and AT 12: the difference with the ordinary 76mm platoon is all in the “Smooth Ride” special rule, allowing them to shoot ROF 2 when moving tactical under 10 cm and improved cross 2+. Things get better with the Jumbo version, as they have frontal armor of 11/side 8, and the same speed (but a lower cross, 4+).

Finally, you can add a Calliope platoon: they have a huge rocket launcher on the turret and are a good option for any general looking for anti-infantry barrages. You can buy a platoon of 3 Calliopes for 8 points, and one of 5 for 13 points (so you can repeat missed hit). No point in buying the 4-strong one for 11 points. The SALVO has a range of 48”/120 cm, AT 2, and Firepower of 5+. Calliopes can only be taken as grey boxes for Sherman formations.

The new M24 has also its own Tank Company: you can field HQ + 2 M24 platoons, and add another M24 platoon or a Sherman platoon, with also the Mortar 81mm platoon and the M8 Scott or Sherman assault gun platoon. It’s somewhat light in my opinion for Late war, but it’s a good option if you want to field an all-tank list.

 

Is the M24 any better than the basic Sherman? Frontal armor of 4 vs 6, and similar Skill and Motivation (but with Remount 3+) and essentially the same gun. The M24 costs 4 points, the Sherman 4,3, and runs faster (12″ vs 10″). 

 

To further increase the choice, the Bulge book still has a non-Veteran Sherman Formation and a non-veteran M24 Chafee Company: you can’t field the M26, they were probably reserved for skilled and veteran crews, but you can mix up any kind of Sherman/Easy Eight/Jumbo: they are hit on 3+ and lose Tactics 3+, but have Last Stand 3+ and Remount 3+. Also, they cost something less: the M24 Chafee 3 points instead of 4, the one Jumbo 76mm per platoon 7 points instead of 8. I’m not a big fan of Hit on 3+ units in an Allied army, so I think I won’t play with them, but happy to have the choice.

The infantry you can find around Ardennes are “Battle weary” platoons: similar to the Desert Rats British platoons, they have a bad Motivation (Reluctant 5+) but still Rally at 4+ and Tactics 3+, and cost something less. The full Veteran Armoured Rifle Platoon costs 16 points instead of the D-Day counterpart of 19, but it has also a really interesting option to take the platoon without the M3 Halftracks for a further, precious discount. You pay 6 M1 bases, 5 Bazookas, 2 M1919 MGs and a 60mm mortar only 13 points. This is the best infantry to defend an objective: with 5 bazookas no tank will get closer, and with 2 M1919 platoons with halted ROF of 5 even Russian infantry will think twice before assaulting. There is also the Rifle Company with the same Battle Weary trait, but I find it hard to understand why any player should choose the Rifle platoon with 7 Garand bases, 2 Bazookas, 2 M1919 for 9 points when you can get the 5-bazookas one for 13.

The true winner of the Bulge Book: 13 points for 14 bases, 5 of which are bazookas. Germans have the Beach infantry (7 bases plus Panzerfaust, 2 Panzerschreks and 2 SMG43 for 12 points and Skill 4+/Hit on 3+); British have Desert Rats D-Day (7 bases plus 1 PIAT and 1 2″ mortar; Motivation 5+ and Skill 4+) For 8 points.  

 

Speaking of infantry, you don’t have any green non-veteran Formation: if you want to deploy Hit on 3+ troops, you’ll need to select them from D-Day Books. However, the elite gets even better: the new Screaming Eagle Parachute Rifle is identical to the D-Day book, but with improved Last Stand 2+ (the trait is, exactly, “Nuts!”) for 1 point more. The only other difference is that the Bulge Formation loses the option for 105mm battery.

Similar treatment for the Glider Formation, where the platoons get the same Nuts trait (Last Stand 3+, with Motivation 4+) but lose the Rally 3+ trait; they also are now Veteran, so get Skill 3+ instead of 4+. Since these changes boost the cost from 8 points for the small platoon/10 points the full one to a whopping 16 points/12 points, it’s something you need to ponder with attention.

Time to speak of the Anti-tank formations: the old M10 with AT 12 was good, but American players will need something better with all those new German heavy armored tanks around near the Rhine (and Russians steel tide in Blue vs Blue games). The first new entry, the light M18: same AT of the M10 (AT12), but lighter armor (front 2/side 1 vs front 5/2) and better Skill (3+ vs 4+).

Pay attention since they have both the special US rule Seek, Strike, Destroy (allowing to do Blitzes and Shoot and Scoot moves in the same turn), but also the new Battle Tank one, meaning you can deploy a single M18 platoon if you defend with Deep Reserves. Since I always play old M10 platoons with the Desert Veterans card, improving their Skill to 3+ to use more effectively the Seek, Strike, Destroy trait every time I can, to me the M18 is a cheaper option for having the same tank/skill but with lower armor – I’m not sure is that good, as frontal armor 5 saved me lots of time from Panzer IV long-range shooting.

The real improvement comes with the M36: essentially, the same M10 tank but with AT 14. A four M36 platoon will cost 24 points, already with Skill 3+. For the same comparison with Desert Veteran “old” unit card, I’d pay 4 points more for AT 14- instant buy for me, as AT 14 is much better considering all Tiger I meet around.

M36 is something you need to have every time you play with the US army: they are the only unit able to do two special moves in a turn (except the Germans), and with Skill 3+ you have a good chance to deliver some bad surprises to enemy tanks. 

 

It’s also a great option for British players: the M10 17” PDR cost 18 points, for 6 points more you get same AT, the really good Seek, Strike and Destroy trait, Skill 3+ and Remount 3+, totally worthwhile. And the US 90mm gun don’t get the annoying “no HE” trait. Finally, we also get the M10 Veteran option: 17 points for a 4-tank platoon with Skill 3+, so the Desert Veteran card will be quickly forgotten.

What about support? US players will get the new T27 Xylophone, the SALVO artillery we missed with Antitank 2 and Firepower 5+, and Skill 4+. Four vehicle units will cost 7 points, so something you can linger about if you want to unleash some big salvos on the opponent’s infantry heads. It’s almost identical to the Calliope artillery attack, but considering 3 Calliopes cost 8 points shoot the same and have much better survivability, and are also inside the Formation, it’s an option you can consider only if you play with other formations like infantry.

The last part of the book is on the painting guide (few pages, to be honest, without anything special about snow camouflage), and three new scenarios focused on the Bastogne defense. “Roadblock” deploys the defender in the middle of the table and asks him to defend the rearguard (the players will stay on the short ends), while “Elastic Defence” is similar but with options to deploy also in the rear. “Nuts” scenario is something I’d want to try as soon as possible, with the defender force completely surrounded on the two flanks (again, you play on the short edges), We also get additional optional rules for fighting in the fog and during wintertime, with snowstorms or Blizzards.

 

Are we happy? Yes, indeed. This book’s units are almost fundamental to give a positive twist to the US army in Late War. It’s also a book every British player should consider when list building, as M26 platoons and M36s are really nice addition.

They both finally add that AT 14 everybody already has, with a good cost/effectiveness ratio, while even the Veteran M10s are better than the D-Day ones. The Battle Weary infantries are too good, since you can save some precious points especially if you don’t field the transports, while M24 Chafee is an interesting option to field quite a lot of light tanks, still with a decent AT10.

The only thing we really miss is some good flamethrowers to kill Infantry in holes, but the US army is so good in defending objectives there will be not that need to assault infantry positions. If you really need some flamethrowers, you can always ask your friends the British to lend you a Crocodile platoon. I bet we will see many more US Armies on tabletops in the next tournaments!