Josh

I didn't see the option for American platoons in the German force org, which surprised me. I did see the list of models being released for the Bundeswehr. They get pretty much everything this summer; Leo Is, various APCs SP rocket artillery, air support, Leo IIs. My wallet will be hate me, but I must have it all. I've never felt compelled to have everything since the Feldherrnhalle Panzerbrigade list came out, even then I didn't finish it. I can actually do a "historical" list based on the 35th Panzergrenadier Brigade, 12th Panzer Division (the "Franconian Division"), parts of which was stationed in Hammelburg, which is 25km away from where I'm from.

I am soooo stoked.

I've got about 2500 points of Barbarossa SS (I don't know how it happened, I swear!), and it's probably the most intimidating painting project I've ever undertaken. I've got most of it based and primed, some stuff is still in blisters. All that camo, and painting all the bases really slows it down. I did a big Normandy SS project back when I was in college, and I pounded it out in a week, but that was because I was an unemployed slob, and that was traumatizing. In kind of a funk lately, painted up some Soviet heavy rocket trucks and screwed them up at the end stage, and I need to strip them. Killed the motivation. I also need to strip my Panzer IVHs for Kublacon, and still haven't done that, and finish 10 IS-2 obr 44s for the 7th Ind Gds Regt in Berlin (which i'll never use, I just really like them) and the list goes on and on...

Actually, the Baltic and Scandinavian countries have been making some badass war movies very recently. Tali-Ihantala 1944 is excellent, they drive around all of their captured Soviet armor, which they kept after the war in running condition! Sooo cool to see T-34s and KV-1s driving around. Finnish movie. 1944 is an Estonian war movie, I've only watched the first 15 minutes or so, which is basically the opening battle scene. Pretty awesome. I saw both on Youtube, and I don't think there's an English version of either, not even subtitles. I thought they were still cool, and very well done.

US Airborne is SO EXPENSIVE. They stick around for a long time, sure, but if you lose one platoon, you've lost a huge chunk of points. I don't see how you're building a serious list without taking the Hellcats or a pimped out Sherman platoon (that's Trained) too, so there's a huge percentage of your points sunk into just a few platoons. It's hard to fit the real money makers into US lists too: the Field Artillery. The positives are the huge machine gun platoons that can get extra bazookas, and the Gammon Bombs. I never thought much of the special characters, except maybe Winters and the Toccoa sergeants. It's a bummer the 60mm mortar doesn't get DFS, then it would be killer. I've been playing US Rifles (normal leg infantry) since 2007, before it was cool, so I've got a bit of insight if anyone wants to compare notes.

Hey guys, if you can't find the books in print, you can find the briefings online. You can even print out your list and it will include the special rules and equipment pertinent to your army. There's easyarmy.com, which I don't think you can sign up for anymore. I've had an account for years, it's not being updated anymore since its replacement, but most of the lists are still good. There's also Forces of War, which is Battlefront's update version on their website. You can pay for individual lists, or entire books, for pretty cheap. I think I got all the Axis LW Italian theater lists for under $20, and there's DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE BRIEFINGS (WHICH KICK ASS)!!! The crappy thing for me is that I don't have internet at home so I can only look at this stuff when I'm at the bar or somewhere with wifi.

Unfortunately, it is all about numbers. I'll pipe up about anything major going on, but Kublacon is usually your best bet. Pacificon is neat, but doesn't have the same...gravitas as Kubla. I'v never really bought the 'central' location excuse BF throws out. They have had major tournaments in high school basketball gyms in podunk Pennsyltucky more than once! Seattle and Portland have major airports and excellent public transport, and are freaking awesome. Honestly I'd rather pop up to Seattle or Portland for a big tournament one of these years. South San Francisco /= San Francisco proper...

I believe we are currently at 40 players, which surpasses the number we had at the first West Coast Nats in 2014, where we had 36 I believe. I understand Enfilade is much closer to you guys. If I were in your shoes, I'd do the same thing. As it stands it's either 6 hours to SF or 9-10 hours to Seattle for me, so I'm going to the Bay Area. I would be great to have some guys from the PNW come down and truly make it a 'West Coast' event, but the distances are always so huge. It becomes a circular thing where no one from outside the West Coast thinks we can put up the numbers to be taken seriously like the big East Coast cons, so they don't show up and then think we're a bunch of backwater FoW players (even though Eric Riha and Bill Wilcox ruled the FoW tourney scene, and both were 'from' CA). They don't understand that while we have the same amount of people playing (probably), a five hour drive for them gets them through several states on the eastern seaboard, it only gets me through 4 counties. The BF rep made a huge faux-pas last time commmenting on our numbers, even after he just said it was the best event he'd ever seen (at the time I guess, don't think he works there anymore). We are getting some way way way out of towners though, so it's an improvement. Sorry for the rant, here's a link. www.westcoastnationals.net Congrats on the baby, Mike. I totally understand your desire to stay close to home. This event will have the sweet new Iwo Jima objective, but it might not be worth it for you guys, haha.

So no chance of talking you guys into coming to Nationals at Kublacon? ;D ;D

I made a Kursk themed Pioneer list that I like decently. Has the right mix of flamethrowers, direct fire smoke, large platoon sizes, StuHs (money platoon), and a cheap template. No recon though.

I'm interesed in seeing if you could put a thin book underneath one of these to make a decent low rise, without messing up the dimensions of the mat too much. I like the winter scrubland one. Too many WW2 games happen in the height of summer or the dead of winter, not much in between. :)

I would have thought they would have started with foam trays for the aircraft. When those do come out I'm sure they'll sell out immediately.

I was at a 'local' (five hours away) game store a couple weekends ago, all they had were the starter boxes. I bought another Soviet one with store credit I got for placing third in the LW 1420 tournament I was down there for. There definitely was no other TY in stock, and I doubt there ever will be. You guys are lucky to have a store as cool as GG.

Found this this morning, it's pretty handy for the Soviet players! http://www.pk-pro.de/bilder/werbung/ammo-of-mig-jimenez/downloads/Triptico%20colores%20sovieticos_BAJA.pdf

I came up with a list last night while I was hanging out at the bar while my girlfriend did her homework (we have no internet at home). HQ: T-72 6 T-72 6 T-72 4 Shilka 4 Gophers BMP2s Company (2 Platoons) 2 Scout BMP2s 4 Hinds 100 points. Little bit of everything.

I have two of the Soviet starter boxes now. I'm not really sure how I want to proceed, but I know I want BMPs and SPAA.

Been playing against Hero Tankovy since it came out, been designing lists for myself recently. I'm shooting for 6 platoons, and going CT to save points. A T-34/85 platoon (gun tank), T-34/76 with TE ( 'infantry' platoon for fast assaults), heavy AT, template, recon (spetsnaz, best option), and AA or regular infantry. The specifics would be a pair of heavy Katyushas with extra crew, and SU-100s for now. We tried the IS-2s, and never really put them to their best use since I was taking mostly tanks when I played against the list. ISU-122s might be the sweet spot.

Hi from CA, MIG makes a set of postwar Russian greens. http://www.migjimenez.com/en/smart-sets-colors/445-russian-greens-1956-to-present.html I've found it on Amazon. I plan on picking it up for my TY Soviets.

Here!

I will be there around 6pm on Wednesday. I brought some Germans with me from California. :)

Can you describe the decals that come with the box sets?

There was a similar arrangement with one store who had stopped carrying the FoW line, they even had a growing number of players going to the weekly group night . The owner ultimately put an end to that because even after he noticed the increased interest, he decided that dealing BF still wasn't worth the hassle, and gave up the space to a group of gamers that played something he actually sells. Money is what matters in the end. We have a tournament circuit that held events at the stores which sold/sell FoW, which started in 2012. It has helped stave off the death of the game in some stores, but in some it was inevitable.

In Norcal, all but one of the closest 'local' stores (~250 miles from me, so Sacramento or the Bay Area) have quit stocking new FoW products, and are liquidating their current stock. One or two will still order stuff if you want it. This has been happening over the course of 3-4 years, and BF doesn't seem to care about reversing the trend. I'm not surprised that it's happening elsewhere in the PNW, which is a shame because there are still groups who are pretty excited about the game still.

Hi guys, I'm Josh. I live in Humboldt County, CA. My girlfriend and I are spending about six days in Portland the week after Christmas. I'm a long-time FoW player, and since we're in the area and we're both avid gamers we both want to spend a little more time checking out the gaming scene in Portland than we did the last time we were there. We don't have any plans for 12/30 yet so we'll count on being at GG around 6pm. I posted a message on Battlefront's forum, but I rememberd the OF forum and figured it would work better. ;) I can do almost anything American or German, with a sprinkling of partially painted Soviets, mostly LW but I can swing MW if needed. I'd like to practice for the 2016 West Coast Nationals, but whatever works too. My girlfriend isn't planning on bringing her Soviets and playing, but I can talk her into it, probably. Let me know what's up. Thanks, -Josh