Sunday 25 August 2013

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:
...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.

8 comments:

  1. You're not tempting me. I've got too much grimdork to go investing in another system. :(

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  2. Market Garden has so many good lists. :)Though they are pricey points wise. Also, look up the new .pdf Battlefront published on their website for the Welsh 53rd Infantry. Very nice list options!

    Expect similar charts coming from me soon! :) (thanks!)

    O and Zzzzzz - come to the not-grimdark side. You've enough heroic scale stuff already!

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  3. Nice, it's good to see the nuts and bolts of collecting an army like this, particularly the painting chart which I always find handy.

    It isn't the 1, 2 and 3 Pl where it might be 4, 5 and 6 (for B Coy)? If it's not I'm going to feel very bad for sitting there for about five minutes trying to spot it in a generally flawless document.

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  4. Impressive organization and dedication. You have a pretty large force going now. I think you have enough tanks to run it as an armoured company too! Have you tried any of the overlord lists?

    Thanks for your kind comments on my blog!

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  5. Thanks, chaps!

    Zzzzzz: knowing you have the breaking strain of a damp Kit-Kat where resisting models is concerned, I am NOT going to persuade you.

    Dai: Yeah, I'm going to enjoy looking at the Welsh pdf, although I'm unlikely to be expanding in that direction...

    Scipio: Thanks! Nope (not that I know of...!): it's that the 3" mortar platoon is no longer alowed to take any PIAT teams. At least that'll make the painting chart tidier... Sorry.

    Cameron: Thank you! - it's honestly been a labour of love. I *could* run it as an armoured company if I fudged two of the fireflies as an HQ platoon (in lieu of normal Shermans), but I don't know if it would make any odds game-wise, other than making me more likely to be on the offensive. That, and it'd look pretty damn unconvincing as an armoured company! I've yet to buy Overlord, but a sneaky peek at the lists on Easy Army suggests that they're a damned-sight cheaper before they get 'veteran' status!

    Oh, and you're most welcome. I actully was going to repost one of your most recent pics to illustrate this post...but I was chin-strapped by the time it came to finishing, so if you you dont mind(!) I'll link to your AMAZING work in a future post...

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  6. What program do you use for your painting charts? I may have to make one for my 11th AD. Would be nice to have a visual of my progress to keep me motivated to finish off details (like painting tank commanders on 4 tanks that are otherwise finished).

    The CT lists are very cheap. I found I was actually short shermans for a 1400 point game! I think I have 20 something armoured vehicles painted and was still short with the cheap confident trained platoons.

    Feel free to post or link pictures. I have some transports that are nearly done and some mortars I am working on if you check back in the next few days.

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  7. Cheers, Cameron.

    Drop me an email, mate, and I'll send you my documents. I'm a computational knuckle-dragger, so they're just cobbled together on Excel.

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  8. I made a crude one up using a word document. I'll send you an email too as yours look much nicer formatted.

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Thanks for taking the time to comment!