Flames Of War has come a long way since Old Ironsides wasprinted. Since then we have released Stars and Stripesincorporating the many suggestions that players have made.

Obviously we don’t want to make all our US Armored Forcesplayers go out and buy a new book, so we gathered all of thechanges we made to US Armored Forces in Stars and Stripes

into a file that you can printout and paste in to your existing copy of Old Ironsides.

Most of the changes are subtle rewording of existing specialrules with a couple of new special rules. On top of that, a fewforce composition restrictions have been dropped and a coupleof vehicle and weapon characteristics updated.

InstructionsPrint this file at the highest quality that you can. You may want to takeit to a specialist print shop if you do not have a high-quality printer.

Carefully cut out one item at a time with sharp scissors. Check theposition and size of the item in your book, then once you are satisfied,apply a light coating of glue to the back and place it in the book. Repeatuntil you have finished updating your copy of Old Ironsides.

Time On Target, Special Rules, page 10If a Field, Armored Field, or Parachute Field ArtilleryBattery with a Staff team ranges in on their first attempt,they can fire a TOT bombardment. Every team hit bya TOT bombardment re-rolls successful saves in thefirst turn of the bombardment as they scramble forcover and batten down the hatches.

Tank Company HQ, page 11(place below points box)

Your company must include at least one TankPlatoon equipped with the same type of tankas the Company HQ.

Mortar Platoon, page 12

PlatoonHQ Section with

3 Mortar Sections 125 points2 Mortar Sections 90 points

Options• Arm any or all M4 81mm MMC half-tracks

with a .50 cal AA MG for +5 points pervehicle.

Machine-gun Platoon, page 18

PlatoonHQ Section with

2 Machine-gun Sections 120 points1 Machine-gun Section 70 points

Option• Add Bazooka teams for +15 points

per team.

Assault Gun Platoon, page 18

0 to 1 Assault Gun PlatoonThe Assault Gun Platoons are also the same asthose of the tanks. The organisation is shownon page 13.

Weapons Platoon, page 18(paste over machine-gun picture)

The Truscott TrotLong-distance speed marches were a majorfeature of an infantryman’s training. Some officerslike General Truscott of the Third InfantryDivision trained their troops so hard that theydubbed speed marching the ‘Truscott Trot’.

All this practice paid off for the Third duringPatton’s drive to Palermo during the Sicilycampaign. The men of the Third Infantry Divisionmarching on foot were able to keep pace withthe neighbouring Second Armored Division!

US Infantry teams move 16”/40cm insteadof the normal 12”/30cm when moving Atthe Double.

Seek, Strike, and Destroy, page 22

Self-propelled Anti-tank Platoons use the CommandDistance, Cautious Movement, Disengage, and BreakOff rules on page 19 to 21 to reflect their stealthytactics. Self-propelled Anti-tank Platoons count asreconnaissance platoons for the purpose of these rules.In addition, since the tank destroyers select their firingpositions with retreat in mind, Self-propelled Anti-tankPlatoons may disengage if they fired in their own turn.

• Within 6”/15cm of any infantry team from theplatoon (whether mounted in its jeep or not),

Tank Destroyers, page 22

2 or

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CommandRifle team

Armored Field Artillery Battery, page 24

PlatoonHQ Section with

2 Sections of T19 105mm HMC 430 points1 Section of T19 105mm HMC 235 points

• Arm any or all T19 105mm HMC half-trackswith a .50 cal AA MG for +5 pointsper vehicle.

2 Sections of M7 Priest 465 points1 Section of M7 Priest 255 points

Options• Add Jeep for command team at no cost.• Replace any Jeeps with M2 half-tracks

for +5 points per half-track.• Arm any or all unarmed Jeeps or M2 half-

tracks with an AA MG for +10 pointsper vehicle.

Armored Field Artillery Battery, page 24(paste over Keep ‘Em Shooting poster)

Hit ‘em With Everything You’ve GotWhen a US observer team places a request for fire,the artillery battalion fire direction centre assesses itspriority and assigns all available artillery batteries tofire the mission. This ensures that the battalion’sartillery resources are used in the most efficient manner.

An observer team from a Field, Armored Field, orParachute Field Artillery Battery may range in anybattery of these types on the table, although they canonly range in one battery at a time. They are notrestricted to requesting fire from their own battery.

Additionally, when these observers have ranged inone battery and order an All Guns Repeat!bombardment on the same target point in a subsequentturn, they may attempt to range another battery on thesame point while continuing to control the batteryfiring the All Guns repeat bombardment.

Next turn the Observer team can order both batteriesto fire All Gun’s Repeat! bombardments and addanother, and so on. Roll to hit with each batteryseparately.

These observer teams cannot request fire from anyform of Mortar, Cannon or Assault Gun Platoons.

PlatoonHQ Section with

1 Recon Section 235 pointsNo Recon Section 120 points

Options• Replace one Carbine team per section with a

Bazooka team at no cost.• Replace one Bazooka team with an M3 37mm

gun at no cost.• Add T30 75mm HMC assault gun for+40 points

or M8 Scott HMC assault gun for +70 points.• Arm the T30 75mm HMC with a .50 cal AA MG

for +5 points.

Armored Recon Platoon, page 26

Due

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Vehicles, Arsenal, page 28

JeepsHistorically jeeps were only expected to carry thedriver and two passengers. A team of four soldiers wassplit over two jeeps. If jeeps were in short supplythough, they would all squeeze into a single vehicle.

In Flames Of War you can model a Jeep team as eitherone or two vehicles. Either way they count as a singletransport team and only one of them may be armed.Both models must stay together and count as a singletarget for shooting. If one is Destroyed, both are. Basingboth vehicles together helps to show this.

Infantry teams carried as passengers in Jeeps (including lightmortar teams) can fire their weapons while mounted. If theJeep moved, the passengers count as moving.

RonsonSherman tanks had a terrible reputation for burningwhen hit. Their crews called them ‘Ronsons’ since inthe words of the cigarette lighter advertisement they‘light first time’. The German nickname was simply,‘Tommy Cooker’.The opposing player re-rolls any failed Firepower teststo Bail Out or Destroy an M4 or M4A1 Sherman tank.Do not re-roll Firepower rolls for hits from aircraftbombs or rockets.

8.T

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53

Locating Recce Troops, page 58

Since sneaking off the table without being locatedis vital to this mission, you need to keep track ofwhich of your recce teams have been hit. You cando this by either writing a roster of your recce troopsand crossing them off as they are hit, or placing acounter beside teams as they are hit. If a vehiclecarrying passengers is hit, then all of the passengersare also located and count as having been hit for thepurposes of this rule.

Reconnaissance Rules, page 20(paste the following three pages over pages 19 to 21)

Major General Ernest N Harmon, page 56

CHARACTERISTICSHarmon is a Warrior and a Higher Commandteam rated as Fearless Trained.

Harmon is always mounted in a Jeep. He canjoin any Tank or Armored Rifle Company for+50 points.

SPECIAL RULESOld Gravel Voice: At the start of the Shootingstep Harmon may attempt to rally one platoonwithin 6”/15cm.

• If the platoon is Pinned Down, roll aMotivation test. If it is successful, the platoonrallies and is no longer Pinned Down.

• Any Bailed Out vehicles in the platoontake a Motivation test and if successful remountimmediately.

Get Moving: Each turn one platoon that is notPinned Down and is within 6”/15cm of Harmonmay attempt to move at the end of the Movementstep after all other movement. Roll a die. On aroll of 4+ the platoon may move a further4”/10cm. All of the normal rules apply for thismovement. The platoon may still shoot aftermaking this extra move.

Follow Me: Harmon and his jeep seem to livea charmed life. If Harmon’s Jeep is hit by theenemy, immediately roll a die.

• On a score of 4+ his luck saves him, ignorethe hit.

• On any other roll, determine the effect ofthe hit as normal, including rolling the usual5+ Transport Save. If the Jeep is Destroyed, sois Harmon.

Summ

ary Page, page 63

GM

C 21/2-ton truck

Wheeled

--

-6 passengers.

M3 75m

m G

MC

Half-track

10

0Short 75m

m tank gun.

M10 3in G

MC

Fully-tracked4

20

3in anti-tank gun, .50 cal AA

MG

.

Carbine team

8”/20 cm1

16

M1 carbine, A

utomatic rifles.

Rifle team

16”/40 cm1

26

M1 G

arand rifles and BA

R’s, A

utomatic rifles.

M2 .50 cal M

G16”/40 cm

34

6M

an-packed, Small gun, L

ight gun.M

1 81mm

mortar

40”/100 cm-

-/13+

/6M

an-packed, Mortar, Sm

oke, Small gun.

M3 37m

m gun

24”/60 cm3

75+

Gun shield, Sm

all gun.w

ithout APC

BC

24”/60cm3

65+

M2 .50 cal A

A gun

24”/60 cm4

46

Turntable, A

nti-aircraft, Imm

obile.

T30 75m

m H

MC

Half-tracked

10

075m

m how

itzer.

Transport Team

s, page 31

GM

C 2

1/2-ton truckW

heeled-

--

6 passengers.

Tank Teams, page 30

T30 75m

m H

MC

Half-tracked

10

075m

m how

itzer.

M3 75m

m G

MC

Half-tracked

10

0Short 75m

m tank gun.

M10 3in G

MC

Fully-tracked4

20

3in anti-tank gun, .50 cal AA

MG

.

Infantry Teams, page 31

Carbine team

8”/20 cm1

16

M1 carbine, A

utomatic rifles.

Rifle team

16”/40 cm1

26

M1 G

arand rifles and BA

R’s, A

utomatic rifles.

Gun Team

s, page 31

M2 .50 cal M

G16”/40 cm

34

6M

an-packed, Small gun, L

ight gun.M

1 81mm

mortar

40”/100 cm-

-/13+/6

Man-packed, M

ortar, Smoke, Sm

all gun.M

3 37mm

gun24"/60 cm

37

5+G

un shield, Small gun.

Poor HEThe 3in anti-tank gun is an excellent anti-tank weapon, buthas poor high-explosive (HE) rounds limiting its performanceagainst infantry, guns, and trucks.Reduce the Firepower rating of 3in anti-tank guns to 4+against unarmored targets.

Self-defence Anti-aircraft GunsMany US vehicles carry machine-guns for self-defenceagainst aircraft.Self-defence anti-aircraft guns can only shoot at aircraft thatare attacking their own platoon.

Small GunsSmall guns have a low profile and are easily concealed, evenin open terrain.Small guns that are Entrenched (see page 47 of the FlamesOf War rulebook) and neither moved nor shot in their turn,count as being Concealed and Gone to Ground, even if theyare in the open.

Automatic RiflesThe US Army is equipped with the M1 Garand self-loadingrifle, M1 Carbine, and the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR)giving their infantry intense short-range firepower andallowing them to maintain their rate of fire while moving.Rifle and Carbine teams do not suffer the usual +1 to hit penaltyfor firing a ROF 1 weapon while moving or Pinned Down.When not Pinned Down, Rifle and Carbine teams reroll allfailed rolls to hit in Defensive Fire during assaults.

Light GunsSome guns are small and light enough to be easily movedby their crews without a vehicle.Light guns can be man-handled at a speed of 4”/10cm perturn on Road or Cross-country.

PioneerCombat engineers are not trained to assault tanks, but theydo have large supplies of explosives, making them veryeffective when they do.Pioneer teams have an Anti-tank rating of 3 in assaults.

Weapons, Arsenal, page 29

If both sides have recce troops, the defender makes theirreconnaissance deployment move before the attacker.

AVOID AMBUSHESOne of the vital roles of recce platoons is scouting enemyambushes before they are sprung.

The enemy may not reveal teams from ambush within8”/20cm and line of sight of your recce team unless therecce team moved At the Double last turn.

CAUTIOUS MOVEMENTRecce platoons are trained to make the best use of anyconcealment, even when on the move.

Recce teams are considered to be Gone To Ground in theopponent’s following turn if they are Concealed, and didnot move At the Double, shoot, or assault in their own turn,or fire at aircraft this turn.

These Reconnaissance rules replace those given on page 62 of the Flames Of War rulebook. Any force built fromthis Intelligence Handbook must use these rules. Any other force may either use these rules or the ones in therulebook at the player’s discretion. Whichever the player chooses, they must use the same set of rules for theirentire force.

A player using these rules must have a copy with them, and must allow their opponent to read it before the game.

Recce Infantry teams that do not move At the Double, shoot,or assault in their own turn or fire at aircraft this turn areconsidered Concealed, and therefore Gone To Ground.

The armoredcar moving

slowly alongthe hedge is

Gone to Groundbecause it is

Concealed anddid not shoot or

assault.

The infantry team is alsoConcealed and Gone toGround because it is a

recce infantry team anddid not shoot or assault.

After deployment the recceplatoon takes a free move

staying more than 16”/40cm fromthe enemy.

The recce platoon has securedthe wood as the enemy cannotreveal an ambush within 8”/20cm

of a recce platoon

16”/40cm

8”/20cm

The recceplatoon is

Concealed andGone to Ground

against theenemy team asboth armored

cars areConcealed and

none of theteams fired or

assaulted.

The recceplatoon gains

no bonusagainst theenemy teambecause onearmored car

is in the open.

Reconnaissance platoons (recce platoons for short) are acommander's eyes and ears. They push out in front of anadvancing army to discover where the enemy is planningto stand and fight, and find gaps where they can be bypassedwithout engaging them. In defence, recce platoons keep theenemy from learning your plans while gathering informationabout when and where any attack will come.

A recce platoon is any platoon noted as such. All teams ina recce platoon are considered to be recce teams. Teamsattached to a recce platoon are not recce teams unless theyare attached from another recce platoon.

COMMAND DISTANCEOnly the most independent troops displaying the highestlevels of initiative are selected for reconnaissance work.

Recce platoons increase their Command Distance allowingthem to operate in more dispersed formations than regulartroops. See page 44 of the Flames Of War rulebook for moreon command distances and their effects.

Experience Command DistanceConscript 4”/10cmTrained 6”/15cmVeteran 8”/20cm

RECONNAISSANCEDEPLOYMENT

Well before the start of any battle the recce troops startworking their way forward searching out the enemy.

After all deployment, but before the game begins, you maymove any recce teams deployed on the table up to theirnormal movement in any direction. This movement maynot be At the Double, and the recce teams must remain morethan 16”/40cm from all enemy teams.

If a recce platoon has attachments or passengers from a non-recce platoon, they may not make a reconnaissancedeployment move.

RECONNAISSANCE RULESIf you wish a recce platoon to disengage, you must declareyour intention to do so at the point an enemy platoon fires,but before any dice are rolled. If you do so, each teamshooting at the recce platoon then fires one shot at theplatoon in its current position.

The recce platoon now has a chance to get away. Make aSkill test for the platoon to see if they can escape before thefull weight of the enemy’s fire hits them.

• If successful, all eligible recce teams in the platoon mayimmediately disengage and move up to their normalmovement away from the enemy teams shooting at them.All other teams in the platoon remain where they were.Some teams may elect not to disengage if their currentposition is secure.

• If unsuccessful, the recce platoon remains in its originalposition and the firing platoon may fire their remainingshots.

All remaining shots from the weapons that fired and anyshots from other weapons the platoon is firing, are fired atthe recce platoon in its new position. If the whole recceplatoon managed to get out of range or line of sight of theenemy, the remaining shots automatically miss.

Disengaging does not prevent a team from being consideredGone To Ground under the Cautious Movement rule. Teamscannot move At the Double when disengaging.

German anti-tank guns open

fire fromambush so therecce platoon

elects todisengage. The

guns fire oneshot each then

the recceplatoon takes a

Skill test.

Only the tail-end charliethat didn’t get out of sight

is still a valid target.

Disengaging From ROF 1 WeaponsWeapons that only fire one shot (either because they haveROF 1 or because they moved), do not fire before the recceplatoon attempts to disengage. They must wait and fire atthe recce platoon in its final position. If whole recce platoonmanages to get out of range or line of sight, all of the ROF 1weapons’ shots automatically miss.

EYES AND EARSReconnaissance platoons are trained in careful observationand notice the smallest tell-tale signs of enemy troops.

A recce platoon that is not Pinned Down and does not movemay attempt to reveal one enemy platoon that is Gone ToGround and within 16”/40cm and line of sight of at leastone recce team in the platoon.

At the start of the Shooting step, roll a Skill test to revealthe enemy platoon. If it is successful, any enemy teams fromthat platoon in line of sight of the recce platoon do not countas Gone To Ground for the remainder of the turn.

A recce platoon attempting to reveal an enemy platoon doesnot count as having shot, but cannot move, shoot, or assaultthis turn.

The recce platoondeclares that it will

attempt to reveal theGerman machine-gun

platoon.

If the recceplatoon passesits Skill test, theenemy team itcan see is no

longer Gone toGround and theobserver team

will rangeartillery on it.

The other enemyteam remains

hidden.

DISENGAGE!When fired upon, recce platoons may attempt to use theirspeed and training to evade before serious damage is done.

Recce platoons may attempt to disengage when fired on inthe enemy Shooting Step as long as they did not move Atthe Double, shoot, or assault in their previous turn, or fireat aircraft this turn.

If the recceteam passesthe Skill test,

theyimmediatelymove away

and allremaining

shots are attheir newposition.

The main gun of the German tankhas a ROF of 1 because it moved,so the recce platoon attempts todisengage before the main gunfires. If they succeed, the maingun will have no target and will

not be able to fire at all.

Disengaging From Artillery BombardmentsSkilled reconnaissance platoons do not wait around for anartillery bombardment to fall, but attempt to disengage whenthe first ranging shots land.

Recce platoons may disengage if they have a team under anartillery template when an observer attempts to range in.The observer makes their first ranging attempt before therecce platoon takes its Skill test to disengage. Observersattempting to range in mortars re-roll their first failed rangingroll before the recce platoon attempts to disengage.

If the first ranging attempt is successful, the recce platoonmay not attempt to disengage.

If the platoon does disengage and the observer was rangingin on a team from the recce platoon, the observer makestheir second and third ranging attempts on the recce platoonin its new position. If the entire recce platoon has managedto get out of range or line of sight, the artillery bombardmentis cancelled.

Only Disengage OnceA recce platoon may only attempt to disengage once in anyShooting step. If a recce platoon is fired on by multipleenemy platoons, it may choose which platoon it will attemptto disengage from.

ReorganisationRecce teams that disengage need to reorganise themselvesafter their abrupt retreat and may not shoot or attempt toreveal enemy platoons using the Eyes and Ears rule in theirnext turn, nor may they move closer to any enemy withintheir line of sight. Other teams in the recce platoon maycontinue to operate as normal.

No Disengaging From Air AttacksAir attacks happen so fast that, like any unit, the recceplatoon’s best hope is simply to take cover, hoping to survivethe attack and continue once the aircraft have gone.

Recce platoons may not disengage from aircraft attacks, anddo not break off after the attack.

BREAK OFFRecce platoons are trained to collect information, not toengage in prolonged firefights. If enemy fire is too strong,a recce platoon may break off and attempt a differentapproach.

If any recce team fails an Armor, Infantry, Gun, Transport,or Passenger save in the opponent’s Shooting step (even ifthe team that failed the save is unharmed), the recce platoonmust take a Motivation test at the end of the Shooting step.

• If successful, the recce platoon elects to stand andfight it out.

• If unsuccessful, every recce team in the platoon that hasnot already Disengaged must move up to its normalmovement away from all enemy platoons shooting at itbefore Reorganising next turn as if the whole platoonhad Disengaged. A surrounded recce team that breaksoff will not move, but must still Reorganise.

Infantry and Gun teams in Bulletproof Cover never breakoff. They remain in their positions and fight on.

The observer attemptsto range in on the recceplatoon. If he fails the

first attempt, theplatoon may disengage.

If the recce platoongets out of sight, further

ranging attempts failand the bombardment

is cancelled.

206235

Whilereorganising

the recceplatoon cannotmove closer to

any visibleenemy, so theplatoon has tostop as soon as

it sees theGerman tanks.

In the turn afterdisengaging, the recce

platoon must reorganiseand cannot shoot.

Two German lighttanks move up andshoot at the recce

platoon. Their guns aresmall and the platoonis Gone to Ground, sothe player elects not to

disengage.

The tanks hit one armoredcar that then rolls equal tothe tank’s Anti-tank ratingfor its Armour Save. Eventhough the tank then failsits Firepower test to BailOut the armored car, therecce platoon must passa Motivation test or break

off as they failed anArmour Save. The recce

platoon will have toreorganise next turn.