Soviet

By Tom Gall and NDNG Dane

The (PSC) will be releasing shortly* a much anticipated new set of rules covering World War III, while a “what if”, a conventional war has touched off and the forces of NATO and WARPAC are enjoined in battle across Europe, each in a desperate struggle to take/give ground before presumably, the nukes might fly.

Titled Battlegroup: NORTHAG, the book focuses on the Northern Army Group section of the front, thus NORTHAG. The setting is 1983 which Warwick Kinrade choose as it was a time of heightened tensions between the powers and was the dividing line before the introduction of a wide range of new equipment.

In this series of articles, we’ll be looking at the rules, the British and Soviet army lists that are included with the new book and finish up with a couple of BatReps.

By Benny Christiansen

At any time, when I participate in a tournament, I have to choose what to field. Most gamers I know change their list from tournament to tournament. In parts because of points, restrictions or new lists being available, but for me, it’s also to continue trying out new things with old lists and seeing how they work.

In this article, I will try to give you a day-by-day look at how I plan my lists for a tournament that I participate in.

As I write this, I’m two months away from my next tournament. This is a great time to begin thinking about the list I want to bring to the event.

By Benny Christiansen

After reading through the new LW book, Fortress Europe, I decided to challenge a friend of mine for a quick match. We decided on 71 points, and I would play the role of the Germans, while he would play the Soviets.

I decided on a list that would let me try some of the well-known things from MW and see how it would pan out in the LW era.

 4^th Battle of Kharkov – August 1943

Mega-Game

by NDNG_Dane

The Huntsville Historical Gamers gathered in April to recreate the Soviet offensive that aimed to recapture Kharkov and destroy the German 4th Panzer Army.   The 4^th Battle of Kharkov was a series of battles between 3 and 23 August 1943, following the Battle of Kursk. After their defeat at Kursk, the Wehrmacht was clearly on the defensive, with the Soviets launching a massive offensive. The 4th Panzer Army conducted a fighting withdrawal to fighting positions around the city of Kharkov.

The Kharkov Mega-Game was the culminating engagement of our spring Ghost Panzer – Red Banner, Eastern Front Campaign.

By NDNG Dane

 The Huntsville Historical Gamers gathered on December 8^th (the day after the day that will live in infamy) to recreate the German attack on Stalingrad as part of Operation Fall Blau (Case Blue) and the Soviet Heroic Defense.  The Mega game was the Culminating engagement of our Mid-War Eastern Front escalation league using the Flames of War V4 system.

Our three board Mega Game centered combat action on: Board #1: The Univermag Department Store and Barmaley Fountain, Board #2: The Red October – Tractor Works, Board #3: The Grain Elevator and Pavlov’s House.  Additionally, we added a few campaign specific rules such as sewer movement.  Infantry teams were allowed to use sewer movement, based on a skill roll, to enter and navigate throughthe Stalingrad sewer network.

By Benny Christiansen

In the new Eastearn Front book for the Soviets, Red Banner, the Soviet players has many interesting choices.

When I was planning this article, I had to choose what to focus on. I have many thoughts about the new German book, Ghost Panzers and what I think it will do to the tournaments I attend. I don’t really find a concern when it comes to the Historic Scenarios or events, as I generally find the books to be fairly balanced towards each other.

However, in this situation, I have had a hard time recovering from the Ferdinand/Marder combination, that I think many will be fielding. Being an eternal optimist, I was certain that I could find something, that would balance the new meta that the German players will have with Ghost Panzers. Here I believe I have found something, that might make a big dent in the Ferdi/Marder combo. On top of that, it might be able to be of interest in tournaments, but I’m uncertain how much I would appreciate it in a historic setting.

By Benny Christiansen

As we all know by now, all new books will be accompanied by command cards. These cards add to the diversity of the books and can present you with an easy way to spend a lot of points, instead of spending them on troops.

To the best of my knowledge, it seems like there is in the USA a trend of not spending many points on command cards, while in Denmark (at least where I play) we spend up to 10% of the total amount of points on cards. So there is no doubt, that the cards can produce a significant change in the list you field.

For the new Red Banner book, there are also new command cards. A lot of them are exact replicas of the one from Enemy At The Gates, but some of them are very new. I have chosen only to focus on a few of them. The ones I mention here are the ones I find to be the most spectacular, though more may come in another article in a not so distant future, where I have had the chance to test them more.

By Benny Christiansen

” ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse”

The poem that describes a child’s first meeting with St. Nicholas; how he cannot help himself but laugh out loud, and how he quickly feels that he has nothing to fear from this plump old man. It is a poem, that can give you a sense of Christmas.

It describes very well how I felt when I looked through the Red Banner book. Like a little child seeing Father Christmas for the very first time.. and when I saw the SU-85, I could not help but laugh out loud, feeling certain that I would no longer have any reason to fear the Huns!

I have the honor of taking you through the new MidWar book for the Soviets. I will start out with giving you my thoughts about it all in all, and then I will touch, ever so lightly, on every formation and briefly mention the new tanks and choices available in this book. At the end, I will also reveal a potentially huge surprise in regards to Command Cards.

By Benny Christiansen

I have always had a weakness for the huge battles. I love seeing the terrain setup – with a “story in mind” so to speak – and then the first few turns in the game, making the first efforts to win the battle.

In this article, I will attempt to describe how I plan the 38,000 points battle and my thoughts in the process, as well as being a tiny battle rep with pictures and video. The primary intention here is to inspire others by sharing the experience. The setting is in LW, but I believe it can be done in any of the games in FOW.  I am well aware there are many other ways to do this, and I encourage anyone who finds large battles interesting, to try it. It is not the same as making a tournament. I think that an event like this is more interesting for the historically focused players than a tournament might be.