Late War Leviathans: Forces in Europe, 1945+ Spotlight

Late War Leviathans: Forces in Europe, 1945+ With Wayne Turner It emerged out of the gloom, its creaking and clunking preceding it. Sergey’s eyes widened as the massive sand-colour beast crested the bridge, barely squeezing between its iron girders. The bridge visibly shook with its weight as the tank rumbled toward his gun’s position. “Fire,” the battery commander yelled and Sergey pulled the lanyard on his 100mm anti-tank gun. A cloud of dust and smoke enveloped the gun and momentarily obscured the view ahead. “Nu vot,” Sergey expressed his surprise as the dust cleared and a massive German heavy tank loomed over him, completely unharmed. Such as above might have been the encounter had World War II continued and many of the tanks and other weapons that were in development had seen the light of day. Late-War Leviathans brings this alternative scenario to life, pitting the projected developments of the German, American, British and Soviet arms industry into a continuing war. Check out Late War Leviathans: Forces in Europe, 1945+ in the online store here...

Inside You Will Find Alternative Background for the War continuing beyond May 1945 in Europe. How to play Big Games with Leviathan tanks. US Formations fielding tanks such as the T28 and T29 and other Leviathans. British Formations fielding the Tortoise, Centurion and Charioteer and other Leviathans. German Formations fielding the Maus and E-100 super heavy tanks as well as the Skoprion tank-hunter and other Leviathans. Soviet Formations fielding the IS-3, IS-7, T-10 heavy tanks and other Leviathans. Painting and Basing guides

Includes Free Forces Of War Code Each Late War Leviathans: Forces in Europe, 1945+ book contains a unique code that unlocks all of the books contents in Forces Of War: Forces, Formations, Unit Cards, and Command Cards. Forces Of War is the online force builder for Flames Of War and is an invaluable tool for building and storing army lists, as well as printing out your Unit and Command Cards ready for battle. Forces Of War will be updated in the coming days with the option in your Accounts tab to enter a Book Code and redeem your access to these lists.

Includes Free Catalogue Shrinkwapped with each Late War Leviathans: Forces in Europe, 1945+ book is a catalogue detailing all the Flames Of War miniatures and accessories featured in the Leviathans book. Use it as a recognition guide to help tell your opponents tanks or to plan out the next additions to your Army.

During the course of World War II all the major powers were working on new and radical designs of weapons and equipment, the most famous among them being the German Wunderwaffen, Wonder-Weapons, like the Maus super-heavy tank. The Allies were also busy developing the new designs incorporating lessons learned from the fighting as well as newly developed technology such as the American T-28 assault tank, the British Centurion universal tank, and the mighty Soviet IS-7 heavy breakthrough tank.  Inside Leviathans you will find many of these weird and wonderful tanks, and other weapons that just missed World War II. However, we offer you four possible scenarios outlining events that may have seen World War II continue beyond its historical end, from turning to fighting the expansion of communism, through to a new war against a resurgent Germany. Fight Flames Of War battles with these Leviathans with their heavy armour and massive guns, either by adding them to your standard games, or using the new Leviathans games rules to fight with forces of these brutal brutes.

What is in Late-War Leviathans? As mentioned above, you can find alternative backgrounds for the War continuing beyond May 1945 in Europe. We offer four different scenarios in which the fighting continues beyond May 1945. One sees the western Allies turn on the Soviet after the defeat of Germany, with German troops being used against the Soviets. Another sees the Soviet push beyond the agreed-on zones of occupation in Germany, putting them in direct confrontation with the Western Allies. Our third scenario sees American field commanders, with British support, push on the Berlin in an attempt to seize it before the Soviets. Our fourth situation had the war end early with the assassination of Hitler, leading to a build up of tensions and the threat of a new war as tensions build between the West and East, while a resurgent Germany has an agenda of its own.

Big Games with Leviathans As you would expect from some of the heavily armed and armoured Leviathans in the book, they can be rather costly in points. At the front of the book, you will find and alternative way to play so you can pit your big tanks against each other. In Playing Leviathan Games the rules outline playing games themed around these big beasts using larger points totals, but allocating 75% of these points to the big boys.

The Americans You will find instructions on how to build US Formations fielding T28 and M26 Pershing assault tanks, T29, T30, and T34 heavy tanks, M26 Pershing and M4 Easy Eight medium tanks, and armoured rifles with new weapons like the M20 super bazooka and the 105mm recoilless rifle mounted on a jeep. The M26 Assault Pershing Tank Company is a Formation of heavily armoured Pershing tanks. The M26 Assault Pershing is the Pershing version of the Sherman Jumbo, additional front armour (Front 16) makes it hard to knock out, but slows it down (Tactical Speed 8”/20cm). It is armed the same 90mm gun as the standard M26 Pershing. The Formation can also field T28 Assault Tank. The T28 Assault Tank Company is based around the even more heavily armoured T28 Assault tanks. This beast is a turretless tank with a low, but wide, silhouette. It is well-armoured (Front 17, Side 8, Top 2) and is armed with a very powerful 105mm gun (Range 48”/120cm, Anti-tank 19, FP 2+). Though, due to the T28’s small fighting compartment and the gun’s two-part ammunition it has a slow rate-of-fire (ROF Halted 1, Moving 1 with Slow Firing). This Formation can also field M26 Assault Pershing tanks.

The T29 & T30 Heavy Tank Company field a mix of T29 and T30 heavy tanks. These big tanks are a further development of the Pershing, lengthened and mounted a much larger turret. The T29 turret houses the same powerful gun as T28, but the larger crew space in the turret allows for a second loader so its rate-of-fire is improved while halted (ROF Halted 2, Moving 1 Slow Firing). T30 is basically the same tank, but mounting a 155mm gun (Range 36”/90cm, anti-tank 19, FP Auto), thought it doesn’t have the same range as the higher velocity 105mm, it hits with the same penetration and automatically destroys any thing it penetrates. Both these beasts retain good mobility due to their powerful engines. This Formation can also field the M45 Pershing, which is a standard Pershing armed with a 105mm howitzer for use as an assault gun in close support against soft targets. A further development of the T29 and T30 is the T34 heavy tank of the T-34 Heavy Tank Company. The T34 heavy tank shares many of the previous tanks’ features, but its turret has been fitted with a 120mm gun, giving it even more anti-tank capabilities than the 105mm gun of the T30 (Anti-tank 20). The M26 Pershing Tank Company sees the M26 Pershing move from the heavy tank to the medium tank role. You can now field an entire Formation of these tanks, in a similar way would see German Panthers. You can now take a whole platoon of five T26 Super Pershings instead of the single tanks you could take previously. The Veteran M4 Easy Eight Tank Company features an entire Formation where all of your Sherman are now either M4 Easy Eight Sherman tanks or M4 Jumbo Sherman tanks, providing a tank company with excellent anti-tank, mobility, and armour. The final US Formation is the Leviathans Armoured Rifle Company. This Formation follows the standard armoured rifle organisation, but introduced now weapons such as the M2 Super Bazooka and the Jeep mounted 105mm recoilless rifle (Range 24”/60cm, ROF 1/-, AT 16 HEAT, 2+ Brutal).

American Models Your models for a Late-war Leviathans US forces come from two sources, the Flames Of War range for your familiar vehicles like the M4 Easy Eight Shermans, M4 Jumbo Shermans, M26 Pershings and T26 Super Pershings, plus many others. There are also a number of new releases like the M20 Super Bazooka (USO226) pack, the M45 Pershing 105mm (US0227) Upgrade pack, Jeep (105mm) anti-tank Platoon (US121). Your second source for the models featured in the book comes from the Clash of Steel miniatures range. This is where you will find the T-28 Assault tank, and T29, T30, and T-34 heavy tanks. The Leviathans book comes bundled with a fully illustrated catalogue where you can find images and pack contents of all the models featured in the book from both the Flames Of War and Clash of Steel ranges.

The British The British Formations feature a number of new tanks and weapons. The Tortoise Assault Squadron features the Tortoise assault tank. The Tortoise, like the American T28, is a turretless tank, but is even more heavily armoured than the American assault tank (Front 21, Side 11, Top 2). It is armed with the powerful 32 pdr (94mm) gun (Range 40”/100cm, ROF 2/1, anti-tank 18). The Formation can also field Churchill tanks alongside the Tortoises. The Centurion Armoured Squadron features two versions of the Centurion tank, the Centurion 1 (17 pdr) and the Centurion 3 (20 pdr). The Centurion is well-armoured (Front 10, Side 5, Top 2) and both variants have plenty of firepower with either the 17 pdr (Range 36”/90cm, ROF 2/1, and Anti-tank 15) or the 20 pdr (Range 40”/100cm, and Anti-tank 17). The Centurion 3 is further enhanced with the addition of a stabiliser giving it a Moving ROF 2 with +1 penalty To Hit. Another new tank for the British is the Charioteer. This tank combines the proven Cromwell hull with a new large turret houses the same 20 pdr gun as the Centurion 3. However, the Charioteer does not have a stabiliser (Moving ROF 1) and because of its narrower turret and small crew it its Overworked (+1 penalty To Hit for Moving ROF).

The British also field the Saracen Motor Company. These infantrymen are mounted in Saracen 6x6 wheeled armoured personnel carriers. The Saracen is armoured (Front 2, Side 1, Top 0) and armed with a small machine-gun turret. It can carry two teams as passengers and full-strength Unit comes with four vehicles. Each Saracen Motor Platoon can alternatively be mounted in M5 half-tracks. The Formation can also field the 120mm BAT anti-tank Platoon, which is armed with 120mm BAT recoilless rifles. The 120mm BAT (Battalion, Anti-Tank) has a similar range to the 6 pdr (Range 28”/70cm), but packs a larger punch (Anti-tank 18 HEAT, FP 2+ Brutal) for a lower rate-of-fire (ROF 1/1 with Slow Firing). The British field the Saladin Armoured Car Troop in support. The Saladin is based on the same 6x6 all-wheel drive chassis as the Saracen APC, but is fitted with a larger turret mounting a 76mm gun (Range 24”/60cm, ROF 2/1, AT 11 HEAT, FP 2+). Like other armoured car troops, the Saladin troop has the Spearhead and Scout rules. The final new British Unit is the Hornet Guided Weapon Anti-tank Troop. This Unit fields the Humber Hornet weapons carrier mounting the Malkara anti-tank guided missile system. These weapons use have a long range (Range 16”/40cm to 48”/120cm), are accurate (Guided, no To Hit penalty for range over 16”/40cm), and can penetrate most armour (Anti-tank 18 HEAT).

British Models Like the Americans, the new models in Leviathans are either available from the Flames Of War range or the Clash of Steel range. In addition to all the British models currently available in the Flames Of War British Late-war range, new additions include Saladin Armoured Car Troop (x3) (BR371), Hornet Guided Anti-tank Troop (x2) (BR160), Saracen APCs (x2) (BR370), and 120mm BAT Anti-tank Platoon (x2) (BR591). From the Clash of Steel range, you can purchase Tortoise Heavy Platoon (x3) (CSB01), Centurion Armoured Troop (x3 Centurion 1 or 3) (CSB02), and the Charioteer Armoured Troop (CSB05). See the Leviathan catalogue bundled with the book for more details.

The Germans The Germans are spoiled for choice in Leviathans. The first Formation you will encounter is the Maus Heavy Tank Company. This Formation lets you field a mix of Maus, Tiger II, and Tiger I tanks. The Tiger II and Tiger I need no introduction, but the Maus is the star of this Formation. The Maus is very thickly armoured (Front 20, Side 13, Top 1), but its massive size slows it down (Tactical move 8”/20cm). It is armed with the same powerful 12.8cm gun as the Jagdtiger (Range 48”/120cm, ROF 2/1 Slow Firing, AT 18, FP 2+ Brutal). The 12.8cm gun also has the Accurate rule (no To Hit penalty for range over 16”/40cm for Halted ROF). It also has a co-axial 75mm gun for when you don’t new quite that much power (Range 24”/60cm, ROF 2/1, AT 7, FP 3+), plus a machine-gun. The Formation can also take anti-aircraft tanks and infantry. Almost as massive, but probably a bit more practical is the E-100 heavy tank. The E-100 Heavy Tank Company has a similar organisation to the Formation above, exchanging the Maus for the E-100. The E-100 heavy tank has a little less armour than the Maus (Front 18, Side 9, Top 2), but it gains in mobility (Tactical move 10”/25cm). The large E-100 turret can be fitted with the same 12.8cm gun as the Maus, or with heavier 15cm gun (Range 36”/90cm, ROF 1/-, AT 26, FP Auto Brutal, with Accurate). The 15cm cannot move and shoot, but destroys anything it hits when it does fire. The Panther (8.8cm) Tank Company field a mix of Panther tanks, including those fitted with Infra-Red night vision equipment. The new kid on the block is the Panther (8.8cm) tank. This Panther mounts a new narrow turret mounting the same long 8.8cm gun found in the Tiger II (Range 48”/120cm, ROF 2/1, AT 17, FP 3+, with Accurate).

It was not only tanks that the German had been designing, they had also been looking at improvements to their tank-hunters. The first of these to feature in Leviathans is the Jagdpanzer E-100. This features in the Jagdpanzer E-100 Tank-hunter Company. The Formation can also field the lighter Skorpion tank-hunter (see below) as well as it own Wirbelwind or Ostwind AA tanks. The Jagdpanzer E-100 is based on the same hull as the E-100 heavy tank, but mounting a large 17cm gun in a super structure towards the rear instead of a turret. The 17cm gun is another hard-hitting gun (Range 32”/80cm, ROF 1/-, AT 25, FP Auto Brutal, with Accurate). Like the 15cm in the E-100 tank, the 17cm in the Jagdpanzer E-100 destroys almost anything it hits, but cannot fire on the move. The other tank-hunter Formation is the Skorpion Tank-hunter Company. This Formation can take a mix of the new Skorpion, Jagdpanther, and Panzer IV/70 tank-hunters, with its own AA tanks. The Skorpion mounts a 12.8cm anti-tank gun (Range 48”/120cm, ROF 2/1 Slow Firing, AT 18, FP 2+ Brutal) in a light open turret on a modified Panther hull. It retains the mobility of the Panther, but with the fire power of the Jagdtiger. However, in trade it is very lightly armoured (Front 4, Side 2, Top 2). The last new German Formation is the Kätzchen Panzersturm Company. Similar to other Panzersturm companies its Sturmgrenadier are armed with StG44 assault rifles and infra-red night vision equipment. However, they have a few additions to their arsenal. They have the option to upgrade their Panzerfausts to Panzerfaust 250 with increased range (8”/20cm) and anti-tank (AT 16). They can also be mounted in the Kätzchen armoured transports. The Kätzchen is built on a modified Panzer 38(t) hull and is vast armour improvement over the Sd Kfz 251 half-track (Front 4, Side 2, Top 0) they can also additionally to machine-guns, be armed with the X7 Rotkäppchen anti-tank missile (Range 16”/40cm to 28”/70cm, ROF 1/-, AT 16 HEAT, with Guided) giving enough firepower to deal with all but the heaviest enemy tanks.

The last new German Formation is the Kätzchen Panzersturm Company. Similar to other Panzersturm companies its Sturmgrenadier are armed with StG44 assault rifles and infra-red night vision equipment. However, they have a few additions to their arsenal. They have the option to upgrade their Panzerfausts to Panzerfaust 250 with increased range (8”/20cm) and anti-tank (AT 16). They can also be mounted in the Kätzchen armoured transports. The Kätzchen is built on a modified Panzer 38(t) hull and is vast armour improvement over the Sd Kfz 251 half-track (Front 4, Side 2, Top 0) they can also additionally to machine-guns, be armed with the X7 Rotkäppchen anti-tank missile (Range 16”/40cm to 28”/70cm, ROF 1/-, AT 16 HEAT, with Guided) giving enough firepower to deal with all but the heaviest enemy tanks.

German Models Like the British and Americans, the new models in Leviathans are either available from the Flames Of War range or the Clash of Steel range. In addition to all the German models currently available in the Flames Of War German Late-war range, the new addition is the GE280 Kätzchen Armoured Personnel Carriers (x2). From the Clash of Steel range, you can purchase Maus Heavy Tank Platoon (x2) (CSG01), Panther (8.8cm) Tank Platoon (x3 Panther (8.8cm), Panther (late 7.5cm), or Jagdpanther (8.8cm)) (CSG02), E-100 Heavy Tank Platoon (x2) (CSG09), and Skorpion Tank-hunter Platoon (x3) (CSG10). The Jagdpanzer E-100 Tank-hunter Platoon (x2) (CSG11) will be out with the third Clash of Steel release in 2025. See the Leviathan catalogue bundled with the book for more details.

The Soviets When anybody thinks of Soviet tanks that didn’t quite make it into the war, the IS-3 Heavy tank immediately comes to mind. This is our first port of call when looking through the Soviet Formations in Leviathans. IS-3 tank takes what is good about the IS-2 and improves further on it. It has increased armour protection (Front 14, Side 9, Top 2), while maintaining good tactical mobility (Tactical move 10”/25cm). It retains the same powerful gun (Range 28”/70cm, ROF 1/1 Slow Firing, AT 14, FP 2+ Brutal). The Formation allows you to field these mixed with IS-2 (late) tanks and take supporting SMG infantry. The next Formation has an even more powerful IS tank, the IS-7. The IS-7 is longer and wider with a large dome shaped turret. It continues the well-shaped sloped armour of the IS-3 with additional thickness giving it excellent protection (Front 19, Side 13, Top 2). To give it better power projection than the earlier marks, the IS-7 is armed with a long 130mm gun (Range 36”/90cm, ROF 2/1 Slow Firing, AT 18, FP 2+). The 130mm gun’s two-part ammunition is loaded by two loaders assisted by a mechanical conveyor allowing the tank to maintain a good moving rate-of-fire. The third heavy tank Formation is the T-10 Guards Heavy Tank Regiment. The T-10 is the last in the IS line of heavy tank development, initially being known as the IS-8. The T-10 shares more with the IS-3 than the IS-7, being armed with a new improved 122mm gun (Range 32”/80cm, ROF 1/1 Slow Firing, AT 15, FP 2+ Brutal). However, like the IS-7 it takes the shape and slope of the IS-3 armoured and further improves on it (Front 16, Side 12, Top 2). It wasn’t only the heavy tanks that were being developed further, the medium tanks had been under going rapid development during the war. Some of these, such as the T-43 lent its turret to make the T-34/85, its next evolution would lead to a whole series of medium and main battle tanks. The T-44 was designed as a replacement for the T-34/85. It improved further on its mobility (Tactical move 12”/30cm) and armour (Front 10, Side 7, Top 2), while keeping the same excellent 85mm gun (Range 28”/70cm, ROF 2/1, AT 12, FP 3+). This Formation follows the pattern of other Soviet medium tank battalions, with AA, anti-tank, and infantry options. Your second compulsory armour Unit can by T-38/85 tanks instead of T-44. The next step in improving the T-44 was to mount a more powerful gun in it. This led to the T-44/100, with further enhancements became the T-54-1. The T-54-1 mounts a 100mm gun in a new sloped turret while maintaining the same hull as the T-44. The 100mm gun was a modified version of the gun found in the SU-100 tank-killer (Range 32/80cm, ROF 1/1 Slow Firing, AT 15. FP 2+). This Formation can have T-54-1 and T-44 tanks mix as well as AA, anti-tank, and infantry.

The ISU Heavy SP Artillery Regiment Formation will be familiar, but with one new addition, the ISU-130. The ISU-130 mounts a similar gun to the IS-7, but within the limited space of the ISU fighting compartment. The gun has good anti-tank and range (Range 36”/90cm, ROF 1/1 Slow Firing, AT 18, FP 2+) and additional can fire as artillery (Range 72”/180cm, AT 2, FP 3+, with Forward Firing). Its armour and mobility remain the same as the ISU-122 and ISU-152. Our last Soviet Formation finally introduces a truly motorised Motor Rifle Battalion. The Hero BTR Motor Rifle Battalion mounts its HQ and Rifle Companies in BTR-152 armoured transporters. The BTR-152 is an armoured cross-country truck, much like a US or German half-track, but with dual wheels at the rear rather than tracks. It has enough armour to protect its passengers (Front 1, Side 1, Top 0), of which it can carry four teams, and it is also armed with a machine-gun. The Hero BTR Motor Rifle Company is also armed with the RPG-1, the first Soviet built infantry anti-tank weapon. The Formation also has another new anti-tank weapon, the 82mm B-10 recoilless gun in its own anti-tank company. The B-10 is light and man-portable, while being an effective anti-tank weapon (Range 20”/50cm, ROF 2/1, AT 11 HEAT, FP 3+). The Soviets also have a new weapon in their support Units. The 3M6 Shmel Tank-killer Company is GAZ light truck mounted 3M6 Shmel anti-tank guided missiles (Range 16’/40cm to 36”/90cm, ROF 1/-, AT 16 HEAT, FP 4+, with Guided). Missiles require time to stabilise their flight and get on target, so they cannot hit targets at shorter ranges. However, they do not suffer a penalty to hit at ranges over 16”/40cm.

Soviet Models Like the other nations, for the Soviets the new models in Leviathans are either available from the Flames Of War range or the Clash of Steel range. In addition to all the Soviets models currently available in the Flames Of War Soviet Late-war range, the new additions are the BTR-152 Armoured Personnel Carriers (x2) (SU252), GAZ Jeep with 3M6 Shmel ATGW (x3) (SU150), 82mm B-10 Recoilless Rifle (x4) (SU811), and RPG Anti-tank Teams (x5) (SSO218). From the Clash of Steel range, you can purchase IS-3 Heavy Tank Company (x5) (CSS01), ISU-130 Heavy SP Battery (x5 ISU-130, ISU-122, or ISU 152) (CSS02), T-54-1 Tank Company (x5 T-44 (85mm) or T-54-1 (100mm)) (CSS03), IS-7 Heavy Tank Company (x5) (CSS07). The T-10 Heavy Tank Company (x5) (CSS08) will be out with the third Clash of Steel release in 2025. See the Leviathan catalogue bundled with the book for more details. Plus, inside Leviathans you will also find useful Painting and Basing guides.

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