A most exciting union: my thoughts on Battlefront's State of the Union 2015

With Battlefront’s exceptionally exciting look forward to 2015, I thought I would give my thoughts and impressions on each of the major releases that they have revealed. Some I’m quite iffy on, while others have me wanting to step into a time machine for later dates of 2015. I think that letting everyone know what to expect is a great strategy and I know that the anticipation of new items will keep me saving my quarters all year long.

Nachtjager

            We’ve all seen what’s coming out or what has already been released. I was hoping that they would reveal the train AA cars models or other releases that they might have that we have not seen. I have the world supply of Panthers and I don’t play British so I’ve been less excited about this release than I might otherwise have been. I will be picking up a platoon of Jagdpanthers, but I’m worried that a tank that “hefty” in plastic will just feel wrong.

Brown Water Navy

            I have very mixed feelings on this. Those models look really cool and the whole riverine part of Vietnam is extremely interesting to me. I have a particular soft spot for the monitors. Anyone who has played AirLandBattle: Red Dragon will know how much fun it is to absolutely dominate a river system with monitors and I look forward to having a model of one at the very least.

            However, I’m worried how much replayability and interest this release will have. No matter how good of a system they make for it (no idea how they’ll make boats in rivers work using normal FoW rules), it’ll still be a relatively unpopular part of a war that isn’t popular in wargaming. If the models are priced right and the river system mats are beautiful I might buy into this, but if AirCav and Tank Vietnam hasn’t caught on much I’m not sure how river boat Vietnam will do.

As a Vietnam  note, here's my father at Da Nang when he was a bit younger:

Colours of War

            I’m not sure what this will add other than ensuring that the painting guides in the backs of the books don’t have the extremely useful Vallejo color schemes. All my paints right now for FoW are Vallejo and I know and trust that line. It’ll take something truly revolutionary in quality or use to make me switch over. I just don’t get why Battlefront feels like they need to be in the paint business beyond paint sets tied into Vallejo paints. I’m very much wait and see on this paint line.

Berlin

            After listening to Phil (I think it was Phil) speak on WWPD podcast about his ideas on Berlin and the many thrown together German forces, I’m quite excited about this release. I’m all about seeing wacky lists on the battlefield and I see the Berlin forces being extremely interesting. I also think the Soviets were a well run machine by the time Berlin came around and that should be reflected. However, the need for speed and quick victory (for political reasons) should also be reflected. They lost something like 100,000 soldiers defeating a pretty much beat Germany. Something should reflect this feeling for Soviet players.

            The German funny tanks look brilliant. Finally someone will take a Pak43 in Flames of War. I hope the book is full of random, interesting and maybe even effective units and tanks. I think this book will be a modeller’s heaven, and Battlefront has shown themselves to be excellent at creating rules that support situations like that (think about the Battle of Warsaw list for the Polish).

            Those IS-2s with bedspring armor look amazing. Absolute monsters made to look more visually interesting. I love the soviets, but some of their stuff can be downright boring. Sprucing things up with improvised armor and interesting options will make me like Is-2s a bit more, I think.

Great War

            I have been very cold on the World War I offerings by Battlefront. The forces didn’t interest me, the models didn’t interest me and from the battle reports I’d seen it just didn’t seem that good. The battlefields and infantry look drab (which is historical, I suppose) and I didn’t see myself enjoying the painting. This enhanced release might drag me in. I’m excited by the idea of dark blue French infantry and how they will model the reluctance of many units. U.S. Doughboys are quite exciting too, and early war Americans in the Philippines will now have models (how fitting now that Pacific is coming). If they can bring in some unique and interesting units (I thought the German stormtroopers were a good start) and formations, it may make everything a bit more interesting. I know it was mainly an infantry war with various artillery, but there were cool uniforms, cavalry and other such items that could translate into a more interesting tabletop.

Cold War Gone Hot

            I want it to be October now. Not now, last month. I’m so exceptionally excited about this. I LOVE the Cold War era stuff. I’ve looked many times into buying two or more armies of Cold War stuff and forcing people to play using my models (since there’s no way I’d convince others to play unsupported, fan created games). I know there have been some really amazing Cold War Flames of War versions, but I could never take the step of putting down money on something I might not play. An official version from Battlefront, well, I’ll be the first in line to get far too much Cold War equipment. The AirLandBattle series of computer games are among my favorites, and a big part of that is the ability to play basically a electronic tabletop game.

            I do have some very big fears about this. If they make it unbalanced like the original Israeli effort, people will hate playing. I think if Fate of a Nation (the current book) came out at the start, I’d be playing Arab-Israeli and so would others. Having a large number of balanced forces is essential. I hope this turns into a “main” game for Battlefront, like WW2. There are so many nations that would be so interesting to play (think Sweden, Yugoslavia, and other minor nations with cool equipment). I would play a S-tank company in a second.

            I’m also very worried about the Abrams tank. We play a point based system and from what I can tell there aren’t any good points based systems (read: not scenario driven) games where the Abrams tank isn’t an overpriced, unusable tank. If Battlefront comes out and has the Abrams like a King Tiger and I only get to use 1 and it gets shut down somewhat easily, I’ll be so upset. I don’t want to feel like I have to play M60 tanks to field a real army, or that I would sacrifice too much to have a couple of Abrams. In the AirLandBattle series, Abrams are exceptionally rare and if you want Abrams plus Apaches, have fun winning with no dudes.

            I want to see infantry play a large role in this era. Individuals with wire-guided anti-tank rockets did a number on the Israelis in 1973 and would have been monsters in the 1980’s and 1990’s. I don’t want Battlefront to try and make a tank war like the desert and ignore infantry as a viable part of the game. Fighting through the Fulda Gap and Germany would have had many areas where infantry would play a huge part. I love tanks, but I want to see combined arms have the importance it deserves.

Pacific

            A lot of people are going to go insane over this. I know that many gamers have waited for years for FoW Pacific and the release of the Japanese in early war in the Rising Sun book gave people hope. Now it is coming and we’ll see what they come up with.

            My biggest wonder is how they will integrate it with the Atlantic side of the conflict. I don’t think I’ll plop down for a Pacific force if I can’t use it against what most people have. I know terrain and the general situation will make it difficult to balance say a New Guinea late war Aussie force against a Soviet tank horde, but I really hope they come up with something. I don’t see the Pacific doing well unless they figure this out.

   

        

Terrain

            Affordable city terrain? Yes please. Pacific terrain? Yes please. Good job on Battlefront for releasing more terrain. I love their desert stuff, and want to expand using their terrain (the GF9 terrain, I guess) to branch out into Siciliy and Tunisia. It has always been high quality, beautiful and perfect for the game. Let’s hope this continues with the new lines that are coming out.