Old Ironsides

Intelligence Handbook
on US Armored Forces

by Bill Rutherford

Pub. By Battlefront Miniatures Ltd. This most recent release introduces the early-war US armored forces in North Africa and the Mediterranean. The back cover clearly notes that this is an expansion for Flames of War, Battle front's W W lI miniatures rules but beyond some rules-specific equipment stats, this book is useful to anybody gaming the era.

What do you get?

This 64-page (plus covers) book maintains Battlefront's extremely high production values with glossy paper throughout, full color wherever there's a reason for it, and superb graphics and layouts. What struck me immediately was that this book is not aimed at the WWII US Forces Expert but rather, at the novice who perhaps needs to have explained why s/he'd *want* to game with US armored forces... After a four-page early-war history of US armor ops, reader is asked "Why collect Old Ironsides?" - and the rest of the book sets out to answer that question.

The following 24 pages detail the basic building blocks of the US armored force - the tank company, the armored rifle company, the armored recon company, and the various divisional platoons that support them, along with basic equipment descriptions, organizations, a short primer on APCBC ammo (not critical but interesting!), a page of notes on US lend-lease during this period (OK - also a bit off topic but also interesting), and two pages of recon rules. These were designed for Flames of War but are pretty elegant and could be used with minor modification with other squad/section-level !, miniatures rules. Oh - there are also the two pages of Flames of War equipment stats to which I referred above. Much of the organizational information is oriented towards building a miniatures force and I applaud Battlefront for this useful approach! Notes and sidebars illustrate and describe the actual organizations but the meat lies in getting the reader to build a tank company with infantry support, or a recce force, or whatever, and to get it onto the tabletop.

The next 20 pages are full-color and are best described as inspirational. They are almost entirely filled with color pictures of painted miniatures and illustrate the various battalions and subunits comprising an Armored Division, illustrate battle tactics, and generally make the reader want to paint - and play with - some US armor. These pages also include a five-page painting guide to the troops which I found very useful. It provides a decent guide to US armor markings but more importantly - for the novice gamer - provides two pages of illustrated step-by-step instructions on painting US infantry and vehicles, right down to shading and weathering, and includes a color chart of available paints to use for the various uniform and equipment colors needed.

The final 16 pages provide a mix of information, including an obligatory page on US industry, scenario notes and special rules for running recce and breakthrough scenarios, three pages of notes on Warriors - character figures with special rules for high morale, better repair ability, etc., two pages detailing pre-war (1940) US armor, a glossary, an equipment data summary, and half-page catalog of usable Battlefront Miniatures.

If you want the facts and just the facts, there are about 15 pages of absolutely essential information for the Flames of War gamer in this book. The other 49 pages are what made me buy the book, though. The whole is aimed at making the reader *want* to acquire, paint, and most importantly, play with miniatures. If you own the DAK and you want an opponent to play, you could do worse than to give him or her a copy of Old Ironsides to read!

These books should be available from better quality game stores; if you can't get them locally, go to www.flamesofwar.com for information on availability, etc. Recommended!

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