Road to Nationals Part Two: The List so Far

I settled on Americans early on, and once fighting first came out, I was in love. Green, confused, and cheap but with lots of cool toys, the Americans are an interesting contrast to the three other forces in Mid War at the moment. They are the only ones who don't get 4+ to hit ratings, they are almost universally conscript rated with most units having 5+ skill but at least get 4+ morale, with their infantry unpinning on a 3+. At the time of writing Americans currently have arguably the strongest tank, the sherman (I'm ignoring the Tiger.) It makes me a bit uneasy since I dedicated over half of my last post in this series to my dislike of heavy tanks and I intend to use at least 3 of them. Call me a hypocrite but I take solace from the fact that most panzer variants have a decent chance against them and my old nemesis, the churchill will soon hit the desert.

Even the Germans are jealous.

Before getting too deep into the tank question, I think the real power in Fighting First comes from the rifle company. Only rivaled by the Italians in size and composition, dough boys have potential. I am very far from finalizing my list but thus far, a rifle company is the core. It's meaty platoons ensure serious staying power, having the best infantry anti-tank in Mid War (within 8"), and an LMG mean that despite their awful skill they are a force to be reckoned with. If that weren't enough, rifle platoons also have the observer rule, a carry over of the old "excellent communications" rule allowing the rifle platoons to call in artillery by themselves. Throw in their 14" dash speed and you get the most cost-efficient and versatile infantry in the game thus far, although I'm sure the Italian players have something to say on that score.

The List, there's 6 points left for cards.

Backing up the rifle platoons is a wide selection of weapons units, HMGs, mortars, anti-tank guns, all in quantity. The HMG's and anti-tank guns will probably prove superfluous for my needs, they are fairly underwhelming and I'm hoping the Stuarts will fill the role of both units. Mortars on the other hand, present an interesting problem. While I can take a total of 12 (!) I don't think I'll spam them that hard, 5+ range in is pitiful ensuring they'll rarely be hitting things on a flat 4+. There are a few options to address this problem: I can just not, take 2 small platoons and leave it up to the dice gods to keep the cost low; I can take a 6 gun platoon for the re-roll on hits; I can use cards to bump them up to trained; or some combination. In this version of the list I've opted for 3 mortars with an upgrade card. Regardless of the mortar question, my list will include a unit of T30 assault guns, cheap, long range and can't be pinned. They're a winner and America loves a winner.

Of course this brings up the next issue I have building American lists, multiple formations and support units. If I choose to bring the T30's will they be part of the rifle company or a tank company? For morale reasons I'm planning to bring a tank company: one formation being destroyed wont end the game, another HQ to help with last stands and remounts, and of course another HQ means another observer. With a tank company, the only support unit I'm tempted by is heavy artillery but otherwise all my units are from one of the two companies.

My two choices for tank company boil down to either a stuart company or a sherman company. The stuart company would give me 8 stuarts (all I own) and 3 shermans but I'm weary of platoons of just 3 stuarts given their ratings and having three units of them makes upgrading them with cards impractical. A sherman company on the other hand with 4 shermans and 5 stuarts seems more efficient despite paying for an extra sherman since it allows me to pay for just one stuart upgrade card instead of 3. I'm not considering Lees, partly based on aesthetics and partly because there aren't any in the Fighting First starter box that kickstarted my army.

Foot sloggin' for freedom.

What really differentiates American armour companies from those of other nations is their organic support options. With recon and artillery in the core, it will be very hard to rout the formation. The armoured recon patrol isn't quite as brutally efficient as the recon options for other nations but are a fun pick. Their speed and load out make the American recon choice quite powerful if situational. Sporting a mortar and a bucket of machine guns, its great for constricting the movement of enemy infantry and contributing to a defense if things turn bad. Recon's synergy with stuarts and their 12" tactical move is obvious, allowing Americans to close the distance, blasting wildly with stabilizers.

Next time we get into the nitty gritty and see how units from fighting first stack up to their counterparts in other forces.