Box of FJs - now what?

[Helmsmen]

So I bought a box of thirty FJs to the support the twenty or so I picked up on eBay but am looking for some guidance on how best to equip these guys for tourney play. Meaning, how many should I have with rifles, sub machine guns, lmg’s, pz faust...?

[NDNG_Troy]

So I bought a box of thirty FJs to the support the twenty or so I picked up on eBay but am looking for some guidance on how best to equip these guys for tourney play. Meaning, how many should I have with rifles, sub machine guns, lmg’s, pz faust...?

I'm the farthest thing from a "competitive" player you'll find.

My philosophy of gaming is: "That looks fun, go for it!"

However, the forces I've noticed that have done fairly well seem to have units designed for specific tasks:
- one unit with SMGs for close assault specialists.
- one unit set up for tank assault
- another set for parking on an objective or two and waiting out the enemy.

And, look at how the players in your local area are playing the meta? Do you tend to have a lot of horde armies? Japanese and Soviet? You'll need fire support and ways to toss a lot of lead and HE at them?

Does your community have lots of AFVs on the table? more AT assets.

But, like I said above, my "meta" is based on two things...
1. What did I just finish painting? It needs to get on the table
2. What units/toys sound fun to toss out and push out there.

Don't forget... Bolt Action Happens. Sometimes it's good that it happens (your warplane bombs your own forces) and sometimes it's good for you (your enemy FUBARs and shoots his own guys).

That's why I love the game. No matter what, even against the best players with the most tricked out lists, Bolt Action happens and much laughing ensues.

[Helmsmen]

Thanks again Troy for the insight. I couldn’t agree with your sentiment more - for me too it’s about fun, not winning (ask my opponents they’ll tell you I didn’t “maximize” my list options. That said, I don’t care to. What I don’t want to happen however, is to kick myself because I simply messed up the unit build and made too many sub machine guns for example. So let me rephrase the question... Let’s assume I’m typically going to field four squads of infantry. What’s a good size squad for FJs and what types of weapons should each squad and its member posses? I heard you - one squad should be SMG heavy for assaults, and two others maybe heavier on rifles and LMGs to sit back and touch someone. Am I on the right track?

[NDNG_Troy]

Sounds good to me.

But I lose a lot.

I've poked the resident SoCal Meta-dude for Germans in BA. Let's see if he has any insights. He's also working, so give him some time to answer

[NDNG_Jacob]

Glad to hear you’re getting into Fallschirmjagers, Helmsmen! They can be challenging to build for, especially with the restrictions of always being vets (expensive points-wise), and not having a ton of extraneous options on the sprue, namely Panzerfausts. They do have a lot going for them, though, with relatively generous representation of the guns available to them (SMGs, FG42 Assault Rifles, Kar 98s, and an MG 42). One thing I would for sure do is build ALL the Panzerfausts. The rest is dependent on what the rest of your force is composed of, and complement them. In a vacuum, though, with four squads to work with, let’s get the most out of them we can.

Firstly, squad size, I usually prefer somewhere in the 6-8 range, with the sweet spot being lucky number 7. With Stubborn Vets, I would keep the number down, so 6-7 for your more ranged Falschirmjagers, while your closer-in squads should be buffed up to about 7-8. The important thing I find is to have complementary squads, but not to have squads with mixed tasks. Therefore, I would have two CC squads, and two ranged fire support squads.

For the CC squads, I would give them two Panzerfausts each. The weapons that the Faust-holders would have would be SMGs, not the FG42; that way, exceptional damage would have to choose between a Faust, OR an FG42. The rest of the squad could be built with a mix of SMGs or FG42s, to your liking, with the NCO having an FG42. It’s up to you to balance it points vs fanciness; the more additional weapons, the costlier the already pricy squad gets. However, especially equipping them with Panzerfausts, I like to have them to all be equipped with weapons with the “Assault” special rule. Not only are you going to be making a beeline to the nearest armor, but after you hit that, you’ll most likely be deep in enemy lines, so assault would be your best option.

For the ranged squads, give them all K98s, and one LMG a piece. You would want to keep them at range, so 24” beats out 18/12”. If you decide to go two LMGs a squad, get your numbers up to about 8/9; you want to have ablative wounds to keep your LMGs getting focused and disabled quickly. I would say only one LMG, though, just because that’s 40 points for two guns alone, in one squad. Might as well have a “shoot at me” flag above their heads.

Now comes the sneaky stuff, and we get into converting territory. With the numbers I have given you, you have 2x6 man ranged support squads, and 2x7 man CC squads. This gives you a total of 26 men; well short of how many you have. Make a 3 man MMG squad with an MG 42, and two guys hauling ammo/with ammo belts on a large base. Also, make an officer, and that takes you to your 30 men. The rest can be built out from there; let me know if you need any more help or advice!

[Helmsmen]

This is great stuff and far more than I’d expected - thanks to you both for the insight. With my US paras I run something similar and was considering the same for my FJs. Assuming I have the points I was considering two reach out and touch squads and two CCs. The two ranged squads would have 6-8 men with two LMGs, rifles and no Pzfausts. The CCs would have one squads with SMGs and the other with Assault Weapons - both would have two fausts. This assumes of course, I could afford all of this. Interested in your CC mix thoughts though... I know it would give me both a close and distance threat so that makes sense but is there a line of thinking in support of a leap frog approach whereby the FG42 squad supports the SMG squad or is that too many eggs in one basket? Thanks again

[NDNG_Troy]

Depends on your opponent.

Which leads into a depends on your local tourney meta.

But, yes, I can see a support option of the FG42's backing up the SMG squads unless you're facing a Chinese/Japanese/Soviet horde (the first two are fast-advance. Other nasty surprises might include some of the Pacific themed lists.

The one problem I've seen with FJ lists is they're bloody expensive in points. But, they are tough to kill off. You won't have a lot of "toys" and the groundpounders will have to do most of the heavy lifting.

[NDNG_Jacob]

Got it in one. Too many eggs in one basket. Your opponent, if smart, will ignore the SMG squad and nail the FG42 squad. That's the price of vets +5, rather than just +3. One thing you want to keep in mind is confusing the opponent. Make him unsure of what target to go for, or what squad to stop. You can do this in two ways; either by creating a hard-to-kill or glass cannon distraction unit, or having multiple similar squads for redundancy. Also, I would not go more than 1 LMG per squad; same eggs-in-one-basket issue. If you really want 4xlmgs, give one to each squad.

[NDNG_Troy]

... One thing you want to keep in mind is confusing the opponent...

I prefer to do that by wearing funny hats or loud-print party shirts.

[Helmsmen]

Now I under stand. Something like this...

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