FearNaught - El Alamein

In my 'How to Waste a Day' post last week I wrote about my problems in choosing a force for the upcoming 1500pt 'Fear Naught - El Alamein' campaign weekend in June. I've now narrowed my choice down to two forces, both from the 15th Panzer Division. As the organiser likes to keep Artillery and Air Support controlled by a central command you can't have any in your lists so I've had to comply with that limitation.
The first is a 1490 pt Panzerspähkompanie (15.) Armoured Car Company comprising:

Company HQ
1 x Sd Kfz 223 (radio)

Light Panzerspäh Platoon (15.)
1 x Sd Kfz 223 (radio)
4 x Sd Kfz 222 (2cm)

Light Panzerspäh Platoon (15.)
1 x Sd Kfz 223 (radio)
4 x Sd Kfz 222 (2cm)

Heavy Panzerspäh Platoon
6 x Sd Kfz 231 (8-rad)

Anti-tank Gun Platoon
1 x Cmd SMG team
3 x 7.5cm PaK40 gun

Light Anti-aircraft Gun Platoon
3 x Sd Kfz 10/5 (2cm)

Panzer Platoon
5 x Panzer III G or H or J (early)

I've gone for this option because I like the idea of an armoured car force as it's something different from the norm. However I do have a plan (of sorts) on how I would use it.
The tactics are a variant on a medium tank swarm approach from WWPD. The aim would be to use the Light Panzerspäh platoons to either advance quickly to grab objectives or to try and flank enemy forces splitting their attention. Maybe even getting into the enemy's support units. These would be backed up by the Heavy Panzerspäh platoon to provide fire support and to exploit openings. The Pz III's would sit back with the PaK 40's to snipe long range targets flushed out by the armoured cars. Hopefully the armoured cars will be able to remove 'Gone to Ground' from some of the targets to aid the long range shooting. The Pz III's would also be able to move up to deliver a coup de gras when needed. The Pak 40's can also provide static defence near any objectives that happen to be in my deployment area.  The AA I have is in addition to that mounted on the vehicles so that should be more than enough. Plus they can also provide some anti infantry fire if no planes appear as well so that's a bonus. The only thing I don't like about the list is the lack of a 2iC now they have become much more useful, but you can't have everything.

The second list is a more standard 1475 pt Panzerkompanie (15.) Armoured Company comprising:

Company HQ
2 x Panzer III G or H or J (early)

Panzer Platoon
5 x Panzer III G or H or J (early)

Panzer Platoon
5 x Panzer III G or H or J (early)

Light Panzer Platoon
5 x Panzer II F

Rocket Launcher Battery
Cmd SMG team
Observer Rifle team
Kubelwagen
2 x 15cm NW41

Light Anti-aircraft Gun Platoon
2 x Sd Kfz 10/5 (2cm)

This is a more straightforward list with all the punch coming from the Pz III's. The Pz II's are classed as a Recon platoon so I would send them forward first to flush out ambushes and remove 'Gone to Ground' where possible. The anti-air support with this list isn't great but they can also provide some anti infantry fire if no planes appear. I'm not sure if the Nebelwerfers are classed as artillery by the organiser so I may have to drop them and go with something else, probably Pak 38's. This list is ok if a little uninspiring. It does have the benefit that the models can be reused in lots of different forces, albeit with the wrong camo.

Sadly the deciding factor in my choice will probably be cost. The armoured car force will cost twice as much as the Pz III force as I can get most of what I need for it from The Plastic Soldier Company. Of course wargamers are not noted for being rational. Who knows I may even end up buying both, plus that Italian Squadrone Esplorante Reconnaissance Squadron looked nice......

How to waste a day.

I was checking through the various blogs I read when I saw that Ben had posted about a 2-day FoW event taking place near me in June. It sounded interesting so I contacted the organiser asking for a spot. The event is FearNaught - El Alamein and obviously all forces have to be relevant to the campaign setting. And this is how I came to waste a day.
You see I don't have any North African campaign models, so off to EasyArmy I go. I'm assuming anything from the 'North Africa' book is allowed so I bought access to that on EasyArmy and started perusing. The first problem was what type of force did I want to take? A British tank force was an option because I love the look of the of the Cruiser & Crusader tanks. I found Brit tank units with Matilda's (too cheesy) & Shermans (too boring) then I saw the 8th Army Light Armoured Squadron.

8 Crusaders
3 Shermans (to longe range kill & smoke barrage)
3 Grants (to longe range kill & smoke barrage)
9 universal carrier w .50cals (to flush out ambushes etc)

Battlefront BR210 Universal Carrier

A nice force but over £130 retail. Hmmm maybe there's a cheaper option.

I'd didn't really want to take an infantry force as they don't particularly appeal to me. But I had a look around anyway and then I saw the British Commando (Tunisia) force.

Commando HQ w 2 Piats
3 Commando Platoons
3 Churchills for support

Battlefront BR072 Churchill III

Lots of nice options to change out sections for mortars, Piats or SMG's, plus Fearless Vets and cheap to buy. A definate possibility. But not sure what figures I would be able to use. Would they wear tin hats or do they have to wear berets?

But I didn't stop there. The doubt over figure availablity kept me looking. I'd had a fancy for an armoured car force for a while so I had a look at those next. The British forces were nice but again cost was a factor, lots of models so very expensive if I went that route. So I looked at German and found Panzerspähkompanie (15.)

5 Sd Kfz 223 (radio)
8 Sd Kfz 222 (2cm)
6 Sd Kfz 231 (8-rad)
3 7.5cm PaK40 gun (which I already have)
5 Panzer III

Some nice models although I'd have to fudge the 223's with 222's & build the antenna, and I'd use 234/1's for the 231's as there's not a lot of difference. All these from Forged in Battle or PSC because of the good prices so a middling cost overall and another option to consider.

But I didn't stop there I looked at various variants on various forces and that combined with finding models to suit & checking prices & totalling them up took ages. So that is how I ended up wasting a day and not doing anything that I'd planned to do. But of course it wasn't a waste as I'd enjoyed every minute of it and as I'm retired all I have is free time :-)

P.S. I still haven't made up my mind. :-)