As a collector of Mid War for Flames of War’s North Africa campaign who has managed to acquire pretty much everything that he wants for that particular theatre, I decided to take the next logical step and grab the Eastern Front army book. This would allow me to expand on the Germans I already have – as there was quite a bit deployed in Europe which didn’t really play a part in the Africa campaign, such as Panther tanks, various self-propelled artillery pieces, armoured transports, etc – and collect a number of other armies into the bargain (although I’m only really interested in the Soviets at this point, the price of this compilation book means that it’s a no-brainer to purchase rather than the individual books- think of it as future-proofing!).
Overview
The first thing you’ll notice about Eastern Front is that it’s an absolute beast of a book, coming in at a whopping 362 pages, as far as I’m aware their biggest to date. This is down to the fact that it contains no less than seven (!) army books: Ghost Panzers and Iron Cross (both for Germany), White Death (Finnish), Hungarian Steel, Brave Romania, Enemy at the Gates, and Red Banner (the last two for Soviets). That’s a lot of army building for one volume!
Although the Finns, Hungarians, and Romanians largely use equipment donated or appropriated from the Germans and Soviets, there are still plenty of variations in the individual countries’ lists, as well as some unique units, such as Landsverk AA Tanks, Turan and Zrinyi armoured vehicles, and even cavalry squadrons! All told there are 44 unique formations, dozens of support units, and a handful of wildcard units (units which didn’t see historical service in these theatres, but which could have been deployed with a little alternate history timeline tweaking.
Rounding out this wealth of gaming material are bite-sized rundowns of some of the more famous campaigns, the usual photographs of beautifully-painted miniatures, painting guides, and the ever-useful pages on how to base your infantry/guns. All of this in a very well-produced book printed on quality glossy paper and held between sturdy cardstock covers.
Summary
An excellent book absolutely jam-packed with Mid War Flames of War goodness. The sheer variety of forces you can build here is actually astonishing. Although the book is probably too big to be carting around to your gaming meet-ups, as long as you have the cards for your units it’ll be fine. The only thing I would have liked to see included is a code for Forces so you could unlock the formations in the digital builder.
