Firestorm Tunisia – An NDNG Online FOW Campaign

March 31, 2018 | Troy Hill | Flames of War

 By Scott Grasse

NDNG will host Firestorm Tunisia, a global Flames of War campaign beginning on April 14th.  The campaign will run through June and will give players the chance to fight the battles during the last remaining months of Axis occupation in North Africa.

If you are not familiar, a Firestorm Campaign is a series of linked battles that tie to a larger campaign map. Players engage in standard Flames of War battles at their regular gaming venue to represent the engagements that are occurring on the campaign map.

Discuss the campaign on

At the end of each campaign turn, the results of all the battles are used to alter the positions of the units on the campaign map.  Players also receive free Units to add to their games based on the participating Firestorm Troops from the map.  The campaign will have several options, including player commendations that can be used to unlock special campaign bonuses.

How to Participate

Each turn there will be up to five “Battle Arrows” (attacks represented by big red arrows) on the campaign map. These are determined by the opposing Generals using rules for initiative and supply, and the results of previous turns. To play battles, choose a Battle Arrow for the engagement you would like to represent with your game. Use the campaign rules posted here and in the forum to purchase forces and set up your battle table. Then play the battles! Report back in the forum with an After Action Report and the score. The results will be used by the Generals to direct movement of troops on the campaign map and set the stage for the next offensives!

Firestorm Units Used In The Campaign
How many battles can be played? ?Each battle may be played any number of times as there are players willing to play them. Scores of all battles from each turn will be entered into a supercomputer (spreadsheet) and processed using a complex proprietary algorithm (sum and average) to determine the final Victory Point result of each Battle Arrow.

In other words, if some battles fail miserably the overall attack can still be victorious if enough of the other battles are victorious. This represents the mixed degree of impact that small unit engagements can have within a large battle or campaign that has an overall different outcome.

How to Choose a Force?

Choose a force from either Afrika Korp, Armored Fist, Avanti, Desert Rats or Fighting First. The points utilized are entirely up to what the players agree to. A recommended amount is 71 to 100. Keep in mind that each battle will have additional Units called Firestorm Troops (Units you add to your force), as well as bonus Command Cards.

These additions will amount to an average of about 30 points, so a 71-point force will play like a 100-point force.

Firestorm Units

Unlike other Firestorm campaigns that assign Firestorm units, Firestorm Tunisia allows players to choose and build their own pool of Firestorm units.

After you build your main force as described above, you will build a second force called a Firestorm Support Pool. To do this, you will spend additional points to buy several more Infantry, Gun, and Tank Units to add to your Support Pool.

Before each battle is played, you will have the ability to draw from your pool of Firestorm Support Units and add them to your main force. Which units are available to use is partially determined by the Firestorm Troops involved on the battle map, but there is also a random factor. Sometimes commanders are limited to what the “old man” back at HQ is willing or able to provide.

This unique method of Firestorm Troop determination will add more choices for players and eliminates the problem of not having the proper models to field the additional Firestorm Unit. Details on how to build Firestorm Support Pools and how the units are selected for each battle will be posted in the forum.

Command Cards

Command Cards are allowed but with two exceptions – Erwin Rommel and US Army Air Force may not be “purchased” for a list. Instead, these cards are awarded as special campaign bonuses.

Note that in battles that involve Firestorm Troops, players will receive one Command Card for free determined at random from all 2, 3 or 4-point cards for your force. When you build your force, you may want to focus on either 1-point cards, or cards costing greater than 4-points.

Commendations

Firestorm Tunisia will introduce a unique player award system that you can use as an option for any Flames of War game. If used for this Firestorm Tunisia, players can accumulate points to unlock additional campaign bonuses.

So mount up (or dig in) and fight the last battles for North Africa!

– Drec (Scott)

17 thoughts on “Firestorm Tunisia – An NDNG Online FOW Campaign”

  1. Cool.. since I have a game scheduled for monday, I’ll be sure to make it count

  3. “How to Choose a Force?

    Choose a force from either Armored Fist, Avanti, Desert Rats or Fighting First.”

    Can we not use Afrika?

  4. The campaign is open to everyone! The campaign is designed with v4 and those 4 books in mind and are needed to get a lot of the special campaign bonuses. So they are highly encouraged. If you do not have the ability to field troops from those books, you can substitute any mid-war battle as needed, if agreeable with your opponent.

  6. The Campaign forum makes reference to being “out of supply”. What does this mean in game terms?

    1. Firestorm Units that are out of supply cannot participate in attacks, cannot make exploitation moves, and have a risk of being destroyed.

      1. Thanks, Scott. “Exploit” is another term that has been used in the campaign forum that I don’t understand in game terms. What does it mean to “exploit” or make an “exploitation move”?

  7. An exploitation move is a typical Firestorm feature. After the attack phase, Firestorm units can advance into an unoccupied, enemy-controlled sector and “capture” it (change the control). This is called exploiting. In FST, an exception is that this is limited to units that attacked in the attack phase. The reason for this is a matter of strategic map scale, and the concept of limited supplies.

    1. Thanks, Scott. I think much of my confusion stems from my lack of knowledge about the mechanics of Firestorm campaign “turns”. I suspect I´m not the only one. Presumably, the “Attack Phase” is also a feature of a Firestorm campaign. Can I assume that the “Attack phase” and the “exploitation move” are not used in individual battles but rather as part of campaign “turns”? Is there a summary somewhere of Firestorm campaign actions, turn sequence, etc.?

    1. Thanks for the link, Scott. Unfortunately, that page does not have a description of the mechanics of a Firestorm Campaign. I doesn´t explain the various phases of a turn or whatever sub-divisions there may be for those phases. Too bad there isn´t (is there?) a wiki or a glossary or something for newer players to consult.

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