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So I just got the Open Fire set and was able to trade to double up on the Allies. Now I know this is really a late war set, but there is a midwar league (1550 pts) at my FLGS right now so I was looking for ways to leverage what I have to get some games in. So I was thinking the best option would be the Canadian version of Armoured (Italy) from the North Africa book.

So with the Shermans I have as a base:

Compulsory Armoured Squadron HQ (Italy) - 1x CinC Sherman, 1x 2iC Sherman (225)
Compulsory Armoured Platoon (Italy) - 1x Command Sherman, 2x Sherman (350)
Compulsory Armoured Platoon (Italy) - 1x Command Sherman, 2x Sherman (350)
Armoured Platoon (Italy) - 1x Command Sherman, 2x Sherman (350)

That gets me to 1275. Then I was looking for additions that would also be useful in late war lists. I was thinking the Recce patrol with Stuart Jalopys since the Stuart itself would be useful later.

Recce Patrol (Italy) - 1x Stuart V Jalopy, 2x Stuart V Jalopy (170 pts)


That would bring the list to 1445. The platoons that would fit in the remaining points would be.

Rifle Platoon (Italy) - 1x Command Rifle/MG, 4x Rifle/MG (90 pts)
or
Field Platoon, Royal Engineers (Italy) - 1x Command Pioneer Rifle, 1x Jeep, 6x Pioneer Rifle, 2x 3-ton Lorry (65 pts)
or
Scout Platoon (Italy) - 1x Command Universal Carrier, 2x Universal Carrier (90 pts)
or
Light Anti-aircraft Platoon (Italy) - 1x Command Rifle, 3x Bofors 40mm gun (85 pts)

Would any of these be smart additions? Or would you suggest dropping some of the armor to get a bigger variety of units (eg 25 pdrs). At this point I'm am more looking to get some experience in rather than expecting to win, so I'm not looking for an optimized list but also don't want to pick up any dud units

Thanks.

Recce is pretty vital now, especially against Concealed / Dug in Infantry, and also stopping AT Guns ambushing your units.

1445 = 305 points to spend if you play 1750. Which is alot...

You probably want an extra Scout unit, as you have quite a few platoons of Shermans, so protecting them from Ambush, and revealing infantry is a useful to make your fire much more effective.

If you are playing 1750, try squeezing in a AA Battery, a scout unit, if you can stretch to the Field platoon of Royal Engineers (Maybe pioneers) and digging them in on your objective. Plus they are good offensively too.

I don't know the list, is there anyway you can beef up the compulsary Platoons to have say 4-5 units and sacrafice the 3rd Platoon.

Hi Steak and fries.

I would use u/carriers scout platoons instead of Stuarts (If they count as recon units ,because they are cheaper.)

I would take a troop of 3 Bofors.(SP preferably.) AA is useful vs infantry if no enemy air assets present.

Also a platoon of infantry is also useful to sit on objectives.(harder to shift than tanks.)
Can you take 6 rifle teams as an option for infantry ?(4 teams seems a bit fragile to me).

I am just very fond of universal carriers , and use them for recon when I can in late war.(Stuarts might be more viable in mid war though?)

Platoons of AA , scouts and infantry will give you a variety of units to get the feel of.(You can adapt your list to you play style as it emerges.)

Can Canadian Shermans fire smoke?(If they can then the need for artilery is not so great.)
If you cant kill it , blind it with smoke!

I am a new player , others may have more detailed help...