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Well, I returned from my one month sabbatical and had a big stack of special order items waiting for me at my FLGS. Included in the stack, was the new German minor allies card sets. I have been waiting for these for a long time, as I have always had a soft spot for non-standard forces. I have actually been on hold finishing my armies for these forces, as I want to make sure I have everything organized to the newer rules before doing all the bases and units.
The new set comes with three very basic Finnish companies and a slew of support unit cards. These are a regular Finnish Tank Company that has a mix of soviet captured equipment, a Sturmi Company (Finnish version of the Stug III and an Infantry Company. There are more formations, but you have to buy the Command Cards to have access to them.
The set includes pretty much everything you need to represent Finnish armor in late war. This includes various captured Soviet equipment (T26, T28, T34, etc) that the Finnish forces were mostly equipped with. You also have the required Sturmi cards. Of coarse we cannot forget the Finnish BT42 conversation SP gun and Battlefront did not let us down. The stats are the same the Soviet and German equivalents, with the Finnish morale ratings.
Next we have the Infantry Company unit cards. These of coarse include the Finnish infantry and SMG units. These also include the various support ATG and Artillery units. The infantry has the elite ratings, as with earlier versions of this army for FOW. You are limited to Rifle teams in the infantry platoons (kind of odd for the later war period). However, the have options for HMGs, Pzfausts and ATRs to fill out the units. This gives the units some needed firepower to defend with. The ATGs run the gambit from light 37mm to heavier 75mm Pak40s. The light guns have the Steilgrenat option with AT of 12, so does provide some AT ability, albeit at short range. The Support is filled out with Maxim HMGs and mortars to round out the infantry.
Finally, we have the artillery, AA and Air support cards. These are standard fare options with 76 and 105mm guns. The AA provides for 20mm ground mounts and SP Bofors. Finally, we have Stuka air support, with the same stats as the German equivalent cards. I wish they would have gone with a different airplane for flavor (they had JU88s in the last version), but Battlefront is clearly trying to minimize models for these armies by using major combatant options. I will just have to proxy my Brewster Buffalo to represent the option!
Overall, it is a nice set and gives you the basics you need to field the army in FOW. I do wish they would have provided another infantry company in this set and not saved them all for the command cards, as the company options seem a little to limited. With that said, I have the command cards, so it is not such an issue. However, id does seem the command cards are once again a must purchase (I guess that is their plan). Overall, the set gives you what you need to field an elite Finnish force. If you have the army, these cards will give you everything you need to get started!
- Manteuffel