"Is "Benghazi Handicap" good for Flames of War?" Topic
17 Posts
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John the OFM | 26 Nov 2007 9:12 a.m. PST |
I am becoming a fan of FoW the more I play it. I have a large (two full sterilite 3-drawer
boxes) collection of British 8th Army, "organized" per FoW "Afrika" sourcebook. However, I am not satisfied with the time frame availability of various items, and am quite frankly confused by it. In any event, although a 1500 point versus 1500 point "Let's knock off a few games and go have some beer" approach is fun, I would love to do some historic scenarios with appropriate equipment. Will "Benghazi Handicaps" do this for me? Is it the same gaming scale, being a Command Decision "codex"? Is it just so gosh-darned good that I should just buy it anyway? To be honest, I would not hesitate over a $20 USD price tag, but at $40, it is approaching "investment" status. BTW, I am also itching to do "Early War" games that are not covered in "Afrika". And, is it available at bargain discount outlets like Amazon.com? |
Martin Rapier | 26 Nov 2007 9:41 a.m. PST |
Command Decision is aimed at 1 base = 1 platoon type games, so a rather higher scale than FOW. Having said that, Benghazi Handicap has excellent reviews and I'm sure it would be easy to translate into FOW scenarios. FOW toys can also be used to play Command Decision of course
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The G Dog | 26 Nov 2007 2:08 p.m. PST |
John, While CD is a 1 base = platoon game, Benghazi handicap provides TO&E for all units in the early desert period. In addition, the book contains at least 9 historical scenarios. Yes, you can consider it a bit of a 'codex' but Frank Chadwick did a great job explaining the organization and performance of the Italian army that dispels many common myths regarding their organization and performance. I played a game Saturday pitted 22 Armored Brigade against most of Ariete (Bir El Gubi). All I can say is – don't play British! But, if you are looking for historical scenarios, its a good book. Ray |
mghFond | 26 Nov 2007 5:14 p.m. PST |
Ray, So you are saying the Brits can't even beat the Italians in Africa? Hmmm, that doesn't quite sound right. Makes me wonder about CD then. But I havent played any of the new rules either
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The G Dog | 26 Nov 2007 5:58 p.m. PST |
In defense of the fine soldiers of the British Army, I feel the need to point out that; a.) – I was one of the British players, and b.) – 22nd Armored Brigade historically lost the battle. |
Joe Fish | 26 Nov 2007 6:04 p.m. PST |
I have a FoW Italian force and bought the Bengazi book with the explicit plan to play CD with the FoW forces. The book is worth the $40 USD even if you did not play the desert theater. The scenarios are excellent games in and of themselves. I also picked up a bunch of early cruiser tanks from OG
.new this year I think to their line. Again, I paln to use them in the scenarios of the Bengazi book. Now to paint up some British platoons and kit. |
SeattleGamer | 26 Nov 2007 7:54 p.m. PST |
Is it just so gosh-darned good that I should just buy it anyway? Yes. In-depth coverage of early war forces and plenty of interesting scenarios to boot. Unit histories and make-up. Discussions of the participants vehicles colors and markings, and uniform colors. Charts showing which year the various bits of equipment were historically available. It's 170 pages long, but the first 100 or so cover historical info and give breakdowns of the various units into their components. True, it's aimed at CD, but the breakdowns are still nice. There are 12 scenarios, starting on p104 and concluding on p144. What follows are the appendices, listing off the equipment stats (include year of availability) and the bits about the force vehicle and uniform colors. A treasure trove of early war Desert info. If you were not a gamer but interested in early North Africa you would like this book. About those scenarios, the info is indeed presented for CD, but it is easy to see how it would apply to FOW. Taking a scenario at random (#4 – Battle for Durna Airfield, Jan 25 1941) here is a sample of what the Allied forces are to field: Main Body 2/11 Australian Infantry Battalion: HQ = 1 command stand HQ Company = 1 recon LMG stand, 1 3" mortar stand, 1 engineer stand 3 Rifle Companies, each with = 1 command stand, 2 infantry stands. Notes indicate that the Rifle Company command and infantry stands include Boys AT rifles. There is another box showing Attached units, and another showing Reinforcements. But you get the drift. The info is provided in such a way that you can easily see the mix of forces present, and could downsize them to fit FOW if you wished. Goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway) each scenario has a discussion of the battle, a map, discussion of the terrain, includes such items as the weather, and a historical rundown of what actually happened. I don't own CD Test of Battle. I've never owned any version of CD. When I heard this book was finally out, I gulped at the price (for a game I don't own, $45 USD counting shipping is a bit much), and took the plunge. Frank did a fantastic job on this. I might actually buy Test of Battle this book is so well done. If I were not still unemployed (thus money is rather tight) I probably would have already. Steve |
Martin Rapier | 27 Nov 2007 2:15 a.m. PST |
"So you are saying the Brits can't even beat the Italians in Africa?" As above. Bir El Gubi is often held up as an example to show that the Italians could defeat the British, despite their poor rep generally. A green brigade of Crusaders with negligible infanty and artillery support conducting a charge on tracks against the best part of a dug in armoured division
well, I am sure you can work out the odds. |
Reislaufer | 27 Nov 2007 5:25 p.m. PST |
John, you can find the current early war FoW playtest lists here: 198.106.175.129/ewlists Its also in the links section of the DhWK yahoo group. I'm also looking forward to an EW throwdown. I have some EW panzers that have never seen the lovely sight of an A9 erupting into flames. Greg |
John the OFM | 28 Nov 2007 8:48 p.m. PST |
Thanks, Rusty. I posted it on PaWM, too! I need A9 and A10 Cruisers, so I can blame my defeats on the equipment. |
Cardinal Hawkwood | 22 Dec 2007 2:32 p.m. PST |
ah,l the joy of A9s and A10s,what no A13s? I have palyed BEF for a while in 20mm Rapid fire, early war is such fun, though hard to knock anything ot long range, in my last game I played Italians and knocked out a Vickers VIb and an A13 with AT rifles
gives you a warm feeling! |
SeattleGamer | 22 Dec 2007 3:40 p.m. PST |
I agree with you Cardinal
early war is so much more interesting than late war. John the OFM
did you pick up this supplement? |
The GM | 22 Dec 2007 8:59 p.m. PST |
John – I'm surprised no one has mentioned the unofficial EW stuff here: link The group has done a good job of building EW lists for most countries – but will likely not be 100% compatible with whatever the above listed playtest group is using. Disclosure: We host the EW FoW files on Wargames @ Nordalia, but we're otherwise just users of their fine work, and we'd happily host other fan group files if asked. Don. |
Fred Cartwright | 24 Dec 2007 2:59 a.m. PST |
Is it just so gosh-darned good that I should just buy it anyway? To be honest, I would not hesitate over a $20.00 USD USD price tag, but at $40, it is approaching "investment" status. Bite the bullet and get it. Frank is a recognised authority on the desert war and for a book packed with scenarios, TO&E's and general usefullness well worth the price. |
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