Box Contents

The British & Canadian Army (1943-45) Starter Army is a mix of plastic and metal models containing:

• x6 British / Canadian Infantry sprues (36 Infantry) – Plastic
• British Army MMG team – Metal
• British Army medium mortar team – Metal
• British Army 6-pounder Medium AT Gun – Metal
• Universal Carrier (including passengers) – Plastic
• Churchill Tank Mk. III, IV, V, VI, NA 75, AVRE – Plastic

Note: With the release of Campaign: D-Day: British & Canadian Sectors, there is a full Canadian Army List available. However, in a rather strange decision, the Canadian units can only be used when running a Theater Selector from British & Canadian Sectors (p.141). Thus, we cannot provide you with a Canadian Army List for a Standard Reinforced Platoon. Instead, we must use one of the Canadian Theater Selectors.

The Stubborn Vets List

Canadian Infantry Division 1943-44 Theater Selector Special Rules

None.

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 army! Like the Australians in Campaign: New Guinea and French in Campaign: Battle of the Bulge, the Canadians have been provided with a full Army List. With these new Canadian rules and unit options in hand, I wanted to create an Army List that not only uses as much of the Starter Army as possible, but also leans into the new Canadian rules and units. Are there ‘better’ Lists to make from this box? Absolutely. But I wanted to start with something basic to get our bearings.

The Canadian National Rules include the two British artillery rules (Bombardment and Artillery Support) plus two new rules, Dogged and Hate the SS. Thus, your Canadian force still gets the free Forward Artillery Observer that all British forces get along with the option to bump Inexp. Units to Green and Reg/Vets to Stubborn for +1ptc/model (Dogged). I gotta say, that’s a pretty fantastic National Rule. The second rule, Hate the SS, will rarely come into play and a more general National Rule would have been preferred but on the whole, I can’t complain.

Although I’ve tried to use as much of the Starter Army as possible with this List, there are a few items that just didn’t fit. One item I was not able to work into the list are the Light Mortars included on the infantry sprue. It’s great that we have the option, but with a Medium Mortar included in the box, it would be a rare situation where we would take the Light instead of the Medium. I also dropped the MMG Team and Med. AT Gun – there wasn’t room for these units in this Vet list. Because we are not using all the components, the Starter Army deal does lose a bit of its shine – it’s still a fair price – and you’ll have some extra units standing by if you want to bump the list to 1250pts.

Thoughts on tactics:

At first glance this list might not look like much, but trust me, its got it where it counts. When commanding this particular force you need to realize there are 28 Stubborn Vets packed into this 9 Dice 1k force. We are breaking the common wisdom to have 1 Order Die per 100pts, with only 9 Order Dice this list will have less than the majority of your opponents. But fear not! Those 9 Order Dice include 4 Stubborn Vet Infantry squads and a Churchill AVRE. All things considered, 9 Dice is pretty damn solid when you list includes a 300pt Tank!

High level strategy is to Pin and push. Pin the enemy with your HE (Mortar and AVRE) and LMGs (Recce Carrier and Double LMG Squad) and push with your Infantry. Keep the Infantry in cover as long as possible but get those Stubborn squads onto the Objectives ASAP. Once you are there, you’ll hold. The hardest part will be getting there. You can move the Double LMG Squad up with the others or you can keep them as more back-line support.

During all of this, have the Tank Hunter Section either sitting back behind cover looking for a target or off in Outflank (depending on the table and enemy force). The key is that your Tank, one of the biggest and baddest Allied Tanks around, is not your AT asset. The Tank Hunter squad is. The AVRE must be targeting the enemy infantry with it’s outrageous HE output. You don’t need to include the Med. AT Gun as further support, the AVRE can always fill in as AT if needed.

You also have the Recce Carrier. Do not underestimate the utility you can squeeze out of this little Double LMG tracked vehicle. You can effectively Pin two targets and turn and you have Turn on the Spot giving you some extreme escape move capability. This little guy is built for baiting out enemy AT.

This list has strong AT, strong HE and a solid core of Infantry. These three aspects rarely exist in a Starter Army Box. Our final product is more straightforward and forgiving than The Green Machine and there is nothing wrong with that. I’ve led a force of dependable Vets into battle many, many times and although you will be down in the Order Dice count, you can count on this force to get the job done.

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What’s Next?

Considerations for next steps and expanding your Canadian collection:

• Get a howitzer – The AVRE brings all the HE support you can ask for, but, if you don’t want to invest in a 290pt tank, you’ll need something else to drop HE. You can never go wrong with the Light Artillery. It packs 2″ HE and (unlike other Light Arty) has the option for a Spotter. Or, go all out with a Land Mattress! We shouldn’t allow German and Soviet players to have all the fun with Multiple Launchers. If you like HE and a bit of chaos, the Land Mattress is for you.
• Add More PIATs – If you like how the Tank Hunter squad is working, why not go whole hog and add two more PIATs? They only cost 15pts a pop and now you can split fire into four different targets! Put the full nine-man squad into a Truck and watch the fireworks.
• Move into 1945 – If you want to push your force further into Late War, the Canadian Infantry Division 1945 Reinforced Platoon has some very interesting options. Especially if you want to use flamethrowers. Like, a lot of flamethrowers. It’s not often that you can bring multiple vehicle-mounted flamethrowers in a single Platoon.
• Swap the AVRE for another Tank – If you remove the 290pt Tank currently in this list it opens up a host of options. You can go with another, smaller tank in addition to an Armored Car. Or add more support teams (Sniper, Flamethrower, etc) and a whole mess of infantry.

– Andrew