flames of war Archives - Page 8 of 41

Cold Flames of War

As well as the Brown Water Navy announcement in Battlefront’s Flames of War State of the Union, they announced a new period based on the Cold War.

October sees us diving into a brand new period as we release Fulda Gap. The period of the modern war when tensions between NATO and the Warsaw Pact were running high is a wonderful theatre to develop as the forces arrayed on both sides boast some of the coolest-looking equipment in history. And with the advances in technology, we are looking forward to seeing forces of M1-Abrams covered by A10-Thunderbolts pitting their might against the swathes of T-72s and BMP-mounted infantry. We plan for this to be a complete period with books covering nations and plastic sets for all the main vehicles of every nation. October is just the start and 2016 will have more books and additional miniatures.

Though there is very little information in the announcement, there is a mention of T72s and BMP-1s for the Warsaw Pact forces. So what of the NATO side? It appears that the US Army will be done first, with M1-Abrams and A-10 Thunderbolts, but I am looking forward to seeing the models for the BAOR.

It would make for a good game to have Chieftains, FV432s and Harriers in action against T80s and the odd Hind D Attack Helicopter.

As the announcement mentions the M1-Abrams, which entered service in 1980, we can assume that the period for the games will be the 1980s, the height of the Cold War. If Battlefront do decide to go with some BAOR British forces, we may also see the Challenger I which entered service in 1983.

As well as fighting across Europe, another possibility will be to recreate the original Red Dawn film and have Soviet forces fighting on US soil.

I might also look at doing some alternative history British Civil War games set in the same time period, this setting was described in an article I had published in Wargames Illustrated in the 1990s.

I also wonder what other nations we will see in 2016, the French possibly?

Brown Water Navy – Flames of War

Battlefront have published a state of the nation article about their forthcoming releases for 2015. One that piked my interest was Brown Water Navy.

Brown Water Navy

April sees us return to the jungle as we visit the Mekong Delta with the new Brown Water Navy book. This book cover the river fighting in the delta’s and allows you to fight a completely new style of Vietnam game. With a complete range of riverine boats to choose, from the little PBR’s to the big CCB Monitors these boats give your US forces the ability to assault the river banks and carve their way into the jungle. Never one to make it easy for the US the VC have a few tricks up their sleeves making this environment a truly unique gaming theatre.

Many years ago I bought some Skytrex 1/200th Vietnam Brown Water Navy models, which never got used for that era, but ended up as Epic 40K models.

The preview models look really nice.

Brown Water Navy - Flames of War

Of course the reality of the conflict, was that it was a little one-sided, the US had armed and armoured monitors, whilst the VC didn’t.

Brown Water Navy - Flames of War

I still have a wealth of Flames of War miniatures to paint, so I don’t think I will be getting some, but you never know.

15mm German Light Mechpanzer Spinne Platoon

At Reveille, the Bristol show last year I spent a little time looking at the models and talking to the guys at Clockwork Goblin Miniatures about their great 15mm (and 28mm) alternative World War Two infantry, walkers and tanks, called War Without End.

In the end I bought a single blister, a 15mm US Kodiak Assault Walker.

I was lucky enough to get some more blisters as a present, including the 15mm German Light Mechpanzer Spinne Platoon.

This is what the finished model looks like.

I will probably paint my models in a similar late-war style. This is quite a different model and approach to the two US War Without End that I have.

15mm US Grizzly Medium Walker

In the end I bought a single blister, a 15mm US Kodiak Assault Walker.

I was lucky enough to get some more blisters as a present, including the 15mm US Grizzly Medium Walker.

It looks like a lovely clean casting and by using 3D computer design, you have a really good sculpt with the sort of lines and shapes you would expect from a full scale factory manufactured vehicle. This is a really nice alternative model for World War Two games and at 15mm perfect for Flames of War.

This is how the model looks when finished (from the Clockwork Goblin website).

Looking forward to putting this one together and getting it on the table.

Flames of War Open Fire Teaser

Mike and Sean give you a brief look at the new Open Fire starter set. Packed with new plastic models and a streamlined set of rules, it’s the perfect entry point into World War II wargaming.

The Comet is on its way…

Battlefront have shown a preview of the new plastic Comet boxed set.

One of my most popular blog posts is from 2011 when I discussed the then forthcoming Battle of Bulge supplement.

I made the request

I would like to see two tanks in particular, the M24 Chaffee and the British Comet. These tanks are currently not in the FoW range.

The Chaffee arrived in 2012, but it has taken a little longer for the Comet to arrive. As with many of the new models from Battlefront it is a plastic kit. It looks great and the instructions simple, resulting in an effective looking model.

The Tank, Cruiser, Comet I (A34) was a British cruiser tank that first saw use near the end of World War II. It was designed to provide greater anti-tank capability to Cromwell tank squadrons. It was armed with a 77mm HV, a derivative of the 17 pounder, with the result it was one of the few British tanks with the firepower to challenge late war German designs.

15mm US Kodiak Assault Walker

At Reveille, the recent Bristol show I spent a little time looking at the models and talking to the guys at Clockwork Goblin Miniatures about their great 15mm (and 28mm) alternative World War Two figures, walkers and tanks, War Without End.

In the end I bought a single blister, a 15mm US Kodiak Assault Walker, though I was tempted to spend a lot more money at their stall.

It looks like a lovely clean casting and by using 3D computer design, you have a really good sculpt with the sort of lines and shapes you would expect from a factory manufactured vehicle. This is a really nice alternative model for World War Two games and at 15mm perfect for Flames of War.

I am thinking lots of possible scenarios, including using the Kodiak Assault Walker as an objective for a raid behind enemy lines.

The next stage will be putting it all together.

The Comet is coming

One of the most popular posts on the blog is an article I wrote back in 2011 on the Battle of the Bulge reporting on the news that Flames of War was going to release models and rules for the Battle of the Bulge.

Then I said

I would like to see two tanks in particular, the M24 Chaffee and the British Comet. These tanks are currently not in the FoW range.

In June 2012 we saw that we were going to get Flames of War Chaffee tanks that were eventually released in September, however still no sign of the Comet.

So you can guess I was quite pleased to see the news from FlamesCon 2014 that Flames of War are going to release a 15mm Comet, in plastic.

Cromwell and Comet

It looks like a really nice model and I might get a few.

Why such a fascination, well I suspect that it was because I bought and made the Matchbox Comet many, many years ago.

Variations on a Whippet

Whippet

As part of their releases for Flames of War The Great War, Battlefront have released a 15mm scale Whippet tank.

Though originally envisioned with a rotating turret, the production model had an armoured housing for three to four 303 Hotchkiss machine guns, which could be relocated between four gun ports. Approved in June 1917, roughly 200 vehicles were produced starting in October 1917.

Unlike the large crew of the Mark IV, the Whippet managed with a standard crew of three: a commander, driver and gunner. Given the gunner was responsible for manning both machineguns (which could point forward, left, right and rear), sometimes a second gunner was squeezed in.

It looks like a very nice model and well sculptured. Lots of detail and a good casting.

I do think that this model would make for a great base for vehicles for an alternative Great War. It could be converted into a turreted tank, or a self propelled gun. One other idea is to use the models for A Very British Civil War background. There are quite a few models in the Flames of War range that could be used for a 1920s or 1930s civil war within the United Kingdom.

Flames of War Great War

This week sees the release of the Flames of War Great War supplement. You can either buy a boxed set which comes with the supplement, or you can buy the August issue of Wargames Illustrated, that comes bundled with the supplement for “free”. Alongside the rules there are various models, including two boxed starter sets.

I got my copy of Wargames Illustrated yesterday and spent some time reading the supplement and the plethora of articles in the magazine itself on the new supplement and the rules.

The models look really nice, this is the Mark IV Male.

You can compare that detailed model with the 15mm version I bought many years ago. This version is a lot more detailed, looks much better and really captures the feel of this, one of the first tanks. As well as tanks there are infantry and artillery. I really quite like the introductory boxed set available, Mitchell’s Marauders.

Your rifle company is well-equipped for assaulting and crushing the enemy. Prepare your assault with your Mark IV tanks. They will pulverize Jerry’s gun nests with high-explosives and rake his trenches with machine-gun fire. Then send in your highly-trained rifle platoons to clear out the trenches and breakthrough.

The box provides all you need for an introductory game, infantry, tanks and artillery.

There is also a German boxed set available. Though that boxed set has the A7V, you can of course use captured British tanks for your German forces.

I feel I can’t say too much on the rules, as I have not had a chance for a game with them…

The articles within Wargames Illustrated cover a range of issues, one of the interesting aspects is debunking the myth that the Great War was just about muddy trenches. Towards the end of the war there were more battles that were about movement and breakthroughs across new areas that hadn’t been torn apart from relentless artillery barrages.

With the 100th anniversary of the Great War this month, I can see these models proving popular. For the future I hope we can see some more models, notably missing are armoured cars, which though played little part in the trenches, were well utilised in other theatres of the war.