Italians

By Benny Christiansen

As FOW V4 was released, I still remember that surprise I felt when I found out just how mobile the game became. Mobile is a word that contains value based on your own point of view. In this case, I am thinking of the infantry and the amount of movement they made. In my V3 games infantry tend to stay stationary and in competitive situations, I would have a certain way I would deploy my infantry platoons to optimize my defensive position. After deployment, they would rarely – if ever – move.

Under V4 rules, my infantry will, in most of my games, be forced to move a lot. Under the V4 system, I see only benefits in moving them (in general). Standing still is an invitation for destruction. But such claims are easy to make and hard to prove. So I will try to make an example via a game I played recently.

Today I will be going through the Avanti Command Cards for the Italians in Flames of War, including the ones that I am the most excited about, as well as those most likely to change the game.

The command cards heavily favor the Italian tanks, in my opinion. Most of the Infantry cards were expensive in comparison to what they did. Front Line Fighter allows your Infantry Formation Commander to re-roll his misses in assaults for one point. Legions of Rome allows your Bersaglieri Infantry Platoons to go from nine points to 7 points for what fleshes out to be Reluctant Veteran ratings.

One of the more intriguing cards allows you to take an Autocannone 20mm and turn it into a gun team to attach to a Weapons Platoon. This card has the most promise of the Infantry options. There is also the Captured 25 Pdr Artillery card, similar to the one from the German deck, to help add some variety to lists.

Today we are taking a look at what may be the most intriguing book to come out so far for Flames of War (FOW) MW V4, Avanti. In this article, you will read how Avanti will change the tournament scene.

Verison 4 has really become much more of a dice game than the more historical simulation that FOW Verison 3 was. In the shooting step, it is now easier to hit previously impervious units (veteran, gone to ground, concealed and long range). Players are now able to roll a 7 or 8. To do so is difficult, but not impossible.

It’s easier to get dig out pesky infantry since repeat bombardments force a re-roll of successful saves. The more dice you throw, the better chance you have of killing what you’re shooting at.

Currently, it seems the key to what Battlefront is pushing, is horde armies. The more models you’re pushing around the table, the better. Crusader Swarms. Gobs and gobs of armoured rifle stands bouncing around the table. Or that guy who brings as many Stuarts as he can fit in his list with some heavy guns behind them.

Heck, even my German list, which has done very well, is all about getting as many Panzer III Short 5cms on the table that I can. I support these with Marders and other low expensive German units.

By Tom Burgess

“Battle Buddy” Ed and I had a chance to test out the new Avanti Mid War lists for Flames of War. As a diehard Italian player, Ed was particularly excited to get his miniatures on the table. We thought that the best test of the new Avanti Italians would be to throw them up against the dreaded British Crusader Horde.

Random selection gave us Dust Up as a mission. We gamed on a suitably open desert table. We chose to play at 71 points so I could also get some practice for Adepticon. Given that we were playing a fair fight on a fairly open board, I thought my chances were good.