Southcon is only a few weeks away so it’s time to get organised with my Flames of War stuff. As per usual Southcon is Midwar, Axis vs Allies and with one preset mission per table. It is also one of the best run events in the South Island- thanks to the efforts of former TAG member Richard Bell.
As per usual the Invercargill players will be there and as it is Axis vs Allies they all go axis or all go Allied so as to not play each other- a good move! This year they are all going Allied so Poochie and I (and hopefully Cal) will be playing Axis.
Over the past year or so I've enjoyed playing mechanised companies much more than my traditional infantry based forces and intend to continue the theme this year. I was pretty happy with my panzer grenadier force at the Worlds in February and they did much better than I expected- especially as I was told my list was one of the two worst (i.e least effective) on paper there- which was the point, I couldn't be arsed tweaking things and taking an "uber" force, I wanted something bog standard and fun- and it was certainly that. However, my panzer IIIs did struggle vs most armour so for Southcon I've decided to go for something with a bit more oopmh to support the armoured PGs- a tiger or a couple of panthers and force my opponent to consider my stuff rather than run and hide as I've had to do with the PGs the last two times I've run them at comps!
Coupled with that Poochie and I have a theme planned of "bring your mobile bathtub"- which really means bring two of the most over-costed and least effective weapons in the midwar German arsenal... GRILLES!
Over the years Grilles have fallen in price- however at 200 pts midwar they are still expensive for that they do.
Armour: 2/1/0
RoF 1, AT 13, FP 1+, bunker buster and bombardment
It looks reasonably good on paper but in my experience they tend to be slightly underwhelming on table (major understatement), hence they are rarely fielded! Actually when one compares them to 3x panzerwerfers with extra crew the 'werfers make my lists every time and the grilles don't, but not this time round.
So the key is what to support my armoured PGs and grilles with- its either tigers or panthers! Which makes for some very, very silly combinations!
I've finally cut it down to three possibles- one of which doesn't even have Grilles! I think list one is probably the best in terms of variety but the thought of grilles and panthers in one list has got to be one of the sillier forces to grace the table so is not being discounted either nd in fact I am quite warming to the idea. Anyway, here are the three contenders:
1 Armoured PGs + Tiger
2x HQ 70
7x Armoured PGs 230
7x Armoured PGs 230
2x Grille 200
3x Nebelwerfers 115
3x Marder II 270
1x Tiger 385
1500
2 Armoured PGs + Panthers
2x HQ SMGs 70
1x ATR + Half track 30
7x Armoured PGs + P/K 235
7x Armoured PGs 230
3x Marder II 270
2x Panthers 550
3x Nebelwerfers 115
1500
3 Armoured PGs + Panthers 2x HQ SMGs + P/Ks 80
7x Armoured PGs + P/K 235
7x Armoured PGs + P/K 235
2x Grilles 200
2x Panthers 550
3x Pak 38s 120
2x Nebelwerfers 80
1500
Decisions, decisions...
Craig
Welcome to Craig's Wargaming Blog. Here you will find reports of games I have played as well as news about my current modelling and painting projects.
I like #1 the best :)
ReplyDeleteheers Indie- I am seriously thinking of swapping the tiger for 2x stugs and a pak 38- a bit more on attack and I don't think I've ever taken stugs to a MW comp.
ReplyDeleteSame with the panthers actually- 3 stugs are possibly more effectively.However, #3 with panthers appeals to my sense of the ridiculous!
It will be interesting to see how my initial ideas evolve.
List #2 but drop the ATR.
ReplyDeleteLES
BYOB- Bring your own bathtub....
ReplyDeleteList 3 has some serious class, lots of small platoons to keep you busy!
@ Lap: The ATR is there simply to sue up pijnts I can't otherwise use. It does howevber have 2 importnat uses! An extra body + half track in an armoured assualt, or even more importantly to make a leaderless platoon to get up to 6 platoons for deployment purposes in some missions.
ReplyDelete@ Chris: I agree- 3 does have a certain style about it- the panthers will be relied on to do the heavy duty stuff but the pak 38s can be KGed to the infantry platoons as required. A third nebelwerfer would be handy but you can't get everything- especially when you want to run armoured PGs, grilles and panthers together!
Instead of the ATR I would bring out a PaK 36 to add to the Nebelwerfers, another gun team, will keep light tanks and recce from running over your nebels, and best of all it can take the first hit!
ReplyDeleteI just need my bathtubs to arrive, come on BF order!
That's a good idea Chris- it would also allow for a 2nd panzer kancker, or even steilgranate
ReplyDelete