Flames Of War 4th Edition Launch Weekend Blog!

As if the last weekend of awesomeness wasn't enough we're also diving into it again with Flames of War 4th Edition and the Launch Weekend alongside Battlefront.

Flames Of War 4th Edition Info Page

Remember to check out their webstore for all manner of cool products for 4th Edition and the Desert War. Stay tuned across the weekend to win some prizes too.

In a few hours we will be recording a Q&A video in which we will attempt to your questions about 4th Edition and the new Mid War desert releases. You can submit your questions on our forum, and we will do our best to answer as many as possible.

Head over to the Flames Of War Forums, of Flames Of War Facebook Group to submit your questions.

The studio guys are busily assembling models. Some have made more progress than others, like studio painter Aaron (who, to be fair, started work on his army in advance of the weekend and has already painted most of the camouflage on his Grants). James is working on a couple of troops of Crusaders to expand his old British desert army, and has also used the release of the plastic Grant/Lee as an excuse to start a sneaky side project inspired by a somewhat notorious tank-related anime series. It's not all plastic models – the release of Afrika Korps has inspired Chris to finally get to work on an old metal and resin panzer army which has been sitting at the bottom of his (shamefully large) 'to be painted at some point, when I get around to it' pile.

After spending the week working on the Boot Camp videos, James and Phil throw down with a 62-point Battle Report. Check out part one here.

It wouldn't be a launch weekend without a few competitions! Check out the easy ways you can win some free Flames Of War swag!

1. Comment on any of the Flames Of War launch weekend videos (including the Boot Camp videos) to go into the draw to win a two player starter set with a pair of Army Deals and Books. Comment on all of them to increase your chances of winning!

2. Watch part one of our Battle Report video and guess how the game will play out in part two. We will pick our favourite (not necessarily most accurate) guess to win a Monty’s Desert Rats or Rommel’s Afrika Korps Army Deal (and Army Book).

3. Send a tweet to Flames_Of_War and tell us your Flames Of War plans for the launch weekend to go into the draw to win one of the new plastic tank boxes from the Mid War range.

4. Head over the live blog at Beasts Of War and leave a comment to go into the draw to win one of the new plastic tank boxes from the Mid War range.

5. And keep an eye on our Facebook Group for some extra competitions over the weekend
See how easy it is!

From British-built Crusader tanks to American Lend-Lease Grant and Honey tanks, the British have what it takes to stop the Germans!

We have just filled up on some great Pizza, Wings and Sauce... nap time anyone?

Not every Panzer is created equal, find out more in this video about the armour of the Afrika Korps.

Aaron shows you how you can quickly and simply get your German tanks painted and on the tabletop.

Need to rain down shells on enemy infantry and guns? Want a backup anti-tank gun for when Panzers get too close? Then the 25pdr is the gun for you. Watch as Aaron shows how easy it is to build.

Before you can kill your enemy, you have to find your enemy. German Sd Kfz 222 and 221 light armoured cars excel in the desert whilst the heavier Sd Kfz 231 bring a little extra armour to counter enemy recce.

The New Zealand studio have had a busy day, and now it's time to hand off to our UK office for the evening. We'll be back tomorrow with more photos, videos, and articles. Thanks for joining us for the first day of Flames Of War 4th Edition!

Circling above the battlefield like hawks looking for prey, Hurricane Tank Busters and Stuka Dive Bombers appear with a scream, leaving a trail of destroyed tanks in their wake.

Welcome to the UK offices. After months of exciting 4th Edition is finally with us! We are going to be bringing you some great content today, and will be bringing you the best of all the events happening in Europe.

Check out this massive gaming table Gajo Games built in preparation for all the 4th edition war in the sand!

There's A Hurricane Coming!
with Blair Mackey

In preparation for the launch of 4th Edition, there has been a lot of buzz around the office about the new plastics tanks. Rightfully so, they’re great looking kits and fun to put together.

That said there’s a part of me that just has a thing for aircraft, so I felt the need to talk a bit today about some of the vehicles and they’re role in Mid War.

Right down the road from us in Washington D.C. is the Smithsonian Air and Space museum. I came across this restored Hurricane on display. This one happened to be the Hurricane IIC, which made a mark for itself fighting alongside spitfires at Dunkirk defending against the German Messerschmitt Bf 109s.
During the five-day artillery barrages, the British commenced at El Alamein, the Hurricane Mk. IID effective came into its own. Six squadrons of Hurricanes claimed to have destroyed 40 German tanks, over 200 troop transports and other guns and assorted vehicles. The 40mm cannon the Mk.II proved extremely effective against ground targets.

At 9 points for a flight of two hurricanes, the anti-tank 7 will no doubt prove to be equally effective in my upcoming games as did the real squadrons do during the North Africa campaign. I look forward to utilising these as my friends have yet to invest in very many AA guns.

~ Blair.

Games N Stuff, a retail shop located close to the Battlefront US office, had customer in and excited about 4th Edition.

Check out these great paint job on the El Alamein starter set tanks. The tanks were assembled, painted and ready for battle in less than 24 hours!

Welcome back to NZ, everyone. As you can see, we are picking up where things left off with getting armies ready. Hopefully we'll get some more games in this afternoon.

The More Missions pack expands on the missions in the Flames Of War rulebook and provides a new way to choose which mission to play.

The pack contains ten missions

Each mission now has a double page telling you how to play the mission and detailing the mission special rules. You can either print each mission out on a single piece of paper (front and back) or print it as a booklet with each mission on facing pages.

Head over to the Flames Of War website to download the pack

The Panzer III is the Afrika Korps' standard tank, making up over two-thirds of their tank strength. Aaron shows you how to assemble the new plastic model.

The British Army understands the need to keep an eye on the German forces so keeps regular patrols ranging out across the desert to make sure they can spot the enemy first. Universal Carrier and Humber Scout Patrols keep friendly forces safe from blundering into the enemy.

Day two of the Launch Event and everyone is working away at building tanks! One of my favourite aspects of the hobby is getting to sit around with friends and just hobby, pulling out the glue and paint to get some models finished while shooting the breeze.

Wayne is working on his Germans for Team Yankee, getting some Leopard 1 tanks assembled. Sitting next to him is Chris working on some Panzerjager 1 self-propelled guns to make his Mid War army into an Early War one too.

Phil is putting a base coat on some of his Crusader tanks, lets hope these will bring him better luck in his next game. Meanwhile Sean is working on some Firefly tanks for his TANKS army.

Andrew is working on some Grant tanks for both his Mid War army and TANKS army. Aaron appears to be streaking ahead of everyone with his Grants looking to be in pretty great shape.

There are a lot of projects going on in the office over the weekend, some of the guys are building Team Yankee models, others are working on TANKS and of course all of us have been working on our new Mid War models. Hard to beat a weekend of hobby action when it raining cats and dogs outside!

Ask any Allied Tanker and he will tell you that every German gun is an 88, not so in reality where the Germans have everything ranging from the small (but deadly) PaK38 5cm gun through to the 10.5cm Howitzer perfect for smashing enemy formations.

Not to be outdone by the rest of the team, Khairul (a prolific and talented painter from the factory in KL) has been working on his DAK force over the weekend.

The Crusader tank is one of the icons of the Desert War, fast, agile and packing a wallop for such a small tank, it doesn't want to stand still in front of the enemy for too long. Follow along as Aaron shows you how to assemble it.

No German army is complete with an 88, watch as Aaron shows you how easy it is to assemble.

Who will triumph in the conclusion of James and Phil's Free For All battle? At the 62-point level, neither of their forces is particularly resilient, so victory could go either way...

Battlefront's 4th Edition Launch Weekend has come to an end. Thanks for joining the fun and excitement with us. We look forward to sharing more gaming with you, now that the latest edition of Flames Of War is finally here.