Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hi everyone,

Just started FOW and ordered models to make the following list:

Compulsory Battaglione Bersaglieri HQ - CinC Rifle, 2iC Rifle (25 pts)
- Solothurn anti-tank rifle (15 pts)

Compulsory Bersaglieri Platoon - Command Rifle/MG, 6x Rifle/MG (110 pts)

Compulsory Bersaglieri Platoon - Command Rifle/MG, 6x Rifle/MG (110 pts)

Bersaglieri Anti-tank Platoon - Command Rifle, 4x 47/32 gun (105 pts)
- SPA TL37 tractor per gun (5 pts)

Tankette Platoon - Command L3/35, 3x L3/35 (100 pts)

Self-propelled Coastal Gun Platoon - Command Autocannone da 102/35 (120 pts)


590 Points, 5 Platoons

This is intended to be a quite simple TAC list, with the following basic strategy: (note that everything but the Coastal Gun is rated Elite, making them usually trained with equal chance of each motivation)

The infantry, together with the CinC, 2iC and solothurn are for taking and holding ground. Quite likely to end up being trained -as good as EW italians are going to get- they should be able to at least be a pain to be removed from somewhere. Also, they can still dish out a fair number of shots each turn. I don't expect the solothurn to do anything, but it should just be there to look threatening to enemy armour. Should I be lucky and have the Unknown Hero appear in the unit containing the CinC, I'll have a platoon with 2+ re-rollable motivation holding the objective.

Tankettes are purely there for pinning purposes. Move up, avanti! into cover, move up again next turn and fire 16 MG shots, meaning they can reliably pin when rolling 5+ to hit. Their front armour is a whopping 0 though, so they are quite flimsy and definitely must not be exposed to any significant firepower.

The AT bersaglieri and the Coastal Gun take on light and heavy armour, respectively. 12 AT 6 FP 4+ shots should put a dent in most things within range... That does mean I need to position them cleverly. Should the Mathilda's hit the table, it's time for the coastal gun to shine. 2 AT 11 FP 2+ breakthrough shots are definitely going to leave a mark if I can manage a hit. It's extremely flimsy, but the long range should help compensate for that. Also, it can't move and shoot, so whenever it needs to move it can try to avanti! a bit further.

So, any flaws in my strategy? Any weaknesses? Also, where should I go from here if I want to expand?

Welcome to Flames of War and an excellent choice on fielding Italians!

As a long time Italian player, my recommendation for expanding your force includes the following:
-Demolishers
-more of the man-packed AT guns
-mortars
-M14/41 tanks
-air support.
-HMG

For Early War the Italians have the best air support option because their plane has both bombs and guns. I'm not a fan of the big AT guns as they never pay for themselves. If you run into a Matilda the demolishers can usually finish them off and the Matilda platoon doesn't have the strength of numbers to win an assault. Also the odds of your enemy being dumb enough to let you use the AT guns to actually shoot at the Matildas is pretty slim.

In larger pointed games you should easily be able to hit 10 platoons by adding cheap HMG and AA platoons.

Jeremey

I'm not too sure how the rules for pioneers work, but I'll look that up sometime.

Are mortars really that good? Their stats look quite underwhelming to me. The 5+ firepower might be useful, as well as the ability to fire over friendlies, but it definitely feels like there are better options out there. I did find out I had 10 points to spare so I stuck mortars on the tankettes.

Also, I'm using Hellfire & Back, so I can't take M14/41 tanks... Did you mean M13/40 tanks? I could definitely use some decent armour in my list. The thing is, every slot spent on M13s is a slot not spent on absolutely adorable tankettes

Regarding tankettes, are they any good? The number of shots they can fire is impressive, and they are rather mobile. On the other hand, they are really flimsy.

The air support option sounds good, but it's only sporadic. Will that be enough?

The coastal gun doesn't really pack a punch indeed, but it sounds like a decent distraction carnifex. The range and high stats should hopefully make my opponent go out of his way to destroy it.

The M13/40 and the M14/41 are basically the same tank. The main difference was a more powerful diesel engine and a slightly better main gun. For Flames of War you would use the same model for both.

Brother Michael wrote:
I'm not too sure how the rules for pioneers work, but I'll look that up sometime.

The Demolishers are worth the points, they're a big platoon and can take flamethrowers. In all of my EW games this unit does all the heavy lifting.

Brother Michael wrote:


Are mortars really that good? Their stats look quite underwhelming to me. The 5+ firepower might be useful, as well as the ability to fire over friendlies, but it definitely feels like there are better options out there. I did find out I had 10 points to spare so I stuck mortars on the tankettes.

Also, I'm using Hellfire & Back, so I can't take M14/41 tanks... Did you mean M13/40 tanks? I could definitely use some decent armour in my list. The thing is, every slot spent on M13s is a slot not spent on absolutely adorable tankettes

You use them to pin the platoon you're planning on assaulting and break up infantry in the open. Pinning the target is the first priority, anything killed with the 5+ firepower is just an added bonus.

Sorry, yeah the M14/41 models and M13/40 are nearly the same. If anyone can tell the difference in the game I'd be surprised. In EW, for the points, this is the best tank (in my opinion) in the game.

Brother Michael wrote:

Regarding tankettes, are they any good? The number of shots they can fire is impressive, and they are rather mobile. On the other hand, they are really flimsy.

In a 600pt game they're probably useful, but once the point value increases you're going to want something bigger that can assault and shoot enemy armor.

Brother Michael wrote:

The air support option sounds good, but it's only sporadic. Will that be enough?

The coastal gun doesn't really pack a punch indeed, but it sounds like a decent distraction carnifex. The range and high stats should hopefully make my opponent go out of his way to destroy it.

Sporadic is fine, it is the option I take in MW and LW. It is totally worth the points. The power of air support is that if it shows up it ranges in automatically on targets in the open. The MG attack (hitting on a 3+) lets you shoot up infantry and light vehicles and the bomb lets you attack tanks.

Hopefully the coastal gun works for you. I just don't think it is worth the points because it can't move and shoot and is vulnerable to artillery fire if attacked.

As a strategy tip, don't kill your 2iC, you want to take the hits on your infantry platoon command teams in search of the Unknown Hero and keep the 2iC alive so he can assign new platoon commanders. There is a lot of strategy associated with getting the Unknown Hero into the game. His 2+ motivation is huge and you really want to manage where he shows up. For example, when my demolishers are moving across the table to set up an assault, the command team is always in front to take a hit, the 2iC is nearby to keep them going if he doesn't show up.