Well, I’m really happy. I began to set up this tournament in early January, but the situation was not that good. In the end, despite the COVID and all limitations, we managed to gather 43 players (28 FOW, 14 Saga, and 1 reserve) under the same roof.
A full Sunday playing wargames, throwing dice, and blaming luck, and a lot of fun. This was probably the biggest FOW tournament in Italy since before the Pandemic. The Flames of War tourney was set in the Late War period, and a Saga tournament in the Age of Crusades. By the way, if you want to know how Saga works, you can check this article!
(A note: the Cornaredo Tournament was opened only to three-dose vaccinated people, and we wore masks all time. We just pulled them down for some photos).
The located near Pittsburgh, PA hosted a Flames of War Tournament on December 18th, 2021 The Fabricators Forge is a a hybrid gaming club / store that is funded by members and aspires to be the premium place to play all types of tabletop games in Western PA. They opened in 2021 and this was the fifth Flames of War or Team Yankee tournament that Fabricator’s Forge has hosted since September 2021.
Flames of War Bulge Theme Tournament SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2021
In the greater Pittsburgh area, the local Flames of War community has been having annual Bulge Tournaments for many years. Our original tournaments were based on the Devils Charge and Nuts books from Battle Front Miniatures. We then moved on to The Ardennes Offensive and The Battle of the Bulge books when they became available. When the new Bulge American Book came out, the question was not are we going to have our annual Bulge tournament, but what weekend in December?
Tournament Info:
We used the following points Americans 110 points, 125 Points for the Germans. The point level for the German Players was to represent the original numerical advantage, confusion, and surprise that the German Army had in the first few days of the Bulge Campaign. The German players will be the attacker in all 3 missions. This will be a RED vs BLUE tournament. Each round was 2.5 hours, all games had a hard stop when time runs out.
Books allowed:
V4 Bulge American Book and the would be used only if you have an American Bulge Command Card that calls for an American Unit or Formation out of the D-Day book. Ex: The US 99th Infantry Divisions Battle Babbie’s Card calls for a US Infantry Formation out of the V4 D-Day American Book. The rest of the American D-day Book and the Fortress Europe Book will not be used. The German D-Day and the WAFFEN-SS D-Day Books will be only used, plus the Hetzer Company or PANZER IV/70 Tank Company out of the German Bagration Book. The rest of the Bagration Book will not be used. Nothing from Fortress Europe would be used, including support options. Also, no Soviets or British Units or Formations will be used
The November 2021 FAQ + the More Missions Extended Matrix The German players will be the attacker for all 3 games. In Round #1 the Americans will Defend, Round #2 the Americans could Maneuver or Defend in Round #3 the Americans will Maneuver.
Saturday, Dec 18th, 2022 Tournament Weather Report
The weather here in Pittsburgh was very Ardennes-like, we had misty rain and low hanging fog till mid-day. Then we had misty rain and low-hanging clouds the rest of the day preventing any potential air cover for the US players. The temperature ranged from the low 30s to the mid 40s.
The Authors List:
Enclosed is the list that I used for this tournament. Earlier this year I was one of the No Dice No Glory reviewers for the book from Battle Front Miniatures. Enclosed is the link to my comparison of the new V4 American Bulge Book vs its predecessor, I wanted to try out many of the units that I discussed in my review article. One of my normal Flames of War lists that I play is an American D-Day TD list with various support options. I liked how this list played and will try it again in a nonthemed tournament and see how it plays.
Round #1
The German Players attacked on all seven tables. Across the American front lines, the German players laid down well-placed barrages on several of the tables and disrupted the US defenders enabling the German players to advance along their assigned routes deep into the American Lines towards their Round #1 Objectives.
Nebelwerfer Battery providing fire supportTigers on the prowl advancing towards the American Objectives for Round#1KG FITZ Advancing towards the American Lines
The Germans attained breakthroughs on six of the seven boards. The only American Force to stop the surprise German attack was Task Force Jake’s Dammed Engineers.
The Score after round #1 was Germans 43 Americans 20 a sounding breakthrough for the Germans on 5 out of the 7 boards.
Round#2
Again the German Players attacked on all 7 tables. The German players have lost the effect of the surprise attack and the American players were better prepared in this so-called quiet sector. Depending on the American player some chose to play a more mobile maneuver defense in Round #2 and some chose a more rigid defend option. The George S Patton and Richard Winters cards were very active this round, and large qualities of HAVP 76mm rounds from American Tank Destroyer units came into play and the 90mm armed M-36 Jacksons left their mark on many German tanks in Round #2. Also, the Battle Weary Infantry did not look so tired this round.
American Tank Destroyers and Anti Tank Gun Units Waiting in Ambush.
American Airborne Defending can they stop the German Armored thrust?
The Score for Round #2 was Germans 26 Americans 35 points a nice comeback round for the Americans. But not all of the German Armored Thrust’s have been stopped. Several now are deep into the American Rear areas. Running total after Round #2 was Germans 69 Americans 55 points.
Round #3
Again the German Players attacked on all 7 tables. The American players had to maneuver for Round #3. The George S Patton Jr. and Richard Winters cards again were very active this round, and large qualities of HAVP 76mm rounds from American Tank Destroyer units continue across the front lines. Several of the American players had close games in Round #3, but could not close the deal and turn them into wins for the Americans.
German Nebelwerfers providing artillery support for Round#3 – Many Nebels were werfed
Another German KG trying to find a weak spot in the hardened American linesFast KG Schwille breaking thru the American lines and nearing the Meuse River.
The Score for Round#3 was Germans 38 vs Americans 25 points, for a final total of Germans 107 vs Americans 80 points for the tournament. The Americans could not close the gap created by the Germans in the Round #1 blowout. Congrats to the German players for a well-played tournament.
Some of the armies that were entered
The Winning List
The highest-scoring player’s list is included below and is a good example of the types of lists that the Germans players built for this tournament. Even though they did not have access to a V4 Bulge German, the German players were able to build lists that would have been similar to lists that you could have created with the V3 The Ardennes Offensive book.
Summary
So another annual Bulge tournament is in the Flames of War history books here in Western PA. We would like to thank Dom and the Fabricators Forge team for hosting us again and look forward to a busy 2022 of Flames of War and Team Yankee at Fabricators Forge. One of our goals besides having our annual tournament was to have the tournament different than just a normal 110 point or 90 point blah blah blah tournament. We tried making it a challenge for both sides of the table and still have a great time. And that was accomplished. We also did not let the lack of a V4 German Bulge book stop us from having a good tournament. Congrats again to our German opponents and remember we have D-Day and Bagration-themed tournaments coming up in 2022. Maybe the allies can return the favor back to the German side.
In Canada, it was decided (during our lockdown this summer) to not have one Canadian Nationals event in Ottawa (since we could no longer book the Marriott we usually go to), but instead have several Regional events. Overall winner would be the person with the highest total points, tie breakers going to number of wins, and then if still tied, going to the person who attended the larger event.
The National Capital Region (NCR) event was put on by Darko Prodanovic and John Edward (Jed) and hosted by a local game store across the river in Quebec called Freres de Bataille (Translation: Battle Brothers, hereafter FdB). Our event in the NCR occurred Nov 20-21 was , Late War 105 points (No Bulge US). Regionals in Winnipeg, Maritimes, and Edmonton also occurred. After compiling the results from the regionals, the winner is…
Photos supplied in this article by Anthony Burger, Rich Baier and Howard West
HMGS Inc. in normal times has three historical gaming conventions a year, Cold Wars in the Winter to Early Spring, Historicon in July, and Fall-Inn in November. Historicon 2021 was moved to the Fall-Inn time slot and took place November 10th -14th, 2021 at the Valley Forge Casino Resort, King of Prussia.
This was the first convention that HMGS was able to have since Cold Wars March 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. It is located right off the PA turnpike near the King of Prussia Mall and about 30-40 minutes from the Philadelphia Airport.
The located near Pittsburgh, PA hosted a Tournament on September 12th, 2021 The Fabricators Forge is a a hybrid gaming club / store that is funded by members and aspires to be the premium place to play all types of tabletop games in Western PA. They opened in 2021 and this was the first Team Yankee tournament that Dom and Josh hosted.
In October 2021 they will be hosting a Flames of War Tournament and a follow-up Team Yankee Tournament.
Twenty players under the same wide room, throwing die and blaming luck, moving tin soldiers and plastic tanks. How long we missed this! After two years of interruption, we began to live again our usual lives: as wargamers, it also means we are now back on business with our games! In Italy, they lifted the lockdown in Summer, but in Belpaese everything stops in August (Holiday time!) so we managed to create the first Flames of War tournament in mid-September.
On January 22nd, 2021 was published on No Dice No Glory the premise behind the article was the question: can a person who plays a miniatures war game use some basic data collection to keep track of your performance in tournament play and over a time period improve your tournament results based on previous tournament games?
The original article had data from 50 tournament games from the summer of 2018 thru August 2020, V2 adds 34 more tournament games thru August 2021.
So what is new in V2?
When was published on in January 2021, I received quite a few comments and e-mails asking me did I have data on the types of Tank Teams encountered and what types of Air Units where players using. I have added charts for both Tank and Air Units that players used. I also added the new missions from the Team Yankee Extended Missions Matrix that I have played.
A lot has been happening on the many battlegrounds of the Caribbean this past month. The folks at Firelock, and Blood and Pigment, have been helping to host a global campaign. Guy Rhueark and Joseph Forester as well as the many other commanders of the varied factions vying for supremacy have been busy.
This article will give you the rundown on where we stand, how to submit your own reports, What secret objectives may still be available for intrepid players, and also a full Battle Report from the frontlines. Read on to get the full story!
Team Yankee 2021 Masters was held at located on 8796 Michigan Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46268 on June 26th and 27th, 2021. Family Time Games is a really nice gaming store and has a nice stock of both Flames of War and Team Yankee products. They also stock many other Boardgames, RPG’s, Miniatures, Cards, and other Gaming supplies. Stop and visit the store if you are in the greater Indianapolis area.
Team Yankee Masters is an invitation-only event hosted by each year in June for the top sixteen players as ranked by Battle Rankings in the United States and Canada. The rankings are based on players placements in various Team Yankee Tournaments across the country during that years season. The Team Yankee tournament season runs from May 1st previous year to April 31 of the current year. Formal invitations where mailed out to the qualifiers in early May. The 2021 Team Yankee Masters Tournament was sponsored by , Family Time Games, and
As part of the Minor Nations Bagration book, Hungarians offer an interesting force for Late War now part of the v4 rules. I’m sure you’re eager to know how well they play? Maybe you’re a past Hungarian fan from the days of v3 or maybe you’re looking to put together a new Hungarian force. Let’s play a game and see how they perform.
Let’s start with the setting for our battle, a valley that has already seen plenty of action. I was aiming for something that can serve as hilly area in Hungary towards the end of ’44, early ’45 when the Hungarians were defending their homeland from the invading Russians. The terrain is mostly Gale Force 9 with a bit of Novus Design and some scratch builds.
By Tom “Cap’n Chairborne” Mullane
By Howard West