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Products mentioned in this Article
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Early-war
Landing Page
(Clicking on the logos below to view website content
related to each book.)
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Early-war Books (Click on the images below to read
the Design Notes for each of the Early-war books.) |
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Hellfire and Back Design
Notes
Hellfire and Back was an interesting project for me as it was
my first book for Early-war. This made it a somewhat different
experience to my previous books as the lead writer. Luckily I had Phil
and Mike on hand to offer helpful suggestions as well as our very
knowledgeable playtesters and contributors.
We named Hellfire and Back after Halfaya Pass, which was
called ‘Hellfire Pass’ by the Commonwealth soldiers. It is mentioned
again and again through the histories of the Desert War in 1940 and
1941. One side or the other was always passing through it and it was the
focal point of many a battle during these turbulent two years.
Hellfire and Back covers the battles in
Libya and Egypt between the Italian invasion of Egypt on 13 September
1940 until the end of Operation Crusader at the end of December 1941.
During that time both the Allies and Axis raced backwards and forwards
across the desert, each achieving overwhelming victories only to see the
other side recover to come back at them once again.
Hellfire and Back
Design Notes... |
Hellfire and Back Overview
Wayne and Casey take a quick look at what you can expect to see in Hellfire and
Back. |
The Italians
Wayne and Casey take a quick look at what you can expect to see from the Italian
lists. |
The
Germans
Wayne and Casey take a quick look at what you can expect to see from the
Germans lists.
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The British
Wayne and Casey take a quick look at what you can expect to see from
the British lists.
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Design Notes
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Burning Empires Design
Notes
Burning Empires is a different sort of book than you might be expecting. Think
of this book as ‘Part II’, or a compendium, to Hellfire and Back. It covers all
major forces that fought in the Mediterranean Theatre during 1940 and 1941 that are not covered in
Hellfire and Back, such as the Fucilieri, Greeks, and French. With these two books you should be able to
field all of the major forces in the region.
Burning Empires
Design Notes...
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Burning Empires: The Allies
Mike takes a quick look at what you can expect
to see in the Allied lists covered by the new Early War book Burning
Empires.
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Burning
Empires: The Axis
Mike takes a quick look at what you can expect
to see in the Axis lists covered by the new Early War book Burning Empires. |
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Burning Empires:
Raiding
Mike takes a quick look at what you can expect to see in
the Raiding lists covered by the new Early War book Burning Empires. |
Raider's Campaign Pack
Unboxed
Sean takes a quick look at what you can expect to see in the Raiding
Aces Raiders Campaign Pack for use with the Raiding forces from the
Early War book Burning Empires. |
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Building an OSS Operational Group
One of the Special Forces included in Burning
Empires is the American
OSS Operational Group. Though US were a late-comer to the raiding war,
they adapted quickly and the fledgling Office of Strategic Services (or
OSS) fielded several Operational Groups in Corsica, Sardinia, and Italy
during the Mid War period.
Building an OSS Operational Group...
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Building a Compagnia
Mitraglieri
One of the Special Forces included in Burning Empires is the Compagnia
Mitraglieri. The Mitraglieri (translated as machine-gun), were the main stay of Italian defences in the
Sahara. They had plenty of firepower to contend with enemy infantry and provided the more mobile truck
and camel-mounted troops with a safe haven.
Building a Compagnia
Mitraglieri...
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Building a Brandenburger
Halbkompanie
One of the Special Forces included in Burning Empires is the Brandenburger
Halbkompanie (Half Company). These sneaky German troops fought wearing the uniform of their opponents
over their own. They would infiltrate behind enemy lines and secure important crossings and objectives
before getting rid of their disguises to defend what they captured.
Building a
Brandenburger Halbkompanie...
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Raiding with Regular
Forces
Burning Empires covers many of the active raiding forces during the
Mediterranean campaign; however there were lots of other units that did their fair share of raiding
during the first few years of the war. Listed below are a few regular forces can be found in other
Flames Of War books, which launched raids similar to those of the LRDG and SAS.
Raiding with Regular
Forces...
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Design Notes
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Rising Sun Design
Notes
Rising Sun is the latest intelligence handbook for Flames Of War and the fourth
book for Early War. It is the first of two books that will cover the fighting in the east centred on the
Soviet Union. In a departure from the previous Early War books, where we have handled each theatre in
one large volume, this time were decided to divide the fighting between the Soviet Union’s early
fighting on the its border in 1939 and 1940, and Operation Barbarossa when the Germans invaded in 1941.
Soviet expansion led to wars against Poland and Finland. In the far-east the Soviet Union shared a
border with Manchukuo (Manchuria), a puppet-state of Japan and tensions eventually exploded into war
1939 between Japan and the Soviet Union.
Rising Sun Design
Notes...
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Articles
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The Raising Of The Rising
Sun:
Introducing Japanese National Special
Rules
Introducing a new nationality to Flames Of War means we have to create a new
batch of National Special Rules for them.
The
Raising Of The Rising Sun...
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Fun Under The Sun: Part One
Tactical Tips on Fielding Japanese Forces in Flames
Of War
The Japanese began the war with the European powers in the Pacific with a
string of successes as stunning as those of the Blitzkrieg and
ultimately as illusory. These were founded on rapid manoeuvring into a
position of advantage. Once attaining a position of advantage the
Japanese deployed rapidly and executed attacks with vigour and ferocity.
Fun Under The Sun:
Part One...
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Fun Under The Sun:
Part Two
Tactical Tips on Fielding Japanese Forces in Flames
Of War
Russell Briant give his
take on the Fearless Veteran Infantry Company option, the 7th Division Hohei Chutai, building a
1500 point list and explains how they use the Japanese Special Rules.
Fun Under The Sun: Part Two... |
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Painting Japanese
James and Mark demonstrate how to paint Japanese infantry and tanks for Flames
Of War.
Painting
Japanese...
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Japanese!:
I Have A Few Ideas For Those!
The release of Battlefront’s new Early-war handbook for Flames Of War,
Rising Sun, sees the arrival of the Japanese on the scene. While the Japanese forces in Rising Sun are
intended to be used for the Nomonhan / Khalkin Gol conflict with the Soviet Union, it is not the only
conflict you can use the new Japanese Intelligence Briefings and miniatures.
Japanese! I Have A
Few Ideas For Those!...
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An
Incident At Lake Khasan
Between May and September 1939 the Soviets fought an undeclared border war with
Japanese forces in Manchuria, which would become known as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol or the Nomonhan
Incident.
An Incident At Lake
Khasan...
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Refighting The Battles At
Lake Khasen
The Lake Khasan battles present number of scenarios that can be used to create
interesting, challenging and fun gaming opportunities.
Refighting The
Battles At Lake Khasen...
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Surviving
The Purges:
Marching Forward with the Early-war
Motostrelkovy
The late thirties and the initial phases of World War Two were periods of great
turmoil for the Red Army. Having to quickly adapt itself not only to the new demands of mechanised
warfare but also rebuild its cadre of officers after the Stalinist purges. This massive but unprepared
Soviet war machine had to prove himself in border conflicts against Poland, Finland and in the Far East
before receiving a full scale invasion from Germany and their allies in 1941. With the release of Rising
Sun last year the Soviets made a dramatic entrance into Early-war as the Flames Of War players were able
to re-create the Red Army conflicts of the 1939-40 periods.
Surviving The
Purges...
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Designing The Winter War
Finns
The Winter War Finns featured in Rising Sun were my second opportunity to try my
hand at sculpting a figure range (the first being Vietnam Anzacs for Tour of Duty). I knew a lot of
people were eagerly awaiting these figures, and I didn’t want anyone to be disappointed. So I
started with a lot of research. For information on uniforms and equipment, Osprey’s Men-At-Arms
series is always an excellent starting point.
Designing The Winter
War Finns...
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Poland Invaded!:
Early War Soviet Infantry
Forces
On 17 September 1939 the Soviet Red Army invaded Poland. Earlier in the year
they had concluded an agreement with the Germans after negotiations with the British, French and
Romanians had fallen through to form an alliance to counter German aggression in Eastern Europe. Instead
the Soviets approached the Germans and concluded an agreement known as the Molotov–Ribbentrop
Pact.
Poland Invaded!...
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Battlefront TV Visit the Battlefront TV channel on YouTube here... |
Painting Japanese Tanks
James shows how to paint a Japanese Type 97
Chi-Ha tank from Rising Sun. He gives some tips on good ways to paint
bright yellow and demonstrates how to do an oil-based pin wash. |
Painting Japanese
Infantry
James shows how to paint Japanese infantry like the ones
in Rising Sun.
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Painting Finnish Infantry
James demonstrates how to paint Battlefront's new Winter War Finnish infantry,
including an effective method for painting white, and how to do snow basing.
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Product Spotlights (Click on the product images
below to learn more.)
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Last Updated On Thursday, October 9, 2014 by Blake at Battlefront
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