Help Bro-Cap Assemble His Flames of War Dudes

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Ok, I need halp. I finally decided upon a force I want to get into the game with. It was hard and fraught with much wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth, but in the end the Fallschirmjaeger were too irresistible. I have poured over the FJ list in Fortress Europe extensively, and I think I more-or-less understand most of the basic army building rules. I bought a FJ Company box set, and I'm throwing in my two StuGs from the starter box set as FJ tank hunters (I realize the divisional StuGs are cheaper but I am trying to keep things straightforward for now).

Unfortunately, I am rather confounded by a lot of the dudes in my company set. Poor casting has rendered some of the weapons unrecognizable, but I should be able to manage by identifying duplicates once I get everything sorted out. The box includes no instructions and the pictures on the back aren't all that helpful, however.

• So, what identifies command team dudes? Some of them seem to be holding pistols, so I assume those are my officers. How is the rest of the command staff assembled?
• The army list says 99% of my fireteams are "Rifle/MG". I assume this means three 98k/G43 riflemen with an indigenous MG42 or MG34 (difficult to tell apart on some of these models). However, I have a lot of dudes with StG44s, and possibly a few FG42s. Logic says these would correlate to the "Assault Rifle Team" in the German arsenal list, but I do not see any assault rifle options in my FJ list. ???
• The box says it includes Panzerknacker alternate models, and there is an upgrade option for some of my teams. Right now I have a big pile of pewter sitting here and I have no idea which ones are "Panzerknacker". The Panzerfaust alternates and Panzerschrecks are obvious enough, but not the Panzerknackers as far as I can tell. ???
• I have some MG42 dudes who are more obvious about it, and seem to link up with loaders. I assume these are my HMG weapon teams (as opposed to the LMG guys in the standard teams). However... I have two such teams with Browning .30 MGs . Is this some weird Fallschirmjaeger historical thing I am unaware of?
• The list seems to indicate HMG teams also have an assistant loader. Do I just throw in any model for this? Only the gunner and loader appear to be explicitly modelled as such.
• The box says I have 4 command teams. Company command requires two. What do I do with the others? Don't infantry platoon packs include their own command team?

halp plox

[weemadando]

FALLSCHIRMJAGER!

OK, ID'ing guys is a mess. Check out other peoples pics of their minis for an idea. Unlike 40k there's no set rules, but command bases are hte smaller base with 2-3 guys and then the rest of the unit will be larger bases with 4-5 guys.

Assault rifle dudes would be in the late war list.

Panzerknackers are dudes carrying satchel charges/AT grenades. Imagination may be required.

Nope, that browning thing sounds like a cock-up.

Assistant loader is just another dude on the stand. Again, it's not required. Having minimal guys on each stand and then putting all your spares on additional stands can stretch an army nicely.

There's all sorts of fun stuff you can do under German special rules for Command teams, so extras might be in there for that reason. You can also just make them up as spotter teams for your arty/mortars too if you want. FoW players are pretty forgiving with this stuff.



In terms of playing (I'm a FJ player too, or was) - Il nous faut de l'audace, encore de l'audace, toujours de l'audace!
Step 1) Develop your battle plan.
Step 2) Throw it out.
Step 3) Write it again with some more aggression.
Step 4) Make it more aggressive.
Step 5) And make it more aggressive again.
Step 6) NEVER FUCKING BACK DOWN.

Seriously, FJ might be Fearless Veteran's but they are a flimsy force on the table. A single tank platoon will cut you to fucking ribbons. You're usually so small in numbers that a pinning test or two can end your strategy as too much of your force get's bogged down. You ALWAYS have to be looking for the way to crumple them in one shot, because one shot is all you are going to get. Once you are engaged, superior numbers and firepower are generally not going to be on your side.

For airborne missions, this goes doubly so. Crash your fucking gliders INTO the target, don't plan an landing run that puts you more than your turns assault phase away from your target, make sure that the first turn on the ground you can either overwhelm your target with the assault while they're unready or crash the glider into them and ruin their day along with your unit. Always expect that your weapon canisters will be captured - so plan to drop into assault range with your troops too, as until their armed they're a pistol stand and are doing nothing for you. When it works, you can end a mission before it even officially begins. When it doesn't? You better pray that you can hold onto your drop zone until the match ends.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Thanks Ando.

Assault rifle dudes would be in the late war list.

I got a late war box set with a late war army book. There's no mention of assault rifles for the FJ list.

I went ahead and grouped all of my StG44 guys together for fun. Will that be a problem, considering that they're mechanically still just Rifle/MG teams like everyone else?


I figured out most of the problems. The box set comes with 18 rifle teams, enough for 2 full-strength platoons, so that's where the 2 extra command teams come in.

I sorted out all of the MGs, there are 6 MG34s, 4 MG42s, and definitely 2 Brownings. I am puzzled. They have FJ helmets, and the lumps of pewter appear to vaguely approximate German uniforms, but they're definitely using Browning .30 cals.

Seriously, FJ might be Fearless Veteran's but they are a flimsy force on the table. A single tank platoon will cut you to fucking ribbons. You're usually so small in numbers that a pinning test or two can end your strategy as too much of your force get's bogged down. You ALWAYS have to be looking for the way to crumple them in one shot, because one shot is all you are going to get. Once you are engaged, superior numbers and firepower are generally not going to be on your side.

I figured tanks would give me trouble, so I went mostly all-out with the options, Panzerfausts for my platoon commands and Panzerknackers for the company command. Combined with a Panzerschrek team and 2 StuGs, I'm hoping that will be enough to scrape by. Though I'm guessing my next purchase needs to be AT guns.

[weemadando]

LG40s used to be awesome, but under the more recent rules they changed the way they're treated so I can't immediately recommend it any more as I don't know the new rules.

[Slacker]

AT Guns are never a bad option-we're running a mid-war league right now, but I'll pick one of our Kraut player's brains later on this evening for suggestions on expanding your force. I know my Brits late war have a nice big platoon of 6 pounders, both for tank killing and, with the magic of HE, pretty much anything else I need them to do.

[Slacker]

Okay, spoke to our resident FJ player this evening. It's actually our Flames league night, so there were a bunch of us down there. Al's one of our top two or three players, so his advice was on-point and generally agreed on by everyone at the shop. His suggestions were, in some rough sort of order:
-Mortars
-A third StuG to complete the platoon
-Nebs
-Pak-40s for heavy anti-tank work.

The Mortars are dual-use-they pin the enemy in place and are also used as smoke barrages, giving your fast moving yet relatively fragile mans cover to hit the enemy. The third Stug is pretty obvious-three are better than two, not only because there's more, but because odd numbers are better for platoon motivational purposes. Nebelwerfers in my experience are the 'good' arty the Germans have access to-they've really kicked my ass a few times, and rarely steer you wrong. The Pak-40s are pretty obvious-they provide a long range heavy anti-tank gun to crack Soviet heavies and absolutely murder American and British tanks, but at the same time aren't quite as immediately important as some of the other things in your list. From there, you've got a solid core to build on and you can probably begin to tailor towards things you specifically like or want to field.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Thanks Slacker.

I picked up a Fallschirm Pioneer platoon today, rationalizing it as a good compromise between added infantry (what's the point of playing elite light infantry if you don't have a bunch of elite light infantry?) and additional anti-tank capability. Other than a moderate Tank Assault bonus, do pioneers do anything useful? Note that I do not have the supply truck for them right now, which as I understand helps me dig in.

I was pondering mortars, but I wasn't sure how useful they would actually be in game. I'll definitely pick some up now. I assume they cause pinning with a single hit? It seems like FJ are born for assault combat, so I definitely want to make sure everything I'm fighting is pinned.

The StuG certainly seems logical, I'll pick one up.

Nebelwerfers I will probably skip for aesthetic reasons. I'm not sure if I want much in the way of artillery. Can Stukas fill that gap?

PaK40s were second on my list after the Pioneers. Didn't want divisional 88s, and I assume the 75s are more than capable of handling anything short of, like, an IS-2.

[weemadando]

Mortars are amazingly helpful things. Organic "light" artillery with great tactical potential with it's pinning.

Not sure if air support has been tweaked much, but it used to be VERY unreliable. If it showed up, you couldn't even count on it to do damage. It's great if you're doing an air assault mission and don't ahve any other options, but guns on the table are guns on the table.

Pioneers are awesome. As are glider assault platoons. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF FLAMETHROWERS.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Yeah, I saw "flamethrowers automatically destroy any team they hit" and said "HMMMMM". They're free in a Pioneer platoon so it was a no-brainer.

[Slacker]

Flamethrowers are amazing-even more than automatically killing teams, they auto-pin, which when you're about to assault with FJ, is pretty goddamn amazing. They can also automatically bail a tank, and if you pass the firepower check, destroy it. This isn't something one relies on with a handful of bases mixed into a platoon, but it can be occasionally useful. A platoon of Churchill Crocodiles, with their five shot 5+ firepower uber flamethrowers, is absolutely terrifying and one of the mainstays of my late-war British list, which is the 50th "Tynes and Tees" Division.

Stukas are an adequate if unreliable replacement for Nebs-the problem is when you really want to support your infantry, you can't bring in close air support due to the fact that air strikes can't be called in within 16" of a friendly enemy base. This renders it rather difficult to pound something with an airstrike and then shoot it to pieces with close range fire/charge it. They also get less reliable as the game goes on, as you have a smaller chance of calling them in.

[Slacker]

Delete me

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

How common are AA guns or fighters in casual/semi-competitive play? If everyone keeps some pocket ack-ack around, I might skip on air support, but if AA guns are rare then I definitely want to go for a Luftwaffe vibe.

[Slacker]

Fighters are used pretty often, I don't see too many dedicated AA guns. I am using a platoon of mobile Bofors in our mid-war league, but that's primarily because the points fit. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one, and I'm planning on using them more as an anti-infantry/scout car role than anti-air. Your mileage may vary, but the most people may do is put AA guns on their tanks.

What I normally use my fighters for is the anti-tank/anti artillery role-British arty, while great at pinning down or killing infantry, has pants for firepower, so it's pretty useless at killing dug in arty batteries or popping tanks. Typhoons, on the other hand, have 1+ firepower bombs. German fighter-bombers aren't all that different. Something to consider.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Rules question:

I want snipers ('cause that's how I roll). Now, the rulebook says that snipers are always Confident Veterans. However, snipers are organic to my FJ company command. All FJ units are Fearless Veterans.

So what are my snipers? Do they lose that motivation level just because?

[Slacker]

I believe they remain confident Vet because all Snipers are always confident vet. They're deployed as independent teams and are generally of that veteran/motivation whatever your company's ability happens to be.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Painted my first team after fooling around on a cardboard box experimenting with colors to achieve the right balance of colors I wanted for a Splinter-B variant. Fucking christ, the raindrops are hard, but it came out really, really well. From a distance, my FJ have almost the exact blue-green-gray overall at-a-glance look that I wanted to go for (I want them to stand out from flatter brown, green, and gray armies, and I think I've succeeded).

[Slacker]

That's awesome. I've gone with a very simple scheme for my dudes (because 15mm painting is just a little too much for my eyes, and I'm actually a pretty good 28mm painter), I'm glad to hear you're happy with the result.

The German guy who's brain I picked for list suggestions actually has his army posted in our shop's forums.
http://www.brgrim.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=91&t=14631
Take a look, maybe something he's done can offer you some ideas. What he does with Flames miniatures defies belief, he does commissions and his work blows everyone else's out of the water.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Nice. That's a great soft-edged/airbrushed effect on the vehicles.

[Slacker]

Yeah. He also manages to use decals with a very smooth effect-you don't notice the 'join' between the decal and the model very often, which is in my opinion the hardest part about using decals. He's got a ton of other models on display on that forum-my personal favorites are some of the new Vietnam models he just started painting for a commission-the choppers are amazing.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Played my first game. A guy and his nephew came in with a ton of Soviet and American stuff, but hadn't played many games. They matched my 1255 points and we did a standard Free-For-All mission. Unfortunately, they had to leave before anything truly decisive, but I was in a very strong position at the game's end.

I did a lot of fumbling around, and other than a long background in 40K and some guesstimating based upon a vague understanding of my on-paper statlines, I really didn't have a very good sense of what was what. I made a couple of tactical errors, and repeatedly fucked up with my mortars and the spotting rules (I severely overestimated their range, and kept forgetting much of the minutiae involved in spotting). Despite that, I did well, and I credit it to my opponents' similar lack of experience and what seemed to be total bafflement at fighting a force entirely composed of Fearless Veterans (pinned? Bailed out? What's that?).

My MVP award is torn between my FJ Tank Hunters StuG platoon and one of my standard FJ platoons (with company commander attached). In the end, the former was down two vehicles out of three, and the latter was at about 50%. Both gave a lot more than they got, though: The StuGs trashed 3 of 6 T-34s, a couple shermans, and flawlessly completed their primary objective of drawing all the enemy armor and heavy firepower away from my assaulting infantry. The infantry platoon advanced up one side of the board and took a lot of fire, before settling comfortably in a forest in easy reach of the Soviet artillery, AA guns, and what remained of the T-34 platoon after the StuGs were through with it. One assault later and the T-34s were reduced to a single remaining vehicle. Sadly the game ended before the platoon could repeat the process with the AA and artillery units.

I don't think my opponents put together a very cohesive force. Almost all of their capabilities hinged upon 2 tank platoons -- all of their other choices were window dressing and support, and even that was spread out too much. They had too much support and not enough dependable combat units. They also had no infantry to speak of, and no dedicated machine-guns, so they were entirely reliant on random vehicle MGs and sporadic mortar fire to keep my FJs from advancing, but they would inevitably unpin themselves on the following turn. My main assaulting platoon lost an average of one team per turn, because they just didn't have the volume of fire required to kill Fearless Vets.

All in all, quite a lot of fun, and a definite learning experience. I have a much better sense of the game now and what my guys are and are not capable of (most of the casualties I did take were because I wasn't properly Concealing my infantry). The downside is that I picked up Earth and Steel, which means learning a new list, and it looks like I can't take Fearless Vet StuGs any more.

[Slacker]

Well, you don't *have* to take the Earth and Steel list. It's your choice-with Flames of War, old books aren't invalidated by new ones.

Furthermore, remember you can pre-measure in this game.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

That's good. The only thing going for the E&S FJ list is that I can take Panthers. FE FJ are cheaper and have more options.

And yeah, I'm scratching my head on this pre-measuring business. It feels so counter-intuitive. Does that apply to artillery, though? My quick-and-dirty perusal of the bombardment rules suggested that if you're not in range of your aiming point, too bad. Though I may have misread it.

[Slacker]

You measure before you declare the shot. Hell, measure in the movement phase.

[weemadando]

Yeah, many a battle has involved long periods of measuring to ensure safe movement and accurate fire.