Purchase these Items

Products mentioned in this Article

--None--
 

 

Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)

Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
includes three individually sculpted M7 Priest HMC with crew, one Observer M4 Sherman OP tank, one Command Carbine team, one Staff team, two Rare earth magnets, four plastic Sherman component sprues, one Decal sheet, one Medium four-hole base & one Small three-hole base.

By 1940 the landscape of modern warfare had changed. The use of ‘Blitzkreig’ tactics by the German in their conquest of Northern Europe meant it was vital for supporting units to keep pace with the armoured spearhead to maintain the momentum of an attack
The Battle of the Bulge
In December 1944 the German forces were supposed to be on the back foot, so their desperate push in the Ardennes took the Allies by surprise. Desperate defence by the American and British Commonwealth forces gradually turned to counterattack as they fought to erase the 'Bulge'.

Learn more about The Battle of the Bulge here...

Battle of the Bulge: Allied Forces on the German border, September 1944 – February 1945
US tank officers were all too aware of this fact and requested artillery weapons that could keep pace with the rapid advance of the tanks. The first attempt at mechanisation resulted in the T19 105mm HMC; a M3 105mm howitzer paired with a M3 half-track. Far from satisfied with this design, the Ordnance Department hit pay dirt by mounting the same 105mm howitzer to the M3 tank chassis (and later the M4 chassis).

The Armored Artillery Battery is no longer in production and has been replaced by the M7 Priest Artillery Battery (UBX54)...
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
This design was known as the M7 105mm HMC and first entered combat during the campaign in Sicily in July 1943 and served with distinction in both the European and Pacific theatres throughout the course of the war. The M7 105mm HMC however, would prove to be only self-propelled artillery piece of note in the US Army during World War Two with over 4000 vehicles being produced by the end of the war.

Designed by Evan Allen & James Brown
Painted by Ruben Torregrosa
The M7 Priest HMC
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
The self-propelled M7 Priest HMC is an essential arm of American combat commands. They followed the advance and gave immediate support when needed. Often batteries from corps were also attached to add even more firepower.
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
The M7 Priest HMC in Flames Of War
      Armour
   
Name
Mobility
Front
Side
Top
Equipment and Notes
Weapon
Range
ROF
Anti-tank
Firepower

M7 Priest HMC Standard Tank 1 0 0 .50 cal AA MG.
M2A1 105mm howitzer 24"/60cm
1
9
2+
Breakthrough gun, Hull mounted, Smoke.
Firing bombardments
72"/180cm
-
4
4+
Smoke bombardment.
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
Hull-mounted Guns
Some tanks mount weapons in the front of the hull instead of in a turret to save weight or to make them easier to produce.


A hull-mounted weapon mounted in the front of a vehicle has a 180-degree Field of Fire covering everything in front of a line drawn across the front of the vehicle. If the weapon is mounted at the rear of the vehicle, the Field of Fire covers everything to the rear of a line drawn across the rear of the vehicle.
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
No Saves from Big Guns
Some weapons are just so powerful that there is no chance of surviving a hit from them. These heavy guns are often mounted in tanks and self-propelled guns designed to break through enemy defensive lines.

Infantry teams, Gun teams, Passengers, and Unarmoured vehicles automatically fail their Saves when hit by a Breakthrough Gun or a Bunker Buster. This does not apply to Artillery Bombardments.
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
Smoke
Sometimes your weapons won’t destroy the enemy quickly enough to prevent them from wreaking havoc on your own troops first. One way to protect your troops in the meanwhile is to fire smoke at the enemy to temporarily impair their vision.

Only weapons listed as having the Smoke attribute in their Arsenal may fire smoke. Some weapons can also fire Smoke Bombardments (see page 136 of the main rulebook).
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
AA MG (Anti-aircraft MG)
Many vehicles are fitted with anti-aircraft machine-guns to protect the crews from strafing and dive-bombing aircraft. These are fired by the crew from the open hatches of their vehicles. Manning the anti-aircraft machine-gun during an assault invites a grenade through the open hatch if the defensive fire isn’t effective.


An AA MG has an all-round Field of Fire and is a Self-defence Anti-aircraft weapon (see page 182 of the rulebook) allowing it to engage aircraft as well as targets on the ground. However, firing an AA MG leaves the vehicle more vulnerable. In assaults a tank that fired an AA MG in this or the previous player’s turn has a Top armour rating of 0.

Anti-aircraft machine-guns can be fired at the same time as other machine-guns, but not at the same time as a Main Gun, since the commander and gun crew cannot do two things at once.
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
The Observer M4 Sherman OP
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
The M4 Sherman OP in Flames Of War
      Armour
   
Name
Mobility
Front
Side
Top
Equipment and Notes
Weapon
Range
ROF
Anti-tank
Firepower

M4 Sherman OP Standard Tank 6 4 1 Co-ax MG, Hull MG, .50 cal AA MG.
M3 75mm gun
32"/80cm
1
10
3+
Smoke.
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
The Command Carbine Team
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
Staff Teams
To do their job, a staff team needs lots of maps, plotting boards, charts and tables, not to mention radios and telephones. All this equipment prevents them from being very mobile or effective in combat.


Although they are an Infantry team, Staff teams are part of their Artillery platoon and move slowly as if they were a Heavy Gun team. A Staff team can shoot as a Rifle team, but cannot function as a Staff team in the turn it does so.

A Staff team can function just as well when it is mounted in its own Transport team as it can when Dismounted (as long as it is not Bailed Out or Bogged Down), but cannot function at all when mounted in another Transport team.
The Staff Team
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
All Guns Repeat!
If the spotter successfully ranged the artillery in last turn, the staff team can order all of their guns to repeat the bombardment on exactly the same place. The target coordinates for a repeat bombardment are exactly the same as the previous bombardment, meaning all weapons can fire again quickly and effectively.


An Artillery platoon with a Staff team may Repeat an Artillery Bombardment fired in the previous turn.

Because a Repeated Bombardment Ranged In on a previous turn, it automatically Ranges In on the first attempt this turn.

The Repeated Bombardment must use the same Spotting team as the original Artillery Bombardment, and it must still meet the other requirements for a Spotting team (see page 126 of the rulebook).

All Artillery teams that fired the original Bombardment that still can must fire in the Repeated Bombardment, and no other teams may be added to the Bombardment.

The Repeated Bombardment must use the same Template (see page 130 of the rulebook) as the previous turn’s Bombardment, unless there are insufficient weapons still firing.

The Repeated Bombardment is centred on the original Aiming Point, regardless of whether or not the enemy team that was originally targeted is still there or not.
The Armored Artillery Battery Prepare To Range In On The Enemy
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
The Contents of the Armored Artillery Battery Box Set
Contact the customer service team at [email protected] if you have any issues with any of the components.
The Observer M4 Sherman OP
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
Description of Components
a. 1x Plastic Sherman sprue.
b.
1x 75mm main gun.
c. 1x Observer M4 Sherman OP tank commander.
d. 1x Observer M4 Sherman OP resin hull and turret.
e. 2x Rare earth magnets.
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)

The Plastic Sherman Sprue
The parts of the plastic Sherman sprue that are used when assembling the Observer M4 Sherman OP are highlighted in green.


Right: The highlighted parts of the plastic Sherman sprue used in the construction the Observer M4 Sherman OP.

Assembling The M4 Sherman OP
Step 1. Begin assembly by attaching the tracks to the hull of the Observer M4 Sherman OP.

Note: Each track has a number of lugs on the back that corresponds with the recesses in the hull to aid in correct orientation.
Below: The correct alignment for the left-hand side track. Below: The correct alignment for the right-hand side track. Below: The right-hand side track attached to the hull.
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
Below: The left-hand side track attached to the hull. Step 2. Next, attach the 75mm main gun.
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
Step 3. Finally, add the tank commander to the turret.

Note: The turret and cupola have been keyed to fit together so not to be used on another model.
Below: With the tank commander in place, the Observer M4 Sherman OP is fully assembled and ready for painting.
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)

Adding Rare-earth Magnets To The Observer M4 Sherman OP
Evan has created a recess for a rare earth magnet in the hull of the Observer M4 Sherman OP included in the box set.

Read Chris' guide to Rare Earth Magnets here for more tips and tricks...

Right: The magnet recess in the Observer M4 Sherman OP complete with magnet.

Far right: Simply glue a rare earth magnet to the bottom of the turret and you have a safe and secure way of attaching the turret to the hull.
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
The M7 Priest HMC
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
Description of Components
a. 3x Crew figures with hands on hips.
b. 3x Crew figures with hand out.
c. 3x Crew figures holding shell.
d. 3x MG ring.
e.
3x 105mm main gun.
f. 3x Plastic Sherman sprues.
g. 1x Resin M7 Priest HMC Type B.
h. 1x Resin M7 Priest HMC Type C.
i. 1x Resin M7 Priest HMC Type D.

The Plastic Sherman Sprue
The parts of the plastic Sherman sprue that are used when assembling the M7 Priest HMC are highlighted in green.


Right: The highlighted parts of the plastic Sherman sprue used in the construction the M7 Priest HMC.

Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
Note: On the lower half of the hull on the left-hand side, each hull is marked with either the letter B, C or D.
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
Assembling the M7 Priest HMC
Step 1. Begin assembly by attaching the tracks to the hull of the M7 Priest HMC.

Note: Each track has a number of lugs on the back that corresponds with the recesses in the hull to aid in correct orientation.
Below: The correct alignment for the left-hand side track. Below: The correct alignment for the right-hand side track. Below: The right-hand side track attached to the hull.
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
Below: The left-hand side track attached to the hull. Step 2. Next, attach the 105mm main gun. The hull has two small notch in the gun cradle where the gun barrel rests.
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
Below: The 105mm main gun in place. Step 3. Time to attach the MG ring; this attached to the hull on the front right-hand side of the hull. Step 4. Next, attached the .50 cal AA MG to the MG ring.
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
Step 5. Finally, add the crew to the fighting compartment of the M7 Priest HMC. With the crew in place, the M7 Priest HMC to ready for painting.
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12) Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)

Command Team
Description of Components
a. 1x Officier figure pointing.
b. 1x Standing Rifleman figure.
c. 1x Rifleman figure with hand on hip.
d. 1x Small three-hole base.

Assembling the Command Team
Simply arrange one of figure A along with figure B and one of figure C to taste on the small three-hole base provided.

Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)
Description of Components
a. 1x Table leg sprue.
b.
1x Tabletop.
c. 1x Stool.
d.
1x Seated Radioman figure.
e. 1x Standing Rifleman figure.
f. 1x Rifleman figure with hand on hip.
g. 1x Officier figure pointing.
h. 1x Medium four-hole base.
Assembling the Staff Team
On the medium four-hole base provided, arrange figures D, E, F and G around  the Staff team table.
The Decal Sheet
The Armored Artillery Battery contain one American decal sheet.

Right: A example of the decal sheet included in the Armored Artillery Battery box set.


Learn how to apply decals here...
Armored Artillery Battery (UBX12)


Last Updated On Thursday, December 14, 2017 by Chris at Battlefront