BattleFront Games

The return of the Vietnam War in ‘Nam is eagerly anticipated by many of us as our Vietnam forces are gathering dust on the shelf.  All the favorites are back:

• The airmobile 1st Cavalry Division (abbreviated 1CD and called “First Cav” if you want to sound like a cool Army guy)
• The mechanized 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (abbreviated 11ACR and called the “11th ACR”)
• The infantry-based 25th Infantry Division (abbreviated 25ID and called the “25th ID”)

Unlike the earlier version of Vietnam, the differences between these forces are much more subtle.  Previously, you could choose between having Confident Veterans with the First Cav or 11th ACR or the cheaper Confident Trained 25th ID. Now all forces are equivalent to Veterans and hit on a 4+.  There are differences however with the First Cav being the most elite infantry who hit in an assault on a 3+ and have a Skill of 3+, and the 25th ID who are pretty much 4+ on all their stats. With only slight differences like that, players should probably focus more on choosing a force based on the toys they are allowed to bring.  Let’s get a little bit more in-depth.

Today we are taking a look at what may be the most intriguing book to come out so far for Flames of War (FOW) MW V4, Avanti. In this article, you will read how Avanti will change the tournament scene.

Verison 4 has really become much more of a dice game than the more historical simulation that FOW Verison 3 was. In the shooting step, it is now easier to hit previously impervious units (veteran, gone to ground, concealed and long range). Players are now able to roll a 7 or 8. To do so is difficult, but not impossible.

It’s easier to get dig out pesky infantry since repeat bombardments force a re-roll of successful saves. The more dice you throw, the better chance you have of killing what you’re shooting at.

Currently, it seems the key to what Battlefront is pushing, is horde armies. The more models you’re pushing around the table, the better. Crusader Swarms. Gobs and gobs of armoured rifle stands bouncing around the table. Or that guy who brings as many Stuarts as he can fit in his list with some heavy guns behind them.

Heck, even my German list, which has done very well, is all about getting as many Panzer III Short 5cms on the table that I can. I support these with Marders and other low expensive German units.

by NDNG-Dane and Tom Burgess

Welcome back Comrades,

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR BRIEFING

We last briefed you on our glorious regulars from North Vietnam, now we will cover the heroic Local Forces who strike at the enemy from the South and the Special Tasks units that attack the bases of the Capitalist.

by NDNG-Dane and Tom Burgess

Welcome Comrades,

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR BRIEFING

The new ‘NAM  book provides a lot of options for the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN). In fact, the North Vietnam Forces could have easily have been divided and printed solely as a Communist Forces in Vietnam book.  The Politburo has directed that we brief you on our glorious and loyal forces battling the Capitalist foes in the South. We will do so in to four separate briefings so that you may better understand each.

Many people understand that the Team Yankee (TY) rules were essentially the Beta version of the Flames of War (FOW) V4 rules. The refinements of the TY rules into V4 were mostly positive.  The frustrations came for players who play both games. The rules were similar enough that players (including me) were often confused as we switched between the rulesets.  We are all used to playing multiple rule sets and keeping them straight. But, when the rules systems are this close to each other, trying to remember if you made a Dash or Tactical Move when breaking off from an assault is difficult to do.

Many were hoping that the new version of the TY rules was going to take TY to V2 and make it rules capable with FOW V4, but that is not going to happen just yet. Instead, TY Early War (‘NAM and Fate of a Nation) is going to start that integration. Early War (EW) for TY means the 1960’s and ’70s.  This makes sense as there was a huge difference between Generation 2 tanks and Generation 3 tanks.  If you are not familiar with the generations of tanks,

I had a chance to play a FOW V4 game with one of my regular opponents, Karl this past week.  My purpose was to test the new formations in the new Armies of Late War (AoLW) book. Ed Sales has written a review of the forces in the book which can be .

Scouting Stuarts prepare for the battle of the century

I knew from looking at the book that it was geared more towards newer players.  And in that respect, it accomplishes its goals well. In others, it falls a bit short. But to be fair, the old Forces book had generic lists as well.  This book was never intended as a points fixing cure-all for LW issues. It was meant to give new players a simplified system for list building, to provide force diagrams, and to give a look at the command cards for LW forces BF is working to put out.

By Benny Christiansen

The typical Dane. Happy-go-lucky with a positive look at almost everything. Giving you a glimpse of the way the Danes do it.

In the first article, I focused on the Fog Of War cards in the game. In this article, I try to give you examples of how we play with the Flames of War (FOW) V4 rules. 

The Third Game of the day

Notice the minefields in the middle of the table. I wanted to ignore them

In the final game, I had the privilege to play against two of my dear friends, Helge and Lynge, who some of the ETC community may know. Helge is the Captain of the Danish FOW team and also a person who is involved in the ETC community for FOW. Lynge is a regular on the Danish ETC Team, and I see him as one of the best players in a tournament, as he never knows how to give up or give in.

Our games were to be two vs two players. In order to keep the number of players even and an equal number of Axis vs Allies, I had agreed to run two forces at a time. Against these two, I knew I was in for a challenge. I rarely win in games against Helge, and to play against Lynge and Helge at the same time… well… I decided that I would do my best, at least to give them as good a challenge as possible.

By Tom Burgess

“Battle Buddy” Ed and I had a chance to test out the new Avanti Mid War lists for Flames of War. As a diehard Italian player, Ed was particularly excited to get his miniatures on the table. We thought that the best test of the new Avanti Italians would be to throw them up against the dreaded British Crusader Horde.

Random selection gave us Dust Up as a mission. We gamed on a suitably open desert table. We chose to play at 71 points so I could also get some practice for Adepticon. Given that we were playing a fair fight on a fairly open board, I thought my chances were good.

Next month Battlefront will release the book ‘Nam, which covers the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1972. This book is a significant release for many reasons; it not only covers previous titles that covered the conflict; it also ushers in what will be a standard rules set for all Battlefront games and expands the forces that you can play with. While the Vietnam period may not be your thing (this will change) it shows us the way ahead for future releases and how they will link with one another. This book was released in a partnership with Osprey Press and this collaboration will also be behind the upcoming re-releases of Fate of a Nation and The Great War.

Gamers!  This year at the run “Cold Wars” No Dice No Glory will be running two events with the folks from Battlefront.

The event takes place in Lancaster PA at the .

Friday 16 March: Team Yankee

• 64 Points, 3 Rounds, battle plans will be used
• Registration 10:00 AM Start 10:30 AM
• All books and PDFs allowed

•  Flames of War Mid War to be run by Battlefront.
•  115 Points per player. Battleplans will be used.
•  Sign in will start at 10:00 AM, and dice will roll at 10:30 AM.

Reserve your spot by emailing me at NDNG_Mitch_R@NoDiceNoGlory.com

See you in Lancaster!