Join the Battlefront team as we launch Bagration: Soviet
with Victor Pesch
As part of the last Live Launch for Iron Cross and Enemy At The Gates, I started some grey Panzers. Here’s the previous article…
I’ve since finished them off and am happy with how they turned out. The colour is a bit light and fantastical compared to standard Panzer Grey, but it stands out on the table and it was a fun experiment pushing contrast to the extremes.
Tomorrow I’ll be seeing how they perform in a TANKS! battle with Andrew, so I decided to make some custom cards.
with Casey Davies
When Chris and I were first talking about playing a big game I had the thought of taking a Tiger company to take on Chris’s Soviet T-34 horde, but thought that it probably wouldn’t be a fair match-up.
(I’m still planning on painting this army at some point as I love the Tiger and new Panzer III models)
Instead, I decided to brush off my Das 
Reich T-34s and give Chris a rematch from a version 2 game we had, where my T-34 tanks were overwhelmed by the sheer number of T-34s that Chris was fielding.
My Army is based off the Captured T-34 Command Card. I won’t go into too much detail about the command cards here as Victor is going to write an article about this later.
I have 10 T-34s painted, so I decided to split these into 2x platoons of 3 tanks and a platoon of 4 tanks. These are led by a Panzer IV and a Panzer III. I’m just going to use my Grey Panzer III & IV tanks for the moment, until I get a chance to paint some new ones.
To back up the T-34s I’ve added a single Tiger, again mainly because I love the model.
I figure the Tiger will anchor one flank and my T-34s will deploy en-mass, strength in numbers.
or: Using an Iron Cross formation with Ghost Panzers Support Units
with Mike Haught
All four of the mid-war Eastern Front books were designed together. There was a lot of crossover between units in both books, so we wanted to make that cross support possible between books. For instance, in the German case, we wanted to make sure that you can take your Grenadier infantry forces from Iron Cross and back them up with Ferdinand and Brummbär heavy tanks from Ghost Panzers, just like what happened in Model’s 9th Army attack on the northern front of the operation. Of course the reverse is also true. You can field a Ghost Panzer formation with Iron Cross support, such as an Armoured Panzergrenadier Formation with your early panzers and StuGs to represent the half-track mounted troops involved in the 1942 summer offensive.
Let’s take my Grenadier company from Iron Cross as an example. Here’s the 100pt Grenadier Company I’ve been using:
Grenadier Formation
2pts Grenadier Company HQ
16pts Grenadier Platoon, 9x teams +2x MG34 HMGs
16pts Grenadier Platoon, 9x teams +2x MG34 HMGs
14pts Assault Pioneer Platoon
Support Units
14pts 10.5cm Artillery Battery (4x Guns)
2pts Panzer II OP
27pts StuG (early) Assault Gun Platoon (3x StuG long 7.5cm)
9pt Ju 87 Stuka Dive-bomber Flight
I originally modelled this force as an assault unit involved in the 1942 summer blitzkrieg attacks. It’s got some defensive power, but has an offensive footing with flame-throwers, submachine-guns, and Stukas.
I’m excited about the upcoming release of the Ferdinand, so I’m going to convert this force into a Citadel-themed one so that I can include them. However, I also want to retain as much of the tactical flexibility from Iron Cross as possible, such as artillery. I can achieve this by using my Iron Cross Formations with Ghost Panzer support units. I have to choose which book to draw support from, I can’t do both, so I need to drop my StuG assault guns because these early versions are not available as a Ghost Panzer support unit. On the other hand, my artillery and Stukas are both available in Ghost Panzers, which means I can bring them across.
Dropping the StuGs earns me back 27 points which goes a long way towards getting me a pair of Ferdinands. However, I still need to find another 7 points, which I can get from reducing my Grenadier platoons to 7 teams each and taking out an HMG somewhere. So in the end, my 99pt Citadel Grenadiers will look like this:
Grenadier Formation
2pts Grenadier Company HQ
13pts Grenadier Platoon, 7x teams +2x MG34 HMGs
11pts Grenadier Platoon, 7x teams +1x MG34 HMG
14pts Assault Pioneer Platoon
Support Units
14pts 10.5cm Artillery Battery (4x Guns)
2pts Panzer II OP
34pts Ferdinand Tank-hunter Platoon (2x Ferdinand)
9pt Ju 87 Stuka Dive-bomber Flight
So with just a few small modifications to my army I can field my tried and true Grenadier force in Operation Citadel battles using a pair of mighty Ferdinands.
Join John (from Beasts of War) and Freddy (from our UK team) as they talk about the two new books… There are more videos coming to keep an eye on their site.
with Victor Pesch
The first Flames Of War models I ever painted were Panzer III’s and Tigers from the 1942 list in Ostfront. They were very much a beginner painters army, so Iron Cross presented the perfect opportunity to revisit Midwar Panzer Grey.
I wanted to pick a composition of tanks that would work for both FOW and TANKS!. I settled on 5x Panzer III’s and 1x Tiger, with the aim to work on some Assault Pioneers at a later date to create a Flames Of War force.
TANKS!
Tiger I (early) – 29 points
Panzer III (long) – 14 points
Panzer III (long) – 14 points
Panzer III (long) – 14 points
Panzer III (long) – 14 points
Panzer III (long) – 14 points
Total – 99 points
(this leaves me with 1 point spare to pick an upgrade later)
Flames Of War
Grenadier Company
HQ – 2 points
Assault Pioneer Platoon – 14 points
Assault Pioneer Platoon – 14 points
Panzer III (uparmoured) Tank Platoon – 40 points
Tiger Heavy Tank Platoon – 29 points Total – 99 points
Time to get to work!
—DAY 1—
Assembly went fairly quickly, and more time was probably spent deciding how much extra stowage to add. In the end I decided to keep it pretty minimal as I already have an Afrika Korps force festooned with stowage. However I did modify some mudguards to be missing to add variety. 
After lunch I tested out some colours and decided to start with a fairly dark blue-ash grey, and work it up by adding white. I did about three stages with the airbrush. I purposefully went brighter than I usually would, knowing that it would likely get quite dark again with washes/weathering. This brought me to the end of day one. I was happy to get to this point and pleased with the results so far.
—DAY 2—
The next step was to add some definition to the details. I did this with a dry brush and selective highlight with a pale grey blue.
To start to tone everything down and blend in my highlights, I coated everything with a very thin Panzer grey filter.
To cap off the day I applied some chipping using a fine brush and sponge. I used a red brown to simulate red oxide primer.
I feel like I’ve good headway with these, and can hopefully get them finished in the not too distant future. After painting in the details and decals, all that will be left is some weathering.
Then it’ll be time to plan the Pioneer platoons…
~Victor
with Chris Townley
When Mike first suggested the idea of playing some Sniper Wars, I thought this would be a great opportunity to kill two birds with one stone
I started out with quite an ambitious plan where I was going to build my sniper nest four stories up in one of the new plastic buildings, on a small base that plugged in to a large base. I felt that due to the weight and height of the building I’d need to have it “nest” inside something that was a bit more stable. Looking at the picture to the left you can see how I came to that conclusion.
Like all great plans I hit a few snags… primarily that time is always my enemy when it comes to hobby projects. Thinking a little smaller I cut my idea down (literally).
I grabbed a couple of the test resin building sections that were cast up as part of the design and approval process and chopped them down to size with my trusty bone saw.
With the building now a slightly more manageable size I am hoping to get it painted up over the course of the Live Launch, or worst case, in the following weeks. Either way, with The Block: Stalingrad looming in my future it is certainly in my best interests to make the time to finish up this small test piece!
~Chris
It is Friday morning here in NZ and as usual there are a few odd jobs that need to be taken care of before we get fully in to the swing of the launch. The guys have been busy though…
Almost time for lunch…
~Chris
with Lonnie Mullins
I’ve always wanted to paint up a German army for WWII but never really got around to it until Iron Cross hit my desk. I wanted something with a lot of units, not too many infantry, and the ability to kill off any Soviets that came my way. Going through both Iron Cross and Enemy at the Gates, I gambled that in most 75 to 100-point games I probably wouldn’t run into too many KV tanks (larger games would make me rethink this) and I banked on my opponents showing up with loads of T-34 and/or Valentines, or hordes of infantry. So I decided to build my army around the Panzer III.
Units
My first unit consists of 1 up-armored company HQ (2 tanks) giving me the ability to at least penetrate both the Valentines and T-34s I was sure my opponents would field and even affect KV-1s tanks to a lesser degree. KV-1 tanks were still a concern though.
For units 2 and 3 I went with mixed platoons of 4 short and 1 long up-armored tanks. I figured I could use the Mistaken Target rule to keep my longs in the game as long as possible and my bulked up numbers (5 tanks in each platoon) ensures that I don’t go running off the board if a tank or three brew up.
My next unit is a sacrificial platoon of 4 Panzer II tanks. While all but useless as an offensive element unless my opponent brings Stuarts, I figured they’d be good at screening, sucking up damage for a turn or two but, most importantly, giving me a spearhead and allow deeper deployment of my other units.
My fifth unit is a small (2-vehicle) platoon of light AA. Honestly I don’t think that most opponents will take any aircraft in a 75 to 100-point game but one never knows. But, having the ability to throw 3-dice each against light armor and infantry made them a must for me to have.
The sixth and last unit in my army is my Artillery Battery and Panzer II OP (I had to do something with that last Panzer II). I chose the 10.5cm artillery for its range, firepower and ability to lay down a smoke screen. In my past battles I’ve used smoke to great effect in keeping the enemy from engaging and keeping my own force alive.
Painting
Painting was dead easy. After a black primer on everything, I did a quick (and thick) drybrush of Panzer grey over all of the vehicles. Normally I keep my treads separate from the hulls of my plastic tanks for ease of painting and this was no exception. A quick gunmetal drybrush did the trick and, after taking the masking tape off so I could glue the treads to the hulls, my Panzer III’s were ready for a light drybrush of dust to pick out the details even more. My 12 Panzer III’s it took me just 2 hours to completely paint. I spent another hour with the Panzer II’s and the AA with very pleasing results.
I’ve yet to start my artillery but I’ll give them a similar treatment while I’m on my 1-week holiday (between time with my son at the water park and visiting historical sites in Williamsburg). I should be fully up and running by launch day.
with Chris Townley
Last year we ran two tremendously fun Firestorm Campaigns for Team Yankee. This year we have one planned for Flames Of War players. Welcome to Firestorm: Stalingrad!
Firestorm: Stalingrad recreates the fighting in and around the city of Stalingrad where the Germans and Soviets fight over every factory, building, and city block, whilst outside the city the Soviet attackers drive
to encircle the city, forever cutting off the German Army.
The Campaign pack will be available shortly and is designed (much like the previous Team Yankee versions) to be played over the course of a day as a single event, or over a series of nights or club days.
The campaign consists of a series of Flames Of War games in which players attempt to capture areas from the enemy or recover those lost in earlier games.
Each time a player attacks they place a marker on the map, once all the markers have been used the campaign is over and the side with the most victory points wins.
Unlike previous campaigns the winner is not solely determined by taking sectors, or areas. This time players will need to be mindful of what is happening inside Stalingrad itself!
By capturing the city, a defeated side may be able to swing the final result, potentially turning a defeat into victory!
There is no point breaking the German 6th Army if the remaining troops inside the city have turned it into Fortress Stalingrad, dug in and prepared to hold off any attacking Soviet force…
Stay tuned for more information on the Flames Of War website about how your club or store can get a copy of Firestorm: Stalingrad, or…
Download a copy of the rules now (Right Click, Save As)…
~Chris
Welcome, Battlefront UK. Your mission should you choose to accept it (and you will – no choice) is to provide two complete armies for our upcoming appearance on Beasts Of War. These will showcase the core of the new Iron Cross and Enemy At The Gates books, and allow your agent to showcase the new Soviet and German armies, as well as the brand new Stalingrad Two-player starter set. You have one week from today to accomplish your mission. This message will sit in your inbox until you comply.
Okay; so maybe the order to assemble and paint two new armies didn’t come in as dramatic a fashion as described above, but it was certainly a task worthy of Ethan Hunt and the rest of the IMF team. We were already each building and painting new armies for the Eastern Front launch, and now we had to put those aside and crack on with these. Worse still, we were two men down: Matt and Tim were both off living the dream in Croatia at the ETC (check out this photo album for all the action).
Not one to balk at a challenge we divided everything between us with Gordon and Gareth concentrating on the infantry and Jonathan, Chris and Seb painting even more tanks. In just a few days we had two new armies completed. Here they are:
These are now over at the Beasts Of War studio where they will meet our roving reporter, Simon (aka ‘Freddy‘). He’ll be exploring the new books, new armies and new starter set Stalingrad on their website this weekend.
~Jonathan