BF Q&A FOW V4
Today we look at the answers to the questions you posed to BF regarding V4.
The plan
A while ago we appealed for questions to send to Battlefront regarding Team Yankee and FOW V4. We were inundated with questions and picked the best to send to the BF team. They have kindly found the time to answer them. Today we look at FOW V4 responses; Team Yankee will be in another article, shortly.
Q&A
Will V4 cover Hungarians as extensively as V3 did ? I have Hungarians for EW, MW and LW and am a little concerned that they may be dropped.
Right now we are not sure what form the coverage for Hungarians, Finns, Romanians and so will be, but they will be covered. Chris, Phil, Wayne and Andrew all have armies and won’t let them be left behind.
Will there be a V4 army builder. If so when?
We are working on it but want to have a Team Yankee one first.
When we will have Gepanzer lists for mid war desert? If so when?
There will be one included in the Eastern Front books that you can use.
Are there any plans to release fortified forces for v4 and rules for them?
No, we are not planning on any Mid-War fortified forces at the moment (although that’s no guarantee that we won’t do some sometime in the future!). The main reason is that the current mid-war German and the forthcoming Italian infantry companies already handle this fairly well. If you play a defensive battle, you gain minefields to fortify your position and most of the benefits from gun pits are now standard for dug-in guns.
Should we expect more command cards released for existing nations in mid war? And same about objective cards? Also, is there any plans to have command cards that will give you points back, decreasing the quality of troops, but allowing more numerous forces?
Our plan is to create one pack per book so there is no plan to make additional ones for books that have already been released. We would like to create additional Fog Of War decks over time though. The Italian Command Cards will include options to decrease the quality of your troops.
Any plans to roll the card packs back into future books instead of using cards.
No. We want to keep books accessible to the widest range of players possible by focusing on the core range of units. We can leave the complexity of ‘should I pick this flavour of Rifle Platoon, or this other flavour’ to the veteran gamers.
Why is the turnaround for the rules updates to V4 EW/LW so quick? How will the team be able to draw in enough playtest data and filter out all of the community noise to make appropriate major changes?
We had been paying close attention to the thoughts of the community since the release of V4 and identified the areas that needed a review. During this period we had also been discussing potential options so were confident that we had good options to present to the community. Once the proposed changes were presented we found that the information coming back from the community was similar to what we were seeing with our internal playtesting and that gave us the confidence to move ahead at speed.
What’s going on with the stock via online store? Are we still going to be getting blisters for removed platoon box’s. I.e a lot of the Pacific stuff.
All of the missing box codes will be replaced by individual blisters and should be in the online store now.
Will the infantry for Italians be plastic or metal?
The infantry will be metal and the gun crews will be plastic.
Is heavy calibre artillery going to be removed from the game? And for Late war and Early war when they get re-done?
Not sure at this point.
The new Fortress Europe book for LW/EW, will it be the same points as the current books or are you starting to convert LW/EW to 100pts.
The points in the new ‘Fortress Europe’ book will be compatible with the current Late War books. This book is all about making it easier to get in and play some Late War games.
Will we see any new LW/EW books other than Fortress Europe? If so when?
After we have completed Mid War we will be returning to Late and Early War. We also expect to see a Berlin Compilation as well.
Will we see any new LW/EW models? If so when?
Yes, cannot give specifics on timing at the moment though. We would like to add the Maus to the Berlin Comps though.
Will there be another German book for MW Desert to flesh it out given BF has already mentioned a second British book.
There won’t be a second desert book for the Germans, however you will be able to build desert themed lists out of the Eastern Front books if you want – for example Gepanzerte Panzergrenadiers
Is BF surprised by the somewhat negative reaction to V4?
Yes. V4 has seen a lot of positive feedback with players returning. We know we own the game but we don’t own the hobby so we do need to stay in touch and understand any concerns that players have.
Will we see more rule changes/updates?
Lessons from the Front is considered to be a living document so we will see more changes but we have no plans to make any further major changes (like the recent EW/LW ones) any time soon.
Will there be a V4 Firestorm campaign, if so when?
We would love to do one. Look for an Organised Play program coming to stores/clubs soon.
What books can we expect next year?
Avanti (Italians in the Desert), 8th Army (British in the Desert), two Eastern Front Mid War books, as well as a book covering other Western forces for Team Yankee.
Will BF be continuing to produce the new ‘flexible’ plastics given the issues with the Desert Rats models?
We believe have solved the issues that people have mentioned in the past and so look forward to what we are able to do in the future using this technology
Conclusion
Well there you have it some answers to your questions. It looks like there is plenty to look forward to in the next year, i am certainly interested to see what the organised play might look like! Please share your thoughts and views on our FB page.
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