Kitchner’s Army – British Formations in Flames of War Version 4’s “Great War”

By Tom Burgess

The British forces in Version 4’s Great War return with new options. Cavalry and Armored Cars bolster the already solid British infantry formations. The British now have four formations they can take; Line Division Rifle Company, Elite Division Rifle Company, Canadian or ANZAC Rifle Company, and the Cavalry Squadron.

The Line Division Rifle Company may take up to four Rifle Platoons, two Machine-gun Platoons, and four Trench mortars.  The Elite Division has the exact same formation options, though it will have better quality and greater costs.

The Line Divisions represent Kitchner’s “New Army” where Regular and Territorial units. They are solid troops with a Confident Motivation of 4+ (3+ Bulldog for counterattacks), Trained with 4+ skill (3+ Trench Fighters in Assault), and Careful hit on a 4+.  Their special rules; British Bulldog and Trench Fighter are already rolled up into their stats.

The Elite Division Rifle companies represent British divisions that attained a higher reputation and were often assigned in assault roles. They are Veteran 3+ skill (2+ Trench Fighters in Assault), but otherwise, have the same rating as the Line Division troops.

Additional the Elite Division troops have Night Attack special rules which can be used in certain missions.

Both the Line and Elite formation HQs have two Pistol Teams for 2-points with no upgrade options. Full platoons have five SMLE Rifle Teams, two Rifle/Grenade teams, and two Lewis MG teams for 11-point Line and 15-points Elite.

The reduced size platoons have three SMLE Rifle Teams, one Rifle/Grenade teams, and one Lewis MG teams for 6-point Line and 8-points Elite. There are no platoon upgrades/add-ons like the Germans have.

The Vickers Machine guns units come with four teams at 15-point Line and 19-points Elite, three teams at 11-point Line and 14-points Elite, and two teams at 7-points Line and 9-points Elite.

The Tranche Mortar teams are 5-points each for Line and 6-point each for Elite. Everything else available to the Line and Elite Rifle formations comes as support options that we will look at later.

The ANZAC or Canadian Division Rifle Companies, are like the British Elite Division Rifle Companies assault troops. The cost and organization of the Rifle Platoons, Vickers HMG Platoons and Trench Mortar teams is exactly the same as the Elite Rifle Company formation.

The difference is that the ANZACs and Canadians give up British Bulldog for a 3+ Rally rating. The ANZACs and Canadians have the “Night Attack” rule as well.

One unique and interesting options that the Canadians get is the Armoured Autocar Section.  These can replace either Vickers HMG platoons and come with two teams for 20-points. Each Armored Autocar has two Vickers HMGs so can shoot at ROF 13 when stationary or bombard as two teams each. They also may dismount at the start of the game replacing each Armoured Autocar team with two Vickers teams.

The last formation added for the British is the Cavalry Squadron.

Some may find the use of cavalry in later in the Great War as being antiquated, but the Allies did retain mounted units to serve as exploitation units. As such they often operated in close cooperation with Tank units, especially Whippets.

The Cavalry are rated as Confident Motivation of 4+ (3+ Bulldog for counterattacks), Veteran with 4+ skill (3+ Blitz), and Careful hit on a 4+. They also retain the 3+ infantry save even when mounted. The Cavalry may also dismount at any point of the game and fight on as infantry teams but may not remount n the same game.

The Cavalry is organized a bit differently than the Rifle Companies. The formation HQ has two Cavalry Pistol Teams for 2 points.  The Cavalry Troops have eight SMLE and one MG teams at 17 points or four SMLE and one MG team at 9 points.  The Cavalry HMG sections have two Vickers at nine points. The Cavalry Squadron can also take up to four Elite Trench Mortar teams at 6-point each.The support options have been expanded for the British Formations. In addition to the Mark IV, Mark V, and Whippet tanks, the British now have access toe French Schneider CA.1s and Char Saint Chamond heavy tanks as well as FT-17 light tank platoons and Austin Armoured Cars.

The Mark IVs go at 13/17-points for a Green/Elite Female and  17/23-points for a Green/Elite Male. The Mark Vs are always Veteran and go at 19/25/24-points for the Female/Male/Hermaphrodite versions.  The Mark V*s are also always Veteran and go at 19/25/24-

points for the Female/Male/Hermaphrodite versions.

The Whippets are 9/11-points each for the Green and Veteran options.  The Austin Armoured Cars come in units of 1/2/3-cars ar 3/6/9-points and are rated as Confident, Trained, and Aggressive.

The 18 pounder QQF can be taken as single guns for 9-points Green or 11-points Veteran. Batteries of 18 pounder QQF guns come in at 25-points for three guns or 50-points for six when Green. The Veteran 18 pounder QQFs are 33-point for three and 66-points for six. Finally, a single sniper can be added as a support choice for just 4-points.

So there we have a basic break down of organization and cost for the British in the new Great War book. I though my own British Great War collection was already very complete, but now I feel that I have to add some Cavalry and build up a combined army breakthrough force.