It’s all in the Cards – American Command Cards for Normandy
By Tom Burgess
The US forces are getting ready to hit the beach in D-Day American Forces in Normandy 1944. This in itself is a great expansion of the Flames of War Version 4 Late War universe, but the new US Normandy Command Cards truly take the US book options to the next level. I was amazed at the richness and depth that these Command Cards bring to the force offerings in the book. In my opinion, this is the best Command Card deck to date and I really hope this is the model we will see used across future Later War Command Card decks.
So let’s take a look at how the D-Day American Command Cards break down. There are a total of 40 Cards in the deck. I like to break these down into five categories; Generic, Effects, Unit/Equipment Upgrades, Heroes, and Division Cards.
Generic (3 Cards):
Softskin Transport – Nothing new here.
Amphibious Transport – Same as above but treat impassable water as Difficult Terrain.
Lucky – Like you did not know already…discard for one die re-roll…but you’ll forget to use it anyway.
Nothing really to get excited about with these. It cracks me up that Lucky and Softskin Transport are in every Command Card deck so far.
Effects (4 Cards):
- Div Arty, All In! – Add THREE “All In!” Ranged-in markers before deployment, discard to resolve “All In!” bombardments as 105mm Batteries (No Repeat, No Time-on-Target), remove “All In!” ranged-in markers.
- Naval Gunfire – In each shooting step, a formation commander or observer can request NGFS, on a 5+ they get it and then may attempt to range in with a four-gun AT4 Auto FP bombardment. Assault Company, Veteran Assault Company, and Ranger Company teams get NGFS on a 4+. Remove ranged in markers after resoling bombardment.
- Total Air Superiority – Opponents must roll a 5+ to receive air support. Can discard for own air to arrive on a 3+ before rolling.
- French Resistance Raid – Discard after opponent reserve rolls to make opponent reroll reserve rolls.
There are some very cool options in this group. As you will expect, the Division artillery/NGFS cards will be costly. Total Air Superiority and French Resistance Raid are much cheaper options and I expect will get a lot of use. Total Air Superiority is a Command Card I expect to use quite a bit myself. I really like how it has some value even if your opponent does not have air support. But if they do, I’ll not be using the discard option in other than the most desperate circumstances.
Unit/Equipment Upgrades (10 Cards):
- Sherman DD – Tanks in unit treat impassable water as Difficult Terrain
- Sandbag Armour – Schurzen effect for US Tanks.
- Cullin Hedge Cutter – All tank teams in the unit get a 2+ Cross on Hedge and Bocage.
- 370th Fighter Group – P47 unit gains Napalm Bombs with AT1 and Auto FP. Infantry Gun and Unarmored Tank teams reroll saves.
- Demolition Specialist – One Rifle team in a Rifle unit may be replaced with Flamethrower and all teams in unit clear mines on a 3+ and dig in on a 3+.
- Ivory X – US AAA Halftracks can bombard like British HMGs.
- Tank Telephones – If a Veteran US Tank unit leader is within 2″ of an infantry unit leader, one tank in the unit may reroll one die to hit an enemy infantry or gun team.
- Sticky Bombs – Same as MW British Sticky Bombs.
- Desert Veterans – Improves Skill Rating of M10 Tank Destroyers.
- 2000lbs Bomb Load – Improves P47 bombs to AT4 FP 2+.
Some very interesting and characterful option in this group. Most of these are in the one to three point range. I think I’ll always use air support when I run my US and so the 370th Fighter Group or 2000lbs Bomb Load will see frequent use in my forces. 370th Fighter Group will be better versus infantry and gun teams while the 2000lbs Bombs will be better versus tanks. I am also really liking the tank upgrades in the Command Card deck that are Normandy themed.
New Units (6):
- FFI Platoon – Add a partisan infantry platoon as support. Counts as zero points for reserve.
- FTP Platoon – As above but with better stats due to being communist veterans from the Spanish Civil War.
- Cavalry Recon Troop – A new formation Card allowing a HQ with two M8 Greyhounds, 3 to 9 Cavalry Recon Patrols, 0-1 M5 Stuart Platoon, and 0-1 M8 Scott Platoon. Pretty cool that this whole formation will be doable in all plastic.
- Engineer Combat Platoon – Platoon with 5x M1 Garand rifle teams, 3x M1 Bazooka teams, and 2x M1917 HMG teams with 3+ Mine Clearing and Dig-In. Also reduces cross check by 1 on a hedgerow for friendly teams within 2″.
- Engineer Combat Company – HQ with two to three Engineer Combat Platoons.
- 4.2 Inch Chemical Mortars – Your Force may field an additional Mortar Platoon (LU118) of four mortars as a Support option with 48″ range, AT2 and FP 3+.
The most interesting about this group is the 4.2 Inch Chemical Mortar platoon. I say this because there is no 4.2 Mortar model offered in the V4 LW catalog in D-Day American Forces in Normandy 1944.
The card tells you that you can add a LU118 Mortar Platoon (81mm) as a support unit and use the 4.2 Inch Mortar stats on the card for them. I believe that this is the first case I’ve seen of a unit that will not be covered by the more limited V4 model releases still get brought into the game.
This may means we will not have to pin our hopes Battlefront producing a new model before we see cards/stat for us to use our older more rare/unique pieces of kit. That is a very good sign for those of us who own older models that there will not be room for in future Flames of War SKUs. Let’s hope Battlefront keeps doing more of these.
Heroes (4):
- Norman “Dutch” Cota – When forced to fall back from defensive fire, immediately rolls to unpin and if successful must charge a second time.
- Lafayette Poole – Unit passes Follow Me on a 3+ and Unit Leader loses the +1 to hit from Stabilizers.
- Turner Turnbull – M1919 and M1 Garand rifle teams in this Unit may re-roll any failed To Hit rolls when conducting Defensive Fire.
- James Earl Rudder – Ranger Platoons in formation replace “Blood and Guts” with “Brash and Bold” giving a 2+ Counterattack and a 3+ Rally.
I’m not too thrilled about these hero cards for general use. They are OK, but really don’t excite me other than for use in specific scenarios where said heroes would actually have fought. I am somewhat partial to the Lafayette Poole card so may try it out in pick -up games.
I saved the best for last. Battlefront has added 14 Command Cards to adjust the nature of a formation in accordance with its parent division’s history and reputation.
Division Cards (13):
- Division LeClerc – Veteran Tank or Veteran Armored Rifles gain “LeClerc’s Oath” giving a 3+ Last Stand rating.
- Indian Head (2nd Infantry Division) – Replace all M1 Garand Teams in a Rifle unit with Thompson SMG Teams that assault on a 3+.
- Ivy (4th Infantry Division) – May take a M7 Priest unit in place of a 105mm Howitzer unit.
- Red Devils (5th Infantry Division) – Replaces “Blood and Guts” with “Red Devils” giving a 3+ Follow me and a 4+ Rally.
- Pathfinder (8th Infantry Division) – May Night Attack when the Attacker in a mission with minefields.
- Old Reliables (9th Infantry Division) – Units with Yankee Ingenuity exchange it for Old Reliables giving a 3+ Rally and a 4+ Tactics.
- Keystone (28th Infantry Division) – May re-roll location arrival area when using scattered reserves
- Old Hickory (30th Infantry Division) – Units exchange Blood and Guts for Old Hickory giving a 3+ Last Stand and a 4+ Rally.
- Santa Fe (35th Infantry Division) – Tank Riders that can shoot while mounted on a M4 Sherman (one shooting team per tank) and may dismount when charging into contact
- Cross of Lorraine (79th Infantry Division) – 105mm Howitzer units have FP 2+ when repeating bombardments.
- Blue Ridge (80th Infantry Division) – When a Spotting Team successfully Ranges In an Artillery Unit with the Time on Target rule, they may immediately roll to Range In another Artillery Unit. If Successful, the second Artillery Unit is treated as Ranging In on the same attempt as the first.
- Thunderbolt (83rd Infantry Division) – Units exchange Blood and Guts for Thunderbolt giving a 3+ Counterattack and a 4+ Rally.
- Tough ‘Ombres (90th Infantry Division) – Loose Blood and Guts and become Reluctant 5+ for Motivation.
The 1st Infantry Division and the 29th Infantry Division are the basis for the respective Veteran Assault/Rifle Company and Assault/Rifle Company formations in D-Day American Forces in Normandy 1944. What the above fourteen Command Cards do is expand the player’s ability to reflect many of the divisions that fought in the Normandy Campaign.
Instead of dozens and dozens pages and pages of army lists that were virtually identical, save the special rules. We only need a deck of cards to dramatically expand the number of specific units we can represent from the baseline formations within the book. This gives a lot of reason to be optimistic about future book and command card releases.
So what’s missing?
I was disappointed not to see a Command Card for Task Force A and M18 Hellcats. I have three platoons of M18s after all. It would have been easy to add a M18 card similar to the 4.2″ Mortar card. Perhaps this is a case of “always leave them wanting more.”
Alas, I suppose my M18s will still get on the table as M10s for now. I expect that eventually we’ll have player created unit cards for M18s that will make their way in to V4 Forces or we’ll see them brought into V4 in a later US book. So I’ll easily get over their omission in D-Day American Forces in Normandy 1944 and its corresponding Command Cards.
Overall I think Battlefront nailed it with this collection of Command Cards. I believe these are the best deck we’ve seen to date. The diversity and campaign flavor these cards add is amazing.
Though I’m not covering the new book, D-Day American Forces in Normandy 1944, here specifically, I note the 10 page US catalog at the back of the book is nearly full of “All Plastic” units. These new Command Cards coupled with being able to build entire US formations and support in plastic make makes this an exciting time to be starting a new US force for Flames of War. The future looks bright indeed for V4 Late War Flames of War. I can’t wait to see what future books and Command Card decks add to the game.
Definately going to be giving the Cavalry group a go in plastic I think… love me some M8’s and Stuarts!
Nice article Tom.
I’m looking forward to trying these new units out.
Best Sr
i’m super looking forward to the Command cards, but i’m wondering
is this FE compatible?
i am hoping that there will be more heros, cause i bought the 101st easy company and i want to field them. i also want a George S patton command card where the germans have delayed reserves due to believing that the attack is a diversion or something, would be interesting.
Tom,
Great review. Thanks for posting. Does the Softskin Tranport card remain at the FE Command Card ratings or does it get upgraded in terms of skill, to-hit, etc.?
This is looking much more refined than mid war!
Thank you for the nice article Tom,
Although I am not a fan of the concept of command cards, it brings extra variety to the game.
Recce