Building a North Africa: Mid-War Force based On The American Starter Army with John Lee With the launch of the North Africa Compilation release, I thought I would look at how a new player, or someone on a budget, can get a US force on the table that would be semi-competitive or at least hold its own with the focus on the mainstay of the armoured forces – M3 Lees, M3 Stuarts, M4 Shermans and M10 Tank Destroyers.  For the new player, it opens the door to playing Flames of War without needing to buy, assemble or paint too much and get into playing the game quicker.

So, if we look at what we get in the excellent value starter set (M3 Lee Tank Company), that will help decide what formations to run.  The starter set contains the following: Complete A5 Rulebook US “Start Here” booklet 5 x M3 Lee Tanks 3 x M4 Sherman Tanks 4 x M3 Stuart Tanks 4 x M10 Tank Destroyers 3 x M7 Priest Spel-propelled Guns 2 x T28E1 Self-propelled AA Guns 5 x Decal Sheets 9 x Unit Cards

The bonus here is that the rulebook is included in the box – so the new player makes a saving right away.  Now if we look at what formations are in the US section of the North Africa book, we can see what we can maximize from what we get in the starter box. The most obvious formation is the M3 Lee Tank Company, but secondary options are the M3 Stuart Tank Company and Armoured Recon Company (Command Card Formation), and we will look at options for 100pts.

The M3 Lee tank has a main 75mm hull mounted gun and a 37mm gun in the turret. You get to fire the 37mm as a secondary weapon along with the 75mm having stabiliser, giving you three shots on the move.  Short 75mm is AT9 and for an additional +1pt per tank, you can upgrade to the long 75mm with AT10.  The M4 Sherman is king in mid war. Packing the 75mm AT10 main gun with stabilisers along with .50cals and MGs and FA6, this is the best all round tank in my opinion.  It can assault with ease and take on enemy armour from the front aside from the heavy tanks.

The M3 Stuart is fast and packs an AT7 punch with stabiliser and five MG dice.  Can speed around the flanks and take on enemy light and medium armour and eat Light Tank and Armoured Car swarms for breakfast! The only issue is that they are reckless being hit on 2+ but there is a very handy command card that bumps them up to Aggressive and hit on 3+ titled “Courageous and Faithful”.  This card applies to the M3 Stuart Company HQ and M3 Stuart Tank Platoons. The card also increases their skill from Green 5+ to Trained 4+.

Finally, the M10 Tank Destroyer packs an AT12 punch out to 36”. It has the same front armour as an M3 Lee (FA5) but less on the side (SA2) and open topped (TA0).  This is your go to anti-tank option and has the “Seek, Strike, and Destroy” rule. This rule allows you to complete a second movement order if you successfully passed a first movement order.  Ideally start hidden out of site, blitzing to pop out, get halted ROF and then attempt to shoot and scoot back into cover!  Be careful as their base skill is Trained 4+!  There is a command card titled “Favourable Position” which allows the unit to pass Shoot and Scoot orders on a 3+. If you use them in ambush, you can then try to move out of site afterwards on a 3+ instead. Card costs 3pts for the unit.

Looking at the M3 Lee Tank Company, let us look at what units comprise this formation: 1 M3 Lee Tank Company HQ 1-2 M3 Lee Tank Platoon 1 M3 Lee Tank Platoon or M4 Sherman Platoon or M3 Stuart Platoon 0-1 M4 81mm Armoured Mortar Platoon 0-1 T30 75mm Assault Gun Platoon 0-1 Armoured Recon Patrol

Based on the formation and what we get in the starter box, we can use all contents of the starter box for exactly 100pts:

Using all the starter box, we have a fragile formation with only three units for the formation break.  You have all the medium tanks the formation and everything else in support.  You have some AA coverage (dual-purpose anti-infantry as well!), great mobile artillery with the M7 Priests, Stuarts to try and flank the enemy and M10s to bring the mobile high end AT12. To buy this army you need only to purchase the following for $160: 1 x USAB12 American Fighting First Army Starter Force   110 1 x FW256 North Africa Compilation Book     50 TOTAL $160

To create a more solid formation, we need to add some more core units to it.  Adding in more M3 Lees, T30s and Armoured Recon, we can do that but won’t be using everything in the starter box.

Much better with six units for the formation count. Mix of AT7, AT9, AT10 and AT12 shots and MGs.  You have two templates as well as a spearhead. Ten Lees with their multi weapons are a threat to all but the heaviest of enemy armour and Shermans for a mix of anti-medium AT and assaulting. Not enough points for the M10s but with this release there is a wild card unit of T55 Interceptor Tank Destroyer Platoon. Big Armoured Cars with a 3-inch anti-tank gun with AT12 and 36” range that is forward firing. It is lightly armoured but a cheap heavy AT option if you need it.

To buy this army you need only to purchase the following for $338: 1 x USAB12 American Fighting First Army Starter Force   110 1 x UBX50 M3 Lee Tank Platoon     50 1 x UBX59 Armoured Recon Patrol     37 1 x UBX63 T30 75mm Assault Gun Platoon     37 2 x UBX97 T55 (3-inch) Intercepter Tank Destroyers     54 1 x FW256 North Africa Compilation Book     50 TOTAL $338

Next, we look at the M3 Stuart Tank Company which comprises the following: 1 M3 Start Tank Company HQ 2 M3 Stuart Tank Platoon 0-1 M3 Stuart Platoon or M4 Sherman Tank Platoon or M3 Lee Tank Platoon 0-1 M4 81mm Armoured Mortar Platoon 0-1 T30 75mm Assault Gun Platoon 0-1 Armoured Recon Patrol

Based on the formation and what we get in the starter box, we can use the M3 Stuarts, M3 Lees and M10s out of the starter box and some other boxes to round it out to 100pts:

Six units for the formation break.  Spearhead and two templates with AT12 for heavy AT work.  Up gunned M3 Lees for medium anti-tank work.  All Stuarts upgraded.  “Old Ironsides” command card to upgrade either your Armoured Recon Patrol or ideally with the T30s to give them better skill to range in their template and make them harder to hit as well.

To buy this army you need only to purchase the following for $344: 1 x USAB12 American Fighting First Army Starter Force   110 2 x UBX56 M3 Stuart Light Tank Platoon   100 1 x UBX59 Armoured Recon Patrol     37 1 x UBX63 T30 75mm Assault Gun Platoon     37 1 x FW256-UCB American Fighting First Unit and Command Cards     10 1 x FW256 North Africa Compilation Book     50 TOTAL $344

To maximise this list, we can go all Stuarts for tanks and use Shermans and M10s to support the formation:

Six units for the formation break.  Fourteen upgraded M3 Stuarts on the rampage backed up Shermans and M10s with a spearhead and two templates.  If you wanted some infantry, you could change out the M4 Shermans to M3 Lees and add a rifle platoon. The price for this is the same as the previous list as it’s using the same extra boxes - $344.

Now let’s have a look at the M3A1 Armoured Recon Company (Command Card Formation) where the Starter Box has one unit that in that is compulsory in the formation and a good starting point: 1 M3A1 Armoured Recon Company HQ 2-6 Armoured Recon Patrol 0-1 T30 75mm Assault Gun Platoon 0-1 M3 Stuart Tank Platoon With a maximum of eight units for the formation break, this is quite a strong formation to take.  To maximise our investment in the starter box, let us look at a sample list:

We have five units for the formation break and we have used most of our starter box (only one M3 Lee, one M10 and two T28E1s not used). You have the M10s for their AT12 punch, Shermans for their AT10 and stabilizer that can also assault infantry and guns. The Armoured Cars, Jeeps can spearhead and along with the Stuarts can deal with light spam threats.  Two templates with the M7 Priests and T30s. Upgraded Stuarts to round out the force.

To buy this army you need only to purchase the following for $318: 1 x USAB12 American Fighting First Army Starter Force   110 3 x UBX59 Armoured Recon Patrol   111 1 x UBX63 T30 75mm Assault Gun Platoon     37 1 x FW256-UCB American Fighting First Unit and Command Cards     10 1 x FW256 North Africa Compilation Book     50 TOTAL $318

To change this up a bit, I want to add another Patrol to the formation and add another M10 to give me four mobile AT12 rather than three. This is how it would look:

To buy this army you need only to purchase the following for $355: 1 x USAB12 American Fighting First Army Starter Force   110 4 x UBX59 Armoured Recon Patrol   148 1 x UBX63 T30 75mm Assault Gun Platoon     37 1 x FW256-UCB American Fighting First Unit and Command Cards     10 1 x FW256 North Africa Compilation Book     50 TOTAL $355

There you have it – some options to ponder for getting started with three different formations that you can maximise with the starter box or if you want to run an infantry-based formation, the Starter Box is a great way to add armoured support options to them.  Enjoy! ~John