And Now, A Word From Fekul-Hoof

Today's article comes from Jerry Wargate, who recently won (again) our Warhammer Fantasy Battle campaign The Brightflow Gap.  Jerry's done well recently in our campaigns, and his armies are one of the main reasons the Wargate is such a horrible place, filled with monstrous creatures, nasty warped mutants and general vitriol.

I wanted to put down in writing any strategy, technique, or thoughts I have on this recent end to this particular Wissenland Campaign.  I send out a big shout out to Dave Bone for concocting, arranging, and documenting this event week after week, his efforts to shape and create fun campaigns and events is the life blood of our club.  Big shout to Cap’n Video who was the fuhrer minor of my campaign battles and map movements in my leave during this campaign (had to work!), this year he really came through in some tight places and made some awesome games and moves happen.  Also an Accolade goes out to all competing generals that participated… General Jake, Bone Lord Skimulah, Iron Gut Joe, General Bone, and General Greg… without friends to play there is no game.  Weekend after weekend these fellahs have shown up and taken time to enjoy the sport and share in brotherhood with friends and family. Hurrah Wargate!

Okay now to the details I want to point out. This was the build I used the most at 1000pts:

• Fekul Hoof – Lvl 4 Great Bray Shaman (Lore of the Wild) – 235pts
• Feebs – Lvl 2 Bray Shaman (Lore of Beasts) – 125pts
• Sacks the Giant – 225pts
• Gor Herd (20 Gors w/ 2 hand weps, 1 banner, 1 musician, 1 Boss Gor) – 185pts
• Gor Herd (20 Gors w/ 2 hand weps, 1 banner, 1 musician, 1 Boss Gor) – 185pts

Total:  955pts 

This is a super light detachment in its structure.  We are talking two bases of 20 Gors, who aren’t well armored at all the way I build them (no saves), a Giant, and two spell casters.  The real fist is in the spell workings.  If both casters take the same spell list, one will get the spell I want.  On average I rolled Fekul’s four spells first and feebs last for his last two.  Focusing on Fekul getting the Savage Dominion spell to summon more giants is my first priority, as Feebs  makes an excellent jack of all trades on the table.  Sometimes Feebs will get Transformation of Kadon but its still not all bad, as Fekul will switch spots and roam the table with the herds using his powers to make chaos.

Reserving one unit of Gors for Beastman Ambush is a must!  On average I come out in a bad spot on the table but when I do roll good it can sway the tide for me.  Arriving directly behind an enemy breaks more morale and makes more sad faces than almost any other play I've seen on our table top.

I make a priority to keep my Giant Summoner Caster hidden and out of sight.  This is my key piece as he summons Giants that arrive almost anywhere on the table.  This is the bread and butter.  Primal Fury is an awesome advantage when it rolls right.  To reroll misses in hand to hand is epic!  It made a few battles go down in a flash.

Giants… Okay here it is.  They are awesome havoc makers and life takers but like all things in Warhammer they have their weaknesses as well.  Other than being totally clumsy, falling down a lot, and being a complete arrow and battle magnet they are awesome pieces to field all around.

I feel the tactics I used most were the most simple.  Don’t be afraid to change plans during the battle as far as movements go.  Beastmen move 10 inches at a march and eat up distance quickly.  Reforming a spearhead movement must be done, sometimes twice in a battle before hand to hand is made.  If disreguard is made for this idea you will never get 1 Gor into Hand to Hand, their low leadership of 7 makes it an easy “Run Away” squad, so use Gors wisely!

Also the spell Viletide is an awesome warmachine breaker.  5D6 Str 1 hits!  You're gonna roll a couple 6s!
All in all I enjoyed this campaign and send out a big awesome to all who participated.  I am thrilled to have won with so much more aggressive and hostile opposition than last year.  This was no give away game.  Ill be looking forward for the next engagements.

- Jerry Wargate, October 2013

Flames of War Army Types

It's almost Flames of War season once again, and in the next few weeks we'll be gearing up for The Toropets-Kholm Offensive!  We made our first steps into campaigning in this WWII game last year, and it was a huge hit.  We're excited about hitting the Eastern Front once more!

Today, I want to talk about the types of armies available in Flames of War.  With the new campaign looming, a few folks have asked me about joining the game.  It's hard at first to wrap your head around this game, especially if you've been living with robots and dragons for most of your wargaming life.  With that in mind, I want to run down the basic types of lists that most armies have access to.

I totally nicked these photos from the interwebs.  Apologies to whomever they belong to...they came from Google, and I tried to find info to credit you.  Also, my keyboard doesn't have those characters.

An Infantry Company with air and armor support.

The most basic of army lists is the Infantry Company.  These armies are composed primarily or entirely of infantry teams.  There are many variations on this basic theme, but the most common is the humble and ubiquitous Rifle Company.  These are the boots on the ground, and very often will have the most serious artillery / anti-tank guns available.  Choose an Infantry Company if you want to swarm the opponent with infantry or pound them with batteries of guns.

A Motorized Infantry Company.

A Motorized Infantry Company is basically an Infantry Company, but entirely mounted in transport vehicles.  Some types of these companies are more heavily armored than others, but it's usually balanced by how many infantry teams you can transport at one time.  These formations are at the forefront of the army, always pushing forward, and can be supported by a wide variety of fast armored units and vehicles.  Choose a Motorized Infantry Company if you enjoy quickly transporting infantry into your opponent's deployment zone, or just because you like half tracks or deuce-and-a-half trucks.

An Armored Company with Infantry support.

An Armored Company is composed primarily of tanks.  Like all these list variations, there are a wide variety of these formations to choose from.  These variations are based on the type of tank that the formation deployed, from T-34 battalions to a squadron of Tigers.  All sorts of heavily armored units and vehicles are available for support as well, allowing you to tailor your list for a great many different battlefield circumstances.

There are three other list types as well.  The Armored Car Company is composed mainly of lightly armored reconnaissance vehicles arrayed in squadrons.  The Cavalry Company is composed mainly of...horsemen?  Yep, turns out that in Russia and Romania, horses were totally in back in 1942.  Like, horses running with tanks.  The Fortified Company is less common in our theater, but it does exist - mainly consisting of infantry teams and supporting armor piled behind trenches, minefields and razorwire.

Those are the basic sorts of lists.  If you're interested in joining Flames of War here at the Wargate, this is the first step you need to take:  what sort of list do you want to collect?  After choosing what country your allegiance falls to and what army list you will collect, it's a short hop, skip and jump to the miserable winters of the Eastern Front in the early 1940's.

See you there.