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My son wants to get into Flames of War, so I picked up a PZ IV platoon and a Panzergrenadier platoon to start off. Now I'm looking for something I can use to oppose him. First thoughts were Russians (T-34/85 platoon + infantry) or Americans (either a Sherman platoon + infantry) or even some airborne troops. Thoughts? Most likely, this will be for casual play. Nothing too hardcore.


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Sigh. Fat fingered the POST button again. Can a mod please delete this. Thanks.

US Rifle Company. Good flexible force with a ton of options including amazingly nice arty and air support.
Fun to play and fun to fight against.

I would go with American Forces.

Anything you want.

Really. FoW is a game where you can make (almost) anything you want work.

Hordes of Russian tanks or infantry? Do it.

American Paratroopers? You got it.

British Commandos? Try it out.

How about a Hungarian or Finnish list? They've got those too.

I'd avoid the "Let's take a baker's dozen of IS-2's' list for now, though.

I think I'm liking the idea of American paratroopers. The Airborne rifle company for starters and maybe a box of 75mm arty.

Im just getting into FoW Late Germans myself.....

My 2nd army I am planning on doing an American Infantry List.... Or that new Alberta Stag hound army on the FoW site looks good too....

I would go with American Armoured Rifles and some Shermans.

That way you sort of keep it on a par while force building and can compete on fairly equal terms whatever the battle be it manoeuvre/defence/meeting engagement/whatever.

Or you could go for a Churchill Company backed up by Arty and pound his sorry behind. That'll teach the scamp not to mess with the old man! Competitive Dad for the win!

I would stick clear of the specialized things like a Churchill Company. When you are done with that, what do you have...a bunch of Churchillls and you may discover that a bunch of Churchills isn't your thing.

But if you went with something a bit less directed, like British Infantry, you could end up with Churchillls for support, Shermans for support, scout cars, etc. And you get a better feel for what each of those things bring. Then your -second- army could be a bit more specialized and focused.

Really, its like 40K and space marines. They are the gateway army and don't lead you to the frustration of spending your first twelve purchases discovering that there is a reason "assualt tau" just doesn't work.

American armored rifles, brit infantry (go wild and pick the Indians or Kiwis), even the Polish stuff, or the Canadians would be balanced and give you a better idea for later directions.

While my personal theater of preferece would be Eastern Front, i would resist getting into Soviets just due to the -amount- of minis you would need for points parity.

Sorry Shotgun Churchill Company was meant in jest.

Competitive Dad was a sketch from the Fast Show where the Dad would encourage his 6 year old son into things to beat him (or cheat to win!).

I wouldn't normally explain a joke but on the off chance someone buys 9+ Churchills I thought t best.

@notprop Nice fast show reference with the Competitive Dad comment. I think that will be appreciated by less than 1% of all Dakkanauts.

Nice

/me cancels order for 9 churchills.

Actually, your advice makes a lot of sense, to start a little more vanilla to focus on learning the gameplay and then potentially change to something more nuanced later.

mwnciboo wrote:@notprop Nice fast show reference with the Competitive Dad comment. I think that will be appreciated by less than 1% of all Dakkanauts.

1%, that's more than all of the FoW/Historic Dakkanauts. I call that a success!

Lol!

My favourite one is the one where he plays "Monopoly" with his boys and ends up phoning his lawyer about the legal position of suing his son because his rent came up short! Genius, I wish they would bring the Fast Show back.

Ifurita wrote:My son wants to get into Flames of War, so I picked up a PZ IV platoon and a Panzergrenadier platoon to start off. Now I'm looking for something I can use to oppose him. First thoughts were Russians (T-34/85 platoon + infantry) or Americans (either a Sherman platoon + infantry) or even some airborne troops. Thoughts? Most likely, this will be for casual play. Nothing too hardcore.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Sigh. Fat fingered the POST button again. Can a mod please delete this. Thanks.

What I would suggest is that you and your son look online at some of the units that where engaged in Westeren Europe and see if any of them take your fancys. I have found that picking a real life unit and equiping them with their TO&E's then looking at their battle honours and seeing what units they have found againsted is great fun.

I am in the process of doing that right now for AAG's Cold War Gone Hot. I'm thinking of either BAOR (British Army of the Rhine) or the FGR's Bundeswehr (West German Army) and I am having a blast reading up on the units, seeing how they where armed and organized. For myself it's been a fun project, but if you want something interesting and different to do with your son this just might be it. It would give him a good idea of why this War started, teach him a little about history and see what it was like over there for the men themselves.

Since you want to just play casual with him manybe making scenero's up based on real life battles might be fun? Forget the army lists and point values. See what side had what units and recreate some of the lesser known battles of WWII. Small skirmishes and fire fights happened a hell of a lot between units so maybe that would be a good starting point. I have found that doing a campaign where you keep track of your units and follow their progress is heaps of fun. It helps you identify with your army and after a while you start to care a little about ' your little army men' you want to see that private that singlehandly took out a whole german HQ unit promoted to Sgt. Sometimes you think twice about doing a suicide charge because this unit last game what the sole survivors of a horrendious bunker storming. The possibilities are endless.

That is one of the great things about historical Table Top Wargamming, you just have to look at real life to find insperation for your next battle. Good luck with whatever you decide to do but please post some After Action Reports.