The army-planning bug: Gimme feedback! [FoW]

[The Other Dave]

So I picked up Turning Tide, and have been fiddling with army lists for a bit, planning what to buy and so on. Here's my first shot at 1500 points - any glaring noob mistakes?

3rd armored division rifle company (I'm partial to cheaper units when I can get 'em, and I like the idea of AT guns in the infantry platoons, if only because it frees up extra bazooka teams, model-wise)

Company HQ w/ AA MG for Jeep, Bazooka team: 40P

Armored Rifle Platoon w/ 37mm gun: 225P

Another Armored Rifle Platoon w/ 37mm gun: 225P

Armored MG Platoon (2 sections) w/ 2 Bazooka teams (I get the models for the bazookas from the ARP boxes, so that's nice): 150P

Tank Destroyer Platoon (2 sections / 4 TDs): 320P

Medium Tank Platoon (5 Shermans w/ Hedgerow cutters 'cause why not): 350P

Armored Field Artillery Battery (1 section / 3 M7 Priests): 175P

Maybe a bit weak on artillery, but that's something I could beef up for 1750 point games. Also the tank destroyer platoon looks to be kind of costly, dollar-wise, what with all the support units in it.

[job]

I like the list overall. Nice and rounded with emphasis on mobility and armor. The TDs + Shermans will give you a lot armored support. I think you will find the 3in guns on the TDs important in taking on German armor directly. Also the shermans are very decent tanks. Almost every allied list is going to want a few.

The only thing I will suggest is an AOP. These will magnify your artillery greatly. They'll make every recess of the battlefield accessible to your artillery. They truly are the angels of death to the axis. Also they'll help serve as recon screens against ambushes in missions like Hold the Line and No Retreat.
40points and $17.50 for a very thin piece of plastic, but serve wonders on the battlefield.

If you were going to balance for it, maybe removing the Hedgerow cutters and playing with one less bazooka team.

Otherwise, cheers! It will be fun playing against you.

[The Other Dave]

The only thing I will suggest is an AOP. These will magnify your artillery greatly. They'll make every recess of the battlefield accessible to your artillery. They truly are the angels of death to the axis. Also they'll help serve as recon screens against ambushes in missions like Hold the Line and No Retreat.
40points and $17.50 for a very thin piece of plastic, but serve wonders on the battlefield.

I definitely want to get one eventually - the Sherman as an observer for the artillery seems like it'd be a higher-priority target (not to mention less mobile and harder to hide) than rifle observer teams.

They've certainly done a good job of making a game that encourages swapping stuff out, trying variant lists, trying similar lists based on units you have and so on, haven't they? I can see that this is going to take up quite a bit of my hobby budget for a bit.

(Also, I need to stop looking at GHQ's catalog and thinking about dumb ideas like collecting a parallel army in 6mm, heh. A company's worth of infantry for $10? Yes, please!)

[Colonel Voss]

I'm no expert. Like Job said, it looks well rounded, fast moving and it would be very interesting to see how it works.

[job]

The only thing I will suggest is an AOP. These will magnify your artillery greatly. They'll make every recess of the battlefield accessible to your artillery. They truly are the angels of death to the axis. Also they'll help serve as recon screens against ambushes in missions like Hold the Line and No Retreat.
40points and $17.50 for a very thin piece of plastic, but serve wonders on the battlefield.

I definitely want to get one eventually - the Sherman as an observer for the artillery seems like it'd be a higher-priority target (not to mention less mobile and harder to hide) than rifle observer teams.

They've certainly done a good job of making a game that encourages swapping stuff out, trying variant lists, trying similar lists based on units you have and so on, haven't they? I can see that this is going to take up quite a bit of my hobby budget for a bit.

(Also, I need to stop looking at GHQ's catalog and thinking about dumb ideas like collecting a parallel army in 6mm, heh. A company's worth of infantry for $10? Yes, please!)

I guess they have. I think it is FOW's way of offering choices and customization where GW likes to print out lots of options.

Oh, I should mention you may want to swap out the HMGs for mortars. Mortars are weapon that is useful for bombarding, pinning and smoking targets. I think the platoon may cost less then the HMG platoon in terms of $ and points.

And as for 6mm WWII, I think it would be fun, but I couldn't say I would join you there. I'm toying with the idea of getting into 6mm Napoleonics, so if you stay at 15mm in 20th stuff, I could go 6mm in 17/18th century stuff. (Maybe with 40th millenium stuff, too)

[The Other Dave]

Oh, I should mention you may want to swap out the HMGs for mortars. Mortars are weapon that is useful for bombarding, pinning and smoking targets. I think the platoon may cost less then the HMG platoon in terms of $ and points.

Hmm... It's a thought. In my (limited) experience playing, it kind of seems like mortars are a "finesse" unit, in that they can be really effective if used well, but really ineffective if used poorly. Until I get some games with the army under my belt, my first instinct is to stick with something relatively straightforward like MGs, which you just point at the enemy and roll a lot of dice.

And as for 6mm WWII, I think it would be fun, but I couldn't say I would join you there. I'm toying with the idea of getting into 6mm Napoleonics, so if you stay at 15mm in 20th stuff, I could go 6mm in 17/18th century stuff. (Maybe with 40th millenium stuff, too)

Heh. I'm in no danger of actually buying WWII in 6mm, I just like looking. That's a project for when I have a lot more free time and money on my hands than I do now.

(And if you ever want a demo game of Epic, let me know! I'm always game.)

[job]

Oh, I should mention you may want to swap out the HMGs for mortars. Mortars are weapon that is useful for bombarding, pinning and smoking targets. I think the platoon may cost less then the HMG platoon in terms of $ and points.

Hmm... It's a thought. In my (limited) experience playing, it kind of seems like mortars are a "finesse" unit, in that they can be really effective if used well, but really ineffective if used poorly. Until I get some games with the army under my belt, my first instinct is to stick with something relatively straightforward like MGs, which you just point at the enemy and roll a lot of dice.

And as for 6mm WWII, I think it would be fun, but I couldn't say I would join you there. I'm toying with the idea of getting into 6mm Napoleonics, so if you stay at 15mm in 20th stuff, I could go 6mm in 17/18th century stuff. (Maybe with 40th millenium stuff, too)

Heh. I'm in no danger of actually buying WWII in 6mm, I just like looking. That's a project for when I have a lot more free time and money on my hands than I do now.

(And if you ever want a demo game of Epic, let me know! I'm always game.)

I would really recommend mortars on principle that it was the advice passed to me. In FOW assaults are often decisive but usually difficult to pull off. It may take knocking out MGs, pinning the target and smoking the target to get a good chance at making it past the defensive fire. Two of these things mortars are good at.
Also the mortar platoon can carry .50s, so they can serve in a pinch for mopping up enemy infantry.

If you want, we could play a game of FOW so you could get the handle of FOW sometime. I've got Americans and Germans. In return I could try to be your opponent in Epic.

[The Other Dave]

(Number crunching...)

Hmm, if I switch out the MGs for a 3-strong mortar platoon, that leaves me 85 points short of 1500, which is just enough for a Recon platoon with a bazooka. Hmm! On paper, it looks like that could be super-useful since I'll so often be on the offensive thanks to the whole Spearhead thing.

I'd definitely be up for a game - it's been a good few months since I played. Looks like I have a big WFB game lined up this month, so how about September for a FoW / Epic tradeoff?

[job]

Sure. WHFB is big now, so we can play some more of that. That'll give us time to paint more FOW stuff.

I'll read up on Epic rules until then.

[The Other Dave]

Thinking of practice games, job, what have you got that a US medium tank company can use, weapons- and support platoon-wise? I know you don't have a bunch of half tracks, so that seems like something that might be similar in terms of play-style to what I'll end up with with my armored rifles.