Building a force with the M4 Sherman Forward Detachment Army Deal

Berlin: Soviet 

Building a force with the M4 Sherman Forward Detachment Army Deal 
With John Lee 

With the launch of the Berlin: Soviet release, I thought I would look at how a new player, or someone on a budget, can get a Soviet force on the table that would be semi-competitive or at least hold its own with the focus on the new shiny plastic Soviet M4 Sherman.  For the new player, it opens the door to playing Flames of War without needing to buy, assemble or paint too much and get into playing the game quicker.

So, if we look at what we get in the excellent value army deal (M4 Sherman Forward Detachment), that will help decide what formations to run.  The army deal contains the following:

  • Complete A5 Rulebook

  • Soviet “Start Here” booklet

  • 2 x PPSh SMG Teams

  • 1 x Komissar Team

  • 7 x DPMG & M1891 Rifle Teams

  • 4 x M4 Sherman Tanks
  • 3 x T-70 Tanks

  • 3 x ZSU M17 Self-Propelled Anti-aircraft Vehicle

  • 3 x SU-100 Assault Guns

  • 2 x Katyusha Rocket Launchers

  • 2 x Decal Sheets

  • 10 x Unit Cards

SUAB16 M4 Sherman Forward Detachment
The bonus here is that the rulebook is included in the box – so the new player makes a saving right away.  Now if we look at what formations are in the Berlin: Soviet book, we can see what we can maximize from what we get in the army deal.  The most obvious formation is the M4 Sherman Forward Detachment, but we will also explore the T-34 Forward Detachment and Hero Guards Motor Rifle Battalion.  We will look at options for 100pts.
Before diving into the formations, let's look at the new kit in the army deal for this release.  The M4 Sherman comprises two sprues.  The core M4A3 sprue with an additional sprue to make it the M4A2 tank that the Soviets actually used.  You can make either the 75mm or 76mm version (swap the turrets out as you need).  It has FA7 and either AT10 or AT12 depending on the gun you choose.  .50cal for self-defence AA or anti-infantry work and it also has a better remount of 3+ with the protected ammo rule.
M4 Sherman 'Emcha'

Onto the formations now and looking at the M4 Sherman Forward Detachment first, let us look at what units comprise this formation:

  • 1 M4 Sherman Forward Detachment HQ or Motor Rifle Forward Detachment HQ

  • 1 Hero M4 Sherman Tank Company or Hero M4 Sherman (76mm) Tank Company

  • 1 Hero Guards Motor Rifle Company or Hero Guards SMG Company

  • 0-1 Hero M4 Sherman Tank Company or Hero M4 Sherman (76mm) Tank Company or Hero Valentine Tank Company

  • 0-1 SU-76 Light SP Battery or Hero SU-76 Light SP Battery

  • 0-1 ZSU M17 Anti-Aircraft Platoon

  • 0-1 82mm Mortar Company

Based on the formation and what we get in the army, we can use all the army deal box and add a couple of extra boxes to get to 100pts!

M4 Sherman Forward Detachment

M4 Sherman Forward Detachment

There are six units for the formation break!  Infantry equipped with panzerfausts with limited 2 meaning the HQ and the Infantry company can fire twice in each step.  Two units of M4 Shermans with 76mm to provide light and medium anti-tank support.  Two indirect templates with the Su-76s (also providing light and medium anti-tank support) and Katyushas.  ZSU M17s to provide AA support alongside the T-70s, light anti-tank and anti-infantry support.  The SU-100s provide heavy AT support with AT15.  This is a true Swiss army knife type of army with lots of different tools to get the job done – whether defending or attacking!

To buy this army you need only to purchase the following for $205:

1 x SUAB16 Soviet M4 Sherman Forward Detachment

110

1 x SBX84 M4 Sherman Tank Company

50

1 x SBX76 BA-64 Armoured Car Platoon

20

1 x FW274 Berlin Soviet Book

25

TOTAL

$205

To get some of the new IS-2 (Lates) into the force, we could swap out the SU-100s, Katyushas and BA-64 OP to get three IS-2 (Lates) with their FA11 and AT14 goodness.  Great assault tanks that provide a secondary option to the infantry for assaulting.  You would need to buy this box (SBX62 IS-2 Guards Heavy Tank Company) separately for $50 taking the amount to spend to $255.

Next up is the T-34 Forward Detachment.  This formation is very similar and comprised of:

  • 1 T-34 Forward Detachment HQ or Motor Rifle Forward Detachment HQ

  • 1 Hero T-34 Tank Company or Hero T-34 (85mm) Tank Company

  • 1 Hero Guards Motor Rifle Company or Hero Guards SMG Company

  • 0-1 Hero T-34 Tank Company or Hero T-34 (85mm) Tank Company or Hero T-70 Tank Company or Hero Valentine Tank Company

  • 0-1 SU-76 Light SP Battery or Hero SU-76 Light SP Battery

  • 0-1 ZSU M17 Anti-Aircraft Platoon

  • 0-1 82mm Mortar Company

By adding a few more boxes, we can still use everything from the to put together this formation:

T-34 Forward Detachment

T-34 Forward Detachment

This is nearly identical to the first list except that we have a mix of T-34s and M4 Shermans and the T-70s now in the formation to keep the formation break at six.  We have also added more BA-64s, so a useful unit running around causing some havoc!

To buy this army you need only to purchase the following for $225:

1 x SUAB16 Soviet M4 Sherman Forward Detachment

110

1 x SBX66 T-34 Tank Company

50

2 x SBX76 BA-64 Armoured Car Platoon

40

1 x FW274 Berlin Soviet Book

25

TOTAL

$225

We could also do the same trick here if you wanted to add IS-2 (Lates) to your force as above for the M4 Sherman Detachment list.  Another option is to remove the Hero M4 Sherman (76mm) and SU-100s plus the Maksim from the Infantry and reduce the BA-64s from seven to three to give us a company of nine M4 Sherman (76mm)!  This gives us a big unit of tanks to cause your opponent headaches!  You would need to buy this box (SBX84 M4 Sherman Tank Company) separately for $50 and remove one box of SBX76 BA-64 Armoured Car Platoon for -$20 taking the amount to spend to $235.

Finally, the Hero Guards Motor Rifle Battalion.  This formation is comprised of:

  • 1 Hero Guards Motor Rifle Battalion HQ

  • 2-3 Hero Motor Rifle Company

  • 0-1 Hero M4 Sherman Tank Company or Hero Sherman (76mm) Tank Company or Hero T-34 (85mm) Tank Company or Hero T-34 Tank Company or Hero T-70 Tank Company or Hero Valentine Tank Company

  • 0-1 Hero Guards SMG Company

  • 0-1 Maksim Machine-Gun Company

  • 0-1 82mm Mortar Company

  • 0-1 120mm Mortar Company or 82mm Mortar Company

  • 0-1 45mm Anti-tank Company or 57mm Anti-tank Company

  • 0-1 76mm Anti-tank Company

  • 0-1 Hero Armoured Reconnaissance Platoon or Hero Reconnaissance Platoon

  • 0-1 Hero BA-64 Armoured Car Platoon

  • 0-1 ZSU M17 Anti-aircraft Platoon

By getting an additional box of infantry, mortars, and armoured cars to add to our army deal, we can get a decent force together using this formation:

Hero Guards Motor Rifle Battalion

Hero Guards Motor Rifle Battalion

A solid formation of eight units for the formation break!  Two infantry units to attack or defend with FOUR indirect templates!  Everything out of the box is still used and is a scary infantry-based formation! 

To buy this army you need only to purchase the following for $235:

1 x SUAB16 Soviet M4 Sherman Forward Detachment

110

1 x SBX76 BA-64 Armoured Car Platoon

20

1 x SBX79 Rifle Company

65

1 x SU781 82mm and 120mm Mortar Company

15

1 x FW274 Berlin Soviet Book

25

TOTAL

$235

Again to change this up again, we can increase the infantry to full strength to give deadly attacking options and drop the Katyushas and all BA-64s (including OP).  Still have seven units for the formation break and three artillery templates!  We would save $20 as we no longer need the BA-64 box and we have plenty of rifle teams in the Rifle Company box.

There you have it – some options to ponder for getting started with different formations with the army deal.  Enjoy!

~ John Lee

Note: All prices are US dollar retail.