Box Contents

The Ayo Gorkhali! – Gurkha Starter Army is an Indian Starter Army containing:

• x7 Gurkha Infantry sprues (42 Infantry) – Plastic
• x2 British Heavy Weapons sprues (x2 MMGs, x2 Med. Mortars, x2 Heavy Mortars) – Plastic
• x9 Gurkha Heavy Weapons crew – Resin
• x1 Gurkha Heavy Weapons Platoon Commander (Rifle) – Resin
• x1 6-pdr Medium AT Gun – Plastic
• x3 AT Gun Crew – Resin
• x1 Gurkha Artillery Platoon Commander (Pistol) – Resin
• M3 Grant Medium Tank – Plastic
• M5 Stuart Light Tank – Plastic

The Fearsome Reputation List

Breakdown

(x) denotes a vehicle-mounted weapon.

Notes and Analysis

The objective of this list is two-part: 1) use as much of the Starter Army as possible, and 2) make a List that works at a competitive level. Please keep in mind, this List was written using only the contents of the Starter Army.

A new Starter Army for a new Third Edition Nation! India has arrived in Armies of the British Commonwealth and the Ayo Gorkhali! Starter Army is bringing us a full Platoon of of these legendary infantry. At the risk of being repeating myself, let’s be very clear, this is an army list for India. Not Great Britain. We are using the Indian Army List from Armies of the British Commonwealth: Third Edition.

As this is an army list for a new nation (India), let’s quickly list the India Army Special Rules:

• Superior Endurance – Any Indian Infantry unit that fails a Morale Check can re-roll the result.
• Shared Knowledge – All Inexperienced Indian Infantry units have Green and may re-roll the Green test.
• Mountain Experts provides the option to upgrade any Indian Infantry unit with Fieldcraft for +1pt per model.
• Ayo Gorkhali! is a collection of three rules for Gurkha units. To make a unit Gurkha, they must be Reg or Vet and get the following special rules for +4pts per model:
  • Tough Fighters
  • Fieldcraft
  • Fearsome Reputation – Enemy units may not use Reaction Fire against Gurkha units initiating Close Quarters Assaults and do not benefit from Defensive Positions in the ensuing Close Quarters.

Both Shared Knowledge and Superior Endurance (although incredible) won’t be relevant to this army list. We don’t have an Inexperienced units and Fieldcraft is included in Ayo Gorkhali!. Speaking of Ayo Gorkhali!, in this army list, if a unit has the option for it, it got it. That’s right, even the Mortar Teams. And although the QF 6-pdr comes with specific Gurkha crew, the unit does not have the option to take Ayo Gorkhali! So even though I wanted to go fully Gurkha with this list, I was denied due to the inclusion of the Medium AT Gun.

A speaking of crew, let’s chat about the models in this box. Unlike the new US Stars and Stipes and the German Cross of Iron Starter Armies, this is not, sadly, an all-plastic box. Two of the Platoon Commanders are resin models as are all 12 of the Heavy Weapons / Artillery Crew. Hey, I love that we are getting specific Gurkha crew for the MMGs, Medium Mortars, and AT Gun but it’s a real shame they didn’t “cross the Rubicon” from resin/metal into plastic. The guns themselves are all plastic. So you won’t have a horrid time assembling your Mortars and the AT Gun, but you will probably want to do some converting/swapping around with your crew to get a nice mix of poses between the two Medium Mortars and the 6-pdr. Luckily you have plenty of plastic Gurkha Infantry to pull from.

Ok, onto the list. Starting with the Rifle Platoon. This is your largest Platoon and the only Platoon with Vet units. It’s only three Infantry squads but we’ve got a host of Weapons Teams in support. The Infantry are two Rifle Sections of seven Vets each. Each squad has been upgraded with Ayo Gorkhali! You want these troops up close and personal. They have Fieldcraft so movement won’t be an issue and Tough Fighters makes for a terrifying prospect in Close Quarters. Especially considering the enemy will never get to “strike first” due to Fearsome Reputation. Make no mistake, these Gurkha are expensive (17pts per model Vet) but when played correctly are tough to beat. That being said, you need to protect their advance up the table. Luckily you have plenty of support to make that happen. But before we chat Weapons Teams, let’s look at the third Infantry unit, a small five-man Commando Subsection. These have also been upgraded with Ayo Gorkhali! making them a whopping 20pts per model. Oh, and they have SMGs (except for the NCO). This squad comes with Behind Enemy Lines – you want them waiting in Outflank. When the time is right, fly in from a deep flank and dump those SMGs Point-blank into the enemy. Then, if anyone is left standing, charge them. You won’t have any issues taking out pretty much any unit in CQ. The Platoon Commander has three extra buddies and two SMGs to give them some additional punch. Do not forget, all four of these units (the Rifle Sections, Commandos, and PC) all have both TF and Fieldcraft. If you want to close the distance to the enemy, you quickly can.

Providing cover to your three squads of Gurkhas is a whole mess of Weapons Teams – a Sniper, a PIAT, and two Light Mortars. All two man, Reg units, all upgraded with Ayo Gorkhali! The Sniper is mostly there because I wanted to use the fantastic Sniper Rifle included on the sprue. Plus it’s always a good idea to have an Infiltrator unit in your froce. In this list, with only three Infantry Sections, having a Sniper is a great tool to go for enemy Weapons Teams that can threaten your limited Infantry. The PIAT is a last resort for AT. The range is so short but it still packs a punch if you can get close. The two Light Mortars are amazing. Use them in every list. Unlike Medium and Heavy Mortars, Light Mortars to not have Fixed and can fire on Advance. As your Infantry move forward, march the Light Mortars directly along side and plink away with those 1″ HE Templates. Remember, because of Ayo Gorkhali!, just like your Infantry Sections, all four of these Weapons Teams have TF ,Fieldcraft, and Fearsome Reputation. Do not let terrain slow you down and even you get into CQ you will take down a few of the enemy with you.

The Artillery Platoon is straight forward. It’s just a solo Reg Platoon Commander with a pistol (use the sick resin one that comes with the Gurkha crew) and a 6-pdr Medium AT Gun. The AT Gun itself is plastic – amazing – but the crew are all resin – not as amazing. Neither the PC or the ATG are Gurkhas, they do not have the option to be upgraded with Ayo Gorkhali! A bit of shame, but I understand why Medium AT Guns cannot have Fieldcraft. At only 70pts I like what we have with the 6-pdr. You won’t be knocking out Tigers from across the table, but it’s more than enough to keep Light and Medium AFVs at bay. And because it’s so cheap, I have no issue getting deployed, having a clear line of fire, and then sitting on Ambush all game. Use this unit to block enemy movement. Even if you never get to fire, if you are stopping a vehicle from zipping up a flank, the 6-pdr did its job.

Unlike most Starter Army Boxes, we have options for the Heavy Weapons Platoon. The nine crew may all be resin, but the guns are plastic. I went with a pair of Medium Mortars for this list (but you could use MMGs or even Heavy Mortars) so you have three resin crew left over. I like the idea of two Medium Mortars backing up the two Light Mortars to drop HE all over the place. Just like the Weapons Teams and Infantry, both Mortars and the PC have Ayo Gorkhali! so, in a pinch, that’s two more three-man Reg units with TF, Fieldcraft, and Fearsome Reputation. There is nothing stopping you from running (through terrain) these Mortar Teams to contest or capture objectives. In reality are we overpaying 12pts per Mortar just to make them Gurkhas like the rest of the army? Probably. But Rule of Cool all day long. I would have done the same with the 6-pdr if I had the option! Just as viable (if not more) would be a pair of MMGs to laydown more dependable Pins on the enemy as your Gurkha Sections and Weapons Teams advance across the table but I couldn’t resist the four indirect HE templates.

As for your Armored Platoon, there is a great touch included in the M3 Lee kit, an Indian Tank Commander! Be sure to use it in either the Lee or the Stuart for some added flavor. Although outclassed in Europe, the Lee and Stuart are perfect for the jungles of Indo-Burma. The Lee is an interesting one. We don’t often see two AT Guns on a single vehicle and with the Improved HE special rule, you can fire the Medium AT with a beefy 2″ HE template. The damage output from the Lee can be devastating if you risk it and spit fire at two targets. Depending on the situation, you should probably bump both barrels into the same target to increase your chances of scoring a knock out hit. Because of Easily Catches Fire, I thought it was important to give Command Vehicle to the Lee. Also, be sure to protect those flanks, Vulnerable can be brutal. The Lee has the chance to pop off and score multiple kills in a single turn, or, because of it’s significant flaws, catch on fire and bail real quick. The Stuart, at 135pts, is the mouse to the Lee’s cat. You is to bait out enemy vehicles into the waiting jaws of the double ATG Lee. If the Stuart must be sacrificed, so be it. I love the Stuart Recce option (-30pts, remove the turret, add a pintle HMG, gain Recce and Open-topped) but the Warlord kit lacks the options to build one. You could convert it from the Warlord kit, but the excellent Rubicon Stuart kit includes the option to build the Recce variant and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to bring the scout version.

This is a great Starter Army. The box is filled with options that we don’t normally see. We get two Tanks and 42 plastic Infantry! Far to often, when writing up these army lists, I find myself running out of Infantry. Not so with this one. We actually have far more than we need. We’ve got a plastic AT Gun as well! What a joy. My only issue is the resin crew for the Heavy Weapons and the Artillery. But, because there are so many plastic Infantry, you could convert up some crew without too much issue. The new plastic Gurkhas are a fantastic kit, the sprue is overloaded with options. We didn’t even consider running an Engineer Platoon and making use of the Flamethrowers. Now there is a terrifying idea, units of Flamethrower-packing Engineers with Ayo Gorkhali!

What’s Next?

Thoughts and musings on where to go from here:

• Instead of Gurkhas, go with Indians or Brits – It’s an option. Use these models as “standard” Indian units. If you don’t add Ayo Gorkhali! it’ll save you 4pts per model and that really opens up additional options. In the list above, I spent 152pts on Ayo Gorkhali! Sheesh. Even if you go with Mountain Experts on everyone (and you should), that’s only 1pt per model. An even more drastic option is to play as Brits instead of Indians. You could use this box as a Chindit force of British units and build it using Armies of Great Britain instead of Armies of the British Commonwealth.
• Change up the Heavy Weapons – There are a lot of choices with these Heavy Weapons sprues. Each of the two sprues comes with an MMG, a Medium, and a Heavy Mortar with a tripod and two bipods. I went with two Medium Mortars but you could swap that for two MMGs or even add additional teams to the list. Why not two MMGs and two Mortars? A quick note that the Heavy Mortar does not have the option for Ayo Gorkhali!
• Drop the Tanks – This box has 42 plastic Infantry, two plastic Heavy Weapons sprues, a plastic AT Gun, and 12 resin crew. That’s more than enough to build a 1,250pt Gurkha force. As it stands, we have 11 Infantry, 3 crew, and 1 Platoon Commander that we didn’t even use. And if you start bumping Weapons Teams from Reg to Vet you’ll have no trouble getting to 1,250 without the armor.

– Andrew

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