Big Plans for 2014

This is my first post of 2014, so a very belated Happy New Year to all! This year, I’ve got a crazy resolution lined up for 2014. I only have one because it breaks down into several sub- resolutions, each with a level of complexity. ...And its massive. It is this:

“I will play at least one game with each US Infantry Division involved in the Northern France campaign, June-August 1944.”

This breaks down into the following sub-resolutions: o Paint everything needed for these games (Approx 115 models/teams total) o Post a brief history of the engagement I’ll be playing (14 histories) o Post a battlereport for each game (14 battlereports) o Don’t get distracted (yeah right) Sourced from the Citizen Soldier PDF and Overlord, that’s 14 infantry divisions, for a total of 14 games. Easy, right?


Fourteen games are a lot, but I think I can achieve that this year if I ease off on my other projects. The trouble is, I really want to get started on my Japanese, which is sitting on my desk taunting me every time I sit down for some painting time. Well, I'll need to stay focused!

Planning 
I've done some planning in order to achieve this. With the help of Google Docs, I've made up my set list in a spreadsheet with all of the divisions, a rough army list, a generally specified opposing force, mission, and theme. This will help reduce the stress of having to prepare the game itself, allowing me to focus on painting.

Painting  I've also planned out what will need to be painted when if I am to tackle these battles in chronological order (hopefully). There is a large number of stuff I'll need for a beach landing, but once the first few battles are done, the painting queue will drop off substantially. As I mentioned the most serious is the 1 ID's beach assault list. I'll need to get a lot of specialist equipment done so that I can play this game, such as DD Sherman tanks, some LCVP landing craft, a couple of Ranger platoons, and some small arms such as a 60mm mortar and some flame-throwers. I'll tackle the Rangers first because I'm going to do them as standard looking US Rifles so that I can expand my rifle platoons. I don't want to have to dip into my winter US rifles, and I only have a couple of short platoons painted up, so I need some more basic infantry. Once I infuse my troops with more regular platoons, I'll not have an issue running things like the 90th ID's Reluctant Trained horde of inadequate troops! I look forward to expanding my US collection by adding other staples, such as the M3 105mm cannons, tank riders, transports, and anti-aircraft guns, while adding additional firepower to existing platoons and batteries. All that being said, if I find myself up against it, I'll use my winter troops to fill in the gaps. I'm loath to do this, but in the end it'll be OK because all of my troops are based similarly and should blend well (except for my Paras, but they should pass). As I prepared my painting queue, I've also added some terrain. I need to bust out some Bocage, paint some buildings, and build a fort! Fun.

USA Painting Queue ID Model (by team) Qty 1 LCVP 4 1 Flamethrower Team 4 1 60mm Mortar Team 1 1 Sherman DD 5 1 Ranger Rifle/MG team 14 1 NGFS Model 1 4 M7 Priest 5 90 Rifle team 6 9 Pioneer Supply 3/4-ton truck 1 79 none 0 30 M3 105mm Cannon 6 30 P-47D or P-38J (or both?) 2 35 Tank riders 10 80 105mm howitzer 4 80 Staff team 1 80 Observer team 1 28 Hedgerow Cutter 2 28 Improvised Armor 5 5 2 1/2-ton trucks 8 5 3/4-ton trucks 4 5 M5 high-speed tractor 4 5 Jeep with trailer 4 83 155mm howitzer 4 83 155mm gun 4 83 Staff team 1 83 Observer team 1 8 none 0 29 1 1/2-ton trucks 4 2 Ivory X Staff team 1 2 T27 4.5"Rocket 4 2 M1 Bofors 2 2 M49 Quad 2 Total 115

Opponents
I'll be in the market for some opponents. The missions will be somewhat pre-defined, in terms of who is attacking and defending, points, and mission type. I'll have what company I want to face planned, but the construction is up to the opponent. I've got some loose ideas on historical platoons to include and what not to include, but these are negotiable.The reason for this is that my rifle companies will be historically aligned, so I'd like for my opponents to be so as well.

These are not competition games, so there may be a few surprises lined up like asymmetrical match-ups on both sides, some special units, modified mission rules, etc. I have tried to keep the missions on the level so that it doesn't impact the balance too much.

So, if there are any local players who would like to play, drop me a line by either posting below or by other means, tell me what you'd like to play and I'll book you in. Thanks in advance!

US Infantry Division	Vs	German Division(s)	Opposition Force	Theme Battle
1 Infantry Division	Vs	352 Infanteriedivision	352 Festungskompanie	Omaha
4 Infantry Division	Vs	709 Infanteriedivision	Grenadierkompanie	Utah
90 Infantry Division	Vs	91 Luftlandedivision	Grenadierkompanie	Meredet River
79 Infantry Division	Vs	709 Infanteriedivision	Brittany Festungskompanie	Cherbourg
9 Infantry Division	Vs	5. Fallschirmjager	Luftwaffe Jägerkompanie	Cobra
30 Infantry Division	Vs	2. SS-Panzerdivision	SS-Panzergrenadierkompanie	Hill 314
35 Infantry Division	Vs	2. SS-Panzerdivision	SS-Panzergrenadierkompanie	Task Force S
80 Infantry Division	Vs	116th Panzerdivision	Panzerpionierkompanie	Argentan
28 Infantry Division	Vs	331 Infanteriedivision	Grenadierkompanie	Task Force D - Elbeuf
5 Infantry Division	Vs	48 Infanteriedivision	Grenadierkompanie	700-mile saga - Montereau
83 Infantry Division	Vs	77 Infanteriedivision	Brittany Festungskompanie	St. Malo
8 Infantry Division	Vs	343 Infanteriedivision	Brittany Festungskompanie	Brest - First Attacks
29 Infantry Division	Vs	2 Fallschirmjager	Brittany Festungskompanie	Brest - Fort Montbarey
2 Infantry Division	Vs	266 Infanteriedivision & 2 Fallschirmjager	Brittany Festungskompanie	Task Force B - Hill 154

Alright, so that's what I've got on deck this year! Let's just see how much I can get done... It's a lot of painting, modelling and writing, but I think it'll be a fun journey to look back upon. The road there, no doubt, will be both fun and hard at times!

You've seen what I plan on doing for 2014, so what are your Flames Of War resolutions? Post 'em below!

Thanks for stopping by!