Army Spotlight - Flames of War, British (Late War)

I became interested in Flames of War a couple of years ago. It was around the same time that my interest in Warhammer 40k was waning, and I had also decided that 8th Edition Fantasy just wasn't for me. I had always been a bit of a WWII buff, and so it didn't take me long to find was is most likely the most mainstream, if not the most popular, of WWII miniature wargames. I ended up trading some Lord of the Rings SBG miniatures my sister's ex-boyfriend had given to me for the old mid-war British rifle company boxset, and a few other goodies. 

One of the problems I think most wargamers encounter is buying miniatures at a faster rate that they can be painted. Last summer (2012) I decided that wouldn't be the case with my British. Over those months I sat down and painted most of what I had - the infantry taking the longest compared to the vehicles. The result was an infantry company and two tank companies.

Here's the infantry. The company commander and 2iC are in front (no snipers, however. Never had much of a use for them in FoW). Behind are 3 full infantry platoons. Accompanying them is a few support platoons - machine guns, mortars, and 6-pdr anti-tank guns with Lloyd Carriers for additional mobility. 

I started playing FoW with the 2nd Edition 'Open Fire!' set, which came with 2 StuGs and 3 Shermans. Though they were American-models, they were the basis of a Sherman tank company. Unfortunately, it's a bit skewed toward Market-Garden then Normandy as half of each platoon is made up of Fireflies (I somehow managed to buy a lot of Fireflies). 

 

I was also a fan of the cruiser family of tanks that ended up in the form of the Cromwell and Challenger tanks, so I also have a company of them. In Normandy I replace the Challengers with Fireflies borrowed from the Sherman company. 

Here are the oddballs of my collection - more assets than anything else. In front are 3 Churchill Crocodiles - they're decent at anti-infantry work with their flamethrowers, and their heavy front armor gives them semi-decent chances against heavier German guns. 

Behind the Crocs are the Recon platoons I use. The first is a single section of a scout carrier platoon. I'd like to get a full platoon one of these days, as the Bren 'swarm' can deal with both infantry and armor (with Mounted PIATs). Recon moves help with that. The Bren carriers accompany the infantry. There's also a single platoon of Stuart Vs. While their guns aren't anything spectacular in Late War, they're little, fast, and can still put a dent in side armor.

Last are four M5 halftracks. If I'm looking to add a little infantry support that can keep up with my tanks, I mount a platoon in the halftracks.

Last is the artillery. 25 pdr guns on the left, and Sextons on the right. The last old 'Open Fire!' Sherman acts as an OP for the platoon, and a Grasshopper provides an aerial view. 

So that's the Brits. As I mentioned last week, I really need to work on my Germans, which are languishing in storage at the moment. I'd also like to start Americans at some point.