01 March, 2014

Duelling In The Desert and The Russian Gambit

Well it has been some time since I have been able to form a sentence and put a piece together for Dice Devils. The past few months have been busy and there has not been very many hobby related items for me to post about. I've been lucky enough however, to have played a few games at my place and MattVarnish has been my opponent on both occasions in the two games thus far in the new year. We're both going through the task of tweaking our lists and getting ready for a Mid-War tournament that's coming up in April.

Australian Div Cav, my first army in what seems like an eternity ago!
 I have yet to decide what I will be bringing up to Petawawa, as the North Africa book has gone through some drastic changes and I can no longer field the first Flames of War army that I ever put together. My Australian Divisional Cavalry can no longer take 8th Armored Shermans for support options. This leaves a HUGE hole in my list, as it is no longer viable without some heavy hitting support platoons to help with the lack of offensive abilities of the Crusader. I like the Aussies because not a lot of people play them and initially when I wrote one of my first pieces for this blog, I explained I wanted to do something different from everyone else. Oh, and the Fearless Veteran rating is a big plus!

Crusader tanks, not much armor, or HE. It has speed though!

While I try and ponder what to put together, I have been testing a Panzergrendier list from Eastern Front. It has 7 platoons and some serious punch when dealing with opposing armored threats. I tend to use Infantry based lists as ways to get a favorable deployment coverage on objectives. I find it easier to dig in the grunts and have them deal with threats to victory conditions. In the meantime, use my AT guns as a way to divert enemy tanks into areas where I can chase them down with my own tank platoons or simply blow them to bits with my PAK-40's, 88's and of course the best 'bang for the buck' 7.5cm leIG18 guns. For 70 points, you get a Rate Of Fire 2 - AT 9 - with the ability to smoke, bombard and a gun shield. At the very least, it's a cheap platoon with great ambush upside and goes through most armored vehicles in the Mid-War era. Can even bail a Tiger I if you happen to get one in the side.
Anyone who thinks there is a better option for any AT gun for the cost, I have yet to find one that comes close.


  Confident    Veteran   Grenadierkompanie
Infantry Company
German Mid-War
Infantry Company

PlatoonQtyUnitPoints
Headquarters
Grenadierkompanie HQ(Heer)  p.61
2
1
Cmd Panzerknacker SMG team
8.8cm RW43 (PĆ¼ppchen) launcher
85
Combat Platoons
Grenadier Platoon  p.61
1
6
Cmd Panzerknacker SMG team
Rifle/MG team
160
Grenadier Platoon  p.61
1
6
Cmd Panzerknacker SMG team
Rifle/MG team
160
Regimental Support Platoons
Grenadier Infantry Gun Platoon(Heer)  p.63
1
1
2
Cmd SMG team
Observer Rifle team
7.5cm leIG18 gun
70
Grenadier Anti-tank Gun Platoon(Heer)  p.65
1
3
Cmd SMG team
7.5cm PaK40 gun
220
Divisional Support
Mittlere Panzer Platoon(Heer)  p.34
4Panzer IV E or F1400
Tank-hunter Platoon(Heer)  p.86
3Marder II270
Heavy Anti-aircraft Gun Platoon(Heer)  p.89
1
1
Cmd SMG team
8.8cm FlaK36 gun
120
Company Points:1485

'Maybe even some Russians', countless times you have likely heard that as part of the introduction of the WWPD FoW podcast. Yeah, sometimes the crew talks about other games and their adventures on the road, Knob Creek whiskey and whatever debauchery they get up to during their tournament circuit interactions with the rest of the WWPD supporters. After Steve packed up his family and moved off to New Zealand, the podcast itself has gone through some changes, but still manages to keep my interest for the full episode. I am sure there were others that were not sure how the transition would go, including Luke and Jon. With Eric coming into the studio for a full-time spot, he fills the void left by Steve in a different way. Eric is knowledgeable in many areas and seems up on his history and not just the game itself. I'm happy they are still able to squeeze Steve back from Mordor onto the podcast and have also had Sean "Throckmorton" stop in to bring some more hobbying and gaming experience into the fray! In the past few months, they have been talking a lot about Russians and the resurgence of viable options for Soviet lists. The new Desperate Measures and the Red Bear changes will lend itself to some very good Soviet lists in the coming year. I'm exploring the possibility of jumping into The Red Army and working on a tank list that will feauture some of WW II's most impressive pieces of Soviet armor.

Don't give up yet Ivan! Help has finally arrived!

 
Not quite +1 for concealment, but still deadly.

4 comments:

  1. Expect KV models for Christmas :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. 7.5cm leIG18 guns only fire direct smoke, in case that effects your choice in taking them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes indeed, forgot to put a simple comma in there.....amazing what happens when you get all the punctuation! Thanks for pointing it out. :)

      Delete
  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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