Suggestions for a 100pt Tournament army using the UK?

[Lt.Douglas]

I’m heading for an A&A tourney on Sunday (the 19th). Any suggestions on what to include in my 100pt UK force for the event? I’d imagine a Croc is “standard”…

[GrimJesta]

Every time I field the British I never leave home without my Inspiring Lt, or two if I have the points to spend. Mobility is everything in this game, and if you’re going straight UK without allies you don’t get the Halftracks. So the IL are important. Vickers are sweet too. Those are the two that my opponents can rest assured I’ll have every time I bring the UK to the table.

I also field 2 Stuarts when I can. They’re nice and mobile and can often flank enemy tanks. One day I’d like to field 4, in two groups, to pull off some real flanking manuevers. We play 150-300 points, so 6 even works. But I digress… if you can spare the points Stuarts are good. I’d even go with them over the Croc, but that’s me. I’ve found that tons of lighter tanks are better than one or two heavy tanks sometimes.

-=Grim=-

[Lt.Douglas]

Thanks Grim. I’ve noticed how having the Isp. Lt. helps - with the +1 movement, even UK 6 pounders can be moved. Here’s the tentative UK list I’ve been testing vs. “average” US/Russian/German forces (As I imagine the tournement will have Allies V. Allies, too):

Churchhill
2 Stuarts
2 Vickers Teams
Isp. Lt.
6 pounder

The Stuarts seem to be effective at the “horns” manuever- One Stuart zips up each flank, with the rest of the force going slowly up the middle…

[GrimJesta]

Out of curiosity, how many points is a Churchhill?

-=Grim=-

[Lt.Douglas]

The Croc’s only 35 points- quite reasonable for 7/6 armor, main gun, a flamethrower, and superior armor…

[GrimJesta]

Um… damn. Yes. That’s a frickin’ sweet buy.

-=Grim=-

[Lt.Douglas]

Update: Managed to come in 2nd place, and picked up the rather spiffy “Hero/Combat Zone” medal. Part of the “prize” was also 2nd pick of the minis in a pre-sale Contested Skies booster- Chose a Puma and a panzerschreck (Bazooka, but bigger) trooper. Will post pics of the medal when I get my scanner going…lol

[GrimJesta]

Sweet bro, congrats! Damn… you got a Puma.

-=Grim=-

[Lt.Douglas]

As for strategy, the Stuarts zipped up both sides, and did some rather good flanking manuevers on the enemy… they took out a few Panzer IV’s, a Brumbar, and several Panzergenadier in the course of the games. The Croc proved to be a fire magnet, but was only destroyed once after a Panzergrenadier got lucky- 6 out of 7 attacks were sucesses.

First prize? The rare from the booster, which was a “Mad Cat”- think Hell Cat, but a bit slower, with 5/3 armor and more attack dice…

[Der Leiter]

Here’s a fast attack British force. It’s untested, but something I’m thinking of playing and refining:

44 Cromwell IV x2
15 M3 Stuart
08 Humber Scout Car
09 40mm Bofors L60
10 Universal Carrier
10 Inspiring Lieutenant
04 Gurkha Rifleman

The Cromwell IVs infiltrate and rush the enemy, the high speed of the Stuart and Humber means they won’t be far behind.  The Universal Carrier either plunks the AA gun down close to the objective if no aircraft, or as close to the middle as possible if your opponent is playing aircraft.  The Lt and Gurkha move up with the carrier moving back to ferry them; LT first so he can help the Bofors get into position. I could replace the M3 Stuart with a second Humber, and use the 7 points for either a Gurkha & SMLE, or take out the current Gurkha and replace them all with a Veteran SMLE and two regular SMLEs. Though this leaves it pretty much up to the Cromwells to take care of any tanks, and any heavy tanks will hurt them severely.  The Stuart can at least usually get the flanking shot in.

It’s definately not perfect.  The Inspiring Lieutenant’s +2 Initiative is very useful, but 10 points for it is a lot. Unfortunately there’s still no other choice available for a faction-pure UK army.  Also I’m definately not getting his points worth for the command ability.

I personally just don’t like the snal-like speed of the Churchill, though I admit it is fairly cheap and very hard to dislodge. However there are several good AT units now that can disrupt it at range and keep it far away from the objective.

[Lt.Douglas]

I’m thinking of taking a force close to that for today’s ‘friendly’ games- But I’d really recommend a 2nd Stuart over the Humber- the Stuart can handle both ground-pounders AND tanks. Granted, I’ve seen my Humners get blown up quite easitly, so I may be biased against them. I’m anxios to try the Gurkha’s vs. the rather tough German SS troops… should be interesting  :wink:…

[Der Leiter]

I don’t see a stuart adding that much if you have a concern about tanks.  If it’s that bad either put in another Cromwell IV if you can, or perhaps 2x Crusader IIs to use for flanking. The Humber’s single attack is better than one from the M3 Stuart, but obviously All Guns Blazing makes the Stuart much better.  The problem is that the Stuart is also twice the cost of the Humber, and you’d have to take out another unit which then poses the question of what to take out.  I’m not saying it’s a bad idea, just that it’s a tough choice to make.

[Lt.Douglas]

Here’s what I used in today’s 100 pt ‘friendly’ match

Churchhill Croc
2 Stuarts
17-pounder
2 Gurkhas
Insp. Lieut.

Seems small, but the army managed to take out  9 German units- A Brummbar, Panzer 2, Armored Car, BMW Bike, Haupstrumfuerer, MG team, 2 SS troopers, and a Panzer 4.

My losses? All but the Croc…lol (Which was sitting on the objective, which it seems designed to do…lol) Granted, most of my losses were preventable, but I was feeling a bit “off”…  :-P

[Der Leiter]

Sounds like your opponent was using a Tier 3 army at best; hardly tournement calibre.

Be that as it may, your army isn’t bad.  Whenever you make a UK army the Churchill Crocodile is generally a primary consideration.  The Comet has it’s uses, but I just don’t like the 3 rear defence on such an expensive unit.  It’s still fairly easily disrupted, and just about everything can get past a 2 defence.

Your army makes effective use of the Lieutenant with both Gurkhas and allowing the 17 pounder to move during the movement phase.  The Stuarts provide adequate support for the slow moving Crocodile.