Flames of War v4: Battle of the Bulge: Elastic Defense 

Those 2 hills at the start of the german line look awesome...

That was a great game. I was involuntarily wincing at the number of ones rolled for the Germans. Ditch those dice, old boy!

You know, I haven't played Flames of War because I'm more of a Team Yankee guy and said I wouldn't play Flames of War because it seems to play the same gameplay as Team Yankee. But looking at all your units on the table (unlike the three units you get as NATO) as well as the diversity is really enticing, I kinda like seeing variety and a well painted army play it out. I've also never seen cards before (or didn't pay attention) those are really cool. I kind of wish they'd bring those over as well.

Your MG halftrack doesn't get abandoned because you were bailed in defensive fire. It's sits bailed out 2 inches away. If you had been bailed and failed a counterattack, then it would have been captured. So in that assault step you lost 2 infantry stands and one halftrack that you didn't actually lose.

Hi guys. Truly great game from you both. For the US forces, great game strategy. A layered defence is always in FoW, a good game plan. Let the other guy wear himself down, breaking through the layers. Very good placement of the 3 " guns . It really slowed his advance down, which is an important factor in a layered defence. Did you know that the 3" gun crews are the same crew from the tank destroyers, and they were trained as specialists in hand to hand assaults. With the tank destroyers, I deploy either M20 security sections or M8 Greyhound recon patrols. At 3 to 5 points per unit is very cheap and are both scouts. I use the MGs to deal with infantry units and the 37mm guns of the M8 to deal with half tracks. The 60mm mortar is great for pinning infantry. These units I use to support the tank destroyers or as independent fire brigades to deal with infantry units. For the German forces, firstly, apologise to your dice and offer compensation for your transgressions. So far, Bulge games have not been kind to you. But you are producing very historical outcomes. By this stage of the war, German pushes tend to get to the final objective, only to not have the units to take it. When facing a layered defence, you need a reserve force that you have kept out of action to make the break out. Flames of War are different from other games in that firing at everything you can will lose the game for you. It actually dilutes your firepower in a game where you must use the weight of firepower. Movement is your most offensive weapon. It is better to get closer or around the cover they are using, so you're hitting on 3 or 4s instead of 5 or 6s, even if your rate of fire drops. 4 shots that will probably hit is far better than 8 shots that might hit. With planning my forces, I start with the last turn and a small force to win the game. This is my breakout force and the reserve force that will stay out of action for the most part. The rest of my force it designed to get my reserve force to the last, the last turn in good condition. I normally expect 15% to 20% of my force to survive to the last turn. Game wise, this is what military planners refer to as the economy of force. No commander will never have the force he wants to get the job done. So your force will need to be stripped down to the basic requirements with just enough to also be flexible. As your plan will not be the only plan on the table so you need the flexibility to deal with the other guy's plan. For this, I look at units that value add to each other. Such as my example above. The tank destroyers protect the patrols from tanks while the patrols protect the destroyers from infantry. In this way, both units value add to each other by boosting their strengths. I hope my reply does sound critical as this is not my intention. Nor I hope it was not too boring as at the end of the day our hobby is all about the fun we have on the way.

Dammit Jim push left

Thanks for the game guys. Another tough mission for the attacker this one. The objectives are so far away.

Thank you for the game.

Nests are too good.

Bazookas hit on 4 in assault? Edit: just looked, they hit on 5s