A song of ice and fire – Season 2024-2025

Hello Readers,

Fred here. Continuing my FoW Season 2024-2025 focused on Mid War. After 1st quarter dedicated to acknowledging the basics of MW and exploring the British (and interluding with a galaxy far far away, a long time ago…), I’m heading into 2nd quarter with the objective to compete in the new European Series. First stop: Milan. But will I keep on using the valiant troopers for the fire African desert? Or would I turn to the stern men of the ice Russian steps?

European Series

In case you’ve missed it, FoW European scene is hyped by the inclusion of a new competitive circuit: the European Series, grouping together several Grand Tournaments.

Here is the link to the interview of the organizers, Paolo, Robby and Thomas :
https://breakthroughassault.co.uk/flames-of-war-european-series-2025/

This season, I plan on doing both Milan and Diepenbeek! Unfortunately, Heigilhenhauss is both too close to Diepenbeek and to the Easter holidays, so it won’t be possible to combine the whole lot with the family.

Desert road paved with good intentions

During Q1, I’ve used in majority British, sometimes helped by American. Focusing on North Africa, the Allies showed promises, and delusions.

For the UK, their infantry is strong albeit expensive and missing tools to properly tackle tanks. Their guns offer stability but lack the punch/versatility to be fully on par with threats. Their Tanks are quite frustrating, doing possibly marvels when stars are aligned, but many times failing when you need them. The “Careful” majority rating allow conservative play, but also restraint their capacities when number and firepower are key to win.

For the US, I like what their Tanks and Artillery bring, but coming from the LW environment, I do miss the security they had from 1944-1945. Infantry may not be that reliable, but can open serious windows of opportunities with their weapons. The “Aggressive” rating and nature put them more in line with a “seizing the initiative” gameplay, with high risks for possible high rewards or high losses.

All in all, I don’t think the Allies match the versatility of the German nor the scariness of the USSR. They still present several interesting builds and challenges.

Debriefing my Q1, my original feelings are confirmed, I like MW, but prefer the balance of LW, which, IMHO, is more player’s friendly, especially in competition.

Eastern’s promises

While having focused my recent efforts over North Africa, I wasn’t deaf to the sirens of the East. North Africa is already a big book, and Eastern Front is even more massif! Representing the Germans, Soviets, but also Fins, Hungarians and Romanians, it is 72 pages heavier than its desert counterpart! Only the Italians are missing from it, but I guess there is no trouble playing them out of North Africa and pairing them with Eastern Front as intended by BF… oh wait. I just heard ETC “historical” is not that “historical” after all as it disallows this. Nevermind.

Eastern Front offers quite a large variety of new toys and combos to pick from. I won’t get in details of all the book, but compared to Africa, everything seems bigger, badder, meaner … or smaller, squelchier, meaner. You can strike harder and/or resist better, or you can be more nimble and/or more numerous. In both ways: Eastern toys are less friendly to your opponent than Africa’s. I like the fact that in MW every faction feels “unique”. Even if they use similar equipment or principles, they all have a dedicated personality that make them different from one another. That is cool. Balanced, maybe not, but at least enjoyable.

To pick from it, I definitely had to try on the Germans. As you all know, PanzerGrenadiers are my favorite build, so I went to my Local Game Store and picked MW boxes I missed in my collection.

Germans in MW play quite differently than their LW counterpart. From testing, there are some pleasant combos and playstyles that I hope I will have more time to explore this season.

Brave Romania

However, before jumping straight in the jaws of the Big Bad Wolf, I wanted to keep on touring the MW period with some unexpected stuff, or Builds you can’t see in LW (looking at you Italians!). Quite a long time ago, I made a project of Beute Panzer in Normandy. I even managed to play it in ETC 2018 as EW French; they had been gathering dust ever since, and I found them back in a box during houses changing! Reading Eastern Front, I tried to find the right spot to use them again… and I believe Romania can be a new home for them!

While Major Nations (such as Germany or USSR) have a wide array of toys to pick from, Minor Nations are more limited in their choices. It can be frustrating as they definitely miss weapons to face every game situations, but can also be fine, with less combos to try and test. Romania (ROM) doesn’t have much in term of equipment or variabilities, but I think they have some fun builds to be cast on battlefields.

Focusing on the Romanians, first thing to note is they are, in the majority, not well equipped. They do have access to some good stuff, but those are rare. Hopefully, most of them are Careful, compensating partially the handicap. However, they are not that great trained nor eager to stay around for a fight. Romanians, same as Italians, have a special rule, “Peasant Army”, granting them, per Unit, on 5+, a potential better Last Stand and Skill (otherwise very poor). Unfortunately, this is both random and done after deployment, meaning you can’t plan your strategy properly.
  
In term of equipment, first of the factory, the Romanian main horses are light tanks, R2 and T38, both based on Czech tanks from the early days of WW2. Those are clearly outdated, with limited armor, bad gun, and poor mobility (notably R2). But they are not expensive (2 points for the R2 / 2.33 points for the T38). For proper medium tanks, ROM have access to Panzer III and IV ; both have an okayish armor (Frontal 5) and okayish gun (AT9/FP3+ Heat for the PzIII and AT10/FP3+ range 80cm for the PzIV), none being great, but decent. They are slightly better priced than their German counterpart (5.33 points for the PzIII / 6 points for the PzIV), both still too expensive considering they are 3 tanks per Unit with 2/3 chances to be Green and Last Stand 5+.

Opposite to the tanks, ROM Infantry come with several packages. Following the armor, the Motorized Rifle are the PanzerGrenadiers counterpart, and are the best equipped of all the Romanian army. MG-troopers with Half tracks backed up by Infantry weapons and light/medium ATG, they are not as shiny as the GER ones (sorry, no Stummels, nor Flames-tracks or Mortar-tracks), but are decent, albeit pricey (for ROM’s standards). More lightly equipped, the Mountain Rifle and the Cavalry Squadron trade some firepower and steel plates to ride in battle for some pricing discount. Trading everything, the humble Rifle is truly the core of the “Peasant Army”, with Aggressive riflemen: those are not great fighter, but they are numerous! Last but not least, the Pioneers, or combat engineers, have a very awkward pricing: those may be the best ROM unit, with up to 8 stands, including 2 flame-throwers, and possible upgrades to make them more AP-efficient (HMG, MG), or deadly in Assault (SMG – Assault 2+!).

All are supported by decent Artillery (75mm with Smoke Bombardment, 100mm without) thanks to native Trained 4+ Skill, expensive Recce (5 points for 3 AB (or 7 points for 4 R-1!) is too much, really), decent Aircraft (Stuka B), and mighty yet very unique ATG, a 3-stands max unit of Pak40! And they have access to Germany as Allied (Formation and Unit), which may be of valuable help…

All in all, Romania may gather many teams on the field, yet they are not the best, and are at risk of not being around forever. Romania seems a challenging Nation to play with.

A song of ice…

From this analysis and a couple of tests, I tried to make a list following my idea of Beute Panzer in Normandy. I knew the bulk would be small tanks, using the Hotchkiss 35 and 38 as R-2 or T-38. It may not be the most competitive way to go with the ROM, but that wasn’t the intended goal.
The good thing with ~2 points tank is you can theoretically field a lot of them. However, ROM have Units of 3 max, meaning even if I max out 1 Tank Formation (or 2…), I have a significant budget remaining. Also, I find myself with 2 issues.

First, Efficiency. R-2/T-38 Careful tanks Units may be useful to secure portions of the battlefield, they can’t hold for long considering they are 3 and likely Last Stand 5+, and can’t deal with anything heavier than a light tank (and a couple of light tanks Units will break through). While they can decently deal with Infantry threats, they will have struggle undigging them (especially if supported by ATG), and can’t fight on the move properly. On the long run, T-38 may be better, considering they have better mobility and a 3-Tanks HQ, allowing for a decent 6-Tanks Unit assault. Yet, it still fears a lot of stuff.

Second, Reserves. Which is, apart from some Nations, quite a big deal in MW. I don’t believe in more than 3 Reserves (because of timing, even more critical with Delayed), and even in this configuration, I would say 2 are effective and 1 is just because it needs to fill the 40%. ROM are really poor in Reserves management: at best, their heavier Unit is 18 points, the Panzer IV, which are far from being as great as a similar Reserves from another Nation (for instance: the US Lee or Sherman). As a solution, Germany can help with their heavy cats: Panzer and StuG suffers from the same pricing/efficiency issue (although DP2025 makes them slightly better), Panther benefit from better pricing in DP2025 (we are still talking about Aggressive Green 13 points/tank, yet, it is better), and the Tiger is scary (albeit alone). All can compensate the lack of heavy AT from the ROM, and their high cost make them good Reserves filler.

As tempting as rushing 30 light tanks on the field can be, in effect, it’s risky. It was the same conclusion I draw while riding the UK Crusaders wave in Q1. The ROM may be more resilient than the UK, they still lack the punch to breakthrough, and surely don’t have the same mobility as the nimble UK desert riders.
However, one thing the ROM light tanks can do way better than any other Nations is defending. While mobility and firepower is not great, thus making rushing the field a risky prospect, their Careful rating, Remount 3+ and thin armor keep them safe from artillery and small arm fire, letting their MG and light gun operational to deliver good covering fire to the troops nearby. Granted, it won’t stop a KV charge, but anything with armor 4- (or no armor) will think twice before launching.

Before getting carried away, their special rule “Armoured Reserve” prevent them from fully embracing the Defensive Stance. However, Manoeuvre is a Battle Plan that suits them well. The general idea is to lock the opponent in place for long enough to allow the rest of the force to achieve its task.

So, to complete the light tanks, it seems the way forward is Infantry. My first pick was to go with the Motorized, but ultimately, they felt too “German”: too well equipped, yet not really that well! I knew I didn’t want to field the Cavalry or Mountaineers, which are cool, but too “East Front” to match the “Normandy” mojo of my current tanks models. This left me with the Rifle and the Pioneers. At between ~0,5 and ~1 point/team, the Rifle company sure looks like a great horde! Considering fielding it in full would be 43 points for 57 models (!), and can be optimized (with less support weapons) for ~30 points for a very big Formation of ~40 teams… I don’t have enough foot troopers models for that! From a more “elite” approach, the Pioneers look good on paper. But they sure lack numbers and support! At full strength, the Formation is only 4 Units (including HQ), without any Artillery or Guns.

At this stage, I think I’m good with my Core. I picked a R-2 Formation (HQ + 3 Units) and a Pioneers Formation (HQ + 3 Units), 40 points. They look serious on the field, albeit not as great as LW combination. They can create poles of competitiveness, but not as secure, and more expensive. Both are fragile, with only 4 Units, most likely to be Last Stand 5+, they do lack punch to deal with Tanks (notably Medium and Heavy) or to attack or have cover (Smoke B.), and haven’t a proper Reserve system.

With the 60 points remaining, I can be cheesy and upgrade the R-2 in T-38: the later are quite better, both due to their higher mobility, and their HQ (3 tanks). But it’s a hefty 8 points, and I think I need first to address the 3 difficult topics the force suffer from. To add up some strength in my AT area, I think the 3 Pak40 are compulsory: they may not be the best to fight on the move, but offer a safety nest to deal with any armor, including the Heavies (notably the dreaded KV). 10 points gone, 50 points remaining.
To deal with attacking or simply to protect my troops, I think Artillery would be good. Tanks and Pioneers lack any type of Mortars, so I need to turn on field artillery to do the job. I have a preference for 75mm due to their access to Smoke B. Either a single Unit of 4 or 2 Units of 2 come at 8 points. Not that expensive, but the more we move into the list building, “not expensive” + “not expensive” start adding up. 8 points gone, 42 points remaining.

Last but not least, Reserves. With 4 Units affected by Deep Reserves, picking Defense is not the best option; it can, to trick the opponent, but it’s a risky bet. So I need to consider most if not all of the 58 points I picked will be fielded, and the 42 points remaining would mostly be used to field up Reserves. To that extent, options are not numerous, and come in the form of Tanks! DP2025 reductions are interesting on the “Panzer”, but not enough. Panzer III and Panzer IV (or their ROM variant) are the first choice here. We would appreciate if T-3 cost 5 points/tank (and not between ~5,33 and 6 points), and T-4 should be automatic Elite (as 18 points for 3 Tanks that can’t Skill and vanish on a bad 5+ Last Stand is ludicrous). Unless this change, those may be a solution : fielding 3 T-3 and 3 T-4 (1 Unit in the Formation) would take 34 points in 2 Units, not bad to field most of the Reserves. Their effectiveness is, however, very debatable. The other option is to turn on the Germans: their own Panzer III and IV are very expensive, same as their StuG (come on BF, show some love here!). There is a way to go with the Panther, as everybody noticed a 3-tanks Units now sets for a 1-Reserve army (39 points, drop in a 1 point card you want, and you’re good).

Another option is to consider a single Tiger, with or without its escort. 28 points a Tank may seem huge, but as several MW games already shown, this beast IS mighty: its armor is quite hard to break, it can go in assault with pretty much everything and emerge victorious (until it miss a 4+ counterattack…), and its AT14 gun make it the king of the heavies (but for the Ferdinand). What I really don’t like with both the Panther and the Tiger is those are one dice roll away from being useless: call it a save or an important shot they can’t miss, there will always be a moment where they can’t let you down and they will (and Lucky can’t save you there, as it doesn’t work on Allies). Wrapping all up, I eventually decided for the Tiger: not that I like much the big beast (I don’t), but I think it solves decently the Reserve issue, and offer a security against MW most wanted, the KV.

With the points remaining, I included a Recce (expensive, but which can be invaluable on certain scenarios), I boosted a little bit up my troops to make them less likely to run away.

… and fire

Now that I have made the exercise of trying to find a decent ROM force, in line with the models I own, I need to consider if I will field it or not in Milan. Italian GT is the first step in the FoW European Series and will surely be a good one: Italian are good players, the tournament is likely to draw players from all across Europe (and perhaps beyond!), will be the first clash of steel using the ETC rulespack (including the new points in use for 2025), and there is this new challenge of the series!

I’m quite disappointed BF will only release Pacific for Easter, so until then, no possibility to know what’s in it and how it will impact the MW meta (and fingers crossed the Pacific books will have points in line with DP 2025… at least we wouldn’t have waited in vain). Having experienced the UK/US in Q1, I may have some time to squeeze in some games with the ROM in Q2 prior to the event (which is 1st week end of February) to make a decision.

As far as I can tell, DP 2025 gives more edges to the US Tanks which I found well to complete the UK (Lee and Sherman, despite the drop in points for the UK versions, the US ones are, in my opinion, better for what they bring), so I need to review a bit my previous combos from Q1. ROM on the other hand offer quite an interesting playing challenge, the main fear that I have is they rely heavily on the Tiger, a ¼ part of the budget, which I’m uncomfortable with considering how bad I miss important dice rolls (legal precedent ETC 2024 to testify).

Last parameter is the team: I will play ETC 2025 with Team Switzerland (love you guys), and I need to consider if I use this good event as a 5-games practice in a competitive environment.

Decision is yet to be made, stay tuned next time for the debriefing of Milan GT!

Knowledge is power: share it widely!

Fred