Report from ETC 2024, the most prestigious Flames of War team tournament of the year!

By Paolo Paglianti

It’s the most anticipated Flames of War tournament of the year: the top 120 players from around the world (not just the Old World, but also New Zealand and the USA) competing in a weekend of FOW matches, but more importantly, many friends reuniting under one roof for the same passion for wargaming.

I was fortunate enough to participate in my first ETC (European Team Challenge) in 2022 when my friend Søren Petersen invited me as a ‘mercenary’ for the Iceland team. I had a great time and it went very well! The following year, we returned as Team Italy led by the new Captain Livio Tonazzo, and things went very well indeed again. This year, the same team—consisting of Livio Tonazzo, Flaviano Maggioni, Giacomo Velini, Antonio Soncini, and Tiberio Vinante—is heading to Kraków, Poland. This time, the tournament is in the Late War format.

Preparation for ETC 2024 and My List

Team Italy ready to fly to Kraków: from left to right – myself, Flaviano, Captain Livio, Antonio, Giacomo and Tiberio.

With Team Italy (which includes many other players who helped us form the team and lists, including Davide Ranzani, Matteo Vertuan, Stefano Zanchi, and Jacopo Perini), we started preparing for ETC 2024 as soon as we returned home from the Belgian edition in 2023. Besides Team Italy, I also received enormous help from all my friends at the Milan club (Giorgio Bendotti, Andrea Pavanati, Alessandro Bossi, Cinzia Palazzo, Matteo Fiorini and Filippo Arioso) and my special personal coach, Claudio Tiso from Turin.

At the ETC, teams consist of six players, and by rule, they must field armies from four different nationalities. While the British army in the Mid period isn’t that particularly strong, in the Late War it’s one of the preferred choices because it combines excellent assault infantry with tanks and anti-tank units with very high AT, even though its bombardments and artillery aren’t decisively powerful.

Since I generally play with the British, it seemed a natural choice to prepare with my ‘usual’ list based on a Canadian Rifle Infantry Formation (which improves the morale of the basic British troops), two units of M10s, and a unit of deadly Churchill Crocodiles. From September to July, I tried various versions of this list, transitioning from the D-Day version to the Bulge version (more expensive but also a bit more robust) by participating in the Warfare 2023, Italian Nationals, Adepticon, and Historicon tournaments with—let’s say—promising results.

In the end, the list I brought was this: by downgrading one of the M10 platoons to an American veteran ally, I managed to squeeze in two units of 4 Daimlers, which I find very useful against the spam of Germans from the Berlin book, usually full of deadly and fast ‘little spam vehicles’. Will the plan work?

By the way, here you can find all ETC 2024 lists.

 

First Game: Andrey Shchyolok with Bagration Soviet

The first match is against Belarus, which is certainly not an easy opponent. The pairing system between players involves the two captains each “proposing” a player, to which the other responds with two choices. The captain then selects which of the two to pair with his “proposal,” and the process continues until all six players are “paired.”

Naturally, each captain tries to match their team members with the list they consider best for the pairing. In the first round, Livio definitely made the right call with my list, as I’m up against a Russian infantry defense formation with my Canadian attacking force. With nine flamethrowers and infantry that assault on a 3+ and counter-assault on a 3+, Andrey’s list is quite the “customer.” Here’s his list.

Of course, besides the list, there’s the player, and Andrey plays very well. Being on defense, he knows he has to hold out for six turns, considering that his tanks (Churchills lent by Her Majesty and some KV 1s) will soon arrive from reserves to assist him. We roll for the mission, and it comes out as “No Retreat.” Here’s the table.

Andrey wisely decides to block the upper side with minefields, forcing me to make a choice: face the mines with just one smoke barrage, or attack him where he places the bulk of his army, at the lower part of the table. Since there are 45mm guns in reserve and the risk of the Sturmovik arriving every turn, I decide to attack on the side without the minefields to get as close to the Russian line as possible.

My main advantage is that the Crocodiles, with front armor 11, are practically invulnerable because Andrey doesn’t have any guns powerful enough to pierce them, so I can use them as a battering ram. Unfortunately, the Crocodiles don’t contest the objective, so I still have to challenge Andrey’s barrage fire with other units.

In the first turn, I advance toward the Russian line, while in Andrey’s first turn, the Sturmovik comes out of reserves, and thanks to the cunning use of “Make Your Own Luck” card, the plane appears on the battlefield right above my M10s, Crocodiles, and Kangaroos massed for the attack. Fortunately, the 4+ bomb does little damage, and in the next turn, I start BBQing the Russian infantry.

The game turns into a war of attrition between the Russian infantry and the British flamethrowers, who by the fifth turn manage to clear enough space and prepare the charge of the Canadians, which is repelled a couple of times. Only in the final turn, and with a fair amount of luck, do I manage to push the Russians back more than 10 cm from the objective, capturing it. Great plan, Andrey! 6-3

Second Game: Łukasz Kur with German Fortress Europe (Berlin formations)

In the second match, we face the defending champions of ETC 2023, and they’re playing at home too! I’m up against Łukasz, one of the strongest players on Team Poland, with a devilish list of Germans full of artillery and “little spam vehicles” I hate so much! Here’s his list.

We’re both attacking, and the scenario selected is the Meeting Engagement “Free for All”. Here’s the table.

As usual, I managed to crop out the full deployment. The interesting part is the M10 platoon in the center. If I used it on the left, I think I could have won the game

From experience, I know that this scenario will soon split into two mirror battles: one where Łukasz will pounce on one of my two objectives with his mass of little vehicles, and the other where I’ll do the same with my Crocodiles. Also from experience, I know I won’t be able to hold the objective for more than five or six turns, so I need to reach the objective before Łukasz reaches mine.

I decide to assault the objective on the left, where there are some cover options (bunkers, we’ll consider them as regular buildings), while the small woods in the lower right half of the table seem like effective cover from the German’s overwhelming artillery, which includes three platoons of StuHs (which, not to complain, cost in army points like Priests and hit as hard as Priests but are hit on a 4 and have StuG armor).

According to the plan, I send Crocodiles, infantry in Kangaroos, a platoon of Wasps, and a platoon of Daimlers toward the objective, while Łukasz masses three million platoons on mine (according to German sources, it was “only” seven platoons, but it felt like much more). On Łukasz’s attacking side, things go as expected: he takes out any enemy in sight, then reaches the woods and starts throwing buckets of dice each turn with Stummel, 2 cm, and Triple 5.5cm. My Canadian infantry performs very well, holding out for ten turns, but in the end, they’re wiped out by sheer numbers.

On the left side where I’m attacking, I advance with my smoke screen, then start flaming the German infantry. The first assault goes very well, and I manage to push the Volks off the objective and even force the titan Ferdinand to break off, but then I get stuck in the bunker. With six StuHs and a Ferdinand in front of me, I can’t deliver the final blow and win the game in time.

Sure, I could blame it on the fact that when the Ferdinand made the break-off and tested for the cross, Łukasz rolled a three and forgot that the Ferdy’s cross is a “4,” and by destroying it in the first assault, I’m sure I would have won the game—since the Crocodiles could have easily smashed the StuHs without being destroyed—but the truth is my mistake was moving the M10s to the right, in a futile attempt to stop Łukasz’s advance on the “losing” side, where they made no difference, while on the left, they would have been very helpful in clearing out the Triple 5.5cms and other German vehicles. 2-7

Third Game: Etienne Dufour and His German Berlin

Etienne is a great friend and one of the best FOW players in Europe. We’ve played at least three tournament games in the last year since he often comes to my tournaments in Milan, and we’ve even had some training sessions for the ETC. His army is designed to maximize defense, and from past games, I know it’s quite a challenge for my Canadians. Here’s his diabolical list.

I’m attacking, and he’s defending, and the scenario is “It’s a Trap,” which I consider the worst scenario for attacking an army like this (incidentally, it’s the same scenario in which I lost to my friend Fred Oz in Milan, with a similar army). The attacker starts massed in the center, and the defender can deploy on the flanks, has minefields, and even has an ambush that can appear on the flanks or even behind the attacker if they advance too recklessly. Here’s the table:

Etienne had the HitlerJungen Panzerfaust infantry in ambush, and with this scenario he could make them appear on the flanks, even after I moved on the same spot. 

I decide to attack en masse on the right, where there are no minefields. Facing me are practically three lines of Volks infantry, each with two panzerfausts, 88s from the Luftwaffe (6-points for four 88s, who wouldn’t use them!), flamers, 5.5cm guns, and so on.

The best option would be to attack the far right corner of Etienne’s deployment, but given my deployment, it would take me three turns to get there, and I’d be at the mercy of the 88s’ fire. I decide to go for it as quickly as possible and move straight ahead, positioning myself 8” from Etienne’s line and then launching my only smoke screen.

Etienne isn’t caught off guard and throws a smoke screen in front of his infantry, so in the next turn, I can’t pin all three infantry formations: assaulting with infantry would mean being slaughtered and repelled. In the following turn, without smoke cover, he concentrates fire on the Kangaroos, tearing them apart, and with a bit of (my) bad luck, he also decimates my infantry.

In the subsequent turns, I attempt a desperate assault, but when I lose the last infantryman, I concede the game with a handshake, and we go have a beer. 3-6, well deserved by Etienne.

Fourth Game: Carlos Ferreira with Berlin Soviet

The next match pairs us with our friends from Team Portugal, and I’m up against Carlos with his defensive Russians, a list similar to Andrey’s from Team Belarus but with a clever variation—8 Sherman 76mm that can be kept in reserve and pack a punch when they enter. Here’s the list.

I’m attacking, and he’s defending, as expected, and the mission is “Hold the Pocket.” Carlos places the minefields on the right and then prepares for my assault. I use my Daimlers with Spearhead to position the bulk of my army in the center of the table, in no man’s land, 16” from his objective, and I place the two M10 platoons on each flank to counter the Shermans when they come out of reserve. Here’s the table.

I managed to crop out my deployment at the bottom of the photo. Imagine the usual attack column of Crocodiles, Wasps, and infantry, with the M10s on the flanks. We treated all buildings as ruins, so they do not block visibility but are bulletproof

 

In the first two turns, I move my two Canadian infantry units closer to the most exposed objective, taking advantage of the large building positioned between me and the Russian troops, and take control of it. I bring the Crocodiles and Wasps closer to the Russian line and start hitting them with flames, but Carlos wisely keeps them still without firing to make it harder for me to pin them down.

The Shermans enter, as expected, on the second turn and begin moving to the right to try to flank the Churchill Crocodiles, but the British M10s take position behind a ruin and start blowing them up. However, eight Shermans are tough to take down! The American M10s start a flanking maneuver along with a platoon of Wasps and move to the left flank of the Russian deployment:

Carlos responds by deploying his M10 ambush, and in the ensuing duel, mine come off worse. However, Carlos decides to engage his large BA64 platoon to try to take out some Canadians, but by doing so, he moves it out of the “protection” zone of the frontline Russian infantry. With a few lucky shots, the Crocodiles take out or bail the BA64s, and the Canadians can calmly assault the remaining Russian infantry, capturing the objective. 7-2.

 

Fifth Match, Scott Palmer with his British Bulge

 

Time for a good bloodly civil war (or fake training battle) against Scott and his list, which is very similar to mine, with more armored vehicles but no flamers. Scott is an excellent player and was also the referee for ETC 2022 and 2023, so he’s definitely not an opponent to be underestimated. Here’s Scott’s list.

Our captain, Livio, managed to set things up so that I would face Scott in Manoeuvre, while Scott was on the Attack, and the mission turns out to be “Counterattack”. Here’s the table.

We treated the Italian fort as buildings, but with no bulletproof from the inside, and all oasis as wood

Scott has to decide whether to attack the objective in my half of the table (on the right, protected by a beautiful Italian desert fort) or aim for the one completely exposed in no man’s land. He opts for the latter and concentrates all his assault units toward that goal. I have six turns to get my infantry and reserves (Crocodiles and the British M10s) to the objective against a steel wall of two Canadian infantry units on Kangaroos, three Churchill Italy, a platoon of British Shermans and Fireflys, and one of American Shermans. Ouch!

I send one of my Daimler platoons in Spearhead 16″ from the objective, placing the small Canadian infantry platoon and HQ mounted on Kangaroos around it, along with a Wasp platoon. In the first turn, I advance behind a line of houses that should protect me from enemy fire, but Scott manages to bail out a Kangaroo with his Matador bombardment.

Rather than taking another two bombardments to the head, I pull back behind the hill again: the situation becomes complicated, as by the end of the second turn, the objective is defended by just one platoon of Daimlers hidden in the nearby oasis and refusing to fire to stay Gone Ground. Fortunately, in the third turn, both the Crocodiles and the British M10s arrive, positioning themselves on the flank of the enemy Kangaroos and blowing them up in the next two turns.

With the infantry decimated and under crossfire from flamethrowers, M10s, and Daimler machine guns, Scott is forced to retreat. Once the two infantry platoons are destroyed and with 8 M10s on the flanks of his surviving tanks, Scott focuses on taking out an extra platoon to achieve the maximum score. 6-3.

Sixth Match, Rob Hermans with Romanian Force

 

In the final match, Team Italy faces off against our friends from Team Belgium, and I go up against Rob with his Romanians. A perfect list for defense, with excellent infantry hit on a 4+, several anti-tank guns, and two formidable Tiger IIs that will definitely be in reserve. Here’s the list.

We play Attack versus Defense, and the scenario turns out to be Bridgehead. Rob prepares very well, deploying infantry and guns to defend the objectives and sending the two Spearhead platoons on the flanks to prevent me from encircling him. A small flaw in his plan is that he placed the minefields on the left flank, while his own deployment practically forced me to attack him head-on. Here’s the battlefield.

Rob used the Spearhead units very well, to prevent me to “infiltrate” on the flanks. The minefield protected very well the right flank, but left the front totally “bare”

 

I deploy my assault units in front of his center, as usual. The houses in the center would protect my advance quite well. The two M10 platoons are placed on the two flanks. The idea is to push them as far forward on both wings as possible so that when the Tiger IIs enter, one of the platoons can open fire on their side or rear. Rob plays the 75mm guns’ reserve very shrewdly: since they’re useless against the Crocodiles, he deploys them far back, almost at the base of his formation, to prevent the American M10s on my right from flanking him on that side.

Meanwhile, the Canadian infantry and Crocodiles reach the first Romanian line and start targeting the infantry with flames and assaults, but they aren’t decisive.

The Tiger IIs arrive on the table as expected and head towards the less protected objective on my left. The British M10s, meanwhile, have practically circled the table in the same side and manage to get a couple of shots at the rear of the Tiger IIs, but the only hit fails the firepower test!

Rob then pulls the Tiger IIs back toward the other objective, where I’m meanwhile putting pressure with the larger Canadian infantry platoon. However, thanks to an infantry assault on a bailed-out R2, I manage to push back the Germans and Romanians from the objective, capturing it. 8-1.

The Awards Ceremony

The usual Italians making a lot of noise for third place, and on top of that, there’s also Matt Sulley from Battlefront

 

Thanks to the points from the entire team (especially Flaviano Maggioni, who secured 5 victories!), Team Italy takes third place! Team North Ireland comes in second, and as usual, Team USA takes first place. The sportsmanship award goes to Team Iceland, and the best painting award to Team Denmark.

Team USA, Team Northern Ireland and Team “noisy” Italy!

Finishing third as a team for the second time in a row is a great satisfaction, and the reports indeed mention a team dressed in blue roaming Krakow until the wee hours! The next appointment is ETC 2025, which will be in the Mid-war period!

By the way, if you want to prepare for ETC 2025, the Italian Nationals in Milan (which I’m organizing together with friends from the Milan club) is already scheduled: March 29th-30th 2025. More news on this soon!

 

Some photos from the ETC 2024 weekend

Team Italy in front of the ETC 2024 location, the Arena in Kraków. The location was fantastic, cool and with lots of space, with tables full of elements. Very well done, Poland!

Team Italy & friends (Davide Ranzani and Matteo Vertuan, Italian mercenary for Team Austria and Team Greece) having a full Polish dinner – chicken was delicious!

In Kracov we found a fantastic castle with various museums inside its walls. And the Armoury had an authentic Winged Polish Knight set of armour, don’t miss if you go there!

Inside the ETC 2024 location in the Arena: more than 450 players, counting Warhammer 9th Age and Flames of War!

Strategists at work, trying to fit the best pairing for the team, while I do some boomer team selfie

The usual dinner with Team England, with special guests Matt Sulley from Battlefront and his amazing partner Claire. Obviously, Team Italy war horribly late as any Italian stereotype demands. 

 

Partying hard after the tournament. “To all police cars in Kraków: There is a group of loud, oddly dressed individuals downtown, all in light blue—probably noisy Italians. Please keep an eye on them”