Flames of War – Catch 22×2 (Flanders GT – Debrief) – Part 2
Hello Readers,
Fred here. Continuing the debrief of the Flanders GT, and revealing the ending of the Euro Series. We will also digress together over Berlin to conclude the 2nd part of this article.
Round 4 vs Etienne
Starting Sunday, the race was on to the head of tournament and the European Champion title. I obviously crossed swords with Etienne, an expected match-up. Same as in Italy, we were forecasting a 3-3 Draw, as, despite our best efforts, we knew beating each other with our army of choice would be hard, and we knew a Defeat would have meant almost certain loss of the tournament, and perhaps Series. Putting on sweet Brazilian bosa nova, we started rolling dices, and I ended up Defending in Breakthrough.
Etienne’s Force had 2 advantages over mine, which were long range fire superiority, and his vast horde of Infantry, which would clinch and hold dearly any Objective they would reach. On my hand, I had greater mobility, and superior short range fire superiority. I thus deployed so as to limit his and favors mines. My Mad Tracks formed a pincer, ready to close on the Battle Group when they would make their positioning moves. Battle started great for Etienne, claiming Mad Tracks with nice shots, and hoarding right flank. I immediately counterpunched with my Ambush Stummels, with both Units of Triple flanking from the left. My Infantry either ran the backfield (Volks), closed the center (HJ) or held firmly the near Objective (PanzerGre) in spit of heavy artillery shelling pinning them. The first volley had great effects on Etienne’s Triple, but limited effects otherwise. On Turn 2, Etienne committed perhaps a little bit too boldly, focusing on the Stummels, but failing to remove them. The retaliation is hard, and my force starts “Deweying” his, wrecking the right flank offensive, and then turning on the center. However, slaughtering all these troops took time. Etienne committed late his base force in the center, spearheaded by the JadgT, while his Reserves force sacrificed themselves to keep a couple of Units from me occupy. A tactic that paid off, as, despite my Mad Tracks being in a very solid holding position, the remaining Battle Group force and the control tower JadgT managed to hold within 8’/20cm of the near Objective, preventing the Clausewitz the win as they fail to remove them.
Draw / 3-3
This Draw could have been frustrating given how the game turned out, but it was honestly expected. I believe Etienne as one of the best if not the best FoW player of the world right now, and while I know how to hold my ground not to lose against him, winning is another story. Feeling is mutual, and even if we both committed in the game, we knew there were always aces in our sleeves to turn defeat into draw. It wasn’t as epic as last season run in Milano, but it was definitely a good game. Maybe we should use Quentin’s idea of “loser goes out” (#NikeFootballTheCage) to part us out. Speaking of which…
Round 5 vs Quentin
With this Draw, the positions were still the same by mid-Sunday as they were in the morning. But as the daddies neutralized themselves, the rest of the pack was closing in fast. A false move and somebody else would take the crown! I knew the race to the finish would be hard: not only did I need to win the last game, but also keep the points up for the time breaker. Obviously, Quentin didn’t hear it that way, and we went for Probe, with me as Attacker.
Attacking in Probe with my Mad Tracks against defending British Infantry with twin M10 and Crocodile, a list designed by an Italian… sounds familiar? Yes, that’s the rematch of Game 3 of ETC 2024, the one I cursed myself so hard for not having pushed strong enough to win. Well determined not to let that happen again, I shifted tactic and went full throttle Turn 1. My Mad Tracks crawled the board, dashing everywhere to reach positions for Turn 2 threatening. I almost sacrificed my HJ to reach an attended Building overseeing the UK deployment area, to prevent Ambushing M10 to threaten my push. Motivated by Quentin’s taunting, only the HQ and PzGre didn’t dash, simply Tactical and Follow Me to launch a Turn 1 Assault on the advanced Canadian Infantry. By end of Turn 1, my guys were already in UK deployment zone, with choice to go for either Objectives. M10 Ambush armed my Stummels and Triple, but those were losses I would accept. Turn 2 saw the full force of my German smashing the British line, with Mad Tracks madly blazing the UK AFV and Infantry, and HQ and PzGre pilling in on the UK Infantry and Mortars. Audacity pays off, and by end of Turn 2, I clinched the right Objective. Quentin turtled up as hard as it could, his M10 rushing as best as they could to the defense. Failing to remove the PzGre meant I could go for the prize Turn 3. I crawled the area with as many vehicles as I could, blasted furiously the opposition, crippled the Bren Carriers and pinned downed HQ and Infantry, and then dove in with HQ and PzGre, dispatching British defenders in Assault before the Reserves could even try to show up.
Victory / 8-1
Apologizes to Quentin, who is a really nice guy: I overwealmed him with troops, putting a tremendously high pressure on his, to pass en force. While his army was decent, it lacked AT assets to properly stop the push or at least delay. I also learnt from last year experience, and didn’t repeat the mistake of being too cautious. I pinpointed where I wanted to go, took the calculated risks I needed to take, and pushed. The game was over fast, I spent much more time toying than him, and thus feel sorry about making him the spectator of this German Mad Tracks show.
Drums rolls…
A well-rounded tournament, in this oh-so-great Diepenbeek venue, masterfully organized by Robby and his team (special kudos to Hilde, you elevate us all!), and joyfully aminated by the players.
Dust settled, Etienne and me finished exactly at the same points (32), but I came in first due to having lost less platoons overall than him. Me taking 1st place, Etienne 2nd, we were very happy to see Robby coming in 3rd, a well-deserved medal.
The tournament also rounded the Euro Series, and with our consistent performances over the Series, Etienne and me managed to take the top spots as well!
While there is only 1 point difference, to be honest, I would have given the title to him anyway: this game is all about respect, and I truly believe he is the best player of Europe right now, having attend 3 tournaments, scoring 31-30-32, undefeated.
Congratulations to Etienne, the new European Champion!
From personal perspectives, I am very happy to have matched my expectations set before the tournament. Piloting the Mad Tracks after 9 months without touching them and the disappointment of ETC 2024 was thrilling, I appreciated giving them another go, and they didn’t disappoint. The Concept is strong, but it felt good to retrieve all the gaming reflexes and tricks, to actually make it perform as a player, notably by having improved learning from mistakes. As awkward as it may seem, I also played carefully certain Units to avoid giving points away, something I didn’t do in the past, and it was a good learning experience.
Entering the tournament with purposes helped me focus, and the connection we have with Etienne made us play somehow like a team: yes we are competing against each other, but we are part of the same group, sharing goals, elevating together, alternating being laugh and seriousness… This is also part of the competitive experience: coming to an event prepared thanks to your crew, attending it together, and keeping on fighting as a all. We are human beings, social animals, we are at our best when we act together.
I also appreciate greatly that, during the whole weekend, I spent time discussing with players on how to be better at this game. Explaining the rules, showing tactics, advising on improving lists and gameplay… It was tremendously rewarding to share the knowledge with players, to help them improve at this game they like. I will remember the best last phrase from Alex to Etienne and me: “I will grow up, and next year, I will beat you both!”. That’s the spirit.
What’s wrong with Berlin?
Flanders GT raised questions over the internet about the high presence of GER Berlin’s lists. In the 1st part of this article, I explained why it was expected and not surprising. Going deeper in the analysis, this Book was released 2 years ago and became quite popular ever since. It is fair to state many players find it both good to begin with, and strong from a competitive standpoint. A very simplistic answer to the question would be: attractivity.
Beginners will find in the Book easy ways to build solid armies, without too much thinking. There is a large choice of Units in the Book, transcripting into a wide array of playstyles, perhaps more than any other. You can field solid lists, either attacking (with cheaper-yet-not-crappy Tanks, backed up by decent Artillery) or defending (with flexible Infantry, AT from all caliber, and solid Reserves system), or even mixing both (with dependable Half Tracks, pick and choosing Units to fit both Attack and Defense).
On top of this, experienced players are granted tools to push in either directions, enforcing one or several aspects of their Build by doubling up efficient Units (more Tanks, more Infantry, more Half Tracks). There is strong help from the Book budget here. For competitive players, the Book is an even wider playground, spotting Units with high efficiency to tailor their mix between Core and Utilities, while fulfilling well the Missions and Positions you want them to be in. This feels “pushing the torque”.
That is mainly due to the popularity of 2 Formations, the Berlin Battle Group (archetype: Wall of Bodies) and the Clausewitz PanzerSturm (archetype: Mad Tracks), both using the flexibility of the Berlin Support.
To be honest, the other Formations from the Book are not as impressive nor strong as those, even if they may often use tools you would see from the above mentioned Formations (such as FlakTracks, Local Militia, Super Heavy Tanks…).
Berlin Battle Group allows to field up large number of efficient Infantry: VolskSturm, HJ, Super Soap, PanzerGrenadier Training (Sniper School). None being Careful nor Veteran helps in keeping the price low. Half of these are also Local Militia, increasing drastically the number of points on table for the many Missions with Reserves (a significant advantage). All of them may not be the best at blasting or surviving from afar, but they are tremendous to Guard or Secure, due to both the high number of bodies/Units sharing the role, their high access to portable AT (PanzerFaust/PanzerShrek), capacity to be backed up by AP shots (MG, HMG, LMG), and decent to good Assault capacities.
The Force usually uses quite well a couple of FlakTracks to help in the AP process/dealing with light armor/AFV, ATG (8.8, Pak40) to boost AT, and Heavy (Panther) to Super Heavy Tanks (King Tiger, JadgTiger) to anchor the line and reduce enemy armor threats. To round it up, you would normally expect dual purpose Recce and Artillery, and possible spices depending on players’ tactic (KleinPz, WaffenTrager, Stuka Rudel, Railway…).
The Build is quite exceptional in Defense: although many troops can be damaged easily, due to ratings (such as Reckless, Aggressive, Reluctant…) or save (such as light vehicles, large guns…), there are numerous, and starts where they want to be on table. Hence the “Wall of Bodies”. Granted, it doesn’t want to be caught in the open running the field to grab Objectives, but frankly, that is not happening a lot for them in their games. Most of the time, you would see it tagged as “Defense”, where it excels.
The list from Etienne emphasizes all of this. It has 6 main Infantry Units (yes, HQ is one of them), with a mixture of Reluctant and Fearless, all with portable AT, plus 2 more Infantry Units part of this Core (HMG and Mortars). Its AT capacities are enhanced by 8.8, KleinPz and JadgTiger, all having projectivity (movement and/or range). The JadgT is also Core, rounding up the strategy enforced by the Infantry Units, in which it hides to avoid flanking or assault. Its AP capacities are enhanced by TripleFlak and Recce (Triple), both also having an additional role (AAA or Spearhead). To round up, it has StuH, a multi-purpose Unit, both able to play AP and AT, with the benefit of bringing a salutary dependable Artillery template.
It only has 11 points for Reserves, which can be obtained by combining StuH and Recce (Pak40), or choice (2) between KleinPanzer, Triple FlaK and 8.8, or sometimes only the JadgT depending on what he wants to have on board.
Clausewitz PanzerSturm allows to field up large number of efficient AFV: Half Tracks, including FlaKTracks, Mortars and Stummels. All being Reluctant helps in keeping the price affordable. Lightly armored vehicles are interesting in FoW as they are pretty much immune to shots impairing Infantry (Rifle, MG, light arti…), can’t be pinned down, and are mobile. Almost all the Units sport both AP and AT weapon, to tackle many threats. Those light vehicles are not enough on their own to bring down sturdiest targets (Heavy Tanks, entrenched Careful infantry…), but number and projectivity are on their side to compensate. This is completed by Infantry, which suffers greatly from Reluctant (making them fairly unreliable when they are Pinned Down or to Counterattack), but benefits from good access to equipment (MG or STG, Faust) and OKayish pricing.
The Force usually backs the Half Tracks with more Tracks, whether it is light (such as Recce, light Tank Hunters), medium (Panzer IV, StuG/StuH, Hetzer) or heavy (Panther, KingT, JadgT). To round it up, you would normally expect more Infantry (notably HJ, reducing the Reserves and backing the Force playstyles), ATG (notably 8.8), and possible spices depending on players’ tactic (Artillery, VolkS, Cards…).
The main advantage is it can play efficiently both Offense and Defense. It is equally happy to use its armor and Careful rating to either Guard or Secure, or to rush the field to Seize Objectives. The key here is commitment: seizing the moment is paramount, rating and light armor will help fend off shots while waiting in Defense or while crossing in the field in Offense, but it needs to be all together or none at all. This transcripts into a “steel wall-wall of bullets” Force. There is no preferred stance for it, making trapping it in more difficult match ups hard.
My list emphasizes all of this.
It has 44 vehicles, with the vast majority being only armor 1/1/0 (only 7 are fully armored). Number could be lower (KleinPz keep on raising a lot of eyebrows), but the general idea stays the same. You want to have FlakTracks and Stummels, both being well completed by the Recce and projectable AT. 3 Infantry Units (HQ is considered as part of the PzGre) help in controlling key battlefield areas (notably Objectives), and Assault (either specific for the HJ and Volks, or total with the PzGre and HQ). AT capacities are boost with 8.8 and PzIV, and somehow the StuH, which also bring a much needed Artillery complement. AP capacities do not need complement. It only has 27 points for Reserves, making it more flexible while Defending.
While taking different approaches, both lists share a common adjective: oppressive. Fielding a significant amount of toys on the battlefield, able to complete the Missions efficiently, and create many problems to the opponents, beginning with “how do I handle all this?”. The general feeling from players being on the receive end of those GER Berlin’s Builds is “I can’t pass on all that” (if they Attack it) or “there is no way I can stop all this” (if they Defend against it).I partially back up this feeling. If you want a list that can break both efficiently, just have a look at the 3rd AD Sherman I considered running in the first place…
Fixing Berlin?
My straightforward answer is: yes. From beginners perspective, Berlin is giving too much, too fast. Combining both lowered price Units and Reserves heavy reduction is not a great start in the game.
From experienced perspective, players will find too easy ways to have better lists than opponents, and as soon as they start pushing in one direction, they gain a too significant advantage over them. From competitive perspective, I believe the advantages are too high: having a competitive list pushing ~5/10% over its weight is acceptable (most lists do that, and in LW, it’s very true for the UK and US), but Berlin is shifting to ~10/15%. Plus the Reserves reduction bonus from HJ/Volks adds up.
I will tone down the answer by stating having good Book and good Build is not enough: FoW is a players game above all else. Out of the 10 games of the tournaments, Etienne and me had 6 Berlin vs Berlin. Results were 3×8-1, 2×7-2, and 1×3-3 (our Draw). Those are not “point and click” Builds: to perform, you know how to play them.
Complementarily, if Berlin is fixed, other Books need fixing (granted, not as much). Bulge GER have similar issue with Mad Tracks (too cheap), same for Bagration light tanks (T-26, R-2, T-38), D-Day UK have too affordable Recce/Wasp/M10, Bulge UK have too affordable Recce/Wasp, Bulge US can combine 3rd AD and M4 Command Card for real deal Sherman, US overall have too inexpensive Mortars (and T-30). Overall, most of the time is simply a question of adding 1 or 2 points to those Units. That would put them in the ballpark of balance.
The performance of Berlin is also to be considered in the general state of the game. Yes, several Units are under-pointed… but many LW Units are over-pointed. And this is where I would like BF to start to re-balance the period. If you have the choice between 1 single StuG unit and 12 Triple + 6 Stummels, what would you pick? Same as in MW, Medium Tanks need to be more attractive. They are the first entry door to the game. Most of them suffer a lot the comparison. To a certain extent, it is also true for Heavy Tanks (Italy Churchill at 4 points/each are good, Late Panther costing over 11 points/each is crazy). Same, doing uber-super infantry is sweet (looking at you Paratroopers and Commandos), but if you pay them twice or three times more than their crap-not-crap equivalent, don’t be surprised if they don’t really perform nor show on tables. BF should definitely considering lowering the points first to make them more viable.
Besides, BF have a very nasty habit of nerf-batting things: MW Recce, LW Greyhound, Naval Gun Fire Support… Toning down is good, blasting to oblivion is bad game designing. As stated, the issues of Berlin are limited:
Mad Tracks/Clausewitz: the original sin is Bulge. Both Brigade and Super Soap. Triple 15mm, Stummels and Recce Units are ~1 point too cheap. Consequently, Berlin same tanks still have this ~1 point bonus, but push the torque too far due to the 100 points system not emphasizing more the bonus from being Careful. In short, Brigade Triple & Stummels should be 1 point/Tank, Super Soap Recce should be 3 points/Unit, Clausewitz Triple & Stummels should be 4 points/3, and Berlin Scout (Triple) should be 3 points/Unit.
Infantry/Battle Group: the problem is more complex. The “easy” solution is to consider higher pricing for the HJ and Volks. Which would make perfect sense, those turbulent kids full Faust definitely worth 1 point/Team (nobody is playing the other ones), and those old men from the block should not worth less than a Russian rifleman (thus proposal for 5 points/7 or 7 points/9, with free swap for 1 LMG). ncidentally, this boost Local Militia, still reducing the Reserves pool, which is IMHO worst than the actual point costs of those Units. Maybe a solution here could be an amendment to the Reserves and Delayed Reserves rules, something like at least 25% of the Force must be kept out.
Summarizing all this, an efficient and quick solution would be Dynamic Points for LW, focusing first on boosting, then concentrating on toning down a bit Berlin and similar.
Knowledge is power: share it widely.
Fred
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