Death or Glory: Reconfiguring the FOW Crusader Squadron Boxed Set

By Richard Steer

The Flames of War army boxes are a great value. They are big boxes packed full of plastic sprues and are the ideal way to either start a new army or reinforce an existing one, at a significant price discount. The new British Crusader Armoured Squadron boxed set for North Africa is no exception. Containing 21 sprues and retailing for US$110, it compares very well to the usual price for a normal unit box.

While the Crusader Armoured Squadron box contains a lot of plastic for your money and a wide variety of models, a closer look at its contents reveals that it is an awkward combination of units. The default army list that is provided with the box is a legal force totaling 93 points, but game-wise it is not a great list.

The core formation comprises just three units totaling 30 points. Those units are three tanks each, and two of them have tanks that are Aggressive and Front 3 or 4. It doesn’t matter how good the rest of the force is: it’s a weak formation, and the game is over once two of those core units are destroyed. At a minimum, the formation requires the addition of at least one, if not two more Crusader Troops, before it starts becoming competitive.

Fortunately, through the Armoured Fist card pack there is an alternative way to configure the contents of the set to turn it into a force that has a better chance of performing well on the gaming table.

Death or Glory

The Death or Glory Squadron is a list with a mix of Valentine and Crusader tanks. It represents the armoured regiments of the British 6th Armoured Division during the period from their arrival in North Africa in November 1942, until they were reequipped with Shermans in March 1943. The list also has the option of replacing the Squadron HQ with a unit of three Lees.

Using the Crusader Squadron box set to build a Death or Glory list with the Lee HQ option creates a force of 96 points. It has a big advantage over the default list because it brings the Valentines into the formation. The tanks are still Aggressive, but the formation is significantly more resilient due to having four core units, including a unit of Front 6 Valentines, while also having more firepower due to all of the Crusaders being armed with 6pdr guns.

To play a 100 point game, the last 4 points can be used by adding one of two thematic Command Cards:

• Death or Glory gives the units in the Formation 2+ Last Stand.
• Cavalry Commander allows the units in the Formation to Follow Me on a 3+, and allows them to shoot after passing a Follow Me order.

As a historical side note, the story that the 6th Armoured Division salvaged and reused three abandoned American Lees is, unfortunately, a myth. 17th/21st Lancers did have three Lees for a short time, but their origin is a lot more prosaic. On 28 December 1942, the division was advised that each of its three armoured regiments would be receiving ten Grants, but in the event, only three new tanks arrived. The Lees, filled with ammunition, rations, and rum, were delivered to 17th/21st Lancers by the Americans on 1 January and were assigned to Regimental Headquarters. Two were destroyed at Bou Arada on 13 January, with the third being damaged.

While it’s not what historically happened, the Death or Glory formation with a Lee HQ is close to how the Lees would have been used if the full number had been received, with two of them in place of the Valentines in the Squadron HQs.

Further Improvements

A Death or Glory Squadron is a FOW force that I have often thought about running but never got around to building. I have started rectifying that state of affairs by purchasing the Crusader Squadron box as the core for such a list. The force that uses just the models in the box will be playable and is a good starting point for understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the different units. However, tweaking and expanding on lists is half the fun of the game, and the first change that I will make is to drop the Churchills to free up points to improve the force even further.

The first addition is a second Valentine Troop to fill out the formation. Other solid additions are a Honey OP in order to get full use out of the artillery’s Veteran skill, and the Artillery Expert command card. An infantry platoon will be useful for defending an objective or lifting minefields.

The box is advertised as including a Daimler Armoured Car troop with two Daimlers and one Dingo, but the two types of vehicle share a sprue meaning that there is a second unused Dingo in the box. Adding two boxes of Humber Armoured Cars will turn the Armoured Car Troop into a Mailed Fist Armoured Car Squadron, providing additional cheap Spearhead units, that will also come in handy for closing down potential Ambush locations.

The Crusader Armoured Squadron boxed set is a great place to start building a Mid-War British force. It contains a lot of models at a good price, covering a wide variety of units. That variety is also its weakness, however, as the suggested army list provided with the box is not viable on the gaming table without adding additional units. Reconfiguring the force as a Death or Glory Squadron still uses all of the models in the box, and resolves the worst of these issues. It provides a good 100 point force that can be used immediately, with plenty of scope for future development.