Armored and Dangerous Part Two: Fielding The US Armored Rifle Company with Steven MacLauchlan Last week I talked about why the US Armored Rifle Platoon is so awesome, so this week let’s talk about lists and combinations that make the Armored Rifle Company so good. Read Armored and Dangerous: Part One here... Check out the new plastic Armored Rifle Platoon here...

As you recall from last week, one of the major strengths of the Armored Rifle Platoon is that it’s autonomous. It can deal with any situation, and any threat. This means it doesn’t really have any shortcomings that need to be made up for in the list, with the possible exception of ranged anti-tank. Consequently, my Armored Rifle Companies' support options tend to focus on two things: ranged anti-tank and smoke generation. Points left over can fill in any other gaps like recon or artillery.

With these tenents in mind, I’m going to look at three different Armored Rifle Company lists; one from Blood, Guts, & Glory, one from Overlord, and finally one from North Africa. I’ve been playing 1650 a lot lately, so that is what I will focus on for all three lists. All of these lists are very similar, so you’ll easily be able to spot the variations on the theme.

From Blood, Guts, & Glory This is a pretty standard Armored Rifle Company for me. It’s got tons of mobility, and plenty of punch. I’ve already detailed why I love the Armored Rifle Platoons in part one of the series, so it should be no surprise that I took them both at full strength. Some prefer to go one big, one small to free up points, but I like to go all in. Why Hellcats over M10s?  Truthfully, I find them to be about a wash. The extra armour comes in handy rarely, but the extra speed is useful about as often. I had the five points, and like the Hellcat model better, so there. The four M4A3 Shermans are a reliable support option. The Priests are perhaps overkill; one variant I play is to drop the Priests for mortars and wiggle everything else around upgrade the Shermans to the M4A3 (late) variant (or add in some Sherman (76mm)). The AOP is obvious for column security or spotting for the Priests.  Finally, that little Recce platoon fits a great niche; for the attacking or as a small platoon for missions with Reserves.

4th Division Armored Rifle Company from Blood, Guts, & Glory (Confident Veteran) Headquarters   Armored Rifle Company HQ   with Company Command Carbine team, 2iC Command Carbine team, one Jeep, one M3 half-track with .50 cal AA MG & one Bazooka team. 45 points Combat Platoons   Armored Rifle Platoon   with HQ Section, Light Machine-gun Squad, 60mm Mortar Squad & two Rifle Squads. 295 points Armored Rifle Platoon   with HQ Section, Light Machine-gun Squad, 60mm Mortar Squad & two Rifle Squads. 295 points Weapons Platoons   Recon Platoon   with one Recon Section & one Bazooka team. 85 points Support Platoons   Corps Tank Destroyer Platoon (Confident Trained)   with Security Section with four M18 Hellcat GMC. 315 points Tank Platoon   with four M4A3. 355 points Armored Field Artillery Battery   with HQ Section with one Gun Section. 220 points Air Observation Post   with L4 Grasshopper AOP 40 points Total Points: 1650 points

Many people prefer to stick Patton in with Armored Rifle Company from Blood, Guts, & Glory. I think that idea has tons of merit, and find an auto-attacking Armored Rifle Company to be a fantastic list. I chose not to explore that option here, as veterans to the Armored Rifle Company reading this article will have already made that decision, while those new to the Blitzdoughs should learn the basics of the force first!

From Overlord The core of this list is the same as the Blood, Guts, and Glory version, except we dropped the Bazooka from the Recon Platoon making them itty-bitty. Be careful with them! We’ve also downsized the Priests to Armored mortars, which is fine because we usually just use them for smoke anyhow. We’ve swapped the M18s for M10s, which, like I said before, is in my opinion fairly inconsequential, but we needed those few extra points. With Anti-tank 12 rather than 13, we save additional points. Likewise, the Shermans are their predecessors, saving us a few points at the cost of Detroit’s Finest. With the points saved, however, we’re able to add the Corps Anti-aircraft Artillery (Self-propelled) Platoon and the Armored Recon Platoon. The Corps Anti-aircraft Artillery (Self-propelled) Platoon is, frankly, a way to pad our numbers in half-on, half-off missions, but in an open environment with Rudel flying around, they may have some new life breathed into them. Being Trained and poorly armoured, though, they should definitely be kept somewhere safe!

2nd Armored Division Armored Rifle Company from Overlord (Confident Veteran) Headquarters   Armored Rifle Company HQ   with Company Command Carbine team, 2iC Command Carbine team, one Jeep, one M3 half-track with .50 cal AA MG & one Bazooka team. 45 points Combat Platoons   Armored Rifle Platoon   with HQ Section, Light Machine-gun Squad, 60mm Mortar Squad & two Rifle Squads. 295 points Armored Rifle Platoon   with HQ Section, Light Machine-gun Squad, 60mm Mortar Squad & two Rifle Squads. 295 points Weapons Platoons   Recon Platoon   with one Recon Section. 65 points Armored Mortar Platoon   with HQ Section with three Mortar Sections upgraded with .50 cal AA MG. 125 points Support Platoons   Corps Tank Destroyer Platoon (Confident Trained)   with Security Section with four M10 3" GMC. 285 points Medium Tank Platoon   with four M4A1 Sherman. 335 points Armored Recon Platoon   with Armored Recon Patrol. 130 points Corps Anti-aircraft Artillery (Self-propelled) Platoon   with one Automatic Weapons Section. 75 points Total Points: 1650 points

The Armored Recon Platoon is great. I love that platoon! The M8s are a fantastic reconnaissance platoon, and are able shooting up targets of opportunity. On the attack, this list has seven recce teams, providing you a heck of a screen to mitigate enemy ambushes. Everything else in the list is highly mobile so you can overwhelm you opponent’s defences. This list is a bit less forgiving than the Blood, Guts, & Glory version, and could ultimately cost you some Victory Points, but it’s a bit more flexible and lighter on its feet as well.

From North Africa This list looks very much like the Normandy list, but don’t be fooled! It’s Confident Trained, and that makes it a whole different animal. Normally I shy away from Warriors, but Harmon is just too good to pass up! He gives your already nimble troops a pseudo Stormtroopers move (that doesn’t cost you the assault step!), and he can get your boys up and moving at the start of the shooting step. He’s great to keep on the front lines to keep your men active, which you need because they’re trained so they’re going to take some hits. The rest of the build is fairly straightforward and by no recognisable. M10s in Mid-war are absolutely deadly, and paired with the Sherman form the rhythm section of your orchestra. Lay down the drums and pound on the bass and let your smooth Armored Rifles deal with whatever’s left. The 37mm Anti-tank guns in the Combat Platoons are optional.

Armored Rifle Company from North Africa (Confident Trained) Warrior Major General Ernest N. Harmon. 40 points Headquarters   Armored Rifle Company HQ   with Company Command Carbine team, 2iC Command Carbine team, one Jeep, one M3 half-track with .50 cal AA MG. 25 points Combat Platoons   Armored Rifle Platoon   with HQ Section, Light Machine-gun Squad, 60mm Mortar Squad & two Rifle Squads with one M3 37mm gun & four Bazooka teams. 255 points Armored Rifle Platoon   with HQ Section, Light Machine-gun Squad, 60mm Mortar Squad & two Rifle Squads with one M3 37mm gun & four Bazooka teams. 255 points Weapons Platoons   Recon Platoon   with HQ Section & one Bazooka team & two Recon Squads. 80 points Armored Mortar Platoon   with HQ Section with three Mortar Sections upgraded with .50 cal AA MG. 95 points Support Platoons   Self-propelled Anti-tank Platoon   with Security Section with four M10 3" GMC. 435 points Medium Tank Platoon   with four M4A1 Sherman. 460 points Total Points: 1645 points

In Mid-war, I quite like them for keeping lighter vehicles at bay, and give you a bit of “reach out and touch something”. They’re also high ROF, and combined with your mortars give you a potential of five shots that can pick out Man-packed Gun teams. Knocking out HMGs is absolutely crucial for these guys being Trained. Knock-out the guns, smoke ‘em, kill their anti-tank assets with your M10s, exploit your gains with your Shermans, and let Harmon push you on, and victory is assured! ~ Steven.