Is That a Panzer on My Painting Table? Building the 24. Panzer Division for Flames of War - Part 1

Even a casual reader of my blog should be aware that thus far I have not been a big fan of Flames of War Version 4. My particular issues have not generally related to the rules themselves, but the desperately basic lists that were put out for the North Africa Campaign. Much of the more interesting kit was left out of the initial releases, which meant that armies I'd been hoping to build for V4 (German, Italian, and American) had key elements which were no longer supported by the game.

Over time the lists have started to improve, and my stated position has always been that if the lists in Flames of War got to a point to where they were interesting, I'd get back into the game with new armies and projects. Enter the new Stalingrad books, Iron Cross for the Germans and Enemy at the Gates for the Soviets. While not quite as comprehensive as I'd hoped, these are in my view a big step in the right direction allowing the player to create a some very accurate forces... one might even say "interesting" forces... so look what's on the painting table. Yes Virginia, those are Flames of War miniatures!