Box Contents

The US half of the Band of Brothers Starter Set is an all plastic force containing:

• x4 US Airborne sprues (24 Infantry) – Plastic

The Pull Your Punches List

Breakdown

(x) denotes a vehicle-mounted weapons.

Notes and Analysis

The objective of this list is two part – 1) use as many of the components from the Starter Box as possible and 2) make a List that is an ‘even’ match to the German side. Please in mind, this List was written using only the content of the Starter Box.

Unlike the German side, we’ve got a lot of options to work with for the US. And honestly, this list is waaaay toned down from what we could bring. We are not using all the options (we have bodes left over) and we are not equipping our units as effectively as we could. All in an effort to keep these two Starter Set lists relatively even.

Like the Germans, we have five Order Dice to work with and we are going to use them all. This list makes use of a classic Bolt Action tactic – infantry divided into assault squads and support squads. Your assault element is the squad of eight Vets toting five SMGs and a BAR. This squad will annihilate anything your German opponent and put against them, as long and you are within 12″. And that’s the tricky part – getting close. To help them get close you have a six-man double LMG squad. The have one job – provide cover for that SMG squad. As a ‘floater’ you have another six-man squad with five rifles and one BAR. Use this squad to fill any gaps. They can either hang back with the LMGs or move forward with the SMGs. Depending on the situation, the choice is yours.

To give us a fifth Order Die and provide additional fire support, I went with a Sniper Team. You have all the components you need in the plastic US Airborne sprue to build a two-man Sniper Team and it is going to provide a ton of help against the Germans. They are brining forth a massive amount of LMGs, and if you can snipe out one or two of them it will make a huge difference. Dropping just one LMG is five fewer 36″ range shots coming at you you try to close on the enemy.

Keep your Lt moving up with the assault squad and the rifle squad. You will be taking fire and having the Lts’ Morale Bonus will help keep those squads moving for when they take some Pins.

I like the US side of this Starter Set a lot. You have tons of options for how to build your Paratrooper force and I’ve really limited this list to make it an ‘even’ game against the German side. If you are not worried about that, you can really open this list up and even more SMGs and BARs to give you even more punch.

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What’s Next?

If you want to expand your US Airborne from the BoB Starter, maybe push up to a 1,000pts List, I would recommend a few additional items:

• Get more infantry – The 24 Paratroopers you start with are great! But themed Airborne armies will always require more men. There are very few vehicle options that fit thematically and you gotta spend those points somewhere. Add more squads and make the existing squads bigger. One additional box of US Paratroopers is more than enough.
• Add HE Support – Light Howitzer and/or Mortar. Either Light or Medium Mortars will work. Depends on how mobile you want to keep the force. But the point is, you need some HE support.
• Get yourself a vehicle – I love a thematic list. But sometimes you need to make a concession or two. Pure Paratroopers is awesome but it’s also really slow. Add a QRF element like a Jeep with a Bazooka Team riding inside or a light Armored Car like a Greyhound. Both of those options stay within the theme but give you some added flexibility.
• Add an AT element – Could be a Bazooka Team or a Flamethrower or an Armored Car like a Greyhound. But you need to have an answer for armored targets. AT Grenades are terrible and a Bazooka or Flamethrower Team is often all you need to keep the enemy armor at bay.

– Andrew