Basing Early and Late-war Forces For 4th Edition

Basing Early and Late-war Forces For 4th Edition For those Flames Of War enthusiasts that are keen on playing Early or Late-war using the 4th Edition rules, we've created a quick and simple guide on how to base your forces correctly. This guide covers infantry teams, gun teams, motorcycle reconnaissance teams and vehicle basing.

Infantry Teams Infantry are expected to close with the enemy, either on foot or on horseback, and destroy them. The soldiers fight in small, mutually-supporting groups and fire teams. In a Flames Of War battle, miniature soldiers operate in teams mounted together on a common base. The size of the base depends on the number and type of troops and weapons in the team.

Small Infantry Teams  Infantry teams of one to three miniatures have a small base and face the long edge.

Below: A Bazooka team.	Below: A PIAT team.	Below: A Light mortar team.

Large Infantry Teams Infantry teams of four or five miniatures have a medium base and face the long edge.

Below: A German Rifle/MG team.	Below: A Hungarian Rifle/MG team.

Small Cavalry Teams Cavalry teams of one or two miniatures have a medium base and face the short edge. These teams dismount as Infantry teams of two or three miniatures.

Below: A small Polish cavalry team.	Below: A small Romanian cavalry team.

Large Cavalry Teams Cavalry teams with three or four miniatures have a large base and face the short edge. These teams dismount as Infantry teams of four or five miniatures.

Below: A large Romanian cavalry team.	Below: A large Polish cavalry team.

Gun Teams Gun teams are weapons intended to fight the enemy at a distance, such as heavy machine-guns, mortars, antitank guns, anti-aircraft guns, rockets, and artillery. Each Gun team is mounted on a base to keep the gun and crew together. The size of the base depends on the size of the weapon and its crew as shown in the Intelligence Briefing. Teams That Don’t Fit If a team cannot easily fit on the normal base you might need to rotate the base so they face the short edge or use a larger base. Some gun teams have particularly large crews, making it easier to mount some of the crew on an additional medium base. Any extra bases like this are ignored during play.

Man-packed Gun Teams Man-packed Gun teams such as HMG and Mortar teams have a medium base and face the long edge.

Below: A British Para HMG team.	Below: A German mortar team.

Heavy Mortar Teams Mortars that are not Man-Packed Guns have a large base and face the short edge.

Below: A Soviet heavy mortar team.	Below: An American chemical mortar team.

Small Gun Teams Other Gun teams with four crew have a medium base and face the short edge.

Below: A British 2 pdr Anti-tank gun.	Below: A German 5cm PaK 38 Anti-tank gun.

Large Gun Teams All Gun teams with five or more crew have a large base and face the short edge.

Below: A German 8.8cm PaK 43 Anti-tank gun.	Below: An American M2A1 105mm howitzer.

Motorcycle Reconnaissance Teams Infantry mounted on fast-moving vehicles like motorcycles and jeeps are the ideal support for armoured cars. They have the speed to keep up, are usually well-armed to fight mounted, and can dismount when needed to clear stubborn enemy positions. In Flames Of War, these Motorcycle Reconnaissance teams are a type of Tank team. Motorcycle Reconnaissance teams are unusual in that they are always based as shown below.

Small Motorcycle Reconnaissance Teams Motorcycle Reconnaissance teams with a single motorcycle and sidecar or jeep have a medium base and face the short edge. These teams dismount as Infantry teams of two or three miniatures.

Large Motorcycle Reconnaissance Teams Motorcycle Reconnaissance teams with two motorcycles and sidecars or jeeps have a large base and face the short edge. These teams dismount as Infantry teams of four or five miniatures.

Vehicle Basing Vehicles are not normally mounted on bases in Flames Of War, although some vehicles are cast with a base. You can base other vehicles too if you want, but bases on vehicles have no effect on the game. Some self-propelled artillery pieces don’t have room on the vehicle for the entire crew. You can either model these on a large base containing both the vehicle and crew, or model the loading crew on a separate base.

Below: A Soviet BM-31-12 rocket launcher.	Below: An American M12 155mm GMC.
Now that you know how to base your miniatures correctly, it's time to deploy them on the Flames Of War battlefield and try the 4th Edition rules for yourself. Enjoy!