FoW- Building my Army

Well it's time to get busy and get my army started. I've combed the blogs and forums to get a concenus on different units and tactics. I've read 100+ battle reports (they call them AAR's..."After Action Reports") to see what really works and what is needed on the battle field. I began looking thru my "Desperate Measures" Intelligence Briefing (codex) and even downloaded a free one (Panzers in the Meuse)from BattleFront, yes I said free. There are quite a few free Intelligence Briefings available.

For those that don't know each Intelligence Briefing contains 4-6 different army lists per faction. Each list has a large variety of options which also depends on which list was chosen, be it a tank company, armored or mechanized infantry company and so on, so lots of options.

So what did I get out of all the reading? Well, a few things come to mind.

1) In tournament play a minimum of 6 platoons is a must. HQ's and air craft don't count for this number so it must come from combat, weapon and support platoons. Why is that you ask? Well they have what is called half on half off missions where like it says half your army starts on the table the other half is in reserves. The extra platoon (unit) after an even split goes into reserves also. So if you only have 5 platoons then 3 would be in reserves an only 2 on the table. It puts you at a disadvantage from the start as most other people will start with 3 platoons or more.

2) Recce (reconnaissance) is important especially to tank companies. Recce units get a special pre game move to get ahead of your main force. This move can help take away important ambush areas on the battlefield, push back US tank destroyers messing with their deployment and keeping them at long range against your main battle tanks. Most importantly I think is the ability to lift gone to ground against enemy units especially the infantry is key to tank companies.

3) Smoke and smoke bombardments are a very good thing! Some people may argue the importance of smoke. I as a noob like it. That may change over time but the ability to block line of sight and or force units to have to move to see targets (which effects their shooting) is key for helping platoons advance up the field while helping to minimize damage.

4) Aircraft is more viable in 3rd addition which also makes anti-air more important. They (BF) adjusted the aircraft rules in 3rd Ed. making them better, before I gather they were kind of meh. So with knowledge in hand I put together this list (after many many changes). Is this a beat all tournament list, probably not but it does incorperate many different elements of the game, a balanced list of sorts.

next post will be my list and some reasons why I chose it.

Ok, here is my list. I figured it to 1750 pts. of Confident Veteran Germans. 1750 seems to be a max for tournaments. There is a lot of different point levels used but I don't recall seeing any over 1750. The Confident/Veterean (CV) ranking describes my troops abilities. There are two catagories that effect your troops abilities and cost. These are Motivation and Skill. There are three classes in each. Motivation is Reluctant, Confident, Fearless and Skill is Conscript, Trained, Veteran.

My list: CP- combat platoon, WP- weapons platoon, SP- support platoon

HQ- 1 Panzer IVj    (medium tank)
CP- 4 Panzer IVj's  (medium tank)
CP- 3 Hetzers        ( medium tank)
WP- 2 Ostwinds      ( anti-air)
SP- 2 Tiger 1E's      ( heavy tank)
SP- 6 Aufklarer's 38(t)  2 patrols    (recce)
SP- 3 15cm NW41 Rocket Launchers    (artillery)
SP- Oberst Hans-Ulrich Rudel    ( special character...aircraft)

That's my list but it's late so I'll go into my reasons next time.

Let's review my list, this shouldn't take long really. First off much like 40k you must have at least 1 HQ and 2 combat platoons (troops for 40k) unlike 40k your HQ must be the same type as one of the combat platoons.

So my HQ has to be in a Panzer IVj or a Hetzer. I choose the Panzer because it's  a bit more flexible than the Hetzer. It's a turreted tank has one less point of front armour and the same gun as the Hetzer. In comparison the Hetzer is also a slow tank and over loaded. There are a couple other differences but those are the big ones. Over all it's probably wise to take a 2ic (2nd in command) as your platoons can get bogged down if they loss their leader (they basically can't do anything but shoot)  and only the Company Commander can can appoint a new squad leader or the 2ic can join and take control. The German special rule "Mission Tactics" allows platoons to auto nominate a new leader on their own mitigating to some extent the need for a 2ic.

So I talked about my HQ Panzer. My combat platoon of Panzers are the same and just an all around good unit for tanks and infantry. The Panzer is sometimes referred to as the German Sherman tank. Now what about the Hetzers (Hetzers gonna Hetz), I told you about it being slow and overloaded but what else. Well it's classified as a tank hunter, has a hull mounted gun and is by far the coolest looking tank and it's cheap what else do you need to know!

My next choice is the Ostwinds which provide most of my anti-air defense. These are nice as they have an open hexagonal turret with a bad ass AA gun, a little bit of armor and of course I think they look cool as shit. They are also effective against unarmored trucks, half tracks and infantry.

Next up is the infamous Tiger tank. While its not the big daddy of them all the "king Tiger" or as bad ass as it was earlier in the war it still is a potent force to be reckoned with. It has good armor all around and on the top also (most vehicles lack good top amour which makes them vulnerable to artillery). It's gun can deal with any armor out there and it gets a random (D6) roll on a special "Tiger Aces" chart giving them some type of enhancement whether it be a additional shooting attack, re roll misses and so on. On a roll of a 6 they get two skills! Down side is they are a slow tank, Not a real big deal but still a disadvantage of sorts.

The AufKlarer 38(t) is unique in that it was never designed but came together thru the necessity of German forces needing Recce (recon) units towards the end of the war. They took Panzer 38(t) chassis and retro fitted a 2cm Hangelafette 38 turret to it. This is a small tank about the size of a Stuart but is classified as a standard tank. It has light armor as befits a Recce vehicle but has a nice rate of fire 3 gun along with an additional co-axil machine gun giving it 4 shots plus it has self defense anti-air. It's range is a bit short but as they have to get up close and personal to lift GtG it should be ok.

Almost done. Next is the 15cm NW41 Rocket Launcher or Nebelwerfer (NW) or Screaming Mimmi ( thats what the allies called them due to the noise it made while coming down on its target) whatever you prefer. I have a platoon of 3 with a command squad and observer. These are mostly for laying down smoke screens to block LOS but they are artillery and can lay some hurt down that way if needed. They also have half tracks to make them mobile.

Last but not least is Oberst Hans-Ulrich Rudel or can you say Badass Stuka Ace. This dude destroyed everything in sight and his rules show it. He was the highest decorated German during the war. They had to create a new medal for this guy. Anyways he always automatically ranges in on his target no dice rolls for him. If he is shot down he is not killed but can still come back the next turn. He is always a single plane but does not have to roll successful hits because of it. He has 2 attacks hitting on 2's with a fire power of 3 and anti tank of 11 which hits tanks on their side armor ouch!

That's it, that's what I'm starting with and I have placed my request with High Command and already units are trickling in. As I get these built I'll post some pics.

Nice start. IIRC, 2iC is needed for infantry really, tank companies should be good with 1 HQ.
Why no Stugz?

I like the Hetzers better plus I think they are a little pricey. They are definitly a good tank but it seems everyone has some Stugs.

My forces have started rolling in and I have been busy assembling. Even with the smaller scale I have really enjoyed putting these models together. They are simple as in there is not a ton of parts to mess with, very little clean up like sprue left overs and they look really good.

I must add that some of these kits are metal and resin, the Ostwinds were metal, resin and plastic, while my Nebelwerfers are all metal (except for the bases). BattleFront is in the process to move to all plastics (at least for the more popular stuff) and the reviews on these have all been very positive. BattleFronts resin is not like Finecast or Forgeworld resin as it is no where near as plyable. It is a harder resin and seems to be appropriate for the model pieces it is used for. The metal literally took me back to my beginnings with minatures. I would swear it's lead due to the feel, ply-ability and it even comes off on your fingers like lead. Didn't think lead was allowed in the U.S. anymore but damn I forgot how much I enjoyed working with it ("Flash Back" to the good ole' days).

Anyways I have some built but not primed or painted yet. What I do have is some Tiger 1E's that I picked up from EAP's German Surplus Store. I'm going to try and replicate the paint job as close as possible with the rest of my forces but if it doesn't work out I may have to repaint them to match my color shade. Here is a few pics. Enjoy.

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