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I've been trying to talk a friend into buying the box so that I can sneak the Germans off him.

 d-usa wrote:
I've been trying to talk a friend into buying the box so that I can sneak the Germans off him.

\

That reminds me, I need to send you my German infantry!

I got a sprue from The Warstore during thei black friday sale. They fit in pretty well, I've included one or two on every stand so far.

Been looking at some of the pdfs that Steak N Fries linked me on the bottom of page 1, can anyone tell me how I can use those lists in Easy Army? I.e. what "book" they might be in.

Hell's Highway has the Guards armoured in it. The 11th armoured and the Poles are listed individually in the drop down menu.

Palindrome wrote:
Hell's Highway has the Guards armoured in it. The 11th armoured and the Poles are listed individually in the drop down menu.

Thanks!

11th armoured was what I was looking at, though I'll probably make a list for the Guards as well and give that a try

Okay, so the three lists I'm looking at:
11th Armoured Division


Grenadier Guards Armoured Squadron


Or the V3 Forces List

Just some general thoughts and ideas.

I prefer to use universal carriers for recon.
(Mainly because they are a bit cheaper than Stuarts.)

I prefer to use 4 tank combat platoons .(Sherman V with 50 cal.2 Sherman V .Sherman VC.)
As the fire power from the extra tank makes the unit more effective.

Motor platoons are quite fragile, and have to be used with agression and skill..(A skill I don't have yet.. )

US paras are very good , but a bit high on points .

Standard rifle platoons are good cheap(ish) units for holding objectives.

Arty is not such a high priority as Brit Sherman's can fire the all important smoke rounds.
And Priority Typhoons can be enough to deal with enemy air attacks...(and those stubborn big cats,)

I am writing this from the perspective of a new(ish) player.
(I have only played a few games...)

Thanks for the comments

My list choices are limited to some of the following:
1) Kinda has to be a tank company, because I own more tanks than I do infantry (currently only own the paratroopers from Open Fire)
2) I like taking 3 tanks because I tend to like leaving some tanks near my opponent's objective or hiding in some forests and firing out over a huge field of fire, and if I take 2 Shermans with a Firefly, I can leave the firefly back and have the Platoon Commander take the other Sherman and travel in a pack with the other Shermans. If I take a third Sherman, I end up leaving that Sherman back with the Firefly.
3) I haven't gotten a chance to use my Stuarts, but all of the Sherman based combat platoons have Stuarts as their Reece Patrols
4) I kinda figured the motor squads would be fragile, but I don't own them, and I'm thinking of trying them out lol. We'll see how they're used
5) Idk what kind of air support I'll be facing, if I'll be facing any... I'm contemplating on using them just for defense to chase off my opponents planes.
6) I'll update this later I'm a new player too.

Hi again,
I thought you could use the Brigade Support option of universal carriers for recon units instead of the weapon platoon Stuarts option.
(Have I missed something?)

I thought platoons had to keep unit coherancy.
(Eg all tanks in a platoon have to stay together.Again I may have missed something ?)

I agree 3 combat platoons of 3 tanks gives you more tactical options than 2 CP of 4 tanks.But 3 platoons of 4 sherman allow you to push forward more.

(As the unit it s bit more robust, and can return fire more effectivley. This opinion may be down to me facing Panthers most of the time! )

A single Motor platoon is great at grabbing objectives quickly.But need backing up with other units as they don't hold ground that well.)
(I sometimes mount infantry platoon on a tank platoon to get them to the objective ASAP.And the tanks give them close fire support.Instead of using motor platoons....)

Typhoons are cool !
(The other option would be to take some SP AA , and a 4 gun 25pdr battery.Not as cool but a bit more 'reliable' fire support.)

I look forward to reading your progress....

Lanrak wrote:
Hi again,
I thought you could use the Brigade Support option of universal carriers for recon units instead of the weapon platoon Stuarts option.
(Have I missed something?)

Probably can, didn't look too closely at that slot lol... I want to try out the Stuarts before I commit to anything else, I like the idea of "outflanking" like commands

I thought platoons had to keep unit coherancy.
(Eg all tanks in a platoon have to stay together.Again I may have missed something ?)

I agree 3 combat platoons of 3 tanks gives you more tactical options than 2 CP of 4 tanks.But 3 platoons of 4 sherman allow you to push forward more.

Your tanks must stay within x inches. My demo said 8 inches, but I saw something in the Open Fire! book that mentioned 6 inches on my Shermans, will ask this Friday.

But platoon commanders are allowed to take half of his platoon or less (rounded down) with him out of unit coherency. The tank that is left behind is allowed to act "independently". He cannot move, don't think he can come back into the tank if he gets bailed out, but can fire as normal. So you leave a heavier tank with a good line of sight and some cover, and let him take his full RoF every round. What happens is that if I have my Platoon Commander and 2 tanks in his Platoon, I can take 1 tank and my commander off on their own, and then the last one stays behind... I think the 11th Armoured Divion list can take the Commander, 1 Sherman, and 2 Fireflies. Which would be perfect to leaving 2 tanks behind .

A single Motor platoon is great at grabbing objectives quickly.But need backing up with other units as they don't hold ground that well.)
(I sometimes mount infantry platoon on a tank platoon to get them to the objective ASAP.And the tanks give them close fire support.Instead of using motor platoons....)

Typhoons are cool !
(The other option would be to take some SP AA , and a 4 gun 25pdr battery.Not as cool but a bit more 'reliable' fire support.)

Just trying out the Motor Platoon Will keep you updated

I am going to play my brits tomorrow. Its a 1350 points list. I use almost the same list for 1500pts. I just add some AA MGs and an additional Sherman for 2 of the Platoons. I use the v3 forces list.

135 Armoured Squadron HQ

215 Armoured Platoon (2x sherman 1x Firefly)
215 Armoured Platoon (2x sherman 1x Firefly)
215 Armoured Platoon (2x sherman 1x Firefly)

165 Recce Patrol (4x Stuart)

140 Rifle Platoon

265 Parachute Rifle Platoon Fearless Veteran Allied Platoon
------
1350



This is the list i'll be facing:

90 Gebirgsjägerkompanie HQ
165 Gebirgsjäger Platoon
165 Gebirgsjäger Platoon
165 Gebirgsjäger Heavy Mortar Platoon
110 Gebirgsjäger Anti-tank Gun Platoon
380 Assault Gun Platoon (4x StuG G)
260 Looted Assault Gun Platoon (4x StuG M42 75/34)
------
1335

I will let you guys know how that turned out .

Assuming I'm using the right Easy Army list (the only Gebirgsjägerkompanie one I can find on it), then:

For the costs given, that Gebirgsjägerkompanie HQ will probably have Command Panzerfaust SMG teams instead ot the regular SMG Command Teams, an Anti-Tank Section, and possibly a Püppchen rocket launcher instead of the Panzerschrek team.

Those regular platoons will have the Panzerfuast SMG teams leading them.

The Heavy Mortar should just be two heavy mortars with nothing fancy added.

The points listed point towards the anti-tank guns being 2 7.5cm PaK40s with Kfz 70 Trucks for them.

The assault guns are clear, too; the only potential change is that he may have swapped his StuG's guns for StuH's, which are Breakthroughs but allow him to fire smoke.

So, you're facing an army with a wide variety of anti-tank, using an Amoured Company.

I had originally written advice, but since I've yet to even play a single game of FoW, I didn't want to look a wally if my tactics were completely wrong.

Good luck.

Alot of the advice above is hit and miss advice as it depends on your tactics, setup and how you are using your force. first download this...

http://www.flamesofwar.com/Portals/0/Documents/Rules/FOW-Quickplay-sheet.pdf

Print it out and laminate it, it will make life much easier for you in the early days.

So answering some of the points above definitively:-

1. Coherency (40k term but I get you)....Okay this is called Command Distance and the value depends on the quality of your troops and whether it is a vehicle. e.g Look at the table in the above LINKED CRIB, but the better you troop experience the happier they are doing their thing away from the Platoon Commander.

2. Be aware of Gun tanking - E.g. When your Company Commander takes off leading an assault in a different type of vehicle, he can be deliberately targeted as he is a different vehicle (not always the case) but a good example is German Panzer's "Gun Tanking" Sherman Firefly's over normal Sherman's in a Platoon because the Firefly is the greatest threat with it's high AT gun whereas the normal Sherman is much less of a priority.

3. Platoons of Mechanised infantry can snatch objectives, but on their own they are vulnerable even to normal or inferior infantry and the reason for this is the "Dug In" rule. When Infantry dig in, they are really, really, really difficult to shift, and the higher the Confidence and the Experience it becomes even more of a big ask. Mechanised Infantry is highly mobile, but even a poorly armed crap armoured vehicle will chew through a mechanised infantry platoon. I play Mechanised Infantry alot, as PANZER LEHR are fully mechanised, some missions in FOW are suitable for Mech some most definitely are not, and that's when you need to consider sending your transports to the rear and digging in like an infantry force.

4. Recce in the form of Stuarts is fun, except that Recce needs to used to reveal Gone to ground not run around killing things. I say this because Stuart's are like PUMA's, you fall into the trap of using them like Armour rather than as a force multiplier. A good example is this:-

You are shooting at a unit that requires 6's to hit, because they are gone to ground. So you have 1/6 chance to hit, if you use the Reveal Gone to ground with a Recce Unit, it now becomes a 5+ to hit e.g a 1/3 chance rather than 1/6 chance. So as you can see your shooting is much more effective (33% instead of 16%!),

However if you use your Recce as light armour you will be tempted to use it to chase enemy artillery or objective snatching, when it's true utility is to deny Enemy ambushes and to make your core units more effective as a force multiplier. If you have Recce units like Bren Carriers rather than Stuarts you aren't tempted to run them like mini-armour and fall into the Mini-armour trap. PUMA's are a bugger for this because their gun is actually not bad and can penetrate most vehicles side armour.

You can run Stuarts so long as the you remember the above...They aren't really tanks, and believe me at some point you will use them like tanks and they will let you down.

Thanks for the tips mwnciboo

I knew about Gun tanking, as it stands atm, my Commander of my Combat Platoons is in a Sherman, and tends to take the other Sherman with me in my demo games, I had 3 Shermans, and we were using mid war (North Africa?), but the strategy still applies does it not?

I'm looking forward to this game on Friday, but I have a feeling I'm going to lose lol. I'm going up against a German list I have no idea what it can do lol

 Alfndrate wrote:
Thanks for the tips mwnciboo

I knew about Gun tanking, as it stands atm, my Commander of my Combat Platoons is in a Sherman, and tends to take the other Sherman with me in my demo games, I had 3 Shermans, and we were using mid war (North Africa?), but the strategy still applies does it not?

I'm looking forward to this game on Friday, but I have a feeling I'm going to lose lol. I'm going up against a German list I have no idea what it can do lol

Your commander is fine, so long as the vehicle he is in, is not distinguishable from the ones in the Platoon, But if it is a different Mark of Sherman (with different fitting or guns etc) it can be targetted. The Sherman Firefly with the massive 17 pounder and changes to the turret makes it easily marked and therefore can be Gun tanked. Pg 96 v3 Rule book gives the details.

Hey, winning/ losing is nonsense, it's whether you enjoy the game. Some of the best games I've ever had have been really close losses or draws that we were both trying desperately to win. Also Experience in this game is more important than winning or losing, It will help you to be a better Commander in the future.

Well, my Shermans aren't different from each other, besides my commander hiding in one

The firefly is the only different tank in the platoon, and I plan on leaving him behind in hiding.

Hi guys.
Just to clarify.
IF a platoon leader splits off from his platoon .
2 XSherman Vs leave the VC tank behind.As the VC is effectilvey no longer part of the platoon.
Would the Platoon leader and other tank have to take a morale tests as soon as one tank is KOed?(As the new platoon size is only 2, so 1 is now half the platoon)
(This is the way my local FLGS play it.)

This is why I kept my tank platoons together.As the'' Ronsons'' live up to their name when I use them..(They light up first time every time!)

(I also use the universal carriers for recon as they remove the temptation to think of them as tanks ...And I think they look cool!)

Sorry if I got things wrong. I am still quite new to this rule set.

If I remember correctly, you only make a morale once you've lost more than half of your platoon, with a platoon size of 2, you don't have to do this.

I could be wrong.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
So I have my rulebook now, and I'm looking over the Platoon Morale Checks. Page 174.

Check Platoon Morale for any platoon that took casualties and has more teams Destroyed than still fighting at the end of the shooting or assault step.

So if I take my platoon of 3 tanks, leave one behind and move purposefully out of command, taking at least half my platoon with me, I have a platoon of 2 tanks now, and thus if 1 is destroyed, I cannot be forced to take a morale check because I have exactly 50% destroyed... no more, no less..

Oki had my game against the germans today. Although i think we played some stuff wrong like my stuarts at the beginning of the game and us looking up a lot of stuff during the game it was fun.


We played "Dust Up". Again i crushed the german list like i did with the russian. My casualties were 2 Shermans and 2 Stuarts and 1 rifle/mg team of my paratroopers. I forced company morale on turn 9 and she failed it securing my victory. She didnt have a lot of luck with her firepower rolls and failed SEVERAL 3+ and failed not two or three but 4 bogging checks in one turn in a row! One failed assault on my paratroopers than sealed her fate.
My absolute favourite units were the fireflies. They killed almost all of her StuGs one by one. Semi indirect fire is a wonderful thing if your opponent tends to stay on range and in line of sight


The last 2 games were surprisingly easy wins for me. I hope that changes soon since this way its no fun for my opponents and thats what normally kills a new game in my club. Also i want to have fair and therefore close and challenging battles.

Any tipps for her fighting me? The lists wont change much in the near future. I know it depends on the mission and a lot of other factors but from a general point of view? You can see my and her list in my previous post in this thread.

I really hope this was caused by bad tactics of her. In my eyes she did a lot of mistakes like the mentioned staying in the long range field of fire of one of my sherman/firefly platoons for almost 5 turns whilst having the opportunity to go somewhere else and force me to move and therefore half my RoF and deny me the semi indirect fire. Or her splitting up the small army you deploy at the start of the mission and being completely overwhelmed on one flank at the beginning because i kept my force relatively together on one flank at the beginning knowing i could handle her split up force on the other flank as soon as my reserves arrive which worked perfectly. Also she was distracted by me zooming around with my stuarts and started fighting them instead of (in my eyes) bigger threats in her range.

Any tipps for her fighting me?

Get some new dice.

Switch her dice with yours. Should even things out

Question, did she use her storm trooper move? I've learned that is a great way to keep the german stuff alive, forcing the opponent to move and waste valuable RoF

 Alfndrate wrote:
Switch her dice with yours. Should even things out

Question, did she use her storm trooper move? I've learned that is a great way to keep the german stuff alive, forcing the opponent to move and waste valuable RoF

No, she didnt. It was her 2nd game where the first one was a test game with the open fire box on her kitchen table. It also was my fourth game ever so im not experienced either.

Jeah seems like we have to learn a lot before one could speak of a real victory. At the moment its more like test skirmishes.

yeah, I don't remember what those StuGs need to trigger their stormtrooper move, but that thing is a life saver.

 Alfndrate wrote:
yeah, I don't remember what those StuGs need to trigger their stormtrooper move, but that thing is a life saver.

Following the rules in the v3 book they need to pass a skill test and then are able to move 4 inches in the assault phase as if it was a movement step.

Lol yes, but I don't know what number that is hahaha

Good catch man

3+ in this case since they are veterans

You are allowed to leave teams (at least 1/2 the plt must stay with the plt commander) behind to guard stuff, for example.

You do not have to move those left behind teams BUT if you do the move must be toward getting back in coherency (even if they can't make coherency that turn).

Teams out of command coherency can shoot but cannot launch assaults. They can also be targeted specifically by the enemy.

Why would that matter (targeted specifically), you ask?
Because if I get 3 hits on your isolated Firefly VC, all 3 of them have to be allocated to that tank team because it's all by its lonesome.

Also, splitting platoon means concentrated fire on the bit with your officer could get him killed. Platoons without officers can't move (because movement has to be toward being in command) AND can't launch assaults.

Pros and Cons.

AFAIK, can't the Firelfy also be picked out by enemies regardless, because it's a different type to the other Shermans? I.E. Has a big-ass 17ld gun.

Still trying to get my head around the rules, especially the 'picking out different types of model in the platoon' bit.

Avatar is correct, the Firefly itself is a giant fire magnet simply because it's a different style of tank.

Edit: So why not leave it behind sitting in some nice cover?

 Avatar 720 wrote:
AFAIK, can't the Firelfy also be picked out by enemies regardless, because it's a different type to the other Shermans? I.E. Has a big-ass 17ld gun.

Still trying to get my head around the rules, especially the 'picking out different types of model in the platoon' bit.

Yes, you can 'gun tank' to specifically target certain tank models.
It's not automatic, though.

Once you make a successful hit on the platoon, you then roll again and must score a 5+ to have successfully have targeted a specific tank type.
If, however, the tank is isolated all by its lonesome, you don't need to gun tank.