Author: Chris Townley

with Andrew Haught

V4 Late War is here with loads of ways to get into playing Flames Of War— so where do you start? Well, if you want to just get a feel for the rules the FURY is an amazing box set for you, or if you want to get into the game with a friend, Hit the Beach gives you two awesome armies to play against each other. If you have some idea of what force you want to run, then picking up the corresponding Starter Force box set is what you want to do.

This German Box gives you a lot of stuff to play around with right away, like all the V4 boxsets you get a lot for your money. The German Starter Force has a total of 14 vehicles, 2 big 8.8 AA guns, a rocket artillery battery and a full Grenadier platoon, with the whole army adding up to 95 points using the German D-Day book. On top of models you will get a complete A5 rulebook, a Start Here booklet, and your Unit cards, so you can start playing games as soon as you’re done building your force.

In The Box
Panzer IV Tank Company HQ with 2x Panzer IV (7.5cm) Tanks (11 Points)

Panzer IV Tank Platoon with 3x Panzer IV (7.5cm) Tanks (16 Points)

Tiger Tank Platoon with 2x Tiger (8.8cm) Tanks (24 points)

Armoured Panzergrenadier Platoon at Full Strength (12 Points)

Fallschirmjäger Stug Assault Gun Platoon with 3x StuG (7.5cm) Assault Guns (17 Points)

15cm Nebelwerfer Rocket  Battery with 3x 15cm Nebelwerfer Rocket Launchers (9 Points)

8.8 Heavy AA Platoon with 2x 8.8cm AA Guns (6 Points)

Total 95 Points

Creating a 100 Point List
This box gives almost a full 100 point list, only 5 points shy, so there is not much you need to add to make it a full 100 point list. I think after playing around with your Starter force you may get a good feel for what you want to add but for those who want to start off with a full 100 points I would simply add a Puma Scout Platoon, this only gets us to 99 points, so adding a 1 point Command Card (starting with D-Day: German) gets us to a total of 100 points. So to get to 100 points all you need to add is the following,

Puma Scout Platoon with 2x Puma (5cm) Tanks (4 Points)  

Lucky Command Card (1 Point)

Total 5 Points

Army Tactics
This army is well rounded with artillery, infantry, heavy anti-tank guns, and a great selection of tanks. With the core of your force I would recommend attacking with this force. Your mix of tanks gives you loads of good options to knock out your opponent’s tanks. The Tigers being some of your best anti-tank should focus more on your opponents heavy armour, supported by the 8.8 AA guns. Use your artillery to soften your opponent’s defences and use your German Halftrack infantry and Tanks to assault their objectives and to win the game.

Hobby League

If you are looking to get in on the Hobby League at your local store or club the Starter Forces are ideal starting armies for the league. If you add the units I talked about before in the Creating a 100 Point List section you can easily use it for the hobby league.

If you do not know what the hobby league is or want to learn more check out our video about the Hobby League above.

The main goal of the Hobby league is to create a Flames Of War community where players can come together to play games and work on their armies. To this end players are rewarded for hitting certain painting goals throughout the league. The first month players aim to paint 50 points, at the end of the second month players will aim to finish another 25 points and at the end of the third month players aim to finish their final 25 points and end the League with a fully painted 100 point army. The League also feeds into the upcoming TableTopGaming Global campaign, so if you finish painting your army for the League you will be ready to participate in the Global Campaign.

Month 1 has a 50 point goal; it also ends in a 50 point tournament, so you will want to focus on your core formation to make sure you have a legal list to run in the tournament.  For this I would paint the following units first,

Panzer IV Tank Company HQ with 2x Panzer IV (7.5cm) Tanks (11 Points)

Panzer IV Tank Platoon with 3x Panzer IV (7.5cm) Tanks (16 Points)

Tiger Tank Platoon with 2x Tiger (8.8cm) Tanks (24 points)

 

Strictly-speaking, this is 51 points but fine enough for the 50 point tournament as it is close enough, it will be up to your event organizer to make the final call on these things but all the core set 50 point armies listed in these articles are fine to run in the Hobby league 50 point tournament.

Month 2 you are looking to paint another 25 points, you just painted core so let’s work on some more support and some Recon,

• Armoured Panzer Grenadier Platoon at Full Strength (12 Points)
• 15cm Nebelwerfer Rocket  Battery with 3x 15cm Nebelwerfer Rocket Launchers (9 Points)
• Puma Scout Platoon with 2x Puma (5cm) Tanks (4 Points)  

For the Final month I would focus  on the last bits, tactically you can add your 1 point command card here to your list’s HQ, and this will round out your 100 point list,

• Fallschirmjäge Stug Assault Gun Platoon with 3x StuG (7.5cm) Assault Guns (17 Points)
• 8.8 Heavy AA Platoon with 2x 8.8cm AA Guns (6 Points)
• Lucky Command Card (1 Point)

Now at the end of month three you have another tournament this time it’s a 100 point tournament so you will get to use your full army and get used to how it works in games. After that the Global TableTopGames Campaign begins having you and your friends fighting over Europe, you club or store with the rest of the world will be sending in their game results to contribute on the global scale making this one of the biggest campaigns you will ever participate in.

My final word of advice is to take time to enjoy painting your models your way and to learn as much as you can from others in the league to get the most out of the Flames Of War community.

 

with Andrew Haught

V4 Late War is here with loads of ways to get into playing Flames Of War— so where do you start? Well, if you want to just get a feel for the rules the FURY is an amazing box set for you, or if you want to get into the game with a friend, Hit the Beach gives you two awesome armies to play against each other. If you have some idea of what force you want to run, then picking up the corresponding Starter Force box set is what you want to do. This article covers the British Starter Force but if you want to learn about the other three Starter Forces, there will be more info to come.

This Starter Force gives you a lot of stuff to play around with right away, and like all the V4 boxsets you get a lot for your money. The British Starter Force has a total 17 armoured vehicles, a full 4-gun artillery battery, and an infantry platoon, with the whole army adding up to 82 points using the Fortress Europe book, the box can also be used for the upcoming D-Day: British book so it’s a great core set to pick up for players who want to play the British throughout the V4 journey. On top of models you will get a complete A5 rulebook. A Start Here booklet, and your Unit cards, so you can start playing games as soon as you’re done building your force.

In The Box
Sherman Armoured Squadron HQ With 2x Sherman (75mm) Tanks (8 Points)
Sherman Armoured Troop with 2x Sherman (75mm) Tanks and 1x Firefly Tank (13 Points)
Stuart Recce Patrol with 3x Stuart (37mm) Tanks (8 Points)
Churchill Armoured Troop with 3x Churchill (6pdr) Tanks (12 Points)
Motor Platoon at Full Strength (7 Points)
Universal Carrier Patrol with 3x Universal Carrier (MG) Tanks (2 Points)
25 pdr Field Troop with 4x 25pdr Guns (14 Points)
M10 SP Anti-Tank Platoon with 4x M10 (17pdr) Tanks (18 Points)

Total 82 Points

Creating a 100 Point List
This box gives you a lot of what you need but you will still need to pick up a few things to get a 100 points, but not much. After playing around with your Starter force you may get a good feel for what you want to add but for those who want to start off with a full 100 points I would pick up a few more Shermans and a Firefly and you will be good to go. To get to a 100 points you just need to add the following

Sherman Armoured Troop with 3 Sherman (75mm) Tanks and one Firefly Tank (17 Points)
1 Sherman OP Observation Post with one Sherman OP Tank (1 point)

Total 18 Points

Army Tactics
This army is pretty Armour heavy, so you want to move fast and hit hard, use your Fireflies and M10 (17pdrs) to hunt your opponent’s heavy tanks while your Churchills and Shermans rush the objective. Your artillery and infantry can be left to hold your objectives or secure your flank, while the Universal Carriers and Stuarts help spear head your army forward and hit advancing enemy troops.

This list is well rounded but prefers to be on the attack, so when picking your battle plans it’s a good idea to pick attack with this army.

The Hobby League

If you are looking to get in on the Hobby League at your local store or club the Starter Forces are ideal starting armies for the league. If you add the units I talked about before in the Creating a 100 Point List section you can easily use it for the hobby league.

If you do not know what the hobby league is or want to learn more check out our video about the Hobby League above.

The main goal of the Hobby league is to create a Flames Of War community where players can come together to play games and work on their armies. To this end players are rewarded for hitting certain painting goals throughout the league. The first month players aim to paint 50 points, at the end of the second month players will aim to finish another 25 points and at the end of the third month players aim to finish their final 25 points and end the League with a fully painted 100 point army. The League also feeds into the upcoming TableTopGaming Global campaign, so if you finish painting your army for the League you will be ready to participate in the Global Campaign.

Painting Goals
Having painting goals can be daunting, but luckily the League makes it easier by creating a community of painters helping each other out and supporting one another during the process. Painting an army is rewarding and is a fun relaxing thing to do, whether you are alone or with a group of friends. To help those trying to figure out how to break up your 100 point army for the League I put together my guide on what I would paint to reach each month’s goals.

Month 1 has a 50 point goal; it also ends in a 50 point tournament, so you will want to focus on your core formation to make sure you have a legal list to run in the tournament. For this I would paint the following units first,

Sherman Armoured Squadron HQ With 2x Sherman (75mm) Tanks (8 Points)
Sherman Armoured Troop with 2x Sherman (75mm) Tanks and 1x Firefly Tank (13 Points)
Start Recce Patrol with 3x Stuart (37mm) Tanks (8 Points)
Universal Carrier Patrol with 3x Universal Carrier (MG) Tanks (2 Points)
M10 SP Anti-Tank Platoon with 4x M10 (17pdr) Tanks (18 Points)
1 Sherman OP Observation Post with one Sherman OP Tank (1 point)

Month 2 you are looking to paint another 25 points, you just painted the tanks up so let’s work on some infantry and gun teams. This is what I would paint up for month 2,

Motor Platoon at Full Strength (7 Points)
25 pdr Field Troop with 4x 25pdr Guns (14 Points)
A spare Sherman to add to your Sherman Armoured Troop (4 Points)

For the Final month I am keeping it simple, this time you just have to paint up six tanks. This is what I am planning on painting for the last month,

Sherman Armoured Troop with 2x Sherman (75mm) Tanks and 1x Firefly Tank (13 Points)
Churchill Armoured Troop with 3x Churchill (6pdr) Tanks (12 Points)

Now at the end of month three you have another tournament this time it’s a 100 point tournament so you will get to use your full army and get used to how it works in games. After that the Global TableTopGames Campaign begins having you and your friends fighting over Europe, you club or store with the rest of the world will be sending in their game results to contribute on the global scale making this one of the biggest campaigns you will ever participate in.

My final word of advice is to take time to enjoy painting your models your way and to learn as much as you can from others in the league to get the most out of the Flames Of War community.