Posted by Brian on Apr 2, 2010 in
Tournament 
Adepticon let Flames of War into the event for the first time this year. Game Korps ran the three tournaments this year. There were two 900 point tournaments, a mid-war one on Friday and a late-war one on Saturday. There was also the two-day 1750pt mid-war tournament running both Friday and Saturday. In addition to the tournaments there were a couple scenario games going.
I played in the 1750pt tournament, and Game Korps did a great job setting things up. The boards were beautiful, and best of all, there were multiple desert board for the mid-war tournament. Its so rare that you get to run mid-war desert equipment actually in the desert. There were also a number of really heavy city table that looked great, but I wasn’t particularly enthused about. City boards so heavily favor certain types of forces that I don’t think they have a lot of place in a tournament. Read more…
Tags: Flames of War, FOW, Italian, Mid War, North Africa, Tournament, WWII
Posted by Brian on Jan 14, 2010 in
Miniatures 
After many trials and posts on the blog about them, the Fiat Falcos are ready to fly. The decals turned out pretty nice I think. These guys are Reviresco plane kits. I clipped the props off them since they look better that way, as if they were in flight. The decals are blank sheets from Experts Choice. I show how I did the decals here. The last thing I need are some flight stands. Top Gun has some nice looking ones, but I’m interested if anyone else has some ideas. Let me know in the comments. More pics after the break. Read more…
Tags: Aircraft, Early War, Flames of War, FOW, Italian, Mid War, WWII
Posted by Brian on Jan 9, 2010 in
Painting,
Tools and Supplies 
I have been frustrated by the fact that I couldn’t find any appropriate decals for my three 1/144 scale CR.42 Fiat Falcos that I painted up for my Italian force. After poking around a bit I found decal sheets that you can run through your printer and make whatever decals you need. I grabbed some fasces rondels for the wings, royal crests of the trail, blue fasces crest of the fuselage, and some number marking. I laid them all out in photoshop in huge groups and printed on some “Experts Choice” clear decal film. I used a 600dpi file to insure the file resolution exceeded my printer. I used my HP 3600n color laser to print. I’ve heard that inkjets have alot more problems since the ink will run. The printing on the laser was delicate, but waterproof at least. Read more…
Tags: Flames of War, FOW, Italian, Mid War, North Africa, WWII
Posted by Brian on Sep 25, 2009 in
Army Spreadsheets 
Since I’m up and using the new AS42 organization, I figured I should go ahead and make the excel spreadsheet for it. This sheet is all updated to the latest options. I have to say the German allies were kind of a PITA to create. Please let me know if there are any errors.
North_Africa_Italian_Battaglione_Bersaglieri_v0.1
Fixed significant issues
North_Africa_Italian_Battaglione_Bersaglieri_v0.2
Minor fixes with making names consistent, and demolisher org.
North_Africa_Italian_Battaglione_Bersaglieri_v0.3
Tags: Excel, Flames of War, FOW, Italian, Mid War, North Africa, Spreadsheet, XLS
Posted by Brian on Sep 22, 2009 in
Miniatures 
Since the new North Africa book came out, I have been excited about the reorganization of the Bersaglieri into the AS42 forces structure. They moved up a step like the Soviets from platoon sized units to company sized units. The new basic combat companies include one Bersaglieri infantry platoon plus the old weapons platoons- A platoon of 47/32 anti-tank guns, a platoon of heavy machine guns, and a platoon of optional Solothurn ATR or 20/65 AA guns. This makes for a huge 16 team strong unit that can have an impressive weight of fire and will be difficult to drive off the board.
Of course this new organization means I had to go buy a few new models for it. I got 2 blisters of 47/32. Too bad you need three and can only buy them in packs of two. I have the Bersaglieri HMG on order, and I finally finished up the Solothurn ATR that I never painted from the old company HQ. I also finished up a platoon of 81mm mortars that I’ll need to make up the newly reduced points, and the ground bases for the 20/65 AA guns that I already owned as portees. Gallery after the break. Read more…
Tags: AS42, Flames of War, FOW, Italian, Mid War, North Africa
Posted by Brian on Sep 7, 2009 in
Review,
Rule Book 
The replacement for Afrika, North Africa, came out recently. It has been a long time since Battlefront covered anything on mid-war, my favorite period. I was extremely excited for this book and hoped to get a pre-release copy at GenCon. No luck there, so I went the regular retail route. I have had a little bit of time to go over the forces and organization now and wanted to give a heads-up on what’s inside.
First of all, if you’re familiar with the newer Battlefront intelligence handbooks, they have changed the way platoon choices are laid out. Previously in Afrika it was all text based and mostly a 1 or 2 support per combat platoon arrangement. Now they are using the force diagrams from the new books like Fortress Europe. Its a nice change and quite a bit easier to see what goes into a force at a glance. The book is expanded in general, and now covers 3 separate organizational periods- North Africa, Tunisia, and Sicily/Italy. Quite a few of the forces now can take allies instead of Italians having that sole privilege. There are quite alot of changes in the book, with a tendency to enforce historical organization more. The organization groups don’t always line up with the geographical area/time period that the stated periods cover. Its a bit of a disappointment on that side, but mostly a step in the right direction. Read more…
Tags: Afrika, American, British, Flames of War, FOW, German, Italian, North Africa, rules
Posted by Brian on Jun 29, 2009 in
After Action Report 
First of all, I want to thank Jeff for setting up and running this tournament. I know that these things can be a lot of work, and I appreciate all the effort that he put in to making things work.
On Saturday I went to a tournament themed on Sicily for Flames of War. It was held in Mount Prospect, Il at Games Plus. 18 players were involved, 9 axis, 9 allied. All fights were red on blue. We ran fighting withdrawal, cauldron, and free for all. It was 1500 pts Mid-War with a couple different rules.
1) Sicily units only
2) For the purposes of defensive battles, if the points of armor in support exceeds that in combat and weapons platoons you are upgraded one class. IE infantry becomes mechanized, mechanized becomes armored.
3) Defensive battles must achieve the turn is which it is possible to win, or it will be scored a tie. (Turn 6 in Cauldron for example) Basically no stalling victories.
4) Rank will be by Wins, then points, then sports.
5) Sportsmanship score is 7pts to be divided between your 3 opponents however you see fit.
The forces entered were predominately infantry, a relief after the heavy tank based games late war always seems to bring.
Allies
Simon Babbs – British Rifle
Myles Toomey – Canadian Recce
Wade Phillips – US Airborne
Lysander Lysandrou – US Rifle
Rett Kipp – US Armored Rifles
Geoff Holt – US Rifles
John Hess – US Rangers
Pat Kirby – US Rangers
Rick Christian – British Commandos
Axis
Dan Larson – German Panzer Grenadier
Paul DeVolpi – German Panzer
Brian Wright – Italian Bersaglieri
John Curran – German Panzer Grenadier
Liam Harding – Italian Bersaglieri
Anthony Domenico – German Panzer
Mark Humel – German Panzer Grenadier
Don Billings – German Grenadier
Owen Kirby – German Panzer
Read more…
Tags: Flames of War, FOW, Italian, Mid War, Tournament, WWII
Posted by Brian on Jun 25, 2009 in
Miniatures 
I have a tournament this weekend based in Sicily. Of course we have to use only units available in Sicily. Unfortunately for my Italians that means that quite a few of my units simply aren’t there. The Lancia da 90/53 Gone. The M14/41 Gone. Only L6 and R35 tanks were available there. No demolishers either. My collection of Italians is pretty small and mostly of the units that I can’t field.
So I ran out and got the last couple units to fill this platoon. I’d had part of it sitting around in my gaming closet for years. It’ll fill the last few points I need to make 1500. Hopefully my force won’t be too rag-tag to work well, but Italians were pretty handicapped in this fight.
The painting of these consistent of a Ochre Green base, Brown ink and Dark Sand dry brush. A few highlights of silver on the cab and gun. I’m slightly disappointed with the guy mounting the gun. I forgot which colors I used for my older Bersaglieri troops and this didn’t come out as well. I might repaint, but it’ll be fine for Saturday.
Tags: 20/65, AA, Flames of War, Italian, Mid War, North Africa, Paint, WWII
