It is interesting that the order of release of cards is the opposite on the order of the armies in the Blitzkrieg army book. Not sure how that worked out, but I find that funny. The book have the British last, but they are the first to get their cards!
The two decks follow the normal formula as all the earlier offerings. The cards are done with great artwork and are done in a slick playing card material for resilience. Each set comes in its own box. The unit cards are large size and have all the unit details. The command cards are smaller “upgrade” style cards with no artwork.
The deck starts with the force cards and generic order card. The companies represented are those in the book. They include a rifle company, a cruiser tank company, a recon tank company (which is just a light tank company) and two different Matilda companies. I think they only needed the Matiilda I company, as there were not may Matilda IIs in France. However, I suppose the tank is too iconic for them not to include it here.
We start with the cruiser tanks. The set includes the A13 and A13a cruisers and the Vickers Mark VI. There is also a CS version of the A9, but no actual A9…
For the I tanks, we get both the Matilda I and Matilda II, which can be fielded in either company format.
Next we have the light troops. This includes both the Mark VIb and the scout carrier. With the C version with the cruisers, we get both marks of Mark VI, so you have both cannons to choose from.
We then get a number of armored car options. The dingo, scout carriers, motorcycle infantry and even the Morris CS9. I include the card for the early war monster TOG 1, for those that have an interest!
The rifle company is standard and looks like most of the later war options. The choice of these being careful makes them more defensive than before, while keeping them trained keeps the points down. The MMG is of course there too, with its bombardment capability.
That brings us to the artillery and ATGs to round things out. These include the normal British early war fair, with some 2 pounders, 3″ mortars and two flavors of 18/25 pounders. Interesting that they included a mech OP option too!
The command card deck is not too large. They did not go crazy with the generic cards, which just nine to choose from. We also get a few commander options. The guards, highlanders and territorial gives a nice variation on the bog standard infantry that comes in the book and adds needed flavor. The artillery and AT options are interesting and a nice to have. I do think most of these could have been in the main book to fill out the British a bit more. The normal soft skin options are here, along with a card for the Sappers and motorcycles. The fighter interception card is quite interesting. Instead of rolling, like before, you get an automatic counter once with the card. Probably, better than before in a standard FOW game, but something we will have to think of in our larger battles!
Overall, a nice selection of cards in both decks for the British players among you!
- Manteuffel