Re: Field Marshal Games Pieces Project Discussion thread

@Yoper:

Unless WotC has made a change, there wasn’t a railroad station piece in the playtesting.

Once again, I think that this is something that has been proposed by someone and it has been picked up by another as something that is in the game.

I would advise you to go back and research where this idea came from to see if this actually came from Larry.  I don’t think that it did.

@Razor:

Its pretty obvious you will need to make this mold too.

I guess it is not so obvious after all.

We are way ahead of the pack on this one.

In the “special” mould there will be the extras like Naval Bases and Air Bases. AA guns etc…  I was toying with the idea of adding a RAIL CAPACITY token or piece for the last year.  It was something I really liked from playing an AAA variant years ago.  This idea is still on the table.

ASIDE:

I had a phone conference with the factory yesterday.  There has been some foot-dragging on their part over the last two months in regards to this project.  I was told I would have completed sculpts in a week.  Then the samples are being sent to me for approval.

The completion of the ANZAC and FRANCE dice also set them back…

I hope this meeting leads to this thing moving faster.  If not I’m going to jump on a plane and bust some heads over there!

You guys have no idea how difficult this is!

Hang in there!

Everyone is just gettin’ antsy around here. I am sure everyone is happy that there is something to look forward to, and they will be happier when they have them. I for one appreciate everything that you are doing.

Amen to that.@Brain:

Everyone is just gettin’ antsy around here. I am sure everyone is happy that there is something to look forward to, and they will be happier when they have them. I for one appreciate everything that you are doing.

While I have your attention.

Lets talk American Bombers.

What do ya’l think about the Liberator?  It was actually the most common US bomber of the war and was produced more than an other US aircraft.  I want to do something DIFFERENT from the WOTC units.

Your comments and feeling on this please.

@FieldMarshalGames:

While I have your attention.

Lets talk American Bombers.

What do ya’l think about the Liberator?  It was actually the most common US bomber of the war and was produced more than an other US aircraft.  I want to do something DIFFERENT from the WOTC units.

Your comments and feeling on this please.

Hmm.  I did a search for Liberator … I’m not sure it’s a suitable candidate based on these results i got … ;)

Of course I jest.  :P

@FieldMarshalGames:

While I have your attention.

Lets talk American Bombers.

What do ya’l think about the Liberator?  It was actually the most common US bomber of the war and was produced more than an other US aircraft.  I want to do something DIFFERENT from the WOTC units.

Your comments and feeling on this please.

Which ones has WOTC modeled in the past? There are 4 main types.

And the candidates are:

Here is a list of the main types of land-based World War 2 bombers, with the approximate quantity produced of each type .

B-24 Liberator (19200) - 4-engine very long range heavy bomber since mid 1941, carrying up to 6 tons of bombs. It was the allied bomber with the longest range during most of the war, and was used accordingly in all war fronts, both in very long range bombing missions, such as attacking Nazi Germany’s only natural source of oil, in Ploesti, Romania, and by very long range anti-submarine patrols all over the Atlantic Ocean, which greatly contributed to defeating the German submarines. In the anti-shipping role it was operated in large numbers by the Coastal Command of the Royal Air Force.

B-17 Flying Fortress (12700) - the world’s first 4-engine long range heavy bomber (1935), its excellent basic design enabled the production of ever improved types, and it fought everywhere until the end of World War 2. Built with the concept that a day bomber should be able to self-protect from enemy fighters, the common B-17G type had 8 gun positions with 13 heavy machine guns, arranged to cover all directions. It had a crew of 10 and was equipped with advanced electronics, and could carry over 5 tons of bombs, but mostly carried much less, depending on the mission’s range, and as little as just 1.8 tons in missions to Berlin, which is what the British Mosquito bomber carried to Berlin with much greater precision, less losses, a crew of just 2, and no guns, thanks to its high speed which made the Mosquito much harder to intercept.

B-25 Mitchell (9800) - the main American medium bomber since 1940, carrying up to 1.8 tons of bombs and properly protected with multiple guns, armor, and self-sealing fuel tanks. It had a formidable dedicated attack version which excelled in anti-shipping missions, carrying a mighty 75mm gun in the nose, plus up to eight forward firing heavy machine guns, plus a torpedo or bombs. The B-25’s most daring and famous mission was the Doolittle Raid in April 1942, the first bombing of Japan, in which 16 modified B-25s took off from the deck of an aircraft carrier in the North Pacific, bombed Tokyo in total surprise, and landed in China. This much needed moral-boosting “impossible” mission, after the Japanese attack in Pearl Harbor and the rapid Japanese conquest of South East Asia, shocked Japan and resulted in abandoning plans to attack Australia or India in favor of attacking Midway and transferring four Japanese fighter squadrons from the war front to home defense.

B-29 Super Fortress (4000) - big 4-engine very long range heavy bomber designed to reach Japan from Pacific island bases. It had 5 gun turrets and could carry up to 9 tons of bombs internally or even two 10-ton bombs under its wings, but typically it carried 4-5 tons in the long range missions to Japan. It bombed Japan since June 1944, initially with high altitude day missions, but since the strong winds greatly reduced precision, a new tactic was adopted in which the guns were removed and the bombers flew night missions at low altitude and higher speed, and destroyed Japan’s cities one by one with massive attacks which created huge fire storms. Two B-29s ended World War 2 with a new weapon which created the ultimate city-destroying fire storm, the atomic bomb.

@FieldMarshalGames:

While I have your attention.

Lets talk American Bombers.

What do ya’l think about the Liberator?  It was actually the most common US bomber of the war and was produced more than an other US aircraft.  I want to do something DIFFERENT from the WOTC units.

Your comments and feeling on this please.

The B-24 Liberator

@FieldMarshalGames:

While I have your attention.

Lets talk American Bombers.

What do ya’l think about the Liberator?  It was actually the most common US bomber of the war and was produced more than an other US aircraft.  I want to do something DIFFERENT from the WOTC units.

Your comments and feeling on this please.

The B-17 Flying Fortress:

@FieldMarshalGames:

While I have your attention.

Lets talk American Bombers.

What do ya’l think about the Liberator?  It was actually the most common US bomber of the war and was produced more than an other US aircraft.  I want to do something DIFFERENT from the WOTC units.

Your comments and feeling on this please.

The B-25 Mitchell:

@FieldMarshalGames:

While I have your attention.

Lets talk American Bombers.

What do ya’l think about the Liberator?  It was actually the most common US bomber of the war and was produced more than an other US aircraft.  I want to do something DIFFERENT from the WOTC units.

Your comments and feeling on this please.

The B-29 Super Fortress:

I LOVE that you are doing different units - that is the whole point for me, I am buying pieces to throw in the game and mix & match. For example, in Pacific 1940 I hate P-38’s on carriers, so I brought in F6F Hellcats from my old A&APacific game (Thanks WotC for keeping US colors the same) and have them as sea-based fighters and p-38’s as land based. There are no differences (game-wise) between the two, just aesthetics  :-D

I like the B-24 - BUT, it looks like the stock UK bomber (Halifax). I vote for the B-29  :mrgreen:

I recently went to a touring WWII aviation show with my dad. We took a 1/2 hour flight in a B-17 (one of the few remaining functioning B-17s in the world). There was also a B-24 available for flight too that the pilots told us was the more rare find. Taking a flight in either was the same price but every single person there who paid took a flight in the B-17.

That being said, the B-17 is the iconic WWII American bomber. If you want to go by production numbers, then you could argue that a US marine wouldn’t be worthy of production either.

The point is I want to do a DIFFERENT unit.  As it has been mentioned above, you can always mix your stock units to have more types!

@FieldMarshalGames:

The point is I want to do a DIFFERENT unit.  As it has been mentioned above, you can always mix your stock units to have more types!

Yea, but mixing the crappy molds of the Hasbro models with the diamonds you plan on producing would seem a bit of a crime.

I agree that the B-24 would look too similar to the Halifax, unless you plan on doing a different UK strategic bomber.

What were you thinking about for the US air transport?

I have a PILE of B-17s, but I do agree with AllWork, that crappy ones next to yours would be a bit off.

I have always wanted B-25s. What if we used this as the U.S. Tactical Bomber? Would that be inappropriate? I just wanted to put one on carrier… :-D

I agree the B-24 looks a lot like the Halifax, but it will be in green instead of tan. For those painting them, what color were Halifax Bombers? I think the iconic US version was unpainted like Brain’s pic.

Finally, the B-29. I’m very mixed on this one. I really want them because of the popularity. But a few problems arise. First, they would be huge, like the Soviet bombers, but the US doesn’t have room on the map for that like the Russians do. Second, I always thought if this as a tech piece for LR Bombers. Ugh, so conflicted…

I guess my order of preference would be: B-25, B-24, B-17, then B-29 (only because I’m conflicted on this one).

Honestly, some of Hasbro’s models are pretty darn good - I actually like the B-17s, and from what I have seen FMG would be producing products as good and slightly better than Hasbro. Look at the new Panzer model, as well as the F6F Hellcat and the Spitfire… All of those are very good quality pieces. Also, I have yet to find a maker that models infantry pieces as good as Hasbro.

Mixing & matching is my whole idea - and I am sure that will be possible.

I agree with previous posters that this is one of the occurrences where WOTC got it right with the B-17’s, but for variety’s sake I vote for B-29’s.  If nothing else they could be used for the Long Range/Heavy Bombers Tech pieces for the USA.  Now if you’re talking US Fighters I vote for P-47’s, and I think that the B-25 would fill the more Tach Bomber Roll then a Strategic one.

Thanks, Entek.

I like your ideas, however I will say one thing in dissent - the P-47 is extremely similar to the F6F Hellcat (slight difference in canopy/greenhouse)

I think FMG is trying to go for “at-a-glance” recognizable figures - Hasbro scored points here with the P-38, as NOTHING else looks like it. With the P-38 and the F6F already being produced, I think a more logical choice would be the P-40 or the P-51

Note the difference between types:

Inline Engine - P-51

Inline Engine - P-40

Radial Engine - P-47

Radial Engine - F6F

Twin-Boom - P38

Naturally, the P-38 is one of the few twin-boom aircraft to have been succesfully used in WWII, so FMG will have to look elsewhere for Germany/Japan/UK. However, there is a wealth of dissimilar types, so it should be relatively easy.

The B-25 would not be a good choice for a tactical bomber in the AA games as they must be a good fit for the Aircraft carriers. I am assuming that FMG will have an SBD for that. @Entek:

I agree with previous posters that this is one of the occurrences where WOTC got it right with the B-17’s, but for variety’s sake I vote for B-29’s.  If nothing else they could be used for the Long Range/Heavy Bombers Tech pieces for the USA.  Now if you’re talking US Fighters I vote for P-47’s, and I think that the B-25 would fill the more Tach Bomber Roll then a Strategic one.

We do not want to get into a situation where we have two different tactical bombers similar to the deal in AAP40 where we got P-38s to put on the carriers. Then we had to rob F6Fs from another game for our navy. That would leave the B-24 and the B-29 as choices. Of course the B-29 would be a good fit for the heavy bomber tech.