Flames of War

By Chris Johnson

Chris just took first place at Historicon’s Early War Nationals tournament with his Soviet Tank Force.

Friends, Romans, bears bearing hammers and sickles, lend me your eyes and ears.

The Eastern Front books for are right around the corner and I am here to tell you what to expect from our long lost friends in the Soviet Armored Divisions and how they will drive the fascists back to Berlin faster than you can say URRAH!

This is extremely exciting for me; Soviet armor is my favorite army to play in any Era. Finally being able to field them in Mid War is going to be so much fun. This is where the Soviet war machine cranked out so many tanks in vast numbers (and borrowed) to overwhelm the Germans and reclaim their stolen land!

By Ed Sales

Today we are taking a look at the German Infantry Formations in Iron Cross, as makes the trip to the Eastern Front in Version 4.

Many people were disappointed with how Battlefront treated the Germans in Midwar. One of the most popular topics on the old Flames of War forums, before they were shut down, was the limited size of the DAK Rifle Platoon. Good news! If you like meaty infantry platoons and prefer to play Germans, then Iron Cross has you covered.

by Tom Burgess

Enemy at the Gates at last answers the question that we’ve had for over a year “how will big Soviet infantry units be treated under Version 4 ?”  I like the answer and am eagerly looking forward to getting my “Strelk On” with this new book.

Why am I so excited? Diversity! Even before we get to Command Card options, the “Enemy at the Gates” brings the interesting Version 3 Flames of War Late War Soviet Infantry options into Version 4 Mid War.

There are two glorious Soviet Infantry Formations that allow the faithful Soviet gamer to employ no less than six Soviet Infantry Companies types: Rifle Company, Submachinegun Company, Penal Company, Hero Rifle Company, Hero Submachinegun Company, and Storm Groups.

By Mitch Reed

Spoiled – and a PodCast!

When Version 4 came out for Flames of War many of us who were not fans of the desert eagerly looked forward to the day when the books on the Eastern Front would be released. Well, that day is right around the corner with the release of two new book, Iron Cross which covers the Germans and Enemy at the Gates which will cover the Soviet forces in Mid-War in and around Stalingrad.

Another set of books, one for Soviets and one for Germans, will be released by BattleFront in the coming months to cover the forces around Kursk.

I sat down with the NDNG team (Glenn, Iron-Tom, and eventually Matt from the great Canadian north) to go over the details of the new books, and their implications for Flames of War Mid War. You can listen at the link below.

By Benny Christiansen and Helge Macintyre

A few years ago I attended my first ETC. It was a warm experience and even though I don’t see myself as a competitive player, I signed up for what I had been told was a very competitive event.

Our Danish team began after my friend, Helge, played on the Swedish team as a mercenary (the teams are allowed to have a certain amount of “foreigners”). He returned and began to build a team for the following year.

Playing the ETC was an exciting experience! I still remember the games from the first tournament, but I also remember the mood and the people and the nerves and all the other fantastic things.

Jammed back episode live from Historicon 2018.

A big showing by the  NDNG crew, and are around to talk about a wide range of subjects that we are sure you will love!

By Benny Christiansen

Background:

Having had access to the Italian Avanti book for some time now, I have had some great fun with trying different things out. One choice keeps coming back to my lists, is the L6/40 Light Tank Platoon. It has a front of 3, which is very nice in MW. It also has Spearhead, making it possible to dash forward and establish a forward position in several missions. Scout makes it hard to hit. The only place where I really find it lacking is in the weaponry. I’m sure that is also the main reason why many players choose not to field them.

Many of my fellow writers, due to distance or circumstance, will not be able to make the great summer gathering held by HMGS this July 12th through the 15th in Lancaster PA.I am, however, able to attend to, and I am excited to get in some days of intense gaming, catching up with friends, and seeing the sights.

I have been feverishly painting minis in preparation for the events. We will also provide some coverage from the event (on the road podcasting organized by Mitch Reed).  For those looking to find any No Dice No Glory folks to say hi to, this article will give you an idea of where to find me. So come by and say hello!

We return for part 2 of the three-part series of Kampfgruppes in Flames of War. For this report, I take a Kampfgruppe into combat.

For this game, I played against Brian Sullivan. I was expecting to go against his Soviets, or for him to make a list from my Americans. Instead, he decided to pull out his Hungarians for a run.

We used the More Missions matrix.

I was attacking and Brian was defending for our scenario. We ended up with No Retreat for our mission.

Today we are going over part one of a three-part series of Kampfgruppes (KG) in Flames of War.

The first thing you may be thinking to yourself if you played Flames of War in Version 3, is that the Kampfegruppe rule was taken out in Version 4.

I am actually referring to a little known, but very well written article that Battlefront put out when Desperate Measures was released. In that article, is a Random Kampfgruppe Generator.

The Kampfgruppe Generator is used to simulate what a German Commander might have faced when an operation got underway. He really didn’ know what he had till it was time to go into action.

For example, several of the tanks could have broken down on the way to battle. His company of Panzergrenadiers actually may be only Platoon size, or worse, squad size. Inits that existed in paper only. The Battalion of Panzers that were promised to him from reserve ends up being just too worn down Panthers.