Flames of War

by Matt Varnish

AVANTI rounds out the North African theatre with Italian forces. What does Battlefront have in store for the 4th Mid-War book? Let’s dive straight in and find out!

Army-Wide Special Rules
8 Million Bayonets: Italian unit cards have two columns for Skill and Motivation ratings. After deployment (or entry from Reserves) you roll the 8 Million Bayonets die, and you get to use the Elite column if you roll the symbol (or 5+ on a regular D6)
This is a greatly simplified way to simulate the random quality of troops and leadership. What I find nice is that my units are regular and can only improve, not get a bad rating like in previous editions. I hope my Artillery units get it, so they can Range In on 3+!

Avanti: All Italian units have an improved Follow Me rating, 2+ for M14/41s and 3+ for almost all other units.. but if you get Elite per the 8 Million Bayonets, it is 2+! Very useful for getting your infantry forward quickly (12 inch Dash, 4-inch Follow Me) and then Assaulting (Tactical then Follow Me) on Turn 2 in most cases, before your opponent can get crucial reserves.
Determined: Better Rally/Remount rating.
Focused: Tank commanders who also have to be the Gunner have a worse Tactics rating for Movement Orders. Elite on the 8 Million bayonets dice mitigates this.
Protected Ammo: Improved Remount rating. Stacks with Determined, so M14/41s Remount on a 2+ even if you do not roll Elite!
HEAT rounds: Armour rating on enemy teams not increased due to incoming fire from 16 inches or more. This makes long-range shots at Anti-Tank 6 just as effective as a short-range Anti-Tank 7 hit (IE, 2lbr or 5cm short)
Careful: Not really a special rule, but it is worth noting up-front that EVERYTHING is hit on a 4+. It’s like being Germans!
Missing: Unknown Hero. No longer a chance for a unit leader to get improved stats. Fucilieri, Black Shirts, Motociclisti and Paraducisti also all missing, possibly chilling in a Cafe in Tripoli, sipping an Espresso! Word has it that some of these will be in a Card. I liked Unknown Hero the best.. if you HAVE to lose a unit leader, it was cool to have come back and Rambo his way to glory!

By Ed Sales

Additional photos courtesy of BattleFront, or as noted.

Today we take a look at Flames of War’s most recent book, Armies of Late War. This book was released as a basic starter book for Late War Version 4, with four major nations, Germany, United States of America, Britain, and the Soviet Union having their standard armies released, with adjusted rules. Repointed units are here to go with the recent Late War rules updates, this includes the removal of redundant teams and properly adjusted aircraft stats.

The book is well written, and the graphics were laid out nicely. All the nations special rules are listed. Also, before you get to each nation’s forces there are brief histories of the nations’ armored forces history in the war, followed by a Know Your Tanks section, which gives brief stats of the tanks and helps those unfamiliar with the different tanks be able to identify them.

In this article, I will break down and highlight several things that I noticed which stood out to me in the lists. For experienced gamers, most of these lists were pulled and modified from other books that we have already seen and owned.

Why is this book needed? For those who started their foray into FOW with Version 4 Mid War, or who have played Team Yankee and want to see what all the fun with FOW Late War is about, this book helps those individuals make a much easier transition.

All the force diagrams in this book have been updated to what we expect to see in Team Yankee and Mid War Version 4, and you build your force in the same manner. There are also unit cards to go with every unit in the book. The cards are sold separately for each nation and are not needed to play. They are a nice addition if you’re already used to using the cards.

Units have had their points and stats updated to the most recent Late War Rules update, so you should see some of the units with different point costs, and you will no longer see Observers and Command Teams within the Unit structure. If you’re a veteran player, such as myself, and you are asking questions like “why did this book come out?” or “Are these the super competitive lists you’d want to take to a tournament?” or, you have noticed “These aren’t new lists!” then this book is probably not for you.

This book was made for new FOW players who want to transition to Late War Version 4 with a force building diagram they are already used to. It also allows people to work with the most recent Late War Rules updates already incorporated into the points and stats of those units in the book.