Sunday 19 January 2014

Flames Of War In 10mm - Breaking News...Victory At Last !

Further to my posting on 20th Dec I have news !!!  Key massive drum roll !!!   After 4 straight losses in a row with my M18 Tank Destroyer Company (TD) unit I had my first victory !  Playing the 'Hold The Line' Mission against my friend Chris with my unit as the attacker I took on his Russian Tank T34/85 Company.  The game was over by the end of turn 3 with 8 of his T34/85 knocked out for the loss of one M18, a truck and a few Infantry.  Chris had below average rolls I felt on a couple of critical points, but feel I'm now starting to get the feel for how to use my unit, especially in these attacking scenarios where really aggressive use of Recc and TD Security teams is required.
Here's a couple of pictures of the unit in action on the 20th Dec and also laid out for review on my computer desk.
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1500 point Task Force A unit - Turning Tide book.
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In an effort to get to grips with the rules I've started typing up all the elements in Italics into a work document. Quite a laborious undertaking, but myself I find this method as good way of remembering and understanding the rules.  I did the same with Warhammer Ancient Battles (WAB) as well. When complete I integrate all the errata and additional guidance given by Battlefront, along with any club 'house rules' we are using.

So that I'm not constrained to just using a TD unit, I've been and spent £60 with Magister Militum and purchased a 20 x M4A3 Shermans - a mixture of 75mm, 76mm and four M4A3E8 'Easy Eights' along with a couple of M10s.  Currently in the middle of painting them up them up to a base standard, acceptable for use on the tabletop.  For me this entails assembling the vehicles, cleaning the flash off, priming grey, then applying a coat of Vallejo USA Olive Drab 889.
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Over the coming weeks I'll then apply a top coat of Vallejo Brown Violet 887, dry-brushing, tracks, aerials, decals etc etc.  I'm now understanding why my friends have over the last few years been telling that 10mm is the best scale to game FoW in.  It's a satisfying blend of the visual detail that can be accommodated in 15mm (but without the 'tank park' look) with some of the game scale that 6mm provides.  Price and reduced storage are also huge advantages, on the former for instance a typically 10mm tank only costs £2.25 so a substantial unit can be collected without busting the bank.
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