Remember December: A Return to Early War FOW

By Richard Steer

Every year, our wargaming club in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, runs a one-day tournament for club members at the final meeting of the year. Named Remember December, this event was first run in memory of Nick Garden, a valued member of the club and the wider New Zealand wargaming community, who passed away in 2015. The 2021 edition of Remember December was held on 11 December, playing  in a 1100pt Early-War format.

The Early-War era of Flames of War has always been my favorite. The oddball vehicles, the wide range of nations represented, and the generally weaker stat lines, all combine to create a game of huge variety that feels very different from the way that the Mid-War and Late-War eras play, despite using identical rules. While there has been no recent indication of the timeframe for Early-War being re-released for V4, for now, it is still able to be played using a conversion of the V2/V3 lists.

For Remember December, I chose to field a British Armoured Car Squadron from the Hellfire and Back campaign book.  Hellfire and Back covers the British, German, and Italian forces in North Africa in 1940 and 1941, and despite strong competition from the books that cover the Late-War Italian Campaign, it is my favorite Flames of War book across all of the editions. The hardcover campaign books for Flames of War’s second and third editions were masterpieces. Their comprehensive coverage of the formations involved in WW2, the level of detail the lists contained, and the history that sat behind them, were a significant factors in the popularity of the game’s third edition.

My force was loosely themed on the 11th Hussars at the end of Operation Compass, the British defeat of the Italian army in North Africa in early 1941. As the British Western Desert Force pursued the retreating Italians across Libya, they sent a flying column of armored cars, infantry, and artillery, named Combeforce after its commander, cross-country to block and delay the Italians.

To represent this, my list is built around a squadron of Rolls Royce and Morris armored cars, supported by a platoon of motorised infantry, a troop of 25pdr Mk 1 field guns, and a pair of 37mm portee anti-tank guns. While the Force totals 1110 points from the book, I can claim a 30 point Redundant Teams rebate for the gun unit Command and Staff teams, as detailed in the , bringing the Force down below the required 1100 points.

To be honest, for all their brilliance, the V2/V3 lists are now showing their age. The conversion adjusts a number of the stats for the newer edition of the rules, particularly artillery which saw an increase in Firepower and a reduction in Anti-tank. Most units however remain as they were in V3, with some being significantly different to how are represented in V4. Examples of this are 37mm and 50mm guns remaining ROF 3, and the Tank Assault 4 rating of some infantry units seeming overpowered now that Tank Terror is no longer a rule.

The structure of the unit stat block in V4 allows units to have nuanced skill and motivation stats that influence how units are used in a way that V3 never could. This was clearly shown in my final game of the day when one of my Armoured Car Platoons was assaulted by a unit of infantry. Under V4, my Careful, Confident Veteran armored cars would be rated as Counterattack 6, Assault 4+, and Last Stand 5+, severely discouraging their use in close combat, and penalizing them when they take casualties. Instead, under the conversion rules, they retain their basic Confident Veteran stats for all motivation and skill tests, making them an effective frontline unit that is quite capable of handling themselves in an assault.

I have mixed emotions about the eventual update of Early-War to V4. It is a fascinating period, and I’d love to see it be more accessible and being played more. I’m certain that properly implementing it with the streamlined ruleset will only improve the way it plays.

On the other hand, while the latest V4 books are a huge step forward from the initial Mid-War releases, they still don’t have the depth and color of the V3 campaign books. Battlefront, as it absolutely should, will make decisions based on what is best for the long-term sustainability of the company. The result of those decisions will probably not look like the old Early-War books. I can’t help but wonder what units will join the Staghound and the Bishop, the two vehicles that I most strongly associate with Nick, as not being commercially viable.

In the end, my Armoured Car Squadron placed 9th out of 12, with one win and two losses. It seems that even in Early-War there is only so much you can expect of a force that trundles around with an 8″ Tactical and Cross 5+, and struggles to put out much above Anti-tank 4. Regardless of the results, it was a great day spent with an excellent group of people, as we were able to dig out some miniatures that haven’t seen the table for a number of years and gather together to roll some dice and remember absent friends.