Through the letterbox today ..... the newly released RF Reloaded module, 'Brothers in Armour'.
As the cover says, this is giving us four 1944 scenarios for the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry.
The first thing I checked out was scenario size and all four come in on a 6x4 table ..... THANK YOU!
This is an A5 sized booklet with 40 pages including the covers and is presented on very heavy, high quality, paper - it is just lovely and an excellent addition to the expanding 'Reloaded' line-up.
Those who have had the previous booklets, especially the one on Crete will recognise the layout, though I do feel that this volume has a certain additional lushness to it with excellent photographic support.
The introduction tells us that the booklet was inspired by James Holland's book 'Brothers in Arms', which offers a detailed history of the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry (SRY) tank regiment, late war, in northwest Europe.
The four scenarios presented have been taken from the book, which are described as;
Scenario 1 - Inland From Le Hamel D-Day 6th June 1944.
Scenario 2 - On To Ruray 26th June 1944.
Scenario 3 - The Battle for Gheel 11th September 1944.
Scenario 4 - Assault on Prummern 18th November 1944.
Looking through the orders-of-battle, there doesn't seem anything particularly onerous here and I think I can do most of it from my current modest collection. I don't mind using a few proxies, though I quite fancy adding a couple of Sexton SP guns anyway (for scenario 1).
I will be using 1/72 (20mm), though I can see this being popular with all the main scales. 28mm would likely need a bigger table, while 15mm and below could reduce the table size. The new Victrix 12mm range could cover this, with jeeps and Jagd Panthers available from Pendraken as indeed would be the entire order-of-battle.
I can also see some 'O' Group fans adopting the booklet.
The back of the booklet and its rear page conveniently gather all of the tank / gun stats needed.
The format of the scenarios take their usual and familiar Rapid Fire 'look'.
We get background, followed by deployment and special rules, followed by the map and finally the orders-of-battle.
Above - This is a two foot by two foot section of the map from Scenario 2. I have telescoped in to preserve the books copyright. The blue dotted line denotes the limit of German initial deployment.
Above - Again, a telescoped view, into one of the order-of-battle pages, with a style very familiar to Rapid Fire fans.
All told, this looks to be a very playable volume and an excellent addition to the series. I like to buy these from Richard and Colin at war-game shows to support the show circuit, but I have become such a fan of the books that I pre-ordered it as soon as they announced it.
I understand that they will have a trade stand at Partizan (Newark) in May and at Phalanx (St. Helens) in June.
I have just realised that I have the James Holland 'Brothers in Arms' book on my shelf, so that should make a good pairing of scenarios and book - excellent.
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