Box Contents
The US Army (Winter) Starter Army is a mix of plastic and metal models containing:
- x6 US Army Infantry (Winter) sprues (36 Infantry) – Plastic
- US Army (Winter) Officer – Metal
- US Army (Winter) NCO – Metal
- US Army (Winter) Medic – Metal
- US Army (Winter) Radio Operator – Metal
- x2 US Army (Winter) Medium Machine Gun Teams – Metal
- US Army (Winter) Medium Mortar Team – Metal
- US Army (Winter) 105mm M2A1 Howitzer – Metal
- Sherman M4A3E8 ‘Easy Eight’ Medium Tank – Plastic
- M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer – Plastic
The Fire & Maneuver List
| Rifle Platoon | |
| Platoon Commander (SMG) – Reg – 30 | 30pts |
| Infantry Squad – Reg – 8 men – 80 x2 BAR – 12 | 92pts |
| Infantry Squad – Reg – 8 men – 80 x2 BAR – 12 | 92pts |
| Infantry Squad – Vet – 6 men – 78 x1 NCO SMG – 4 x3 SMGs – 12 | 94pts |
| Infantry Squad – Vet – 6 men – 78 x1 NCO SMG – 4 x3 SMGs – 12 | 94pts |
| Bazooka Team – Reg – 60 | 60pts |
| Sniper Team – Reg – 52 Spotter SMG – 3 Infiltrator | 55pts |
| Medic – Reg – 23 | 23 |
| Heavy Weapons Platoon | |
| Platoon Commander (Rifle) – Reg – 30 | 30pts |
| Mortar Team – Reg – 35 Upgrade to Med. Mortar – 10 Spotter – 10 | 55pts |
| Machine Gun Team – Reg – 50 | 50pts |
| Machine Gun Team – Reg – 50 | 50pts |
| Artillery Platoon | |
| Platoon Commander (Rifle) – Reg – 30 | 30pts |
| Howitzer – Reg – 45 Upgrade to Med. Howitzer – 40 | 85pts |
| Armored Platoon | |
| Sherman Medium Tank (Sherman 76mm) – Reg – 210 Armor 9 Replace all weapons with 1 gyro-stabilized Heavy Anti-tank Gun with co-axil MMG and 1 forward-facing hull-mounted MMG, losing the Improved HE special rule for +15pts Command Vehicle – 10 | 225pts |
| Turreted Tank Destroyer (M18 Hellcat) – Reg – 160 Armor 7 Turret-mounted Heavy Anti-tank Gun Decrease the Damage Value to 7+ for -20pts Pintle-mounted HMG – 25 Recce – 10 | 175pts |
| Total – 16 Order Dice | 1,250pts |
Breakdown
- Rifle – 18
- SMG – 9
- BAR – 4
- Bazooka – 1
- Sniper – 1
- MMG – 2 (1)
- HMG – (1)
- Medium Mortar – 1
- Medium Howitzer Gun- 1
- Heavy AT Gun – 2
(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.
Following the release of the US Army (Winter) Platoon is the US Army (Winter) Starter Army and I must say, this is one the best Third Edition Starter Army options available from Warlord. There are just so many great options packed into this box. Much of that is due to the excellent US Army (Winter) Infantry sprue. We are going to try and make the most of these options. Our Army List is four Platoons (Rifle, Heavy Weapons, Artillery, and Armored) with 16 Order Dice at 1,250pts. With four squads of US Infantry (two Reg, two Vet) backed by significant Weapons Team support and two Heavy AT Gun-packing Tanks this list is ready to take on any opponent. Let’s dive in!
The core of this list is the infantry. We may only have four squads, but those two Vet Squads have four SMGs each and the Reg Squads have two BARs each. This is serious concentrated firepower in just a handful of squads. The numbers are on the lower side, just eight Regs and six Vets per squad so you will need to keep the covered on the advance as you close within SMG range. But that’s were all our support comes in. We have a Sniper, Bazooka, two MMGs, a Med. Mortar, a SMG Platoon Commander, and a Medic all with one job to do – keep the infantry moving. As your four squads push across the table keep the Medic and SMG Platoon Commander both with 12″ of at least two of the squads. Medics are incredible in Third Edition (Cover Save plus Medic Save is unreal) and the +2 Morale from the Platoon Commander cannot be understated. Those two units supporting your advance should be enough to get your troops into position.
Farther back the full might of the Heavy Weapons Platoon, Sniper and Bazooka will provide the long-range cover. The MMG Teams are not to be underestimated. Six shots each at 36″ range that are usually hitting on 4s. These two units can focus Pins on any units that dare slow your advance. The Mortar and Spotter should target enemy static units and anything in cover that needs to be eliminated. Remember that Indirect HE ignores Cover Saves and that makes a huge difference – especially against a Vet unit. Make full use of Infiltrator with your Sniper Team. The SMG on the Spotter can be used to keep enemy Infiltrators at bay. Snipers are having a moment in Third Edition and can make a huge impact on the table by taking out a Platoon Commander or Support Weapon Team Leader. One thing to consider, if you like the Sniper, is to drop an SMG from one of the Vet Squads and add it to the Sniper. That will give you a double-SMG Infiltrator and will be deadly for anyone getting within 12″.
Now onto the Anti-tank. We have one dedicated AT unit – the Bazooka Team and one duel-purpose AT unit – the Medium Howitzer. The Bazooka is our mobile AT, the Howitzer is our static AT. Depending on the table and the mission the Bazooka can roll up the table with your Squads or you can keep it back in Reserve/Outflank. Bazookas benefit from a couple nice buffs in Third – they do not suffer the -1 Pen for firing at Long Range and also count as a 2″ HE when fired at a building. With HE ignoring Cover Saves when fired at buildings you have a great additional tool to clear out enemy units trying to hunker down. The Med. Howitzer may only be a +3 Pen but you can stack those Pins onto enemy vehicles with ease.
We round out the list with two Tanks in an Armored Platoon. Our Command Vehicle is the venerable Sherman 76mm. I figured it’s a good call to get the non-Open-topped tank the Command Vehicle rule! This Sherman is the “up-gunned” version with a Heavy AT Gun and a pintle MMG added on. I would have loved to spend the extra 10pts to upgrade the MMG to an HMG but I didn’t want to take away from the already thin Infantry Squads. HMGs are absolutely fantastic in Third and it’s certainly worth considering the upgrade. Supporting the Sherman is a Hellcat. This fast little Tank Destroyer is a glass cannon that can bring down the heaviest of enemy armor but really cannot take a hit. Good thing it has Recce! Use the Hellcat to bait out enemy armor, then use the Escape Move to get out of harms way and open up a lane of fire for the Sherman or your Med. AT Gun. With those three units working together you’ll be able to handle any enemy AFVs.
As with all our Starter Army Box Breakdowns there are many other ways to build your Army List. I’d like to take a stab at a double Rifle Platoon using this box and bring two Snipers and two Bazooka Teams. But that will be for another time. For now, this assault-forward list will do just fine.
What’s Next?
Thoughts and musings on where to go from here:
- Swap out the Sherman – I like the Sherman 76mm. Heavy AT Guns should be feared. But it’s one expensive piece of equipment. That 240pts could be spend on a lighter vehicle and then the extra points used to bulk out the Infantry Squads.
- Light Mortars – The list is begging for some Light Mortars. We want to keep our assault-forward list on the move and Light Mortars are just perfect for putting pressure onto the enemy lines as your infantry makes the push. Get two of them. Immediately.
- Transports – Keeping with our assault theme we really could use a Transport or two. Even just a pair of basic Trucks with MMGs will get the job done. Drop the Artillery Platoon, add some speed!
– Andrew
Return to the Starter Army Box Breakdowns.
Chicago Dice 
hhanks for writing this article, I have been enjoying theory-crafting lists as I prepare my dudes for 3rd edition.
One thing I noticed though – the 105mm M2A1 gun is not an Anti-Tank gun right? It’s supposed to be a US Howitzer. I know the warlord games website states in the US Starter Box that it’s an AT gun (I had to check) – but the real thing is a howitzer artillery piece (even in it’s own product page Warlord Games says it’s a Howitzer, derp someone messed up editing the starter box). I think most people wouldn’t mind if you proxied the model as a AT-Gun, but it can be confusing to some people.
The other thing I’m considering based from this list is to drop the 76mm upgrade but turn the Sherman into a Veteran – that will give you immunity from pins from incidental fire, as well as allow use of the Gyro-stabilized 75mm gun. I figure with the infantry-manned AT gun and the bazooka team in support, a regular 75mm sherman could still do some work vs. armor while still having the upgraded HE shell for use against infantry.
LikeLike
Hey James! Thank you for reading 🙂
Good shout on the AT Gun v Howitzer. I think you are correct – the product listing shows a Howitzer model and the 105mm M2A1 *is* a Howitzer. I bet it was a mix-up listing it as a “105mm M2A1 Anti-Tank Gun” when it should have said “105mm M2A1 Howitzer”. I’ll have to update the army list!
I’d say the swap to a Vet. Sherman 75mm is a solid move. You’ll need to snag a Sherman 75mm model but those are a dime a dozen!
LikeLike
great article!
given i today, after a game with my Tiger 1 list, decided to spontaneously get the US winter starter army, this gave me a perfect idea how to get started with them.
Alltought it brought up one question,
where do i find the rules about the bazooka beeing 2″ HE and getting +1 PEN for point blank?
the App states, that shaped charges never suffer the -1 for long range nor the +1 for PB.
the wording “nor” makes it seem to me, that shaped charges can not get the +1
LikeLike
Thank you for reading! Let’s take a look:
The rules for the 2″ HE when firing at a Building are found in “Shaped Charge Weapons Against Buildings” rules. These rules are, bizarrely, a part of the Building Rules section.
You are correct about them not getting the +1 Pen for Point-blank, that is my mistake! I’ve updated the Breakdown to reflect this – good catch!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah ok, in the building rules! Thank you!
it’s interesting that those are in the rules, but no mention at all within the App, maybe warlord adds them at least to the rules in the exportable PDF, i mean, it can be kinda important
LikeLike
Agreed. It’s pretty strange that those rules are not included in the Shaped Charge rules, only under the Building rules!
LikeLike