Hey guys, Timothy here. So I finished playing my second game of v4 Flames of War tonight, and it has taught me a lot. Both games I have played Afrika Korps, and I am really looking forward to giving Desert Rats a shot at some point. I don’t have any interest in Fighting First so doubt I will play them unless I decide to try out AJ’s army at some point just for fun.
Anyway, so I won my first game but more importantly, especially for me and learning things to do and not to do, I lost my second game which I played earlier tonight.
Of course no one likes losing but it does teach you way more than winning does and so I take times that I lose to really look at what I need to do, whether that be list wise, strategy leading up to the game and especially during the game. So first here is the list I ran. I won’t go through the entirety of the battle report as that will be on YouTube but here is the list:
Single Formation
Infantry HQ – 2 points
Rifle Platoon + sHMG, 6 stands – 8 points
Rifle Platoon + sHMG, 6 stands – 8 points
Rifle Platoon + sHMG, 6 stands – 8 points
5cm AT Gun platoon with captured 6 pdr card, 3 guns – 9 points
Tiger with extra armor Pz III – 37 points
222 and 221 scout platoon, 3 points
231 armored car platoon – 2 points
10.5cm howitzer platoon, 4 guns – 14 points
JU87 Stuka, 2 planes – 9 points
So I built a very defensive list, and this was really the game that I realized that Afrika Korps is not well suited to defend, at least not the way I built it. This list had too much mobility/points spent in mobility to be a good defensive force and too many points spent in defensive aspects to be a mobile/offensive force. My list building failed tonight, and that laid the groundwork for a loss.
Can Afrika Korps defend? I am sure they can, with the amount of 5cm AT platoons available as core and the solid infantry I am sure it could. But several things I learned the hard way this game:
Put a lot of thought into what you are putting in your list and what function your list is going to serve.
So going through this a bit at a time, I wish I had had at least one more rifle platoon, maybe two. Is five rifle platoons overkill? I definitely don’t think so. The equipment Germans bring is amazing and you need to maximize that in whatever you do. So probably 40 points of rifle platoon to form a solid defensive line.
The 6 pdrs I have no complaints about, only that I should have taken at least another platoon of them. The fact you can take up to three platoons as core for your infantry formation is awesome and should be exploited. Also the 5cm guns are decent against infantry if they lack a better target.
The Tiger and Pz III is going to be reserved for larger games, in excess of 100 points, it just isn’t a realistic expectation for it to earn it’s points back. So that will have to go.
The two platoons of scouts are great but for a more mobile force, that was a solid waste of five points. They also earned nothing back during the entire game. If I was running something more mobile, a tank formation or the like, these would have been perfect. As it was they were just a bit of a waste in this list.
The 10.5cm guns were good, but only a good start. I should have brought more artillery or possibly just none at all, but instead these ended up being more of a stopgap measure and they performed decently but when my opponent, who brought more artillery to the table, realized how much of a threat they were he focused his fire to make them ineffective.
So I have learned a lot, especially to change up my list building. I had aspects of a defensive force as well as offensive and it doesn’t work.
Things that I definitely enjoy about Afrika Korps in general:
The MG attachment to rifle platoons is awesome, I don’t really miss MG platoons and while they would be nice to have the way they did this is great.
Awesome equipment. Having an AT rifle in every platoon is great to help balance out your anti tank need in an infantry formation.
Solid tanks. I know what do you expect from Germans, but still this is something that attracts myself and other to play Afrika Korps.
Now, some of my gripes about the way Afrika Korps is designed specifically after having played a couple games:
The inability to take a mortar platoon by itself is very frustrating. I don’t know a lot of the historical aspects of the Afrika Korps but to me adding a single mortar for two points to a rifle platoon is expensive and not worth it. I really want dedicated mortar platoons and I hope they will be added in future theatres.
The weird points cost of a tiger. I understand it is powerful but the 29 points is really prohibitive in a 100 point game, especially when it doesn’t really do all that much for the points. Is it iconic? Yeah. Should be cheaper or have something else going for it? Absolutely.
Overall I enjoy Afrika Korps as well as V4 FoW, I learn more all the time and while I wish it had a bit more complexity to the game I also understand the need to get away from the overwhelming force that was the previous versions rules.
Hope you guys enjoyed this little rant and maybe it will help you with some of your games and/or lists!
