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Starting to build New Zealanders. I got the British Rifle Company box so I have a base of three platoons with three squads, PIAT teams and light mortars. I added a box of 5.5" guns yesterday. What is a good unit to add next? Slowly building up to 2K.

Are you playing Midwar or Latewar?

Think that the 5.5" guns require that you take a unit of 25 pounders, so you'd have to buy a battery of the lighter artillery first. Once you've got that, an AOP spotter would be great to take advantage of your massed artillery batteries.

Anti-tank is something that you want to take into account when designing your lists. PIATs are good self-defense weapons against small amounts of tanks, but it won't do anything to stop massed armour from running down your poor infantrymen. It's also hard to chase down tanks waving your one AT weapon around since your rifle platoons are small. Take a look at the 17 pound AT guns, either as towed guns or mounted on Sherman Fireflies.

Good thing about playing Rifle Companies is that you have loads of points to spend on support platoons. Mortars and Recon units are good choices to help out your infantry and if you end up going heavy artillery, a cheap AA platoon is good to defend the batteries against airstrikes.

Late War. And yeah, I noticed that so I went and got the 25 pounders. An AOP spotter sounds like a good bet next. Do the 6 pounders work out well for AT? The Tip & Run rule would be awesome for setting up some ambushes on German and Italian armor.

Unfortunately, the LateWar 6 pounders don't have the Tip and Run rule since they're not portee mounted. That rule only appears in MidWar for the desert campaigns.

6 pounders work well in ambush, and that's really about it. In a straight-up tank vs. gun fight, most armour outranges your weapon and will usually get the first shot in on your teams, which will probably kill them. They're also only really effective against light and medium tanks, as their AT value isn't strong enough to take out the German heavy tanks. Another downside is they don't work well when you're on the offensive, as their relatively short range and slow speed make it hard to provide effective covering fire.

That said, they are cheap and do give you some ranged AT option instead of the up-close PIAT. I would proxy them up and then some M10C or Sherman Fireflies and see which option you like better. Heck, you can probably take both in the same list.