Tuesday, November 2, 2010

FoW Early War- let the madness begin!

At Conquest I picked up the French tank boxed set. Not sure why, I don't enjoy running tank armies! However, I do have a company of French Infantry (3/4 finished) that has literally been lying round for years. I even found 4 unopened boxes, the old square BF boxes (circa 2002-2003?) with three Char Bs and a HMG platoon, and 4x old BF 75mm guns.

So between the two I'll be able to make a reasonable Escadron de Fusiliers Portes (truck borne fusilier squadron) . However, I've decided I want to run an armoured car squadron so aim for that to be my first project- the panhards are being released later this month and so that settled it!

I hope to go to Valleycon in Wellington in January so need a EW force for that. This is what I'm thinking so far:

French Deep Recon
1x Panhard HQ 35
4x Panhards 135
4x Panhards 135
3x Panhards 135



4x S35 Somuas 415
1x M/C Platoon 165
1x M/C Platoon 165
4x 75 (1897) artillery 290

Air Inteceptors 25


1500




The motorcycles are there as I like the idea of lots of motorcycles (and really like the rules they've got early war- at last motorcycles are viable!) but until released I'll just use the truck borne infantry which are the same price.

Germans aren't a problem. My main interest is the Ostfront '41-'42 so most of my Germans armies are in panzer grey but rarely get fielded as all my local opponents run mid '43 onwards Italian or Eastern Front forces so I don't get to use them (I like to match the correct theatre for my opponent). The only thing I'm lacking are the SiG 133s and panzerjagers- both of which I need to get to round off my forces- as I like the look of the models. There is a site in the US which is breaking up the boxed sets and selling parts separately so I've ordered through them- I don't see the point in buying a $320 boxed set for 6 models! But come on BF hurry up and get the EW blisters released!

My company will be (picked purely as I like the models, have no idea how it will preform on table) as follows:

Schutzen Company

HQ 45



1st Platoon- ATR 200
2nd Platoon 180
2x 7.5cm IG 65
8x Motorcycle (MG) 275
2x SP sIG 33 135
4x Chech 38ts 350
4x Panzerjager I 250


1500
Last night I started the force by repainting some motorcycle combs- I've still 2 stands (4 combos) to go- and I realised this morning I need to paint the gloves- bare hands on a motorcycle is maybe a bit hard core!





The uniforms are painted a dark grey rather than fieldgrau because the rest of my 41-42 infantry are painted dark grey so don't want to repaint the whole army!

NZ Masters
Next month the NZ are being held in Wellington. Its an invite only event and the top players in the country have been invited. This year the South Island has only had 2 comps (down from our usual 3-4- I don't count our own Day of Days as it has changed from a comp to a weekend campaign/event to get away from the standard tourney format), and a 1 day, 1000pt comp in CHCh. Neither to the 2 day comps sent results in to the FoW ranking so the only comp that has counted for places has been NATCON where I got 2nd equal in MW and so to ensure that the South Island is represented I have been granted a wild card entry. It is my understanding that Poochie has done the same as he also scored well at NATCON.

As a result we will both be there and am looking forward to gaming vs some of the guys I rarely get to play. I think that to get more game time I might have to start to attend 2 Wellington comps per year rather than one, but tickets from rural South Canterbury to Wellington (or further afield) are never cheap!

I've decided to take the US paras to that, I need to shrink the list down to 1500 pts and have a couple of ideas of how to do it. We are having a 2vs 2 game tomorrow night as a guy dale works with is down to work with him form Auckland this week and will be bringing down an army so it will give me a chance to test a couple of ideas out.

This is what I'm thinking of running:
1 US Paras Hell's Highway
1x Para HQ + 1x bazooka 50
9x Paras- SMG 260
9x Paras- SMG 260



3x 57mm AT guns + jeep 125
11x Glider Infantry 155
3x 105mm Artillery (CT) 90
4x Shermans (2x fireflies) 390

Limited Typhoons 170


1500

Craig

5 comments:

  1. Anyone getting an invite out of that last Chch event would require a TO willing to at least c+p the scores into a forum post - at least when prompted to by a specific request :(

    So, how's that letter writing going, Craig?

    I'm sure you and Pooch will do the Mainland proud though!

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  2. Haven't written the letter yet- last exam on Saturday then will get on it.

    It was more the Natcon + overall results over the past couple of years to convince the TOs to consider a couple of us as wild cards- and convincing them that the South Island should be represented. Somebody ended my winning streak of 5 Conquests in a row (2004-2006, + 2008-2009 with 2007 not playing as I ran an Arnhem demo game- Cal won that one :)

    However to count we need to get at least 12 players to comps- Southcon does that easily, its getting more CHCH people to the CHCH events in future is where our issue lies and which i'm going to work on:)

    Craig

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  3. hey Craig they are look great lots of wee fellas on two wheels that can actually shoot and kill oh boy what fun

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  4. Yeah, I've got some Soviet motorcycles sitting ready and waiting for the long progression of the new EW lists to catch up and turn them into cool EW style bike-cavalry. It's going to be pretty fun when that happens.

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  5. Pity the new motorcycles rules don't apply MW- I've always wanted to run my motorcycle aufklarung MW but the bikes are a liability- the new rules are the best addition to the game in a long, long time IMO

    Craig

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