BattleFront Games

By Ed Sales

Hello there! Today we are going to take a look at what Stripes brings to the Tournament Scene. (Spoiler Alert: It’s a game changer.)

There has been a ton of intrigue about what Stripes would bring to the table after Red Thunder came out. If you play Americans, this book helps immensely when you deal with the Red Scourge in competitive play. If you play a USSR or East Germans, be warned, the lists in this book will give you headaches, but you can learn a lot when you see what your opponent might bring to the table.

Stripes brings a new set of tools for the Americans and NATO Allies to wield, in a way that can be used the same way East Germans wield T55s. The M60, at four points a tank, is not as cheap as the T55, but I’d take those over the T55s. More shots and being hit on fours is a good break away from the Abrams which comes in at twice that amount, though the Abrams has a lot more survivability.

By: Benny Christiansen

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

In these two articles I would like to present the Fog Of War cards used at the event and also, by going through the last game in detail, I try to give you examples of how we play with the V4 rules. 

In Denmark we have a concept called “Hygge.” Try to look it up, as the closest translation is probably “Cosy”, but that does not fully cover the meaning.

We try to keep the gaming community active by hosting one-day events, where the main focus is on meeting each other and playing. For this event, the guys in Aarhus (Denmark) had arranged one of those one-day events. The games were two vs two, with 1000 pts lists for each participant. Each game would be determined by Battle Plan Cards and then a dice to see which of the missions in the Battle Plan we would play.

Originally, I was paired with my friend Stephan. We agreed that we would field some fun lists. However, due to last-minute sign-ups,  I played as a solo-player with two lists of 1000 points alone. This way we had an equal number of teams on Axis and Allied side.

By No-dice-Dane

In November, WWPD published an excellent article by Tom Burgess on “Fight Outnumbered and Win – The U.S. Army in Team Yankee’s Stripes,” which can

Building on that foundation, I would like to start highlighting each element of the Air – Land – Battle, Combined Arms Team. Let’s start by taking a look at the Air Defense umbrella, doctrinally known as Short Range Air Defense (SHORAD).

Avenues of Approach

If the enemy has air superiority, the avenue should provide concealment from the air. Air avenues for attack helicopters airmobile forces and close air support have different characteristics.
Analyzing avenues of approach is as important to the defender as to the attacker. The defender must accurately determine the main approaches to his sector and identify the internal avenues which will permit him to maneuver against the attacker.

 

A lot of people were excited when Stripes came out and finally allowed a NATO ally to fight alongside the U.S. force.  BF quickly came out with modifications to all the force diagrams so everyone could have an Allied Formation even on the Soviet side.

I saw quite a few people on the BF forum misinterpret this change.  Many people harkened back to FoW v3 which allowed you to take a Churchill Flamethrower Platoon as part of a U.S. Infantry Company, for example.  That is not what this new change allows.  If you want another country to fight alongside you, you need to take an entire formation.  So, no you can’t simply add a platoon of rock-hard Leo2’s to beef up your force.  You would have to take a minimum sized company of five Leo2’s coming out to a whopping 55 points.

By Dennis Campbell AKA Matt Varnish

Photos by the Author

Here we have the 2nd game using the Italians out of AVANTI, this time versus the British ‘Desert Rats,’ Encounter, 71 points. Nothing like playing Desert armies when it is -40 something degrees outside! Chris Caron once again obliged me in being my opponent and hosting, this time playing the British, and he opted for a Combined Arms approach, as he usually does, with an Infantry formation, an Armoured formation, and some Artillery support.

Brit 25 pdrs, 2 on the hill, 2 off for maximum visibility, he had no OP

By Tom Burgess

This article, about the US Army in Stripes, is a follow up to one  I wrote for WWPD.net in late 2017. Though I am much less of an expert on the United States Marine Corps in the mid-1980’s than the US Army, my brother, Brian, and several of my friends served in the USMC during that period. I am grateful for their assistance in writing this article.

First, just let me say that I was both very surprised but extremely pleased that Battlefront added the USMC to Stripes.  For almost a decade, Flames of War gamers had to wait on the Marines being available for WW2 games. It is great to see Battlefront add force options from the 2^nd Marine Division on the front end for Team Yankee.

By Dennis Campbell AKA Matt Varnish

Photos by the Author (apart from the propaganda poster, and images by BattleFront from Avanti)

NOTE:  Preview of AVANTI & Video Battle Report is at the end of this article.

I was keen to try out the new Italians out of the AVANTI book, and my good friend Chris Caron obliged by hosting an impromptu game on a weeknight! We agreed on the 2018 Mid-War 71pts, as we are going to be attending Canadian Nationals in September 2018. We rolled Free-for-All, both of us were using forces with 1 Infantry, 1 Tank formation in each, so I rolled highest and was the Attacker. While Chris’ list is from the Afrika Korps book, he has awesome Eastern front paint jobs:

8-Rads Spearhead to allow his AA halftracks good shots at my infantry. This would force me to use the town for my advance

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 Matt Varnish

Coinciding with the release of Stripes, Battlefront has stipulated that one can be used in any Team Yankee force. While surely some folks can plug in some tactical gaps in their list with an allied formation, we can also put together a historical list for a force that is not out yet, like Canadians!

My good friend Rob is a retired Artillery FOO with the Canadian Army, and he can use Allied Formations to better represent his 4 CMBG force in Team Yankee. While there is a list coming out for them down the pipe (if rumors are to be believed), he can run them right now. Canada bought NATO tanks (Leopard Is and later Leopard IIs) but retained many of the M113-based vehicles.  As you can see by the above picture, Rob is eagerly awaiting the LAV box release!!

 

Rob’s Cdn / West German 64pt force

The recent wildfires in California actually impacted a December Team Yankee tournament hosted by Game Empire in Pasadena, CA. Shipments of the new Stripes book, and new models for the US faction were delayed due to being re-routed around the fires. But, the in-store demo copy gave players enough of a glimpse to see what they might be able to run. A few new units, or upgraded equipment did hit the tables in this tourney.

Kevin and Christian in round 1

There were three US faction players (and a fourth player, in his first tourney with a borrowed list and models that did not use any new units or upgrades). Three Warsaw Pact players ended up in a three-way tie for first. The best showing from a US player was Kevin Morris, tied for fourth with Igor Torgeson (British). I, of course, managed to win a free set of dice to help me improve my win/loss ratio in the next tournament and climb out of last place.