Flames of War D-Day British Spoiled

By Mitch “the Meta” Reed

My first army for was a Canadian infantry list. I swore at the time it would be my only army. My Bronze-Green Canucks were soon joined by Germans and many other lists but my love of playing Commonwealth armies has never abated. As Late War started to go under the V4 treatment I eagerly awaited the first dedicated British book and the new British D-Day book that will be released in March has a lot to be excited about. Airborne, Commandos, Canadians, Cromwells and multiple versions of the Churchill will no longer collect dust and now see a table and based on my first impressions of the book they should be a competitive and fun force to play.

The Book

This new tome comes in at just over 100 pages and represents all of the British forces that fought their way in from the beaches to the breakout across France. Like the other D-Day books you will also have painting guides, unique scenarios and a catalog of all the new toys in the book.

Airborne and Commandos
The British paras finally drop back into the game and I was surprised to find out that they are only Fearless/Trained and are hit on 4+. While they do hit in assaults on a 3+ I do not understand why they are only trained. The US airborne units we saw in the US D-Day book were all Fearless/Veteran; now a case could be made that some (not all) of the units in the 82nd Airborne Division were veterans from North Africa and Italy.

The US book makes no distinction between the 101st and 82nd so I can give them a pass for making them vets, but I feel the 6th British Airborne should also be given vet status, maybe more for how they fought and how well they were trained. What makes a unit veteran has always been a moving target in the game and now in V4 it seems to be applied more conservatively. Airlanding units have the same stats (also a change from V3) and gain the light mortar

The commandos are Fearless/Veterans and hit on 2+ in assaults. I played British commando lists in the past and they are so much fun to play. Unfortunately, they do come at a cost, you can now just take a platoon of them with your force. However, their high capability and morale make them a great option. You can also with a command card swap out your Rifle/Bren teams with SMGs.

PBI
You will see that the infantry lists look very similar to what we saw in Mid-War and in V3. With command cards, you can make the unit a Canadian division or a British division such as the 43rd, 49th 53rd, 51st Highland and 3rd Infantry.

You also get the Desert Rats Motor Rifle Infantry and Infantry Rifle Company which seems to be in every British book Battlefront has ever put out and they come as Reluctant/Trained. The Motor Rifles which also come as regular Confident/Trained can also be mounted in Defrocked Priests via a command card.

What I really like here is the ability to take two Wasp Flame Carrier platoons with my force, this is so hot. Another new wrinkle is that you also arm your Universal Carriers with PIATs, and I am excited to see how I can use this new capability in the game.

The infantry is Confident/Trained and hit on 4+. They counterattack at 3+ (Bulldog) and hit on assaults at a 3+ (Deadly). The Desert Rats Infantry (not motor) Rally on a 5+ (War Weary) and by the use of command cards you can play around with some of the stats of your unit however nothing that buffs the skill level of your infantry so you cannot get any veteran infantry formations.

Tanks, Loads of Them
Let me first dispel/clarify some of the rumors I have seen on social media over the last few months; the Challenger is not in the game even as a card. I have 4 Challenger models and I feel your pain. However, on the bright side, my numerous Cromwell’s can see the table again. It wasn’t in the Turning Tide Book either, so we will just have to wait for the next go around.

The new British book comes with 5 different tank formations that are centered on Sherman, Churchill or Cromwell tanks.

The Sherman units come in two flavors, a DD unit for the invasion and initial push inland, as well as Shermans representing the fresh divisions that landed as the beachhead expanded. Both formations are also Confident/Trained and are hit on 4+. The DD formation gives you the option to take a platoon of 3 Firefly tanks in one platoon which some players may wish to field instead of the 1 Firefly per 3 or 4 tank platoon as seen in the ‘fresh Sherman formation”. Other than the placement of the Firefly tanks, the two formations are pretty much the same.

Now for one of my favorite units, the Churchill formation. These Confident/Trained tanks come in the standard 3 tank platoon with the ability to make the unit all 75mm armed or have one armed with the 6 pdr or have one of the 75mm tanks up-armored. The Churchill formations with its mix and match tanks has always been a learning curve for gamers who are not well versed in the design and look of the British Infantry-Tank. The HQ unit can have up to 3 tanks with 2 of them being CS versions of the Churchill.

Two Cromwell formations included in the book, with one being a regular tank unit and the other being a Recce unit. The Confident/Trained Recce unit comes in 3 tank platoons with each of them getting the Scout special rule. The Reluctant/Trained Desert Rats formation can have 4th tank in its platoon by taking a Firefly and loses the Scout rule.

All of the above armored formations can take a Stuart Recce platoon and a Crusader AAA unit within their formation.

Support
The support looks like what we have become used to with British lists; M-10 Tank Destroyers, Crocodiles, AVRE Churchill tanks, Centaur Cromwell tanks, artillery and 17 pdr AT guns just to name a few. The artillery and AVRE units are some of the only examples of a unit being rated as veteran in this book.

Thoughts
I was able to see this book during its development and players have asked me about it for months. I have mostly remained silent on the matter. So I am now happy to be able to finally answer and say as a long time British player I love this new book.

It gives some of my models – that have been gathering dust, like the Cromwell – the chance to see a table again. I will also lament the passing of some models like the Tetrarch and Challenger tanks and my 5.5” artillery (which is kind of represented with the AGRA Card).

If a player was to look at the book only I can see where they may think that the flavor of the game has been watered down, however when you look at the book with the command card you can really see how great this D-Day book is. Since the Command Cards first came out with the first two books they have really grown and added so much to each book. The cards are now a “must purchase’ for even the casual gamer.

The book does have some minor issues. The first is the continued love affair with the 7th British Armoured Division. Yes, I know the lead developer has a tie to the unit, but make it a card like almost all of the other named formations in the game.

The other issue is making the airborne Fearless/ Trained, I feel that this a misunderstanding of why players (like me) field and play such forces. With the meta (yes I said “meta”) trending towards tank battles, the game needs a really good infantry force available for each nation to keep balance. Unfortunately, the British do not get what the US and German’s have in the game when it comes to that need for good infantry.

So far this is my favorite D-Day book (of the three released so far), and one I will play and rave about until the Waffen-SS book hits the streets.