As James Spoke about in this post The Domino Theory Lives On... James and myself are getting into FOW Vietnam. James picked the new Local Forces PDF for his force (my favourite option too!), so I went for the Free World Forces.
I decided to go for the US to begin with as although I love the ANZAC models the US are the iconic Free World Force of Vietnam and so seemed to make more sense to focus on, but a few emails and phone calls to the gaming stores I normally order from returned no US infantry... but I was able to find some ANZAC infantry, so it was onto plan B! Now at this point the title of the post and the 11th Cav badge might be confusing you so I had better round out the story.
Look out for a full review soon. |
Trying to write a list I liked was a hard choice and I ended up basing the army on Charlie Company from the book. These guys are airmobile but are without their transport helicopters for the battle so I have used the standard infantry company for my force. I picked the minimum 2 full infantry platoons, HQ and a Medic. I have included a Platoon of the 11th Cavalry to represent the forces linking up with the company (and because Sheridans look so cool!). Almost every Vietnam mission had fire support so three 105mm artillery with an AOP helicopter was essential and finally a flight of two Cobras as they are the only aircraft talked about in the book (and they do look great!). This gives me a nice core of platoons with a little of everything, half of which are very mobile. Having never played FoW Vietnam my thoughts on list building might be way off but that'll be a fun experience for the table top.
Confident Trained | Rifle Company (25th Infantry) | USA Vietnam |
Infantry Company |
Platoon | Qty | Unit | Points | ||
Headquarters | |||||
| 2 1 | Cmd M16 Rifle team Medic team | 35 | ||
Combat Platoons | |||||
| 1 6 2 1 | Cmd M16 Rifle team M16 Rifle team M60 LMG team M67 90mm recoilless gun | 170 | ||
| 1 6 2 | Cmd M16 Rifle team M16 Rifle team M60 LMG team | 150 | ||
Support Platoon | |||||
| 3 3 | M113 ACAV M551 Sheridan | 335 | ||
| 2 | AH-1G Hueycobra | 200 | ||
| 1 1 3 | Cmd M16 Rifle team Staff team M101A1 105mm howitzer | 100 | ||
| 1 | Observer UH-1D Chuck Chuck | 10 | ||
Company Points: | 1000 |
www.EasyArmy.com | Source document: Tour of Duty Book |
Going forward after I get to the planned 1250pts I will probably look to turn these into an full 11th Cav Company and Airmobile Infantry company so I can mix things up a bit from time to time. One of the great things about FoW Vietnam is the US infantry is basically the same for all the lists, so it's just really the support and transports that change. So by buying a few extra pieces you can play with some very different lists and not break the bank. It also means I get to paint up more helicopters which is never a bad thing!
Well thats all from me today, I hope to have the first platoon finished very soon. I'm also knee deep in terrain for Vietnam I need to make, my wife's patience with the mess is being pushed to the limit, so I hope to have them done soon too and pictures posted up.
I hope you enjoyed the post, until next time!
Ben
For a (quasi-) historical force, its actually quite a good, efficient list. Looking forward to 1250 points, some Loachs and the heavy Cobra options would be a good start.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've got it all worked out, I'll look forward to seeing some of the troops!
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