Detroit's Factories ran amok ;)

Hi!

In just six days my British soldiers will face the enemy once again, on second tournament organized by Tomek (his blog). This time I'll field as many tanks as possible. I thought about very fast and agile company of Cromwells with Challengers, but in current meta four squadrons of tanks that die so fast ain't enough. Maybe one day I'll play using that company, but it's not that day.

My army is going to be no less than 30 armed vehicles. If I were playing Red Army, that number wouldn't sound like much, but when it comes to British, it's the most I can get. Army looks like this:

HQ: 2x Sherman III

CP1: 2x Sherman III + Firefly VC

CP2: 2x Sherman III + Firefly VC

CP3: 2x Sherman III + Firefly VC

CP4: 2x Sherman III + Firefly VC

CP5: 3x Sherman III with .50cal AA MG

SP1: 2x M10 3in GMC

SP2: Breaching Group (Sherman V + 2x Sherman Crab, 2x AVRE, 2x AVRE)

SP3: 4x M10C 17pdr SP

Whole army is Confident Trained. I guess lack of artillery will make facing spam of PaK40's a potential nightmare for me, but I guess I will not face such army more than once, and even then I may simply roll them over with my tanks.

Two days ago I had a chance to play two battles against my friend who fields Polish Armed Squadron led by General Maczek. I managed to win both times, but my rolls were terrible. That led me to believe my friend's theory that painted models have better luck. Therefore, I began the long process of painting all those thirty armed vehicles. Today I managed to paint first AVRE platoon:

Good thing is - painting WW2 vehicles is fairly fast and easy, especially when you have an airbrush. I painted them whole with black primer, then laid first coat with Russian Uniform, then highlighted with mix of Russian Uniform and Duck Egg Green.

Tracks got covered with black wash, and then weathered with some rusty pigment. Exhausts and barrels got covered with soot using black pigment. Then I covered whole models with Matt Varnish, and glued on the commander, who were painted separately.

Plan for tomorrow is to paint at least one platoon of Shermans. Wish me luck :)

D-Day

For many years I've played only "fantasy" and "sci-fi" wargames, completely neglecting the historical ones. On purpose, cause dragons, fairies and lasers are way more colorful and sexy. Anyway, about a year ago I've decided to give historical games a chance. I chose the one that new to me for two reasons. One - there were no dragons, and reason number 2 - it was in 15mm scale. I've never played such tiny models before, and chose to give it a try.

Now, after quite a few games played, I can tell you - I were right. Flames of War, the game I'm talking about, is very interesting and fun to play. My initial choice were the Red Army, but eventually I bought myself a box of British Paratroopers, the so-called Red Devils. Then, as usual, I bought many, many more boxes, and currently I have Paratroopers, Commandos, several armoured companies, and several squads of recce.

Several weeks ago I had a chance to participate in my first tournament, and, praise beginner's luck, managed to win. That gave me some courage and pushed me forward. And forward in this case meant towards Zielona Góra. The tournament was a bit unusual, due to several tiny modifications made by org's. The most important one was the river across every table, separating both deployment zones. That proved to be quite difficult for most of the armies. I've decided to be prepared, and chose this company:

Three plutons of Shermans DD, one pluton of Fireflies, one Motorized Company, one pluton of Achilleses, artillery, Typhoon and two AA Crusaders. Out of five battles I've managed to win only two. Despite that, I won a small prize:

Next tournament is in Warsaw, in just two weeks, and I've prepared three companies to choose from. I still have some time, but the choice ain't easy...

First is a bit similar to my list I wrote about above, but with more tanks. It's British Armored (11'th Division) from Overlord book:

HQ: 4 Sherman V with AA MG

CP1: 2 Shermans, 1 Firefly (1 AA MG)

CP2: 2 Shermans, 1 Firefly (1 AA MG)

CP3: 2 Shermans, 1 Firefly

CP4: 2 Shermans, 1 Firefly

WP1: 2 Crusader AA

SP1: 4 Ahillles

SP2: 4 OQF 25pdr gun

AS: Limited Typhoon

Whole company it rated Confident Trained, which allows me to take as many tanks.

Second one has the same approach, but is a bit faster. It's 11'th Division British Armored Recce from Market Garden book:

HQ: 2 Cromwell IV

CP1: 2 Cromwell IV, 1 Challenger A30

CP2: 2 Cromwell IV, 1 Challenger A30

CP3: 2 Cromwell IV, 1 Challenger A30

CP4: 2 Cromwell IV, 1 Challenger A30

SP1: 4 OQF 25pdr gun

SP2: 4 OQF 25pdr gun

SP3: 2 40mm Bofors SP

AS: Limited Typhoon

HQ and Combat Platoons are Confident Trained, but Support Platoons are Confident Veteran, which makes ranging with artillery way easier, and makes it a bit more survivable.

Those two lists are, what I call, mainstream. The third one is all but. It's British Commando Company from Market Garden:

HQ: 1 Commando Rifle

CP1: 6 Commando Rifle + Command

CP2: 6 Commando Rifle + Command

CP3: 6 Commando Rifle + Command

CP4: 6 Commando Rifle + Command

CP5: 3x ML3" mortar

SP1: Breaching Group (Sherman V + 2 Sherman Crab) + 2 AVRE

SP2: Breaching Group (Sherman V + 2 Sherman Crab) + 2 AVRE

SP3: 4 OQF 25pdr gun

SP4: 4 OQF 25pdr gun

AS: Limited Typhoon

I think the second one is the best, but I will play it only if I manage to buy and paint five Cromwells in two weeks. If not, I'll probably use the first one, but that Commando Platoon sounds stupid enough that it may actually work :) Till next time.