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Well I hope the thread title covers what this thread is about. But I'll reiterate just in case. I'm new to FoW and I've descided to build a couple of small armies (1000pts) for myself so I can play with friends and hopefully introduce them to the game. Anyway I picked up the North Africa book since the mid war era and africa campaigns in particular interest me most (probably because they were completely ommited from school history lessons).

So after having a good look through the British list (sorry all you Yank chappies but I just don't find your stuff interesting) I keep finding myself drawn to the Divisional Cav list. When I first bought the book I had visions in my head of a nice 8th army rifle army but that seems to have fallen by the wayside.

Anyway I've written my first 1000pt list for the Div Cav, I'm sure that I've done a lot of things wrong so feel free to rip the list to shreds.

Australian Divisional Cavalry:

Compusory selections:

Company HQ: 2 Honey Stuart Is or IIIs 135pts

Divisional Cavalry Platoon: 3 Crusader IIs 230pts

Divisional Cavalry Carrier Platoon: 2 Carrier Patrols 200pts

Divisional Support selections:

Rifle Platoon: 3 Squads, Light Mortar, Anti Tank Rifle 215pts

Rifle Platoon: 3 Squads, Light Mortar, Anti Tank Rifle 215pts

Total: 995pts

I do have a few concerns about this list mainly around the carrier platoon, do the UCs acctualy come with a generic MG or is the 'extra hull mounter MG' upgrade need to be there for them to be armed? (sorry I really am a total newb). Also should I be making the Company HQ a bit more versatile by adding those two optional UCs? I also have concerns about this list's anti tank capabilities, although I guess that's where the Royal Artillery Field Batteries will come in when I expand.

Any help would be appreciated.

PS Yes I did say that I'm looking to start two armies but I didn't mention the other one because I'm still struggling to decide whether to go for the Germans or Italians.

The Carrier patrols come armed with a hull mounted MG standard (check their entry on pg. 223 of North Africa), the extra MG will up their ROF by 1.

I agree with you about the big worry in this list being a lack of AT. Have you considered giving your infantry platoons sticky bombs? That 1 extra point in Tank assault can make a world of difference. You might also consider taking an A 6 pdr. AT gun platoon from divisional support (2 pdrs. aren't any better than Crusaders and 17/25's are overkill for everything but Tigers, which should be ignored or smoked in MW). Tip & Run is a great rule for a mobile AT gun to have and it looks to be about the only option that a Divisional Cavalry can take that can hope to put a dent in a Panzer III from the front.

Crusaders and Stuarts can fly across the board and both can be pretty nasty when you're hammering your opponent with side shots, the trick is forcing your opponent to let you take them! Whether you do that by swarming them with more tanks, advancing infantry, or mobile(or static) AT guns is really your choice. My best advice would be to play a few games proxying each approach and see which one you prefer.

Thanks for confirming that I did think that's what the entry meant but I wasn't sure.

I did consider the sticky bombs but in a 1000pt list can't afford them without dropping one of the mortars or anti tank rifles.

Those anti tank platoons do look pretty useful, certainly something to throw into the army when I expand, but to get them into the 1000pt list would be tricky as it would mean dropping one of the rifle platoons or halving the size of the carrier platoon and dropping a few infantry upgrades and I'm really not sure whether either is a good idea or not.

Nick Ellingworth wrote:Thanks for confirming that I did think that's what the entry meant but I wasn't sure.

I did consider the sticky bombs but in a 1000pt list can't afford them without dropping one of the mortars or anti tank rifles.

Those anti tank platoons do look pretty useful, certainly something to throw into the army when I expand, but to get them into the 1000pt list would be tricky as it would mean dropping one of the rifle platoons or halving the size of the carrier platoon and dropping a few infantry upgrades and I'm really not sure whether either is a good idea or not.

I was pondering a Gurkha list from the same book. Or at least a list where the infantry are Gurkha. Don't forget you can choose Italian units with German lists/ vice versa if you feel the need to scratch both those urges at once.

I haven't forgotten that at all and it could be a nice comprimise.

Anyway I've gone back to the drawing board with the Divisional Cavalry list and this is my revised 1000pt list:

Australian Divisional Cavalry:

Compusory selections:

Company HQ: 2 Honey Stuart Is or IIIs 135pts

Divisional Cavalry Platoon: 3 Crusader IIs 230pts

Divisional Cavalry Carrier Platoon: 1 Carrier Patrol, 3x extra hull mounted MG, Boys anti-tank rifle (replaces 1 extra MG) 115pts

Divisional Support selections:

Rifle Platoon: 3 Squads, Light Mortar, Sticky Bombs 205pts

Rifle Platoon: 3 Squads, Light Mortar, Sticky Bombs 205pts

Anti-Tank Platoon, Royal Artillery: 2 6 pdr Portees 110pts

Total: 1000pts

I think this list has much better anti tank capabilities without sacrificing too much anti infantry firepower. I dropped the Boys anti-tank rifles on the rifle platoons because I feel that for 20 points they don't offer enough anti tank and the loss of them should be more than compensated for by the two six pounders. Plus one of the UCs has a Boys now and on a vehicle I think it could be much more useful than in the hands of the infantry.

For 1,000 I think that this looks good, you should be able to hold off some armor when you're forced to defend and the infantry will come in handy when you have to attack another infantry company. Any idea (besides the RHA battery) on how you plan to expand it?

Given how limited my options are it shouldn't be too difficult to expand simply because I can't add that much. My only options are a second Divisional Cavalry Platoon, expanding the Divisional Cavalry Carrier Platoon, expanding the Anti-tank Platoon, adding a Royal Artillery Field Battery and either Air Support or a Light Anti-aircraft Platoon.

My current thoughts are to add the following:

Field Battery: 1 Gun Troop with 4 OQF 25 pdr, 15 cwt tucks and Quad tractors 250pts

Divisional Cavalry Platoon: 3 Crusader IIs 230pts

plus an anti tank rifle to one of the rifle platoons for 20pts

But an expansion like that can wait until after I've played a few games with the 1000pt list.