US Hobby League

	Blair What can I say? Although the immediate thought was to do an American force this is a great opportunity to put together and field an army I’ve wanted to do for a while now. I decided to go with a British force and I want to base it around the Churchill Armoured squadron. As I said, this is something I’ve wanted to do for some time going back to when we released the Churchills in plastic last year. I tend to focus on small units of heavy hitting durable armour. For example, I have a Soviet Midwar army that I use frequently that is very KV heavy.
For my first 50 points I’m going to go with the following; 1 Chruchill Amoured HQ (3 tanks) for 12 points A Churchill Armoured Troop (3 tanks) 12 points Another Churchill Armoured Troop (3 tanks) 12 points To add flavor a Sherman Armoured Troop (2 x 75mm & 1 Firefly) Assembling is nearly completed and I hope to record my first game this week.  More to come…

Brandon I am Brandon! I am finally starting my Americans and building an armored rifle company. For my first 50 points I am building an armoured rifle platoon with the HQ and will back them with 76mm Sherman’s. I am enjoying building the armoured rifles and just about done. Next up will be the Shermans and then the recon platoons. I can’t wait to put this army down and start rolling some dice!

Kyle My name is Kyle and I am new to the world of Flames of War.  While speaking with my officemates, I decided I wanted to start with an American army.  Between their explanation and what I saw in the book, they seemed like a good place to start for a new player.  I am currently working on building my force.  The office is getting me (and my army) trained and I look forward to getting more involved as a member of the league.

	Chad As previously written on the D-Day German launch page I was really excited and looking forward to building my Reconnaissance Company and zoomin’ about with the lil’ SdKfz 250s; however, the release schedule placed them further back than I was comfortable to get built and painted in time for the league so it was time to crack the book, and find an alternative force. Having fielded Panzergrenadiers through the Eastern Front, and Panzer IIIs in the desert they were solid choices, but I was looking for new inspiration.
Our office was becoming a predominantly Allied mix, and has many casual or newer players, as such I knew I wouldn’t be needing a cutting-edge competitive list to drink the tears of my co-workers, but I did want to play on the ‘fear’ Allied commanders had of the big German Heavies. In addition, I have only really ever fielded the Panzer III, preferring infantry more so in late war. So as I researched the Tiger in Normandy (to see whether or not a force of more than just the lone support add-on to a force was viable) I came across Panzer Ace Obersturmfuhrer Michael Wittmann and his exploits with the 101st Heavy Panzer Battalion at Villers-Bocage. Challenge Accepted! Now for the list: The first 50 points would be easy to get on the table, starting with a Half-Track Scout company command card. Then adding a Tiger platoon of 3 vehicles, and the Tiger Ace Command card.  For 10 points, you have three platoons of Scout halftracks for anti-infantry/light vehicle/AA which should play similar to my older Afrika Corps Armored car list. This list is then rounded out with a Lucky card. In theory, at 50 points my opponents will be hard pressed to deal with 3 Tigers. Our web page has an amazing article on customizing Tigers to give each one of these mammoth beasts a character all their own. Pushing the list to 100 changes the list to 6 Tigers in a Tiger Company, and the Half-Track Scout formations loses the 3rd platoon of 250s for a Reconnaissance platoon with the aforementioned SS PanzerGrenadiers blisters. In addition, Command Cards turn the fantastic beasts of the Tigers into the feared monsters they were when Michael Whittmann drove through the British 7th Armored Division. Kurt Knispel, and Tiger Ace as well as Lucky. Six Tigers Seven SdKfz 250s And a Platoon of Recon troops wearing Erbsenmuster SS Pea Dot This force should perform well, that is unless the Air Force pounds me into dust.

Brian I’m building a Panzergenadier formation backed up by Sdkfz 250 Recon, this will give me a lot of flexibility as far as expanding my force, and playing games. My force is mobile, and resilient under fire, having large formations to keep me in the fight longer.  There will be Panzergrenadiers in every theatre to come for the Germans, and I can just add new models as they get released. I can also use command cards to change up how they play, either getting worse or better to spend or save points.  The one downside is that it’s a ton of models to paint, and I’m a layman at best when it comes to the hobbying aspect of the game, but our website has a wealth of articles on painting and basing that I am taking advantage of, in addition to the new Colours of War book!