Monday, April 2, 2012

Flames of War, what next?

So, reading the big book o rules (Thanks Dave!)...  Not sure what AT support I should be bringing for my Parachute Rifle Company...  I can massively overload with Bazooka teams, but I suspect that will not work nearly so well as it did in 1st edition...  So, I can bring Glider AT Guns (57mm) or M10 GMCs...  The Tank Destroyer Doctrine (forget if the rule is still called that) with the security teams starting on the board and the TDs just appearing from ambush looks like one of those "when it works, awesome...  If it doesn't work, you die"...  And since looking over the German and Soviet lists it does look like I'd best be able to stop tanks.

Artillery, yes...  I have some set up now and I'll be setting up more...  Now, the way I was taught was that the Infantry holds and calls down Artillery.  Dealing with the tanks is hard without Air Support, and why I;m concerned...  Air Support seems really random, and Artillery just isn't going to stop a tank horde in time...

:-)  Probably time to start painting again...  Been hitting the weights more recently, and just not as much time painting....  But I am looking at the "Army Painter" stuff to knock out a few armies quickly...  Grey Knights, etc...

13 comments:

  1. Yeah, I have a buddy who is very into FoW right now. His view is that artillery is NOT dependable. I'll have to ask him his opinion on Parachute dudes and what works best with them.

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  2. US artillery is supposed to be the most dependable in the game, what with time on target, etc. I really need to start painting some German stuff. I have plenty of Americans for early/mid war. IIRC I have the following...

    1 Infantry company
    1 Engineer platoon
    1 hvy mg platoon
    1 mortar platoon
    1 105mm artillery battery
    1 recon platoon with White scout cars
    1 AA platoon with T28's
    1 M3 Lee platoon
    1 Light tank company (17 Stuarts)
    2 M4 Sherman platoons
    1 M10 tank detroyer platoon
    1 Armored infantry platoon (with another one in the box)
    Tom

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  3. US artillery is supposed to be the most dependable in the game, what with time on target, etc. I really need to start painting some German stuff. I have plenty of Americans for early/mid war. IIRC I have the following...

    1 Infantry company
    1 Engineer platoon
    1 hvy mg platoon
    1 mortar platoon
    1 105mm artillery battery
    1 recon platoon with White scout cars
    1 AA platoon with T28's
    1 M3 Lee platoon
    1 Light tank company (17 Stuarts)
    2 M4 Sherman platoons
    1 M10 tank detroyer platoon
    1 Armored infantry platoon (with another one in the box)
    Tom

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  4. Sorry bout that. Don't know how my reply got posted twice.

    Tom

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  5. Damn Tom, you're set up for some really good Early (for Americans, Mid for everyone else) there... IIRC, the US actually used the light tanks right up to the end of the war (M5's though)... I'd probably bring out the Armored Companies, but then that's just me :-)

    With the Paras and Artillery... It's pretty much what I've got, especially earlier in the war... Noticed the Bazookas get a LOT cheaper later while they coincidentally are less effective against the uber Panzers... A bit random, but I'm looking at bringing enough to regularly user the "big template", and American Artillery is pretty good... Though I suspect once I get a handle on the rules, the Tank Destroyers will be the answer for all but the true tank hordes...

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  6. Eh, looks like we're talking more than we really are :-)

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  7. in Mid-war Tank Co. Battles with SandWyrm, I've been using:

    2 HQ Sherm
    4 Sherman
    3 Sherm
    4 Stuart
    2 Wolverine
    1 Engineer squad w/2 bazooka
    3 Priest
    4 M105 Artys

    Which is all the tanks I've got.

    It's a fun list. I like taking the engineers up to 2 squads. Since they come with HMG's, they're decent against inf. and can assault tanks.

    The TD's are nice. The new rules help a lot. I don't have to worry as much about hiding my security sections. Ambush, and unload a mean salvo.
    I've also found Shermans are mean in MW. use them aggressively, and take advantage of stabilizers. use smoke from arty to close with Pz4's.

    Arty's not a given for killing tanks. I find it forces people to make certain choices. Most people won't cluster up to take advantage of firing lanes if they know I can hit a bunch of tanks with arty that I can make re-roll to hit. I've also liked being able to lay down the double wide template.

    Bazookas are good. not an end-all-be all.

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  8. oh yeah. and for paint. Rustoleum Painter's touch primers and cammo sprays are awesome.

    I've been using the red (Brown) primer, and Dark Forest green to paint up tanks.

    looks nice.


    I've also seen some guys using other flat colors from the painters touch series to paint 40K models. it's easy.

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  9. Engineers get HMG's now? Oh, those poor bastards... :-) Having carried the M-2 from the armory to the M113 and around it when we dismounted it I can only imagine what a water cooled gun weighs... Yeah, it's "only" a .30, but I remember those things being especially heavy with the water jacket...

    Have you heard anything about the "Army Painter" or whatever the FoW specific (I am kind of assuming they are just re-labeled cans) sprays?

    I'm kind of working with the assumption that Artillery kills Infantry and other Gun Teams, but is not the answer against mobile Armor... At best it is a threat, and I suspect it will be enough to keep them honest with their spacing and moving so as not to tempt the dice gods should I catch a group of them sitting still and bunched up...

    So, yeah, guessing just like in real life, Airborne really does not have a good answer to the "What happens if they just roll up lots of tanks quickly?" question... Play the mission, hold the objectives, etc., hope for the best I guess :-)

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  10. Artillery is also good for throwing out lots of smoke. A tank can't shoot anything it can't see.
    Tom

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  11. :-) Yes the "Run Out The Clock" stratagem... Why I'm also keen on bringing Mortars... Figure I can try my best to direct traffic, or make them pay for just rushing forward... Heck, it might even work... Caught a bit of "Kelly's Hero's" this weekend on ABC's Wide World of War (long story, a buddy of mine used to broadcast as Howard Cossell over the radio during our first deployment... Hilarious, but problematic when offended officers got involved :-))... Inspiration to break out more of the lads... Going to have to look into a Mech Infantry or Tank company I guess :-)... Parachute Rifles look like a "fun" option, but guessing it will be very much like playing Eldar in the current 40K environment... Skill, luck and hope the other guy has bad dice and/or makes mistakes :-)...

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  12. The Paratrooper list is tough to run by itself due to limited support options, but it's a lot of fun.
    If you're going to run them, make sure you put a lot of boots on the ground.

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  13. :-) Is looking that way... Found another bag of random 15mm troops, looking like I'll be getting together more bases o' grunts... So, drop in, dig in, buy time and hope for the best... Sounds familiar...

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