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Heyas all, I recently stared my foray into FoW. A few others in my FLGS showed interest, and unbeknownst to me a few even had a good sized army or two painted! But, there's more 40k players than there are FoW, so they just let them sit. But, after checking them out, I might have found my niche. For a relatively cheap price (I never knew how bad 40k was, in retrospect) I walked out of my store with roughly 600 points of parachute infantry--two full 3 combat squads and a company HQ with 3 bazookas--and a handbook (although OOP) for them. Still need to buy the main rulebook, I know, but I'm making progress.

Question is, where should I go from here? I've been looking at buying some parachute/normal field artillery, as well as a box or two of tanks, be they TDs or regulars. Am I going in the right direction? Are those viable units? I'm yet to play a game, but I'd like to start out somewhere in the 1000 point range.

Congratulations on finding a much better game than 40k!

I too run a Parachute Infantry list. (mine are german though)

I have found you will def need some speed in your army. Be it a Sherman platoon or Tank Hunters etc... You need to present a well rounded force in FoW. Unlike 40k where you can spam units all day.. FoW will punish you hard if you run one type of unit etc...

Starting out I would look into Anti Tank weapons, just in case you run into a German Panzer Army =]

Alright then, thanks for the advice. Are snipers worth it at all? The main impetus is that my shop doesn't really carry FoW stuff, and has to order them individually. Stinks.

What para Nationality are you playing?I may be able to help. I play American and have read up alot on the BRits.


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Also check out my piks for the new Starter set. So save your monety for this one. Especially if you and one of yours friends split the cost or just trade off the other army you do not need.

USA, thinking of 82nd airborne. Any idea how long 'til it's released?

October. The 82nd is good they get Tank Destroyers.Me i play the 101st. D day list.

 MasticatorDeelux wrote:
Heyas all, I recently stared my foray into FoW. A few others in my FLGS showed interest, and unbeknownst to me a few even had a good sized army or two painted! But, there's more 40k players than there are FoW, so they just let them sit. But, after checking them out, I might have found my niche. For a relatively cheap price (I never knew how bad 40k was, in retrospect) I walked out of my store with roughly 600 points of parachute infantry--two full 3 combat squads and a company HQ with 3 bazookas--and a handbook (although OOP) for them. Still need to buy the main rulebook, I know, but I'm making progress.

Question is, where should I go from here? I've been looking at buying some parachute/normal field artillery, as well as a box or two of tanks, be they TDs or regulars. Am I going in the right direction? Are those viable units? I'm yet to play a game, but I'd like to start out somewhere in the 1000 point range.

Looks like you play Americans since you mention Bazookas. If so I would first recommend the Turning Tide book. It starts with D-Day and provides lists for the 101st and 82nd airborne including parachute forces and glider airlanding forces as well. Pick your list and that will show you how to go.

Airborne forces are rock solid at holding objectives and when dug in are next to impossible to remove, especially from a far. I play British airborne force. Airborne troops are the best of the best, so they Fearless Veteran. When dug in and gone to ground your opponent will need 6s to hit you normally. Increase that to long range or artillery fire that didn't range in on the first round and they can't even touch you. They will have to get in close. AT guns, that do not have the "no HE" rule are the airborne forces' best friend. Dug in right beside the troopers, they have staying power too with an increased 3+ save when gone to ground before the enemy is in range of their fire. Bazookas are great, especially when your opponent is finally in a position to have to assault you to get rid of your dug in vets. Make them pay heavily.

When playing Airborne it is best to limit your support choices to those forces that are solidly in the airborne fold. Many of the supporting tank forces for airborne forces in Turning Tide are actually Confident trained troops and nothing is more annoying than adding such a weak link to your force. My most recent game I had DD Shermans supporting my British airborne. My opponent was able to take them out pretty easily and all I succeeded in doing was giving him a relatively free unit kill when he couldn't destroy much of anything else I had on the table. That was our last day at 1200 points in the league so for 1500 points I removed the DD Shermans replaced them with an airlanding armoured recce platoon made up of fearless veteran Cromwell tanks instead. Definitely worth the extra cost in points. Besides if you need to attack your opponent has tanks and you don't he is going to get all twitchy and itchy to want to charge them at you and you can wipe them out with your guns before you advance.

As for your follow up question about snipers it all depends. In small point games snipers are waste of points that could be better spent on the necessary stuff. At higher points they can be useful, but still are very pricey. I know on my Brit list my command platoon can get up to 3 PIAT teams for +20 points each or up to 3 Sniper Teams for +50 points each. Given the option I would choose 2 PIAT teams over the sniper if I had an extra 50 points pretty much every time...

Welcome to FoW. It is definitely a much better written game than 40k and I have yet to have a rules argument over a FoW table after playing for years, whereas it seems that happens just about every game of 40k I play these days. I still love 40k and its back story, but enjoy playing a ruleset that makes a lot more sense, especially after the latest rules version came out. GW jsut came out with a new version of 40k and as usual it is just different for difference's sake again.

Skriker

I'm another Brit Para player, and I tend to use the britishe forces from market garden.
There are some great us para lists for this operation (think one is PDF on the web site) which combines the staying power of the fearless vet para with the punch of a guards tank column.

I always view my para's as counter attacking force. Normally it works best with the combat platoons supported by the AT guns dug in and Gone to ground while artillery hits the opponent, with the initial attack blunted you can then start an infantry attack, with smoke cover, though sometimes mobility can be an issue.

Also have a look online for extra warriors for market garden, think there is both an82nd and 101 character

I often play Brit Paras but I’m not that familiar with their US cousins, but it’s my experience that elite infantry lists suffer from lack of Anti Tank Capability. If you want you can make up for this with divisional support, but with my list I’ve purposefully only included stuff that can either jump out of a plane or land in a glider. So no tanks.

Some 6 pdrs are a essential (I’m unsure what the US equivalent is off the top of my head), 17Pdrs obviously have more kick but it’s my experience that sheer weight of shots from the cheaper 6pdrs mean they can deal with most threats.

Parachute field artillery is OK though I prefer to spend my points on Mortars that do a similar job for cheaper.

Well thank you all for your replies--I'm still feeling out what I might need or not, but I've gotten a few anti tank platoons, and a parachute field artillery. Doing the math--of which I'm not certain is correct, given that D Minus 1 is out of print (perhaps replaced by Turning Tide?)--I'll have a force of 1000 points, and it's already being based. Painting should be easy, given the right pigments. Main problem is the massive amount of little fething metal men that need to be sorted out into the correct teams. But, I'm getting it.

 MasticatorDeelux wrote:
Well thank you all for your replies--I'm still feeling out what I might need or not, but I've gotten a few anti tank platoons, and a parachute field artillery. Doing the math--of which I'm not certain is correct, given that D Minus 1 is out of print (perhaps replaced by Turning Tide?)--I'll have a force of 1000 points, and it's already being based. Painting should be easy, given the right pigments. Main problem is the massive amount of little fething metal men that need to be sorted out into the correct teams. But, I'm getting it.

Yes turning tide incorporates all of the allied lists from the D-Day invasion related softback books, including D -1. The lists are mostly the same, but have some minor tweaks on points and the like.

Yeah it can be annoying sorting out all the little figs. Many folks prefer to paint their figures *before* basing them. I prefer to base all of mine and then paint. Personal preference really.

Skriker

Well here is suggestion a few things.

Warriors, MAx TAylor is the Best. ALl non recon units deployed on the table get a recon Move.
Snipers,I always take. I love pinning infantry then hitting them with BArrages.
Support, Always take the Glider jeep recon. Theese guys can steal objectives or realy harrass the enemies art.
PAch Howitzers,TAke the Glider ones ,you get more and they are less points. Being confident trained insted of Fearless vets.

How different are the 37 and 57mm anti-tank weapons? In my book it states that we can use the larger setups at a slight (+5) point increase, or something to that effect. At work, so I don't have my book.

 MasticatorDeelux wrote:
How different are the 37 and 57mm anti-tank weapons? In my book it states that we can use the larger setups at a slight (+5) point increase, or something to that effect. At work, so I don't have my book.

37mm At rating of 7 57mmm At ratng 10

So ultimately they're worth their points, then. Works for me!

edit: Anyone know of third party stores where I can get nicer bases? Yeah, they're not that hard but sometimes I'm lazy.

 col. krazy kenny wrote:
Well here is suggestion a few things.

Warriors, MAx TAylor is the Best. ALl non recon units deployed on the table get a recon Move.
Snipers,I always take. I love pinning infantry then hitting them with BArrages.
Support, Always take the Glider jeep recon. Theese guys can steal objectives or realy harrass the enemies art.
PAch Howitzers,TAke the Glider ones ,you get more and they are less points. Being confident trained insted of Fearless vets.

1) This is only useful in missions where you are attacking. In any prepared positions defending mission, you don't want to move from those great foxholes that make you next to impossible to kill.
2) Still too many points in small games. Pinned units are not easier to barrage, and the barrage itself will pin them anyway.
3) Definitely agree with this one. Those speedy recon groups can really make a headache for your opponent when used effectively.
4) Do not do this ever. Don't give away the fearless vet advantage just to ger a couple more guns. You are pretty much just adding a weak link to your force and make it easier for an opponent to destroy your artillery support since trained troops are easier to hit. You need to take full advantage of the airborne forces' fearless vet status. It can make a big difference in fights.

Skriker


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 MasticatorDeelux wrote:
How different are the 37 and 57mm anti-tank weapons? In my book it states that we can use the larger setups at a slight (+5) point increase, or something to that effect. At work, so I don't have my book.

Definitely go with the 57mm guns. Their AT of 10 will be very useful. The 37mm only has an AT of 7, which is really not all that helpful in LW or most MW battles with armor. If you have some extra points, and you already have a unit of 57mm guns you can add the 37mms for objective defense from infantry and light vehicles, but don't rely on them to be your anti-armor defense.

Skriker

Also, I'll be getting some light armor units shortly--what's a good base color for US vehicles? I was thinking castellan/catachan green as a base, with a light devlan mud wash and a few drybrush highlights. Then some light scorched brown and graveyard earth drybrushing to mud it up some.

Get the army painter spray - they do specific FoW ones which are a god send

I was checking around--nowhere can I find the US armor spray, be it ebay, amazon, or their main site. Does the british armor spray work as well, or is it a bit 'off', in regards to spray color vs realism?

My local has some
http://www.triplehelixwargames.co.uk/product_details.php?subId=170&pId=577

"SP03 US Armour - Currently Unavailable"

Thanks for trying, man. I think I'll be able to match it somewhere, or just paint it the regular way haha.

 Skriker wrote:

 col. krazy kenny wrote:
Well here is suggestion a few things.

Warriors, MAx TAylor is the Best. ALl non recon units deployed on the table get a recon Move.
Snipers,I always take. I love pinning infantry then hitting them with BArrages.
Support, Always take the Glider jeep recon. Theese guys can steal objectives or realy harrass the enemies art.
PAch Howitzers,TAke the Glider ones ,you get more and they are less points. Being confident trained insted of Fearless vets.

1) This is only useful in missions where you are attacking. In any prepared positions defending mission, you don't want to move from those great foxholes that make you next to impossible to kill.
2) Still too many points in small games. Pinned units are not easier to barrage, and the barrage itself will pin them anyway.
3) Definitely agree with this one. Those speedy recon groups can really make a headache for your opponent when used effectively.
4) Do not do this ever. Don't give away the fearless vet advantage just to ger a couple more guns. You are pretty much just adding a weak link to your force and make it easier for an opponent to destroy your artillery support since trained troops are easier to hit. You need to take full advantage of the airborne forces' fearless vet status. It can make a big difference in fights.

Skriker


1 I am a aggresive player
2 I only play 2000 pts or more.usually 2500
3
4 Sorry i like rerolls. add in a 105 battery and i get a double width template
But heck it is just a game that what works for me.
I regularly play against SS armor and German Paras.Also the occasional Soviet Tank horde.



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 MasticatorDeelux wrote:
How different are the 37 and 57mm anti-tank weapons? In my book it states that we can use the larger setups at a slight (+5) point increase, or something to that effect. At work, so I don't have my book.

Definitely go with the 57mm guns. Their AT of 10 will be very useful. The 37mm only has an AT of 7, which is really not all that helpful in LW or most MW battles with armor. If you have some extra points, and you already have a unit of 57mm guns you can add the 37mms for objective defense from infantry and light vehicles, but don't rely on them to be your anti-armor defense.

Skriker

Alright, just waiting on a buddy of mine to get his forces together and we'll start playing around. So far I have the following:

US Paratrooper Company
CHQ
-3x bazookas, 2x SMGs

Parachute Rifle Platoon
-3x squads, comes with a mortar and bazooka

Parachute Rifle Platoon
-3x squads, comes with a mortar and bazooka

Airborne Anti-tank Platoon
-4 guns with 4 bazookas

Parachute Field Artillery Battery
-2 gun sections (4 total)

Which gives me 9 bazookas in a 1000 point list. If I get some jeeps I'll have a recce force which I honestly would like, but beggars =/= choosers. Thoughts?

The list looks like a good start. What force will you be facing? An armour list will be forced to attack you, in that situation you can dig in and let him come. He won't be able to hit you outside of 16" and when he closes for the assault you'll have bazookas and FV ratings.

If he's Russian and brings breakthrough guns you're pretty much boned.

+1 to Recce, definitely something to think about when you look to expand, at first I scoffed at the idea of getting scouts for my SS but they've snatched victory from the jaws of defeat several times. Also when you expand your force I'd consider something with a bit of speed, maybe some armour to grab distant objectives or just to harass flanks/force your opp to reposition.

If your playing American paras, I wouldn't really worry about AT assets as you have a crap tone of bazookas to shoot, the points are better spent else where, I think you'd even find a MG platoon more useful.

 Poppabear wrote:
If your playing American paras, I wouldn't really worry about AT assets as you have a crap tone of bazookas to shoot, the points are better spent else where, I think you'd even find a MG platoon more useful.

The problem with relying solely on bazookas for AT is their limited range. Enemy tanks can move up close enough to be at short range and fire will of their weapons and still be out of the 8" range of a bazooka. ATGs help keep the enemy honest and keep them from doing that. If they have to be further away they will lose their MG fire. They will also have +1 to hit their targets and against dug in and gone to ground veteran infantry means that they won't be able to hit them a lot of the time at all.

Skriker

Tank players will by happy to just sit there and shoot you from just within 16". Also, if you just sit around, they'll bring up recon and lift gone to ground, so you'll be hit on 5+ instead of 6.

Artillery will also need to range in only once, and you'll find yourself constantly hit by bombardments.

And let's not forget the new breakthrough guns that everyone gets. Most of the time you can dissuade those guns from moving up to fire on you since they have low armor values (unless you're Soviet), but if you don't have AT, they can just drive up and shoot.

After my first playtesting, it's important as hell to keep your AT guns in cover. Also, squads need to assault tanks as one cohesive group instead of one after another, as their machineguns in a platoon of tanks can easily hit us 5 times, and just as easily take out a good enough amount of squads. Also, if you keep your book in the car during the summer, the spine melts enough that the pages can fall out. feth.

I still won both games, but it was a slaughterfest.