Lt. Col. Abrams Box Set. - Flames of War review

Today we are looking at one of my favorite releases from the Blood, Guts and Glory Intelligence briefing. Lt. Col. Abrams and two of his Sherman tanks.

Lt. Col. Abrams is a frighteningly effective special character in game and represents the man and his accomplishments in real life quite well.


First off lets discuss what you get for your money.

 For $35 US you get two Sherman tanks, Thunderbolt VI, a stock M4A3 76mm, and Thunderbolt VII, a tricked out Easy 8 Sherman.





Let's look at each tank separately.




Thunderbolt VII

  Thunderbolt VII is really the star of the box set. It's a souped up M4A3E8 that served as Abram's ride after the Battle of the Bulge.



Both tanks come with a great model of Abrams. These identical sculpts show Abrams proudly standing tall in his turret. It's a great touch.

One of the issues of the Sherman Easy 8 release were the asymmetrical tracks that resulted in some wobbly Shermans. The Tracks in this kit seem much better.

With a minimum of fuss I was able to get the model assembled and level on the table.

Hull and Turret extra Armor Detail

The Hull and Turret are both sculpted to show the extra armor plating that Abrams had installed on this tank. In addition to the extra armor plates there is also some sparse stowage. These details  look great and the entire hull and turret are well cast with sharp detail.

















Assembly and painting


Like most Battlefront vehicles assembly was painless, with a minimum of cleanup. There was mainly flash and some mold lines that had to be removed.

I painted these tanks using my tried and true method for US Armor. Lightened Violet Brown (with buff). a wash of Future and India ink. then some minor highlighting. Stowage was painted random shades of brown and tan with a wash of devlin mud.

Thunderbolt VII - Modified M4A3E8

Thunderbolt VII - Modified M4A3E8

Thunderbolt VII - Modified M4A3E8

Unlike the Thunderbolt VI this model is heavily modified and really can only be used to represent Abram's Thunderbolt VII.  You can't really use it as a Company CO or stock Easy 8 (well you can if you want but the stickler inside me wont).

Due to the in-game cost of Abrams and the Thunderbolt VII I don't think he's going to be used that often. Abrams riding in Thunderbolt VI or even V is looking like a much better deal  for US Armored players. Even then it's tough to fit in the extra 200 odd points that Abrams cost.








Thunderbolt VI

This is pretty much a stock M4A3 with some nice sculpted detail. Mainly in the form of stowage scattered sparingly on the hull. This tank comes with the new Battlefront Plastic Track sprue and the only metal in the kit is Abram himself (and magnets)

I like the plastics added for this kit. Especially the nicely detailed tracks and .50 cal AA Machine Gun.





I painted the ThuderBolt VI in the same manner as VII.

Thunderbolt VI

Thunderbolt VI

Thunderbolt VI

Not to much else to say about this model. It assembles into a great little M4A3 but nothing really jumps out at you beyond the Abrams Figure itself. If you didn't want to use Abrams as a special character this  model would serve as an excellent leader or "regular" tank in you US Tank Company.


Conclusion


This is a great little box set but it is expensive for what you get. $35 US for two tanks. One of them is essentially a stock sherman, Thunderbolt VI, while the other is heavily modified.

You do get extras in the box set that you would not get buying tanks in Blisters, decals and magnets, but still, we get those in the US Tank Platoon boxes and there is no additional cost added to those sets.

This does bring me to my biggest complaint, besides the cost, of this set.

 The decal sheet.

 Battlefront was very kind to produce markings for both Thunderbolt VI and VII, but they don't include any Stars! So to complete this box set as seen in the box art (and replicate how it looked historically) I have to either buy another expensive pack of US Decals or steal from one of my other US Box sets. (which are already short of the plan-jane stars.

 Battlefront, would it have hurt you to give us the 6 Stars we would need to complete this model?

I was very happy with the quality of the models. Detail and fit are excellent and this set builds into two very nice looking Sherman tanks.


It's hard to whole-heartily recommend this set for any except the Die-Hard US Sherman fans out there. The cost versus content is just a little too weak. That said, I really enjoyed this set... I just would have loved it more at $30 US.

Pros: Great quality and detail. Adding a unique Sherman and true American hero to your force. Magnets!

Cons: Cost and incomplete decal sheet.