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So I'm fiddling with getting into FoW and have drafted up a list that I quite like. Roughly, it goes:

Operation Overlord Rangers:

Colonel Darby,
an HQ Team,
Four Ranger Platoons (Two with rifle/mg),
a Platoon of 1st ID,
a Platoon of Task Force Engineers with Trucks,
3 M3 Halftracks with Hull-Mounted 75mm's,
2 M18 Hellcats + Security Element
2 105's
2 155 Long Toms
P47 Thunderbolt
L4 AOP

So right now I'm sitting on 25 points left to use, and dancing between a few options:

-Upgrade a third Ranger PLT to rifle/mg and take transports for the 105's and 155's

-Upgrade a third Ranger PLT to rifle/mg and take a D7 Bulldozer

-Pioneer Supply Truck

Any and all advice would be appreciated, thanks!
-TheCaptain

Helps if we know what book and list that you're using.

Just some thoughts based on my fielding some similar units in recent friendly play.

I'm not familiar with M3/75mm (are those towed AT guns or referring to Shermans carrying that as a standard cannon)?

If it is Shermans, then you are fielding 4 platoons of minimal strength. That can impact your opponent going for platoon kills for both victory points and moving toward forcing a company morale check.

The short artillery platoons will be useful for smoke barrage but little else since they will have to reroll any successful to hit rolls you make.

Once your TDs appear/start shooting, they will probably die quickly too. They have poor armor and having just 2 of them means a good round of shooting from a single unit can wipe them out completely.

Fixed and clarified all

Thanks. Should have realized half-tracks. Duh.
Looks like a solid body of infantry. They'll be hard to dig out and you'll likely be defending against many/most other lists.
Be sure to spread out and dig so that enemy arty and tanks have a harder time. T

Your supporting platoons are not going to be very effective or long lived based on averages. If your opponent kills just one gun in each of your batteries, they're junk. They won't be able to barrage for smoke and their offensive capability is basically nil at that point.

Since smoke seems to be an unstated goal, if you have mortar platoons available you can probably get an entire platoon for the price of the 155 arty. Just a thought.

Do what you have to to get 4 M18s.

The paired little arty bttys isn't bad since they can combine freely for a 4 gun bombardment at AT5, FP3.
If you can get 4x105s plus the two 155s though, that's a 6 gun At5, FP3 bombardment.

Good points on the arty combining.

AndrasOtto wrote:
Do what you have to to get 4 M18s.

The paired little arty bttys isn't bad since they can combine freely for a 4 gun bombardment at AT5, FP3.
If you can get 4x105s plus the two 155s though, that's a 6 gun At5, FP3 bombardment.

What would you suggest i drop in favor of the m18s?

the halftracks.

Are the P47s Priority or Limited?

AndrasOtto wrote:
the halftracks.

Are the P47s Priority or Limited?

They are priority

Won't 4 Tank Destroyers be kinda "tank-killing eggs in one basket"?

You can kill the crap out of tanks by aerial attack and arty, too.

 TheCaptain wrote:
Won't 4 Tank Destroyers be kinda "tank-killing eggs in one basket"?

Check the rules for Morale. That should explain why you should max out your platoons when possible.

Which book and which list, you need to be specific. There are several Rangers lists for Overlord.

For now I will assume the standard Ranger Battalion list from the Overlord Book. The Eassy Army copy of the list does not have Col Darby though.

1. Pairs of artillery are a bad idea, and you lose firepower when combining different types of artillery. Drop one and boost the platoon you keep, in general this means take the 105's, they are more cost efficient anyway.

2. Chemical mortars are your friend. If you want a separate arty platoon for smoke (good idea to) then take the mortars.

3. Ranger cannon platoons M3 75mm GMC are not worth the points you spend on them, they are not recon vehicles despite appearances. They look cheap but are a false economy and their guns are not good enough to deal with tanks and you can rely on your artillery for. If you want the M3 75mm GMC for anti-infantry fiorepower then instead buy the M16 AA halftracks instead. The ROF is excellent and they have sufficient firepower factor to deal with dug in infantry with the quad .50cals. They are also cheaper.

4. M10 outperform M18 in my opinion, you dont need the extra 4" movement as much as you need the +2 armour. Neither will stop a tank shell, but M10's survive opportunist small arms fire.
Are you looking at the list that lets you take two platoons of Tank Destroyers? Tempting.

5. Engineer platoons used for engineering dont last long, but the US ones have some nice toys for general play. Its tempting to take a full platoon without extra toys just as heavy infantry. Seven stands including two HMS stands with transport is pretty good for holding a flank, esp if you add the bazookas. The extra Tank sounds fun, but wont last on his own.

6. The AOP uis worth it, the P47's like other air support is a bit random, if you drop it you are 100pts short of another full Tank Destroyer platoon .

7. Your supplementary infantry platoon ought to be drawn from a CT division. If you want to save points for extra cheap rifles, get cheap rifles. If you want quality get more rangers instead.

I can only find Darby in North Africa and the 10th Mountain Division PDF.

 Ghaz wrote:
I can only find Darby in North Africa and the 10th Mountain Division PDF.

You are correct, he only served in Italy,Not sure on Aferica.,I should know because i built 3 forces around him.MW ,LW Rangers and 10th Mountain.

Darby is credited with participating in Italian and Sicilian Campaigns and Operation Torch, invading French North Africa.