Axis & Allies Miniatures Set 4: D-Day

I’ll second Andy above.  HBG has some great pieces and they paint up really well because of the detail.  Good source for OOB pieces as well.  Their Fw-190’s are a bit smaller than the OOB versions, but everything else I’ve gotten from them has been great.  Especially the Hellcats, Vals, and Stuka G’s.

The Base set is the first set, reserves in one of the later sets.

1st release - Base set
2nd release - Set II (sometimes called Eastern Front)
3rd release - Contested Skies
4th release - D-day
5th release - Reserves

Each of the releases has different units, but they all play well together ;)

It’s kinda hard to answer your question because it depends on how much you are willing to spend, do you want to play historically, do you only want to collect one type of fleet?  I would say that it would be hard to win many games if you go German and then play against someone who is bringing an American fleet.  I say this because the Germans (and let’s add the Italians, French, Australian, and even to some extent the British) are so underpowered in the way of air power that I think you would lose every time.  If you play historically and avoid any kind of cheesy fleet combinations…well, you might have a chance.  In my opinion, and that’s all it is, you’d be hard pressed to beat an American fleet in a 150pt or higher game.  At that point level you can bring a battleship, two carriers and enough planes to destroy whatever your opponent is bringing…only a Japanese fleet with multiple Yamatos might stand a chance against an equal point American fleet.  Let’s say you collect only a German fleet…how would you stop my air power?  I’d have all your ships sunk before you made it within striking distance.  Maybe I’m full of crap, but, I’d say go American if you want the most balance and options.  Maybe the second set of WaS will have more air support for the Germans and the other Axis powers (Japan not included) but as it stands now…they’d get crushed.  I don’t think that would be much fun for you.

@dezrtfish:

As far as air goes, I don’t like the idea of a sniper taking out a P51, that just seems quite improbable.  An MG42 I can see.  I also can’t imagine an M1 Garand nailing an ME109.  Could it happen? maybe, but probably not.

Again I see it as more of a playability issue. Is it realistic? No, not even close. Heck really planes shouldn’t be in the game at a such a small level. However, I shouldn’t be completely screwed over just because I’m not using dedicated AA, which is otherwise a bit of a waste if my opponent doesn’t use aircraft (perhaps this is where a sideboard comes in… :).
It seems to me that these rules are encouraging a more defencive game and creating an environment where you want your infantry spread out - that way they’re less prone to enfilade/grazing shot, and can also perhaps get in line with a plane to help bring it down.

I didn’t get to play a game sunday with the rules, but I hope to some time this week to try them out.

Well since this new set came out, I already got 3 of the 5 soviet rares.  I got the Soviet M3 Lee, IS3, and the T-35.  My favorite out of those 3 has got to be the Soviet M3 Lee.

KV-1
Soviet M3 Lee
Mosin Nagants x6
Comissar
PPsh x2

Its not a flawless build, but it is a build with the Soviet M3 Lee.  :lol:

Excellent question.  I do not have any historical evidence of widespread tank vs. tank ramming, and I don’t really expect that it went on.  I included the rule more for sake of gameplay with non-armored vehicles (jeeps, halftracks, etc.) The rule represents a sort of last ditch option available to a player with nothing left but jeeps who is trying to face down a tank.  I’ve people ask to be able to ram on a number of occasions, so I decided to come up with a rule for it.  The attack itself is pretty anemic (need 6’s to hit) so I can’t think of why a tank would ever choose to ram another vehicle instead of using it’s short/medium range armor attack roll instead.  Now a jeep, on the other hand, really wouldn’t have any other attack against a light tank.  With the ram you might be able to damage a tank, but you are certainly going to destroy your jeep trying.  Let me know if you end up using the rule and if it works for you or not.

Well, trade with Members that you see are reliable. Date joined, amount of posts so on and so forth. I would be willing to trade with handpicked members if the moderator allows trading in his forums.

@Ubermarine:

The Polish Calvalryman is a nice touch to the game.  Thay will be easy to use in groups of 3 or 4 against soldiers.  Im thinking the best way to use them will be to hide and rush machine gun nests.

Not just machine gun nests but also for going after BAR Gunners, anti-tank guns, and commanders. But I really don’t think you need more than 1 or 2 to accomplish this. It is very easy for the cavalry out of line of sight.