How I play my Russian Tank in Flames of War

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When you need to absolutely positively kill every last motherfucker in the foxhole, accept no substitute.

How the Russians play - quantity has its own quality.

Russian Infantry has a lot of advantages, and Russian infantry is very reminscent of the Guard blob in 40k.  They can take loads of damage, lose loads of guys and still stay in there thanks to the Commissar.  They are also able to attach heavy machine gun elements.  This gives them some of the best anti-infantry firepower in the game.  The downside is that they are general 'trained' at best making them weaker in combat and easier to shoot (remember to hit is dictated by the shootee's competence, not the shooters), they can't carry much in the way of anti-tank (flour bombs and close combat generally, never stopped them!)

So the basic infantry is good, but where's the real strengths?

Heavy Mortars: The russians have some of the best mortars in the game.  They combine the ability of accuracy (reroll to hit on the first roll), with the firepower (3+) that other mortars lack (normally 5+ or even 6).  This means that they are the 'go to' unit for clearing enemy infantry out of cover.

Infantry Antitank: It doesn't do the biggest amount of damage, but for a flexible infantry gun unit you cannot get much better than the 57mm antitank gun.  Its got enough penetration to put holes in a Tiger (maybe), but it'll certainly see off all standard tanks below that.  They are equally good at killing machine gun nests and the like.  The bullet shield automatically gives them bullet proof cover against anything in front, so walking up to less than 16" ain't no thing.  Thanks to 'roll up the guns and volley fire), they move up like a light guns team and then let rip with 3 shots each, with a reroll to hit at less than 16".  Good bye.

Assault Gun: The difference between an Assault gun, a tank killer and an vehicle artillery is no different to a russians, they all got SU on their name.  But the best value for money in my opinion is the SU-122.  It's got next to no armour and the gun doesn't penetrate armour, but if you want to massacre infantry, clear bunkers/buildings and dominate, then these slow vehicles are awesome.  The 122 offers a reroll to hit a less than 16", 2 shots with a breakthrough gun with 2+ to kill.  This means the weapon denies the enemy a saving throw of 3+ (breakthrough) and then give a 2+ to kill if they are in bulletproof cover.  Nice.  When you need to absolutely positively kill every last motherfucker in the foxhole, accept no substitute.

Tank Killer: The SU-100 or SU-85M are a toss up in value, price and effectiveness.  Both have the same frontal armour which is the same as a tiger tank.  From there its a question of adversary.  The SU-100 is a single shot high penetration weapon (anti-tank 16!), but suffers from a combination of hens and chicks and ROF 1 weapon meaning a +3 (+1 for H&C, +1 ROF1, +1 over 16" range) which means this tank is near useless on the move.  Stationary, and with a 40" range, this is a great tank killer.  The 2+ firepower help pop tanks nicely.  The SU-85M brings the strength of the T-34 85mm gun with a tiger armour.  This tank doesn't suffer as much on the move, but also can't handle the worst types of opponents.

"...sweeping advances and flanking maneuvers are an 'on the table' reality, instead of being a series of crow barred rules which result in unintended surprises or failure on the capricity of dice. "

Tanks: The best tank in my opinion is the humble T-34.  The T-35-85mm is a fantastic tank, but in return for much better penetration you lose both the wide tracks AND the 'fast tank' ability of this vehicle.  Wide tracks gives the tank the ability to re-roll bogging down tests for cover cross, and you will cross a lot of cover.  Fast tank gives this tank the ability to move 32" at the double.  They normally move and fire at 12" per turn.  This gives the tank the ability to swarm parts of the board and opponents that otherwise would easily pick off this underpowered tank at range.  Once they've surrounded the opponent, shots into the side and rear armour will quickly subdue them.  You sacrifice one point in armour (6 to 7) for immense speed and the assurance that you will probably get there.  Hands down a game changer.

Example Game

 In the following game I use all the elements above against a crack German tank unit comprising 4 panthers in two groups of two, 3 late Panzer 4's, a Jadg-panther and several infantry antitank option.

The two panthers on the right were charged by the SU-122's, they promptly get popped (but as they can't hurt anything this was my plan).  The SU-85M's then drop in behind their carcasses and start exchanging fire with the panthers.  Its attritional and not very effective, but they hold this unit in position.  The 57mm antitank rolls up the middle and massacres the Panzer 4's facing them.  The T-34's are my strike unit, as 11 tanks (2x5unit plus commander) rush 32" into the face of the two panther's on the left flank.  The panthers get double shots each, but can only target one tank each as they are securely boxed in.  The surviving T-34 fire into the rear and side (AV 5 instead of 10) easily massacring the outnumbered tanks.  It's then rinse and repeat against the jadgpanther.

Conclusion

The beauty with these tactics of sacrifice and rush with overpowering numbers, is that this is exactly how the Russians approached the problem of technically superior German armour in WWII.  The examples in Kursk of T-34s swarming and ramming Tiger tanks is testament enough.

Playing armour in this way just makes you realise how 'cramped' the 40k table is for armour.  In 40k you can hide one tank behind a hill, in flames you can hide 11!  This movement produced by the scale means that sweeping advances and flanking manuerves are an 'on the table' reality, instead of being a series of crow barred rules which result in unintended surprises or failure on the capricity of dice.

And I thinks that's the core of the difference, good tactics in Flames work.  They can be undone by bad luck or poor dice, but you are not dependent on that 'must have' reserves roll for flanking (there are nearly always reserves in Flames, but it's clever, intelligent and mission relevant - another post methinks), or the chance they your opponent will simply overturn your tactical superiority with a 'HEROBOMB' or even imported herobomb.

So if you thought WW2 was boring (how could you), and that the lack of space monkeys with pew pew lasers meant it would be simple - think again, Flames is where tactics beats gimmicks.

When are GW gonna get a grip? More thoughts on Tau.

Great comment on the last post pointed out that GW had dropped the ball again.  Only Broadsides can take Missile Drones.  Which means a highly versatile mobile firing platform is tied into a unit that doesn't really want to move.  Way to go GW, lets turn a win into a fail ... again!


This changes the dynamic quite a lot and balances the book better, as it quickly reduces the overpowering effectiveness of the "Commander+Drone Controller+Missile Drones" Blitzkrieg.  No one in 40k should have that kind of spammed firepower at their fingertips, unless they are Space Marines, or Space Wolves, or Imperial Guard.  Anyone non-human anyhow...

(Anyone from Nottingham may wanna skip the next paragraph, it's meant in jest, kinda.)

So is GW racist?  Well, dah?  Course they are, they're based in Nottinghamshire, (originally mistyped Nottinghamshite, oooo freudian) what do you expect?  I grew up not 30 miles from HQ and I can categorically state that while the 'gamers' were the most thought provoking of all my classmates, I also lived in a region that won 'whitest' in the UK.  Let's just say that if Morgan Freeman really had accompanied Kevin Costner to Nottingham Forest - he'd have been 'fuck this racist shit' in about four days.  That's not to say that Nottingham does not have a black and asian culture, it certainly does.  It also has one of the highest gun crimes rates in the UK, a big problem with gangs and drugs.

Anyhooo, my own childhood trauma aside... how does this effect the Tau list.  What would work?

Crisis Suits, ok they can't take Missile Drones, but marker drones are only 1 pt more expensive than pathfinders.  For one point they are toughness 4, gain a 4+ save over 5+ and most important are jetpack troops - allowing them to move-fire-move thanks to their relentless jetpacks.  They are BS2, but the addition of a drone controller makes them BS3, a commander with said controller makes them BS5.

So the real question is how many markerlights are effective.  This is a balancing act between several factors:

• Enough Markerlight hits to refuse cover save and give BS5 to an engaging unit (4)
• Having enough units to spread enough hits to 'spread the pain' around if needed.
• Making the unit big enough to impact severely (remember that each unit that shoots at the target will require 3-4 markerlights to maximise impact)
• Making the unit small enough that it can use cover effectively and minimise retaliation.

So lets see, the strongest contenders (ignoring Forgeworld loveliness) for 'markerlight' has to be the SkyRay, followed closely by the markerdrone (especially with a drone commander).  The last contender has to be pathfinders. 

4 drones at BS5 will score 3-4 hits, 8 drones score 6-7 hits.  This thrashes pathfinders raw, as two to three hits of each 55 point team is dire, PS: Using markerlights to 'breed' markerlights also seems shortsighted.  Yes, handing your team a 2+ to hit is nice, but it cost 2 markerlights.

There is another way...

Commander Shadowsun + Pathfinders

Commander Shadowsun and 10 pathfinders, including a command-link drone and an MV-52 drone costs 285pts.  Here's the advantages.   The MV52 'confers' a 3++ invulnerable save.  It doesn't have this, it confers it.  Let's share it around.  Shadowsun also just made her unit Stealth and Shrouded, oh AND night vision.  Your pathfinders now have a 2+ cover save and 3++ invulnerable save.  Hmmm, you still need a couple of markerlight bonuses to get 2+ to hit for your targets, but your command link drone also give you a reroll on 1's. 

Upside: That's pretty damn hardcore.  That's like Thunder termie saving throws on a markerlight until almost guaranteed to score 9-10 markerlight hits a turn.

Downside: Static and very squishy on the charge.  As upgrades go, she's pretty expensive and it ties her down to a low toughness unit.  Shadowsun will keep vehicles at bay though.  Although charging hordes aren't worried.  It's also expensive, just like the Stealth team below, it offers marginal advantage over just spamming pathfinder teams (285 buys nearly 26 pathfinders) and its not like there's loads of competition in the fast attack slot.

Stealth Team Rethinking...

Ok, here's my thinking.  A Group of Crisis Suits are hard to hide.  A Group of Stealth dudes, less so.  Combine the following:

Commander, 2 x Plasma Rifles, drone controller, ATS, 2 marker drones: 156pts
Stealth Team x 3, Shas'Vre with Markerlight and Target Lock, 3xATS, fusion blaster, 2 Marker Drones: 143pts

Total: 299pts

Now hear me out.  The advantage of this is as follows.  The unit is majority T4, it has 7 'disposable wounds'.  It makes 4 BS5 Markerlight shots a turn.  It's small, easily concealed and gets a 2+ cover save easily.  It has enough antipersonnel firepower, anti MEQ and anti tank firepower to make any unit wary of approaching it, and it can still be tactically useful while 'holding' an area.  Add in to this that the whole unit has ATS, and that means that the Shas'Vre can drop a markerlight precision shot on a specific model on a 5+.  Follow that with a Seeker Missile (no cover save, S8 and AP3) That's something worth talking about.  The rest of the team have enough firepower and precision shot ability (6's on 8 S5, AP5 shots, 5+ on the commanders 4 shots) to make terminators blush.

Is it better than a crisis team, or three large 9 man Pathfinder teams?  Sadly no.  But it's the most use I can make out of what GW have done to the Stealth team.  They would be a pain in the arse, they would be a super mobile toolkit of doom, they would be arguably less effective than a huge hulking elite robot.

Fecking GW.

Kroot Sniper Horde.

7pt each 24" range sniper rifles.  What's not to love.  They have some stealth ability, are slightly less accurate than ratlings, but 2 x 20 infiltrating snipers for 280 is awfully tempting.  Yes, they are prone to dying, but they will also throw a lot of firepower out before they do.  As an ambush unit, this is their best use, lulling the enemy into thinking they are 'just a deployment screen' and then unloading 40 sniper shots at point blank.  Add in enough markerlights against aggressive opponents (and try to save 4 for their charge and boost your snapshots to BS5) and watch the enemy drop.  40 shots should produce 5.55 rending hits with just 2 markerlights.  Remember to deny them cover with an extra two.  That's potent stuff.  That's a whole unit of space marines dead, or nearly 4 terminators.  Hmmmm.

Just watch out for Landraiders...

Tanks and Heavy weaponry

Speaking of which ... I can't see anything in the codex that beats the good'ole Hammerhead in tank destruction.  When you really positively have to kill a landraider, that's your only option (beyond suicide suits with fusion missing risk).  Even Broadsides with the Puretide engram commander only gets a reroll to penetrate, and that's expensive and also pretty shit.  If you want a killer, choose Longstrike - the combination of BS5, tank hunter, black sun filter and defensive fire automatically means he actually only costs 34pts for BS5, reroll 1's against Imperial Guard and reroll failed and non-penetrating hits on tanks - that's like a no brainer.  The downside is that Sensor Spines, Disruption Pod etc are essential - as this guy will attract Loads of heat.

Blocking with two sets of SkyRay's could do the job though.  4 markerlights, 12 seeker missile (for those precise Stealth team shots) Plus 2 Skyrays can block a charge, give cover to the real target and give you the option of 12 twin-linked Smart Missiles flying out every turn, as you retreat in the face of the charging enemy. 

New Thoughts, New List - 1502 pts

• Commander, 2 x Plasma Rifles, drone controller, ATS, 2 marker drones: 156pts
• Commander, 2 Missile Pod's, drone controller, ATS, 2 marker Drones: 156pts
• Stealth Team x 3, Shas'Vre with Markerlight and Target Lock, 3xATS, fusion blaster, 2 Marker Drones: 143pts
• Crisis Suit Team x 3, 6 Missile Pods, ATS, 6 marker Drones: 237pts
• Riptide - 180pts
• Fire Warriors x 9, Shas'Ui: 91 pts
• Devilfish, disruption pod, drones and sensor spines: 100pts
• Fire Warriors x 9, Shas'Ui: 91pts
• Kroot Sniper Unit, Shaper and 20 kroot, sniper bolts: 155pts
• Hammerhead, Longstrike, Disruption Pod, Sensor Spines, TL Smart Missile System - 190pts
• SkyRay, Sensor Spines, TL Smart Missile System - 120pts
• SkyRay, Sensor Spines, TL Smart Missile System - 120pts

Tactics:  consider this an army made of mobile sniper units.

The Kroot hold a flank, preferably in a bit of woodland for some extra cover.  The Shaper hopefully keeps them together long enough to launch a sniper ambush on them.  The on-foot firewarriors come on late for home defence, or take up a strong position.  The Sky-Ray's escort the Hammerhead to LoS on targets of opportunity and run interference.  Marker drones in both units attack targets of opportunity, with the riptide and kroot focusing fire.

Once vehicles are downed, it's on to the troops, which I believe this list will thrive at killing.

The danger is that the enemy get the drop on Longstrike... but then it's just a game of relocate for the win.  The inclusion of Shadowsun or the Stealth team really hold the same impact.  One has the ability to splatter a unit with so many markerlight it'll be taking every shot at its vulnerable bits.  The other has the ability to be a swiss army knife of killing at medium range, complement the markerlight tally and get away from the bad guys.

First rule of shooting is target priority.  If you have to drop a target you want the markerlight hits to make it hurt with everything you've got.  10 markerlight hits on a charging unit can give 2+ to hit for 3 units and still save 4 lights to give them a 2+ on the unit when it charges.

On that analogy, the static, high stealth unit is stronger - offering a big juicy, hard to kill unit which will kill a lot of the enemy.

The mobile list above offers 14 markerlights, the static version offers 22 per turn. 

It's gunline versus mobile again.  Does the static variant sacrifice too much firepower to enable markerlights?

Thoughts on a Tau list

Commanders and Crisis Suits are the start and end of the Tau list.  With the nerf to Broadsides, now only toting S8 weaponry, there's some real question marks over their 'requirement' for an army list.  This, combined with the general meta moving away from tanks and I'm seeing the dominance of crisis suits coming through.


Here's my first thoughts on a Crisis Suit strong list:

1503 list

• Commander, 2 x Missile Pod, Drone Controller,Advanced Targetting System, 2 Missile Drones - 156
• Commander 2 x Plasma Rifles, Drone Controller, Advanced Targeting System, 2 Marker Drones - 156
• XV8 x 3, 2 x Missile Pod, Flamers and 2 x Missile Drones each - 243
• XV8 x 3, 2 x Plasma Rifles, Flamers and 2 x Marker Drones each - 243
• Fire Warriors [9] x 4, with Shas'Ui and Bonding Knives - 400
• 2 x Devilfish, sensor spines - 170
• Hammerhead, submunitions, Smart Missile System and Sensor Spines - 135

The tactics are quite straightforward.  The 2 firewarrior groups form a gun line in supportive proximity.  One group of Crisis Suits light up units with markerlights for the fire warriors and hammerheads to pummel.  The other crisis suit unit pounds targets with missiles.

The Missile Team throws out 12 missiles at BS3 and 12 missiles at BS5
The Marker/Plasma team throw out 8 markerlights at BS5 plus 12 Plasma shots at BS3/5 at things that get too close.  The Commanders both precision shot on a 5 or 6.  Allowing you to pick off plasma/missile launchers and the like.

The plasma rifles are there just in case anything gets too close.

Assuming 2 markerlight hits on a longfang unit, they would be saving against 17 (rounded up) wounds with hopefully no target to return fire on.

Infantry Guard Army: Snipers and Mortars and Allies, oh my!

I was inspired by an excellent tactical review at "From the Fang" to dust off the codeci yesterday and have a new look at my Imperial Guard Army.  I have to say, I haven't written an army list in over a year now (for 40k anyway) and thanks to 6th Edition, all my standard references are up the swanny!  But that's the same for everyone.


Reading online, there seems a lot of heat about several key meta areas in 40k now!

• Flyers as vehicles
• Flying Monstrous Creatures
• Infantry over tanks
• Value of Snipers and Blasts
• Characters are awesomesauce
• The value of glancing

I'm very largely in favour of most of the changes in 6th Edition, lets face the facts, I'd stopped playing as 40k had become very stale compared to other games systems, and it wasn't just me.  The majority of games at the local club were made up of Hordes, Warmachine, Flames of War and even Infinity!

Foot Guard - are they better?

So what are my thoughts, well this list is based around what I've already got, a a few 'wishlister' based on the meta.  Overall I think my foot-centric guard force has really won out in 6th.  Let's look at my 'staples' and chew the fat!

Ratling Snipers - These little guys are now awesome, they are still super squishy, but a BS4 camo'd sniper - wicked.  Sniper doesn't just grant 'rending' on a 6 to wound, but on a 6 to hit you get to choose which model in the enemy unit you're shooting.  Not so good against Characters (including powerfist Sergeants) thanks to the 'look out sir' generic rule, but awesome against those pesky models holding flamers, plasma, missile launchers and the like.  I've got twelve, so 2x6 ratlings?

Vehicles - On the face of it, hull points have made vehicles more durable, but in reality they pop easier.  Every glancing AND penetrating hit will take a hull point, which means that 4 autocannons with bring it down can guarantee a rhino stops dead (completely ignoring the penetration rolls).  This is GREAT news for Guard!  While the +1 for AP2 Lascannons and Plasma on the penetration chart is welcome, rate of fire seems the best guarantee of glancing a vehicle to death ... And between the Chimeras, the Hydra's and the Autocannons ... we got it!

Mortars - I've always been a huge fan of mortars in guard forces, I think they are a key force multiplier, hitting and hurting a little bit every turn.  I have 15 mortar bases in total and love to field them.  The new rules are really kind to mortars.  Since pre-measuring is now in, there no more worries about being 'just' out of range.  The key to this is that the wound allocation is now directional, with the direction dictated from the centre of the blast.  Indirect fire and 48" range means that I only need to 'hit' with 6 hits to guarantee the death of that meltagunner, or 2 hits to start mincing those Ork dakkaguns (sounds a lot, I've got 15 shots!) ... I'm used to whittling down units to the powerfist and the special weapons expert ... looks like it'll be a boltgunner from now on!

Challenges - Now, this is less of a bonus, but still a very effective stalling tactic.  You can (I think ) call a challenge in the charge, this means that the Rough Riders sergeant (With I5) can 'call out' the Space Marine hero at I6, thus guaranteeing that more of his disposable brethren get their pointy stick into the enemies pointy beaks!  It also works well for the Imperial Guard blob, inhibiting the super ninja character from dishing the death mongering from YOUR player turn and allowing you to apply those power weapons (or sheer weight of numbers) onto his bodyguard.  It'll probably do nothing more than slow them down ... but that's the point isn't it?

Flying Vehicles - I like the Vendetta, it's awesome.  I just don't own one, 6th edition AND the snap fire rule makes Vendettas the 'must have' vehicle for delivering death to the enemy.  4 meltas in a vendetta is an evil combo and will attract a lot of heat, luckily that heat will need a 6 to hit and blast weapons can't snap fire.  So their problems are largely over.  Nice.

Flying Monstrous Creatures - Urkk, Tyranids that fly just got a huge bonus.  Something tells me they want to sell stuff with wings?!?  For my money the best bonus for a guard army is to have some Chaos Space Marine allies.  A few deathguard are never a bad investment, and If I happen to bring along some nurgle bikers (true T6! and jink!), plus my Obliterators and a Deamon Prince with wings and a magic spell for 160pts - bargain!

Now, as you can see from above, none of this is actually that expensive.  The Allies total 660, which still leaves me plenty for the following:

• Company Command Sq: Autocannon, 3 sniper rifles  (75)
• 6 Ratlings (60)
• 6 Ratlings (60)
• Platoon Command Squad: 4 meltas (70)
• Squad 1: Autocannon (60)
• Squad 2: Autocannon (60)
• Squad 3: Autocannon plus Commissar (95)
• 5 Heavy Weapons Teams, Mortars (300)
• Veterans Squad, 3 melta (100)
• 2 x Vendetta (260)
• Deamon Prince, Wings, Magic, Nurgle (160)
• 5 Plague Marines, Powerfist and 2 Plasmaguns (185)
• 3 Bikers, 2 melta (119)
• 2 Obliterators (150)

Total: 1754 pts.

Maybe a Hydra would be better than the Obliterators, but with three flying things, I should be troublesome enough??  What's your thoughts?

Inquisitiored Genestealer Cult Army List

Magnificent Genestealer Ork Cult over at Ninjabread

Inspired by Zen 40k, I've built a quick list around the concept of a genestealer cult.

I've got the models to proxy this, hence some of the 'fluffy choices', the concept behind this is that a crippled Space Marine hulk has been infested with genestealers.  While the Space Marines cannot mate and are therefore useless to the Genestealers, subjagating a small host in hypersleep was possible.  Subsequent arrival at a properous rim world has led to a particularly dangerous mixture.

Unlike most Cults, this one is build around a pair of powerful psychic twins (see the Alpha Legion influence ... and the fact I'm a twin!)


1501 point Genestealer Cult List

• Genstealer Magus Twin Bathar  (Corteaz - 100pts) ... access to the Space Marine Armory has allowed the leaders of this cults some rich pickings.  
• Genestealer Magus Grudun (Librarian - 215pts) ... Terminator Armour, Psychic Stave, Quicksilver, Might of Titan (snigger!), Warp Rift.
• Grey Knight Terminator Squad, Incinerator, Psybolt Ammo and 2 Double Falchion bearing models (235pts).
• 10 Genestealers (Death Cult Assassins) with 2 melta warriors in Chimera (233pts)
• 10 Genestealers (Death Cult Assassins) with 2 melta warriors in Chimera (233pts)
• 6 Genestealers (Death Cult Assassins) in TL Lascannon Razorback (170pts)
• 6 Genestealers (Death Cult Assassins) in TL Lascannon Razorback (170pts)
• Lictor (Callidus Assassin - 145pts)

Anyway, thought it'd be fun.  And it's my favourite favourite 40k army... brotherhood, genestealers and planet consuming anarchy in one go.  Lush.

Follow the Flames - Cassino Campaign First Round Batrep

“...behind every hill there’s another river, and behind every river, there’s another hill."

British Commandoes attempt to storm a Monastery at Monte Cassino

I know, I know - a batrep from Suneokun.  Sit your ass down and prepare to be amazed!

The Cassino Campaign kicked off last night at my local gaming store (Tabletop Tyrants, otherwise known as GiftsforGeeks).  The boards looked amazing and have done plenty to encourage me to finish off my core force for round two the week after next!

The Cassino Campaign in WW2 was one of the bloodiest and meanest battles going, and something more akin to a WW1 trench warfare.  The allies, fresh from defeating Rommel in North Africa, and hoodwinking the Germans with Operation Mincemeat and seizing Sicily, were aiming for the 'Soft underbelly of Europe'.  The problem was that the Italian Facists had gone got themselves a German personal trainer, and that underbelly had more abs than Jodie Marsh.

For indicative purposes only ... "The Soft Underbelly" - Perception versus Reality

The Germans had picked their battlefield well.  Cassino was an extremely rocky and inaccesible environment with massive natural features and difficult terrain.  As such this environment was an anathema to vehicles, it made transport and supply lines difficult, troops could only move slowly and this greatly advantaged the defenders.  There would be no easy breakthrough, exploitation and encirclement.

To further compliment these already demonstrable advantages, the Germans went about building the Gustav line (and behind it the Hitler line and the Caesar line), these enormous fortifications spanned between the frequent hills and mountains across the whole 'leg' of Italy.  They were to prove one of the western allies greatest challenges.  Arguably far harder than the D-Day landings against 'Fortress Europe' with little vehicle support, hitting the Facists at the height of their capabilities and readiness, with the battlefield, fortifications and killspots all in their favour.

Approximately 55,000 casulaties at Cassino, compared to around 12,000 on D Day and 226,386 for Operation Overlord.  This was a very serious and bloody business, but completely overshadowed by the D-Day landings (which occured as the Cassino Victory came in).

Politically the allies were under pressure from the Russians to open up a second front, hence the punch at the 'soft' bit.  It was to prove a impossible task and arguably Cassino never fell, but was retreated from when encirclement finally seems inevitable.  The allies could never bring their numerical advantages to the fore thanks to terrain and early stage errors and bad planning.  The defence by the Germans was remarkable.

The Gaming Campaign

"Our four days and nights were absolute hell; mortar bombs continued to rain down; we had a nebelwerfer rocket through our roof; and the never-ending smoke shells meant that we were living in a world where there was no day. Our nerves were stretched to breaking point, hands shaking so much that cigarettes were hard to light. Hot meals were impossible, as was washing and shaving. My diary notes, ‘it takes all our nerves to move from our position to Company Headquarters 25 yards away’. "

 New Zealand platoon commander on fighting in the town. Ref

Flames are a very well researched and intelligent organisation.  Writing campaigns that are balanced, fun and also fulfill the history buffs is a demanding challenge (certainly more demanding than making up shite about shite, calling it difficult, taking forever AND then getting it soooo wrong, eh GW?).  As such I would recommend looking at the Flames of War Cassino Campaign Overview .

The Campaign is broken down into 'rounds' of skirmishes representing the 4 battles of the Cassino Campaign.  The Different battles represent different routes taken by the allies in and around Monte Cassino.

For this campaign, it really is a trial by fire.  The majority of the Allied gamers are new to the game, with only a handful of battles under their belts.  The German commanders have years of experience in flames at local and tournament level.  A tough ask indeed.

My first round force of 500pts, were put together from the Strelkovy Batalon (Rifle Battalion) in the Red Bear book, for the requirements of the game, I am fielding them as Free Polish Infantry, or Greek - I'm not decided yet.  They are made up of competent (Confident and Trained) troops, based around the performance in a handful of games I've fielded them so far.

Rifle Battalion - 500pts

Rifle HQ (Command, 2nd, Commissar) - 30pts
Rifle Platoon (Rifle and Machine Guns) with 2 additional Maksim HMG - 180pts
Rifle Platoon (Sub Machine Guns) with Kommissar - 145pts
120mm Heavy Mortar Platoon (6) including command and spotters - 145pts

The Battlefield.

 
The Germans are hunkered down in two entrenched positions.  They comprise 2 Grenadier units (Confident trained - same as mine), in addition to a command squad and the trench lines, they have 3 machine gun nests (which are unbelievably evil).  To make matters worse, I have to ford or swim the river, which is dangerous, difficult and makes me immensely vulnerable.  In my advantage ... well I'm attempting this at night.  Which gives the enemy a fair chance of not seeing me... I hope.

Attempt 1 - Mucking about

I'll go through this one quickly, because it's a massacre and a learning experience.  Rather than fording immediately, I get testing with the mortars and my entrenched Rifle and machine gun and Maksim machine gun teams.  3 turns of pounding later and I've caused more casualties than any of my predecessors (Dustin was wiped out without killing a stand and Jack killed one stand), but the fording is left too late.  I move up to the river turn 4, get in the river turn 5, get out the river turn 6, and don't have a chance to entrench (my objective being to 'dig in' as a beachhead on their side of the river by turn six!) ... epic fail.  I get 2 command points for turning up AND having my commander survive (at the back).  As the assault infantry resurface, dawn breaks  - game over man, game over!

Attempt 2 - no mucking about

On the second attempt I line up the SMG's, with the command team attached (in for a penny), on the river bank.  I then surge into the river turn one, while the spotters target the enemy rifle team opposite.  Not firing with either unit means that Dustin has to struggle to spot my teams,  he manages to down a few of the teams on the river, but 4 (of 6) make it across.

On the second turn I move the 4 teams onto the bank and move the other units (including the command team) into the river.  With the unit split between the river and the bank, I have no option to dig in next turn ... but must weather the fire.  The spotters rain down fire on the enemy troops, and the mortars pin the grenadiers! Yeah!  The rifles and machine guns open up, but fail to kill any.  The mortars have so far killed an enemy base.  In a brilliant turn of events, the 'view' rolls of Dustins forces suffer an epic fail and all the in range units fail to spot my shivering troops. - Wow!

Turn three sees me throwing everything against the Nazi's, the sun doesn't rise, giving me darkness as cover.  The HMG's throw everything at the closest Machine gun nest and destroy it!  (12 shots, requiring a 4+, a 6 and then another 6!).  All I need now is a good turn of space marine armour saves and I'll dig in.  The attritional firepower is immense, of the 7 teams on the bank, only 2 survive and they only just hold it together.

Turn four, it's do or die now.  The Mortars hit again, killing another stand, but failing to pin as the grenadier commander rushes across.  I feel a real sense of urgency in the Germans.  Unfortunately, dawn breaks!  The SMG and command team attempt to dig in, but after fording a river, seeing their friend massacred and rallying.  They fluff the 4+ roll to dig in.  As such, no bulletproof cover and the raking fire wipes them off the bank, despite everything I throw at them.

By turn 6 I pummel a whole platoon into desertion, and gain a +1 of the command points.  But with the death of my command team (My polish commander, injured, was rescued after the Russians bombarded the Germans into next week!  So for all the efforts, I was a 4+ away from a +4 Russian victory... and capturing the bridgehead by the skin of my teeth.

Conclusion

So close ... really, I was a 50/50 roll away from walking away with that. The Germans were unlikely to assault my position (due to their own barbed wire and my R/MG team and Maksims covering my men) and although only 2 teams he had only a 2% chance of machinegunning them down ... it was a close run thing.

Getting in and out of the river was sheer murder, and really really nasty.  3 turns of creeping and swimming in the face of enemy fire... I was helped by an astounding piece of luck.  However it clearly ran out then, as I failed 3+ after 3+ cover save.

However, everyone agreed that the river crossing was the worse of the three battles and the result, whilst galling  - was realistic.

What would I do differently, not much really.  Soviet force lists have a big chunk missing, in that smoke mortars aren't used.  This would have made the crossing a lot more possible, as a few smoke shots could have completely silenced the machineguns of the other side (for a turn).  The biggest worry for me

The other battles include assaulting a Monastery (with delayed reserves on both sides AND loads of cover (everyone is always in bulletproof cover!), or assault a barracks through the town (even more bulletproof cover).  I look forward to these.

As for the campaign ... every single allied attack lost.  A combination of entrenchment, machine-gun and tank emplacements, barbed wire, grenadiers and mortars meant that everyone struggled.

We can at least comfort ourselves that the early campaign in Cassino were equally bloody.  And take real comfort in the fact that I can pack my little men up afterwards and go home to my wife.

And finally ... a free gift to my readers

This is a superb Ministry of Defence historical PDF on the Monte Cassino campaign, with quotations, citations and great tactical analysis - Clickety Click here.  Well worth a scan!

Flames of War Campaign

I've now played a good half dozen game of Flames and in the words of another player "I haven't had an un-fun game yet."  I does seem to lack a lot of the unit crunching aspects of other games, and it's nice to have a bunch of humans fighting eachother, rather than space aliens.

Interestingly, on the 40k front.  The local club, which has connections in GW HQ, have said that the 6th edition leak is actually real and a sounding WIP.  If so, many of the changes to the core rules could make 40k a really exciting game again.

Anyhow ... back to Flames.

The local club is running the Cassino Campaign to get everyone into the game.  I've been playing around with some lists and even got a couple of test games into the mix.  The games are strickly small scale 500-900pts affairs, with no vehicles.  Cassino and the Gustav lines was one of the hardest slogs and most WW1-like campaigns in WW2.  Casualties mounted as the allies smacked head-first into some of the toughest defensive positions of the Second World War.

As such I'm taking Russians (mascarading at Greek Partisans).  At 500pts I'm fielding the following:

Rifle Battalion - 500pts

Rifle HQ (Command, 2nd, Commissar) - 30pts
Rifle Platoon (Rifle and Machine Guns) with 2 additional Maksim HMG - 180pts
Rifle Platoon (Sub Machine Guns) with Kommissar - 145pts
120mm Heavy Mortar Platoon (6) including command and spotters - 145pts

The SMG's are my assault leaders and can defensive fire or assault fire the best.  The Heavy Mortar platoon sits at the back and punches well above its weight, bringing the pain.  The Rifle/MG's have a range of 16", with the HMG at 24".  They will strive for a strong defensive position and cover a flank and offer aggressive fire.

WIP Round 2 - 800pts

Scout Platoon - 100pts
82mm Strelkovy Mortar Platoon (incl spotter) - 110pts
Sappers Rifle Platoon - 85pts

Thinking .... the scout platoon can use the 'infiltrate' rule to pull forward the Rifle Platoon into a good aggressive position.  The SMG team will be secondary to the 'sheer firepower' of two mortar companies ladling it on. The lighter mortars can also pot-shot directfire, giving them fair bunker busting capabilities.

WIP Round 3 - 1000pts


Additional Stelkovy Platoon - 110pts
Flamethrower Platoon - 90pts

Flamethrowers and Mortars - well the germans will be dug in, so what else matters.  The additional Strelkovy Platoon on the 'assault' platoon will bring this up to 15+ models, meaning that the defensive fire will need 10 hits to pin, rather than the standard 5 (Quantity is Quality rule).  As Assault platoon of Rifles/Machine guns, SMG's, flamethrowers and a command team.

Hopefully that should help crack those Fascist Bastards!

The Flames Tardis: Armies in both time AND space

The Tardis for your fish tank ... gotta love google images.

In THIS article I had a bit of a rant about all the things I think are broken in 40k.  One of the thigs that 'makes me sad' about 40k is that despite all the fluff and stuff, most players ditch their 'fluffy' armylist as soon as they start hitting the gaming table in earnest.  The lovingly painted squads of "sub-par unit of choice" gets left on the shelf as the players is forced to "not waste points" on throwaway units and buy HiveGuard/Trygons/Manticores/Hydras/Paladins.

Fact is, half those "great" units in the fluff are actually overpriced and pointless in the tournaments and even in your 'friendly neighbourhood club'.  Let's reflect on that for a moment...

Flames of War approach

Rather than using a formula army list approach like other games, Flames of War forces the user to choose a 'type' of army and then select company options that are available to that force.  Many individual units appear in many different army structures, but the structures are built to be reflective of historical unit AND balanced. 

Example: A tank battalion forces you to take a command unit (in a tank, obviously) and then a minumum of 2 tank companies (5-10 tanks).  In fact, you can 'optimise' up to 31 'standard' tanks within the structure, plus Heavy tanks (IS-2s or ISU122/152s) plus tank killer companys, assault guns etc etc.  What you'll sacrifice is access to masses of infantry, heavy machine guns, recon vehicles etc etc.  A Reconnaissance Company in comparison can field 0-25 tanks (still perfectly healthy), sacrifices all 'heavy' options, but gets better and more recon units, better infantry units (with flamethrowers!) and other options unavailable to the prior.  The 'motor rifle company' comes with the most 'vanilla' force, allowing you access to all areas, but limiting the numbers of each particular type - ie, you can take 1-2 of everything.

Using this approach forces the player to consider their army carefully, and consider their preferred tactical approach with caution.  Do you want to swarm the enemy with T-34s, then a tank company is yours (46 tanks), do you want to blow them apart from range, Motorised will give you the most 'arty', allowing you 46 artillery (including mortars) and anti-tank guns. But you'll be limited in what else you can bring.

The advantage is two-fold, structure AND time.

The strength of this approach is that in a similar fashion to 40k, you can 'try out' and test bed your units and easily switch from one structure to another.  To make this even easier, many of the lists come with two price structures, one for better trained or motivated, one for less so.  One is cheaper.  This adds another careful layer of control though, as 'Guards' are better than Red Army troops, but you couldn't have Guards and Red army in the same battalion.

Exceptions do apply though and many units come with either both options, or are 'add on' reserves units, that equally apply to both.  User beware though, as switching price brackets may exclude your 'must have' units!

So you can field wildly different forces while settling into the game (infantry are fairly transferable), trying out different approaches.  To make this more fun, you can also field army list from different time periods, giving you strikingly different forces, which will fight different opponents.  Here's an example:

1500pt Soviet Army Tank Battalion (Mid War)

This is before and during Stalingrad and way before Kursk, the Russians are on the defensive and throwing everything they have out of the factory and into the way of the Germans.  As such, the majority of the troops are cheap, and are classed as 'Fearless Conscripts', they are highly motivated to save the motherland, but largely untrained and inept.

This means that the tanks and troops are hit more often as they are comparatively incompetent, but will rarely rout or desert their vehicle when hit. (Commissars are SOOOO motivating)

• T34/76 - Company Commander (Fearless Trained)
• 6 x T34/76 - Fearless Conscripts
• 6 x T34/76 - Fearless Conscripts
• Tank Rider Platoon, including 1 Maksim HMG and a commissar (reroll motivational checks but remove a stand of infantry as traitors, sound familiar?) - Fearless Conscripts
• 5 x Katyushas with extra crew (double Rate of Fire) and spotter team - Fearless Trained (these guys are reserves from base and less disposible than their brethren).

1510pt Soviet Army Tank Battalion (Late War)

This is during the 'Bagration' counter attack for Minsk, after Stalingrad and racing towards Kursk.  All Russian troops are now trained, although their 'fearless' drops to 'confident' if their just Red Army and not Guards forces. The Russians are now facing man-power shortages after the desparate sacrifice of Moscow and Stalingrad ... but their training and confidence is better.

• T-34/85 - Company Commander (Fearless Trained)
• 6 x T-34/85 - Fearless Trained
• 6 x T-34/85 - Fearless Trained
• Tank Rider Platoon, including 1 Maksim HMG and a commissar (reroll motivational checks but remove a stand of infantry as traitors, sound familiar?) - Fearless Trained
• 6 x Katyushas with extra crew (double Rate of Fire) and spotter team - Fearless Trained (these guys are reserves from base and less disposible than their brethren).

So what's the difference?

The prior force will be facing mostly Stug and Panzer 4 medium tanks, lots of German infantry and   the occassional Tiger (which they'll struggle with, as the Russians did).  They are easier to hit, but highly motivated and will be facing less dangerous anti-tank weapons.  The tanks are all faster and are capable of blistering speed.

The latter force will face german (and other) armies where both vehicle, fixed gun and infantry weapons can cause havok with the T-34's armour.  It's slightly better, and thanks to training the T-34's are also harder to hit (you hit on your TARGETS skill level, rather than your own).  The Rider Platoon will be a more serious challenge in close combat - as will the 85's, but their guns are vastly better, capable of damaging all the troops.

Summary

Both armies represent the same (ish) number of models, but will face vastly different opponents and have vastly different capabilities.  The two armies will work in a similar fashion, using speed and armour to exploit a weak point in the line and then push through hard into the enemy defensive line, flanking the enemy.  This bring me to my final discussion point of the day...

Scale and tactics

Something that has occured to me since starting in flames of war is that flanking doesn't really work in 40k.  This has something to do with scale, but also something to do with tanks.

Unlike 40k, an infantry man is about a centimetre high.  The best infantry weapons are effective at 24" and guns get ranges up to 32", artillery is longer still, but lacks the accuracy (as you'd expect). This is roughly equivilent to 40k, but there's actually a huge difference in scale. 

Smaller: Flames Tanks are generally smaller than a matchbox, allowing them to 'hide' behind hills and other terrain easier than 40k infantry.  This means that terrain has a greater impact in denying firing altogether.  Obviously the terrain is much smaller, but this doesn't lead to huge terrain pieces absorbing large chunks of the board in order to 'make' the game competitive.

Faster: A standard tank can 'double time' at 24" in a turn.  A tank can move 12" and fire (although at a reduced Rate of Fire), a 'fast tank' can move up to 32" in a turn!  This makes breakthroughs a real threat.  Additionally, the scale of the models means that an dug in infantry line is a line an 1" wide.  Meaning that 'artillery' can be a long way (comparatively) behind the front line, and open to assault by the breakthrough!

Scaled: Blocking tactics (like with rhinos) are near impossible at this scale.  Defences are 'deeper', as scale means that if you punch through my front line, my 57mm zis-2 are going to punch straight through your side armour! Attack, penetration and counter attack are more tactically dynamic as there is more 'room' to maneuver on the same board.

Example:  I set up a defensive line on troops.  They carry SMG's and HMG's, so the Germans won't want to assault with infantry or half tracks.  They punch through the 'weak' part of my line with a panther tank group in assault, and push through with several units of crack panzergrenadier units.  The panzers are their front armour left to face the T-34's they are going to flank next turn.  I then reveal my 4 zis-2 guns hidden in a wood on a hill.  They open up on the exposed Panthers and score 6 hits from my 12 shots.  The panthers cannot pass the side armour hits (armour 5, antitank 11, requiring 6's to avoid penetration!) and 5 penetrating shots later (one bail-out test) you have 3 destroyed tanks and 2 bailouts, crippling the German breakthrough.

40k tanks are a bit of a joke.  Normal tanks are barely faster than troops, and can only escape 'fleet' troops due to a bad dice roll for the chaser.  In Flames, the relationship is reversed, with tanks providing the maneurvability, whilst the infantry provide the fixed durability.

But 40k Infantry aren't durable and treat foxholes and cover as 'optional' ... hence the weird reversal of reality.  40k tanks as mobile pillboxes.

Weird.

Red Bear Release

Red Bears are made in Oxford, unless they are books written in New Zealand

Red Bear's are made in Oxford (unless they are Kiwi books about the Soviet Eastern Front)

I've just been informed that further to 14 days from now, new rules for the Russian Front in Flames of War will be released.  Red Bear will include all the regiments on the late war eastern front and new rules to boot.

After reviewing the online forums for Soviet tactics, I'm readdressing my ideas.  It appears that soviet list require 'a lot' of everything to work.  5 tank T-34 squads are bad, 9-10 tanks in a squad are good.

This means I'm going to be buying a lot more T-34's in the future.  The Tankovy Batalon (Tank Company) in the Hammer and Sickle rules allows you to take both T-34's and T-85's in the same list.  A Company of each (9 T34-85's and 10 T34's) seems the way to go as the core of a force.

Example list - Tank Company:

Command T-34-85 Tank, with Anti aircraft trucks @ 125pts
9 x T-34-85 @ 540 pts
10 x T-34/76 @ 415pts

3 Tank Rider Platoons (19 bases) @ 310pts
Kommissar Team @ 15pts
4 Kaksim HEavy Machine Guns @ 100pts

1505 pts

This means rolling with 20 tanks at 1500pts... the lightweight T-34's are very quick and can get up close and personal with the enemy.  They can move 32" in a turn, allowing them to exploit flanks and isolate units.  Their guns are 'meh' at Antitank 9 (they can't actually damage a Tiger tank, only force a bailout check), but the combination of their speed and carrying 24 bases of Maksim and SMG toting Tank Riders is a potent thought.

At 6"+, the tanks may as well steam it like crazy, interestingly at 6" move or less, the tanks can shoot AND the tank riders can shoot their SMG's.  So that's 19x3 = lots of machine gun fire (at 4", but who's counting).  So they could be very dangerous for infantry/guns and charging into the enemy.  But it seems a bit of a cul-de-sac tactically.

The T-34-85's are a more measured (and better armed) variant.  The new 'hens and chicks' rule being released with RED BEAR indicates that the tanks will be capable of firing if they move over 6", but with a +1 modifier to hit (that makes it harder, not easier, people.), and at a standard RoF of 1.

This allows for some more tactical flexibility, but means that you'll be rolling a 5+ to hit, unless you moved less than 6".

Real Armour penetration problems

Looking through the Soviet Arsenal, they lack any weapon with greater antitank than 15, meanwhile the Germans have plenty of armour 9 or 10 options (Tiger and Panther) and even Elephants, Ferdinands and King Tigers (armour 14-15), all of which carry weapons that can make mincemeat of my armour.  So my options are to attack the side armour ... or maybe go the classic Russian route and target the top of these tanks:

The best 'top armour' for these vehicles is 2.  This means that artillery, rockets and aircraft are probably the best route to downing these monsters.

The cheapest (in coinage) to obtain are purchase 3 IL-2 Shturmoviks for £7.50.  Even the basic Shturmovik can deliver rocket attacks at strength 6 against that top armour, or strength 12 against side armour ... the problem is their accuracy and dependability.  You have to roll to see if they arrive or are intercepted.  They then need to range the target and place the artillery template and then roll to hit the tanks.  Even then, you only have a 50% chance of cracking them, and a 2/3rd chance of blowing them up.... them's quite long odds.

Plus, if the Tiger is close - the aircraft won't risk firing.  Now T34-85 CAN duke it out with Tigers and Panthers, but they will need side armour shots to really hurt them.  Likewise Panther tanks only have side armour 5, so a bum-rush of T-34/76's could swarm them ... but T34's don't have the best armour and they'd need to get away with some serious luck to survive until the next turn to jump the Panthers (would could just drive off 24" and start again rather than fight).

Mortars and Hammer and Sickle Era Artillery bring antitank 3, so unless they roll a 1, they are sound.  Not good.  Rockets are only antitank 2, so even worse.

The only weapon in the Russian arsenal which seems purpose built for monster antitank is the flamethrower.  I've heard great reviews.  This weapon is rate of fire (RoF) 4, and hits via an ability check (4+ for Russians), followed by a firepower check to destroy a tank, oh wait - that's a 6.  It does however force a bailout on any other roll.  You need to be 4" away to use it as well... so that's a 1/3 chance of a kill (or auto bailout).

Charge!

The other option is sappers.  They need to pass a leadership test (4+) to assault a tank, but once in combat they have the antitank of 4.  A platoon (if it arrives intact) rolls a 4+ to hit with every team, the enemy only has to roll a 1 or 2 to be destroyed, or a 3 to be bailed out (in this case cowering inside as bits are ripped off the tank)... the advantage of this over flamethrowers is that a 'bailout' tank that is isolated in close combat automatically counts as captured.  Which is a nice result. 

Other Russian Considerations:

In Red Bear you can get access to the 122 and 152 artillery piece's, which have marginal direct fire, but artillery potential with antiank 4 and 5 against the top armour. 

The only hardcore options are the Russian heavy tanks, both the IS-2 (Iofef Stalin tank) and the ISU-122 carry a big ass antitank 15 monster gun.  This still doesn't challenge the KingTiger - but it could hurt the side armour.


The Best Options?

Gamers aren't restricted like in real war-time ... so the inclusion of an Elephant, Ferdinand or KingTiger seems pretty inevitable.  While very very dangerous to any vehicle, they are less of a threat to infantry.  This makes engineers and flamers essential for attacking tanks, (and the 40k flamer rule seem all the more silly) and they should certainly be included.

The ISU-122 seems to be the way forward in providing heavy antitank at antitank 15 and 2+ bunker destroying options.  In addition, the 'volley fire' rule means that if the target is within 16" it gets a re-roll to hit (which is useful with a single shot gun!).

Finally (and for the money), investing in three IL-2 Shturmovik's seems like a no-brainer.  £7.50 for the potential to rain cannon, rocket and bomb death every turn!  Yes please!

I need more trucks ... Flames of War army list,

Check out Wikipedia for the full Soviet Armoured breakdown

Insomnia hit last night ... awake until 5am.  Groan!  Anyhow, I use the time constructively and built myself my first 'wishlist' for Flames of War Soviet forces.

I'm running with the standard "Motor Rifle Batalion" from the "Hammer and Sickle" book (yes in FoW, not only do you get different periods, with totally different tank, armour, transports, planes and guns, batalions and companys are represented, so you can choose Motorised companies or tank companies or scouting companies.  All historically fairly accurate (with balance) and only able to access certain weapons/units.

Red Army Mechanised Company

HQ: Rifle Company command, 2iC (2nd in command) and Kommissar team (reroll motivation tests) - 30pts
DshK AA Machine Gun Platoon (3) - 55pts

Motor Rifle Platoon #1 (1) - including 2 Maksim HMG  - 170pts
Motor Rifle Platoon #2 (1) - including 2 Maksim HMG  - 170pts

Sapper Platoon (1) - 105pts

Tank Company (5) - T34 (76mm) with tank riders - 340pts
Tank Company (5) - T34 (upgraded to 85mm) - 340pts

2 Heavy Mortar Platoons, command team and 4 mortar teams, and truck - 135pts

Rocket Mortar Platoon with command team and truck, 6 Rocket Trucks - 135pts

Spetsnaz Platoon, 2 captured german armoured half tracks, a command squad and 2 teams - 110pts

IL-2 Shturmovik Air Support - Limited Support @ 200pts

Now this list is probably totally rubbish, but its a balancing act between the sort of army I want to run, the sort of army I can run (due to list restrictions) and units which are effective but 1/3 of the price of Flames of War stock online.

The Spetsnaz, Motor Rifle Platoons and tank riders on the T34-76's are all armed with effective, but short range sub-machine guns.  These weapons are ideal for pinning troops during an assault, or defending from assault, but not much else really.

Hence why both the motor rifle platoons get some addition HMG support.  Which kinds makes up for the range deficiencies and allows them maximum firepower during charges (the HMG can hang back and offering covering fire).  7 SMG's plus 2 Maksim's offering up 33 dice firing at 4" on the charge ... which is enough to put the willies up most opponents.

The tank riders don't need HMG support (and can't have it), they are, after all, riding on a T34 tank.

The Pioneer sappers are there as they are supposed (?!?) to work well in conjunction with the Motor Rifles, and have the added advantage of better range (although not as good as the Maksims) and Antitank 4 in close combat.  This should allow us to deter any german tank coming near as they can pile on a lot of hits.

The two tank companies are nicely interchangeable (just like the turrets ... funny that), with the T34-85's offering steady, good strength anti-tank support while the T-34-76's base rush for flanking moves on isolated units.  Combined with the Spetsnaz' ability to pull a single unit forward a normal movement (12") and disguise them, this could work well, in putting the T34-85's in a commanding position turn 1 and then having them cover the 76's (32" in a turn is a hell of a bum rush!)  As I mentioned earlier, the tank riders on the 76's are able to assault, defend from assaults, add they firepower (at 3 dice a tank) to the already impressive firepower ... and get a 3+ saving throw.  Overall they turn this tank from a quick and nasty eploitation force into a really reallyhorrible one.

The Heavy Mortars are due to nice set done in 'forged in war' range.  The ability to hit foxholed troops at 56" and kill them on a 3+ (when normally you need a six!), they can fire over friendly troops (naturally) and hit everything on a 4+.  It's nice!  Plus artillery strikes have the advantage of getting nasty with the pinning hits.  All adding to my assaulting, charging morass of blokes!

The Rocket Mortars bring more of the same ... offering devastating firepower across the board at a minimal price, while the Shturmovik's offer great anti-tank fire with rockets!

Finally the Spetnatz can drag a unit forward, spot the enemy and hag about looking cool in their german armourd half-tracks - pure win!

To do all this I'll need to buy:

5 Trucks (Zis) @ £12
6 Rocket Mortars (5+1) @ £14.75
3 Shturmoviks @ £7.50
5 more t34's @ £16.50
4 Maksim Teams @ £5.75
4 Heavy Mortar Teams @ £9.75

£66.25 - nice!

Final and Submitted BLOGWARS list

Following the game on Tuesday - a couple of tweaks:

100 Command HQ with 2 Sniper Rifles and an autocannon, officer of the fleet.

105 Infantry HQ with 4 Grenade Launchers and a Chimera

255 3 x Lascannon equipped squads, plus a Commissar with power weapon

165 2 x Autocannon equipped squads plus a Commissar with power weapon

300 5 x Mortar Heavy Weapons Teams

155 Veterans with 3 x Melta and Chimera

85 Rough Riders x 8

120 Armoured Sentinels x 2 with autocannons

125 Devildog, Smoke, Heavy Flamer

125 Basilisk

215 Leman Russ Battle Tank, Lascannon and Pask

I've pulled the lascannon off the Armoured sentinels and gone for some autocannons. 2 extra lascannon shots are nice, but mobile autocannons are a greater threat to light tanks and APC's. I'm expecting a couple of Rhino/Chimelta rushes during the day and those Sentinels will be working their nuts off.

I have also dropped the smoke from the Sentinels - while essential on the hellhound variant, the Sentinels 'should' be moving and firing EVERY turn - making it a wasted 10pts. I've made two change to the command squad, I've dropped the flamer and a sniper and opted for another autocannon. Cheap at the price and it threatens everything. I've also taken that 30pts and invested in an officer of the fleet. -1 to enemy reserves is a must for my army and will force my opponent to consider what he puts in reserve with caution.

I am particularly concerned about flanking flamer tanks (looking at you - Blood Angels) and similar filth. Any chance to disrupt drop pod reserves, flankers is a must for a firebase army like mine.

The die is cast, speaking of which - some chessex dice are required!

LIST: Wacky Tyranid List!

Ok, so this is a little outside the box, but bare with me...

90 Prime, 2x Boneswords
90 Prime, 2x Boneswords
110 Venomthrope x 2
150 HiveGuard x 3
150 HiveGuard x 3
195 Tervigon (AG and TS), Catalyst
195 Tervigon (AG and TS), Catalyst
50 Gaunts x 10
50 Gaunts x 10
90 Rippers x 9
60 Spore Mines x 6
60 Spore Mines x 6
60 Spore Mines x 6
135 Biovore x 3
135 Biovore x 3
135 Biovore x 3

18 Spore Mine Clusters get deployed before your opponent regardless of who goes first ... this gives you the opportunity to completely mess with their deployment in Dawn of War as they cannot set up within 18" of you. So you can potentially force them towards you or off the board entirely. In Spearhead, your spores can form a distraction within the ranks, or a cover save for your approaching troops. This also gives you ploys for dealing with reserves by parking near the edge.

After this the Biovores will hit anything in the open with S4 pinning big blasts... which can quickly add up. Misses are MORE SPORE MINES floating about.

The Primes escort the Hive Guard Forward, pumped with FNP from the Tervigons and gaining a 5+ from the Venomthropes... The tervigons mass produce while the barrage continues.

It's not pretty, it probably wouldn't work - but it would be more chaotic than anything i've ever seen!

1750pt BlogWars List ... the final flavour (?)

As 'The Fang' has reminded me... I have barely a month left to get my list together. My objectives in order of priority are as follows:

A) Have a kick ass list of all the stuff no-one ever takes - check!
B) Take a brush, inks and a whole lotta love to my old models and tart them up for BlogWars.
C) Kill lots of people with units and tactics they just did not expect.
D) Make unsmelly friends ... who needs more smelly ones??

With this in mind and a deadline ... I announce another challenge! Do it all in a month.

Should be ok.

Here's the skinny list:

70 Command HQ with 3 Sniper Rifles and a flamer
105 Infantry HQ with 4 Grenade Launchers and a Chimera
255 3 x Lascannon equipped squads, plus a Commissar with power weapon
165 2 x Autocannon equipped squads plus a Commissar with power weapon
300 5 x Mortar Heavy Weapons Teams
155 Veterans with 3 x Melta and Chimera
85 Rough Riders x 8
150 Armoured Sentinels x 2 with lascannons and smokes
125 Devildog, Smoke, Heavy Flamer
125 Basilisk
215 Leman Russ Battle Tank, Lascannon and Pask

Total: 1750pts

Tactics: this is my take on a modern foot list... this list is all about the mortars. It may look like its actually about antitank, but really they are just about getting everybody out of their rides. The antitank has the potential to glance/penetrate 7 armoured units a turn ... then its about the mortars putting the hurt on the opponent. Anything that gets close will need to deal with veterans, Roughriders and command HQ's. There's no 'Deathstar' unit on board, but that's not how I roll. The two armoured sentinels replace the 3 scouts ... but the additional durability AND the ability to step up and ward off close combat troops cannot be ignored.

So, now on with the painting - I got all the models out last night and carefully 'dullcoted' them to take off their trademark shininess. Inks to be picked up this weekend and then its on with the work. Wish me luck!?!

Blogwars - 1750 part 4

So here's the skinny on my latest attempt at a competent list for the Blogwars challenge in July. Just to remind, my primary objective is to run the sort of list I'm keen on - rather than an uber-tasty net-friendly list.

Attempt 4:

70 Command HQ with 3 Sniper Rifles and a flamer
105 Infantry HQ with 4 Grenade Launchers and a Chimera
255 3 x Lascannon equipped squads, plus a Commissar with power weapon
165 2 x Autocannon equipped squads plus a Commissar with power weapon
300 5 x Mortar Heavy Weapons Teams
155 Veterans with 3 x Melta and Chimera
85 Rough Riders x 8
150 Scout Sentinels x 3
125 Devildog, Smoke, Heavy Flamer
125 Basilisk
215 Leman Russ Battle Tank, Lascannon and Pask

Total: 1750pts

Something a little different and throwing in all the favour I so enjoy. Gone are the Commissar Lord, and any other HQ option. So what do you think?

When 40k plays like a "Doh", or how I might retire my Tyranids.

3 weeks of expectation built into a frustrating game last night for me. Which is a shame as the guys in Narborough are top and the hospitality was second to none. It was Nids and Necrons versus Orks and WorldEaters in a slugfest.

Prime with Lash Whip and Bone Sword (95)
Trvigon, Adrenally Tox'd with Catalyst (195)
Hive Guard x 2 (100)
Ymgarls x 7 (161)
Zoanthrope x 2 in pod (160)
Hormagaunts tox'd x 12 (96)
Hormagaunts tox'd x 11 (88)
Genestealers tox'd x 6 (102)
Genestealers tox'd x 6 (102)
Trygons x 2 (400)

The tactic for us Nids, get in there and eat something - it didn't go well!?!

My tox'd hormagaunts bounced off everything, killing the odd model - but nothing stuck. All three genestealer units (2xtox'd and 1 Ymgarl) all got into combat and killed next to nothing. The Ymgarls did the best, winning two rounds of combat against generic Deamons before getting punk'd after turning up turn 4.

My Tervigon managed to 'poop out' on a double on the first turn and then got mullered by a lone Ork biker Nob (I thought I might actually win that combat!), my Trygon got 'fearless' punk'd with 9 Fearless wounds when multicharged with hormagaunts... my other Trygon got wooped by two ram hungry deathroller orks and still struggled on until last turn.

My Prime escorted the Hive Guard on the board and then got jumped by a warboss. He killed 4 Bikers before getting punk'd by the Claw.

Only Hutch's Necrons played well - winning combats against Orks, performing funky moves and making the day tricky. Looking at my current list, there's little synergy. While the loss of the Parasite and the Hormagaunts is little to no loss ... I lack supporting models.

So what could I take that would have made the difference. Well from inside my collection, there are two units that could have helped:

• Parasite: nope, spend so much time avoiding powerclaws/fists he wouldn't have come to visit.
• Gargoyles: ditto, Termagaunts without a cover save.
• Broodlord: I decided against, but he may well have swung it with his 'hypnotic gaze'.
• Spore Mines: tactically tricky, but I'm not sure.
• Lictor: Powerclaw chump.
• RipperSwarms: Meat on the way in really, but lots and lots of attacks.

So what would have worked better, and what haven't I got?

• I have to work better in synergy, I'm sending in too many 'units' into close combat alone. I need to be dominating the close combat and overwelming the opponent - as I'm far too vulnerable to getting killed once my initiative is done.
• Venomthropes ... I don't love them and I don't own any, but I can see their utility ... a small 2 man (?) venom unit gives a lot of anti-charge and anti-close combat options for just 110pts.
• Termagaunt 'dakka' unit. A huge unit of Devilgaunts would have brought some significant pain to those orks. 60 s4 shots ... worth considering.
• Tervigon 2: Yes, Venomthropes, 2 Tervigons and 2 Trygons - sounds like a Fritz List! But it's a proven approach and the combination of FNP, 5+ cover save and anti-charge options are tasty.
• Tyrant: Although for durability he should have 2 guards and be the swarmlord ... he tactically brings me the best options.
  

So what do I do with my drunken Tyranids. Although the game wasn't fun, it clearly demonstrates what I've known for a while. Guard, Tau and Chaos Marines can take a 'fun', unWAAC list and still perform well - thanks to their natural 'synergy' of units (and my greater experience with them).

I am still yet to win a game with Nids ... which has got to be more about my lack of XP combined with a lack of practice in running a list that rocks. So my thoughts are as follows:

• Prime, Lash Whip and Bonesword 95
• Tervigon (HQ), Adrenal tox'd, Catalyst 195
• Venomthropes x2 110
• Hive Guard x2 100
• Tervigon (troops), Adrenal tox'd, Catalyst 195
• Termagaunts (10) 50
• Genestealers (9 tox'd) 170
• Genestealers (9 tox'd) 170
• Trygon with Regen (225)
• Trygon with Regen (225)

Total 1501. The Venoms are key and 'hide' behind something big. The Tervigons advance - pooping Gaunts as the Trygons get FNP and everybody gets a 5+ cover save. I'm gonna give them one more go with this list. Proxing the Zoanthropes for Venoms and borrowing a Greater Deamon as a spare Tervigon. We'll see if we can't make this army work (eventually...)

First "Stab" at a Cutlass gang!

Privateers ($500)

Alike to infinity, keeping the Captain (or the Lt in Infinity) is essential to the gameplan and winning. As such I've devised the following setup!

* Jean "la pistoller" Bapiste - Captain, brace of duelling pistols, powder monkey, 2 daggers ($120)
* "Chevallier" Dupre - Seasoned Hand, Musket, cutlass, dagger ($74)
* Marcus "de Inde" Fermat - Seasoned Hand, Musket, cutlass, dagger ($74)
* Lemarck "la Boucher" - Mariner, 2 cutlass, pistol ($58)
* "Milord" Merci - Mariner, cutlass, dagger, pistol ($58)
* Olivier "Perroquet" - Mariner, cutlass, dagger, pistol ($58)
* Claude la Chauve - Mariner, cutlass, dagger, pistol ($58)

From left to right: Chevalier, Captain "Pistoller", Milord Merci and Marcus De Inde

The Captain is designed as a mid range wounder, backed up by two seasoned hands with muskets. The Captain can move and reload for just one activation, making him particularly dangerous. With a brace of duelling pistols, he can roll 2D8's (or 1 D10) at 12" - enough to seriously wound most, alternatively he'll ping 2D6 against opponents in cover. His two daggers score 3D (choose highest) on the Combat roll. Although he lacks a parry, the mini doesn't have a sword, so this seemed to fit. Given some XP and plunder, the worthy addition of a blunderbuss or lucky charm could come in handy.

From left to right: Claude la Chauve, Olivier Perroquet and two spare models...

The seasoned hands can bring solid long range fire at D6 to hit (D4 if target in cover, which ain't so great!). They are really there to support the Captain and cover the approach of the mariners, in future they could be given grenades and an additional brace of pistols - plus more powder monkeys would be nice...

Lemarck "la boucher"

The mariner with 2 cutlasses gets a bonus on parry over the others (Mad Jim Jones), while the others have either 3D6 attack (+1 for a second weapon, +1 for the dagger) OR 2D6 attack and 2D6 damage. I'll use their choice depending on the opponent. They can all parry as well. Upgrading them to a brace of pistols in future may be an option, although at their skill level it's unlikely to help... Mariner's roll a D8 in combat - which is better than even the Captain or the Seasoned Hands ... as such I've played a hard core group of toughened fighter supported by some fair shots with some redundancy built in.

My first game is now delayed (boo, hiss) as this weeks just gone mad.

BlogWars - 1750 attempt 3

Great feedback from The King and Zacret there ... lots to chew on. Something everyone should take into consideration. I'm not about to start a whole new 40k Guard army. My army's built old school - and as such there ain't no Valk/Vendts or snazzy artillery. It's also a bit of a matter of pride that if it's popular on the interweb, it ain't with me.

It's also a requirement of the competition that every list has a 'special character' in it, hence their reoccurence...

Anyhow, here's my third attempt (second try here, first stab here):

• HQ: Command HQ with Regi-banner and Officer of the fleet (yes, that simple) @ 95pts
• HQ: Primaris Psyker @ 70pts
• Troops: Infantry Command with 4 Grenade Launchers and a Ryanair Chimera (no frills) @ 105pts
• Troops: 3 x Lascannon, power weapon squads with a PW commissar escort @ 285pts
• Troops: 5 x 3 Mortar Teams @ 300pts
• Troops: vets with 3 melta in a Ryanair Chimera @ 125pts
• Fast Attack: 3 Scout Sentinels with Lascannons @ 150pts
• Fast Attack: 5 Rough Riders with a meltabomb @ 60pts
• Fast Attack: Devildog with heavy flamer, smoke and x-armour @ 140pts
• Heavy Support: Leman Russ Battle Tank with 3 Heavy Bolters @ 170pts
• Heavy Support: Leman Russ Demolisher, commanded by Pask with Lascannon and 2 Heavy Flamers @ 250pts

Roundup: Gone is the Marbo, but Pask has an upgraded ride. Thanks to his 'crack shot' rule, he rolls a mighty S10 lascannon and S11 Demolisher (equivilent) ... which should put the willies up anyone. The lascannons are clustered together, allowing me to purchase a 'pocket battleship' for the Infantry command squad/Veterans. With two Russes on the board, the threat level is way up ... and AV14's never nice to deal with.

The only question is whether to put Pask in the other russ and have two nasties ... or just one?

It's rocking with a lot of anti-mech firepower, albeit unconventional... which is the way I prefer to roll.

Thoughts anyone?

BlogWars - another 1750 list

I'm doing some serious thinking on what sort of list I want to take to Blogwars in July. My thinking is this ... I'll keep posting up a list every so often, and when I feel I've achieved a critical mass ... I'll run a vote. Sounds fun, nope - but it'll help me out - so that's what's important.

Anyhow, here's my second attempt at 1750pts. You can see my first attempt here.

• HQ: Command HQ with Regi-banner and Officer of the fleet (yes, that simple) @95pts
  
• HQ: Commissar Lord with Powerfist @ 85pts
  
• Elites: Marbo @ 65pts
  
• Troops: Infantry Command with 4 Grenade Launchers and a Ryanair Chimera (no frills) @ 105pts
• Troops: 2 x Lascannon, power weapon squads with a commissar escort @ 205pts
• Troops: 5 x 3 Mortar Teams @ 300pts
• Troops: Infantry Command with 4 Grenade Launchers and a Ryanair Chimera (no frills) @ 105pts
• Troops: 2 x Lascannon, power weapon squads with no commissar escort @ 160pts
• Troops: Special Weapon Squad with 3 flamers @ 50pts
• Fast Attack: 3 Scout Sentinels with Lascannons @ 150pts
• Fast Attack: 5 Rough Riders with a meltabomb @ 60pts
• Fast Attack: Devildog with heavy flamer, smoke and x-armour @ 140pts
• Heavy Support: Leman Russ Battle Tank, commanded by Pask with 3 Heavy Bolters and a heavy stubber @ 230pts

Concepts: The addition of the Leman Russ with Pask, albeit pricey, gives me a S9 Ordnance Tank killer at 60". This also includes 9 S6 (against vehicle) shots, which should produce enough glances on a AV12 vehicle to take them out. Against MC's, that brings a steady 4-5 wounds on even a T6 MC, which is respectable. Pask can then turn his beady eye on all the others, and lend a hand in taking out the troops.

The Devildog is a bit of an experiment, as I've found it to be a versatile tank in the past against multiple opponents. It's equally at home killing tanks as killing Terminators... and if nothing else, should prove a frustrating unit to bring down. The other variants are well crafted to either anti-GeQ or anti-MeQ, but useless at the other ... hence my choice as the devildog CAN do a little of both.

I opted for three Scout Sentinels rather than 2 Armoured ones. Firstly because it gives me more options in either standing back and hiding behind the Russ, or flanking. Secondly because 3 shots are better than two...

I've opted to reduce the numbers of lascannons and autocannons. The blobs were just a bit too unwieldy. With 20 odd models and 9 power weapon attacks a turn ... they should be painful enough to make attacking twice a mistake. Instead, I've upped the amount of anti-tank mech while keeping tank numbers to four. The Ryanairs are really there as I've found the 4GL unit to be a vertsatile one, offering both anti light-mech and solid move and fire anti-troop shots.

The Command HQ is exactly that, a command HQ. Offering Orders, Regimental rerolls and limiting flanking. Drax would approve.

I've also included a Commissar Lord ... this is mainly for tank shocking or other 'OMG' moments in the back field. His Ld10 bubble should come in handy...

1750pt list for Blog Wars

So after some long hard thinking, here's my thoughts on a 1750pt list for BLOGWARS.

This will be subject to some tweaking ... further to your responses.

Mobile-Light Infantry Lives!

• HQ: Company Command Squad (Powerfist, Regimental Standard, 2 Meltaguns, Officer of the Fleet) with Chimera Transport @ 185pts
• Elite: Ratling Squad (9) @ 90pts
• Elite: Marbo @ 65pts
• Troops: Infantry Command Squad (Power Weapon, 1 Grenade Launcher, 2 Meltaguns) with Chimera Transport @ 120pts
• Troops: Infantry Squad with Autocannon and power weapon @ 70pts
• Troops: Infantry Squad with Autocannon and power weapon @ 70pts
• Troops: Infantry Squad with Autocannon and power weapon with Commissar with power weapon @ 115pts
• Troops: Infantry Squad with Lascannon with Chimera Transport @ 125pts
• Troops: Infantry Squad with Lascannon @ 70pts
• Troops: Infantry Squad with Lascannon @ 70pts
• Troops: Mortar Team x5 (Fifteen Mortars in total) @ 300pts
• Troops: Harker's Catachan Devils with 3 Sniper Rifles and a Missile Launcher with Chimera Transport @ 210pts
• Fast Attack: 5 Rough Riders @ 55pts
• Fast Attack: 5 Rough Riders @ 55pts
• Fast Attack: 2 Armored Sentinels with Lascannon and smoke launchers @ 150pts

It's a bit different, a slight dastardly and smidge cheeky - but it might just work!