Produktbeschreibung
Road To Rome and Fortress Italy are our two new compilations covering the Italy campaign for 1944 and 1945. However, as well as compiling the forces from Dogs & Devils and Cassino, we’ve added a whole heap of new forces. With those two books covering just Anzio and the battles of Cassino, we took the opportunity to add so much more to these two books, expanding the range of forces out to 1945 and the end of the campaign.
What’s Inside Road To Rome? -
Road To Rome covers the Allied forces that fought in Italy. It contains British and Commonwealth forces for the Eighth Army, Polish forces of the II Polish Corps, US forces of the Fifth Army, and the French of the French Expeditionary Corps.
British and Commonwealth -
The British section covers British, Indian, Canadian, New Zealand, and South African special rules. We have also included a number of Warriors. Companies include three variant Rifle Companies, a Recce Squadron, a Divisional Cavalry Squadron, a Tank Squadron, an Armoured Squadron, a Motor Company and an Armoured Car Squadron. Each type of company has a number of national ratings and options. Divisional and Corps support covers all higher-level platoons that may support each force, with national options and choices.
The British section is rounded off with field fortifications, the arsenal and a painting guide. Scattered liberally among the British section are histories and backgrounds for the all the featured divisions and other units, explaining each of these unique divisions’ parts in the Italy campaign.
Polish -
The Polish section follows on from the British. The Poles fought alongside the British as part of the Eighth Army, playing a key role in the final battle for Monte Cassino. The Polish section includes history, special rules and three companies to field in Flames Of War. These are the Kompania Piechoty (Infantry Company), Szwadron Rozpoznawczy (Reconnaissance Squadron) and Szwadron Pancerny (Armoured Squadron). The Polish forces have options to be Fearless Trained (before and during Monte Cassino) and Fearless Veteran (after Monte Cassino as they advanced up the Adriatic Coast). They are supported by their own divisional and corps troops as well as British and Commonwealth forces of the Eighth Army. The Eighth Army support options do not count as allies because the Polish II Corps was well integrated into the army.
US -
The large US section covers a number of different companies and divisional options. Companies include a Rifle Company, a Nisei Rifle Company, a Ranger Battalion, a Parachute Rifle Company, a Dismounted Cavalry Troop, a Cavalry Recon Troop, a Tank Company and an Armored Rifle Company. A number of divisional and regimental variants are included in the companies for options and ratings. Divisional and Corps support cover their supporting troops. The section also includes field fortifications, arsenals, and a painting guide.
Histories and background for a number of US divisions and other units are featured throughout the section, covering the stories behind many of the companies included in Road To Rome.
French -
The French Expeditionary Corps fought in Italy until September 1944, when they were withdrawn to take part in Operation Dragoon (the Allied invasion of Southern France). Their flanking move during the final battle for Cassino played a crucial role in forcing the Germans to withdraw. The French section contains three companies: a Compagnie de Tirailleurs (Colonial Infantry Company), a Goum (Moroccan Mountain Infantry Company), and a Escadron de Spahi (Colonial Cavalry Recon Squadron). Support comes from their own Divisional and Corps platoons, as well as US platoons. The arsenal is followed by a painting guide for Colonial French and Goums. The section includes French in Italy history, background, and special rules.
What's New? -
We have added a number of new Intelligence Briefings and Warriors to the book, as well as including and updating a number of website Intelligence Briefings.
The British section contains three Warriors: for the Indians there is Sepoy Kamal Ram. His Spear Point rule allows you to place an Indian Rifle Platoon in Immediate Ambush. Ram’s Recon Scout special rule allows any platoon he joins to use the Cautious Movement rule, in addition to him being a Recce team himself. The New Zealanders get Lieutenant-Colonel Sandy Thomas who is a Higher Command team, can redeploy a platoon at the start of the game, and may re-roll a reserve die. The Canadians get Private Ernest ‘Smokey’ Smith, who has undergone a revamp from the old website version. He can now be fielded as an independent Warrior team, or as part of a special Seaforth Highlanders Tank-hunter Platoon, armed with PIAT teams and Tank Assault 3 SMG teams, in a Canadian Commonwealth Rifle Company.
The British section has a bunch of new companies. The Canadians have been included as options for a number of companies. The Canadians were something I had been working on as web briefing but never quite finished, so I took the opportunity to revise and complete the briefings for inclusion in Road To Rome. The New Zealanders, likewise, were in the process to being done up as website Intelligence Briefings. Nick Garden sent me a draft of the New Zealand Divisional Cavalry Squadron sometime ago, as did Russell Briant for the New Zealand Armoured Squadron. Road To Rome presented an excellent opportunity to get these completed. Thanks to the enthusiasm of a group of keen South Africans led by Jacobus Christian von Winterbach, we also have company options for the 6th South African Armoured Division (plus they have a lot more history, scenarios, and a comprehensive painting guide coming for the website).
Because Road to Rome covers up to May 1945, we have included a few more later vehicle options in the British forces. You can now take Sherman IIA (76mm) in companies from the British 6th Armoured Division and 6th South African Armoured Division. Firefly 17 pdr armed tanks are also available for more Armoured Squadrons. The engineering vehicles of the 25th Armoured Engineer Brigade fought in the final offensive into Northern Italy, and include Churchill Crocodiles, Sherman Crabs, Churchill AVREs, D7 Bulldozers, Sherman Kangaroo APCs and LVT-4 Water Buffalos.
Poles have had added an armoured squadron and a Fearless Veteran option to those that were featured in their original PDF Intelligence Briefing.
The US section has two Warriors: Sergeant Tommy Prince for the First Special Service Force, and Lieutenant Daniel Inouye for the Nisei Rifle Company. Prince is a sniper who can also fill the role of an observer, while Inouye is a hard-hitting assault expert.
The Rifle Company has had a Confident Trained option added for the 92nd Infantry Division (which also covers the 85th, 88th and 91st Infantry Divisions), giving players an option to field fresh divisions. The Nisei Rifle Company can also field two rating options, one covering the elite 100th Infantry Battalion as Fearless Veterans, the other covering the rest the 442nd Regimental Combat Team as Fearless Trained. We also added a Cavalry Recon Troop to cover the 91st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron while they were operating mounted in their vehicles during the advance from the Gustav to the Gothic Line. Also new are the companies of the 1st Armored Division ‘Old Ironsides’. These companies (Tank and Armored Rifle) are Confident Veterans. We have also added companies the Rangers and Paratroopers that fought at Anzio. The US support can now have a Tank Rocket Launcher Platoon with T34 Calliope Sherman mounted 4.5 inch rockets and the experimental M17 Whiz-Bang Sherman-mounted 7.2 inch demolition rockets.
Rules Changes?
The special rules in Road To Rome also underwent a review. We made a couple of changes to various special rules after reconsidering them and taking into account player feedback. The Commonwealth nations' special rules were brought into line with the Version 3 Flames Of War rules, updating rules like War Cry and Haka. The New Zealand Rumpus rule was more clearly defined to clarify that it is only available to NZ OQF 25 pdr guns. A points discount was applied to the New Zealand Commonwealth Rifle Company HQ for the Thousand Man Limit rule.
In the US section we changed the FSSF Death, Destruction and Mayhem rule so that FSSF Infantry teams hit on a 3+ in Assaults. This was changed because the 2+ hadn’t been pointed, and pointing them to this level would have made them quite expensive. We also brought the I Shall Never Fail My Comrades in line with the current Ranger version of the rule.
The Shared Command rule for the Parachute Rifle Company was not so much a change, as a conscious decision to keep the Mid-war rule to reflect the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment retaining the older organisation until they left Italy after Anzio.
One major change was to the US Fire Direction Center rules. We reduced them down due to the changes to the artillery rules in Version 3 Flames Of War making most of them redundant. We also removed the Strategic Bombardment, as this is now covered by more artillery options and the option to take Naval Gunfire Support. So the role of the FDC is simply as an extra Staff team that can be used with the improvised artillery platoons like the Towed Tank Destroyer Artillery Platoon and Heavy Anti-aircraft Artillery Platoon.
You will also notice a few arsenal changes to later weapons and vehicles. This involves extra vehicles options like 76mm Shermans, M5 3in (late) guns, and OQF 17 pdr (late) guns.
Points across the board have been reviewed in line with more recent Late-war books.
Something For Everybody -
Road to Rome it packed full of updated and new content. Whether you are looking for an updated intelligence briefing for your existing Allied Italy campaign force or want something new to build, there is bound to be something inside to spark your interest. Alongside its companion volumes Fortress Italy and Italy Battles, it makes up a complete resource for fighting the battles of the Italy campaign in Flames Of War. |
