378 State of the Union (and Painting Charts) Part II - Flames of War

Wotcha.

 - and welcome to part 2 of my thoughts on where I am with the hobby at the moment. Thank you in particular to those of you who commented on Part 1. Today it's fun with Flames of War.

Now, I'm not going to turn this into another diatribe about just how much I've come to enjoy both the rules and the minis of Flames; I just thought I'd outline where I am and where I see myself going, for those of my readers who are interested.

Extant Forces:

My only Flames force at the moment is my 11th Armoured Division (Late War) infantry company - initially from Battlefront's free(!) Taurus Pursuant pdf but now from my recently-purchased Market Garden book. And what a beautiful and welcoming book that is, too. Take note, GW: a happy customer is a repeat customer! The force comprises the following and has taken me about two years to put together, on-and-off:

• HQ w. 3 Rifle Platoons [3rd pl. is w-i-p]
• 3" Mortar Platoon [w-i-p]
• Anti-Tank Platoon (6pdr x4)
• 2 Armoured Platoons (each of 2 Firefly and 2 Sherman)
• 4.2" Heavy Mortar Platoon
• Field Battery, RA (25pdr x4)
• Auster AOP

...It's actually a very playable Confident Veteran company on the table. Those minis also look smashing on the table (more pics soon) - something with which I'm very pleased indeed!

Plans to slowly expand my options include a MG platoon, a recce carrier platoon, an armoured car platoon and a brace of Bofors 40mm AA guns. Not in that order.

Future Plans:

This is a little sensitive, as the thing I like best about Flames is just how comparatively cheap it is, so the prospect of building up a second force is one which makes me wary. That said, I've worked out I can build a completely legitimate 10-tank list from the Mid-War British in Africa pdf for only about £22 using Plastic Soldier Company tanks. Watch this space. I probably won't take this route, but any second force I get is certainly likely to be (a) British, (b) North African M-W, and (c) Armoured.

Other than that, I fully intend to create an alternative 11AD list for use with the Overlord book if/when I get it - this will require only a few minor tweaks.

Other Than That:

My only other thoughts in this direction are with the possibility of using the impressive Bolt Action skirmish rules with a platoon(+) level force but at 15mm scale (which seems popular). If so, I may buy a fun (Commandos/Para) platoon to play with or I may use some British troops that The Inner Geek was kind enough to donate a while back...that is if my North African schemes haven't snapped them up first!

We shall see.

As with Part I, I shall sign-off with a Painting Chart(TM) for my FoW 11AD force...which I realised today has a slight inaccuracy (points for spotters!):

Ach! So it goes.

Thanks for stopping by;

Keep well,

- Drax.