I always pay +20pts and add 2 extra guys with the spotter. This is so that once he's 'fired' the artillery you then have a 3 man infantry unit that are armed with SMGs. Thats 6 shots, so near guaranteed getting a pin on an enemy unit, small enough compared to actual infantry squads to be ignored and a viable threat if you want to chuck them in to combat near the end of the game or in support of other units getting objectives. I have taken the British observer team once with rifles and as I take the rapid fire ability so that's 4 shots from them, great for going on Ambush and adding pins at range. Great vid
Howitzers are not supposed to be on the battlefield. Neither are planes or ships. If I feel I need any of these things to be represented by a model, they'll go on a shelf, counter, or another table elsewhere in the room.
I really appreciate your videos. I've been getting onto Bolt Action and having all of these smaller breakdowns really helps new guys like me wrap their head around the intricacies of individual units, while you give examples of how the unit's rules could potentially play out. Good stuff.
I play British and whenever I have spare points I always give my observer a second man. I usually fire off my artillery strike on turn 2-3, and I find having an extra small team with SMGs can be incredibly useful. For 10 points I double the damage output and survivability of a free unit. Two men with SMGs can put out lot of damage in close quarters, either with 4 point blank shots hitting on 2s or charging another small team and wiping them out with tough fighters. I'll usually stick them in the back with my howitzer/mortar/sniper as a counter punch unit to any enemy flankers or trucks that try to rush my support teams.
You sum up my thoughts perfectly- it's annoying to have your game changed by something off the board, especially if it's free and gives your opponent an initiative edge. The British rules are not fun to play against- you have to play against a free artillery observer and if it's a scenario with preparatory bombardment, they make your game miserable without even starting the game. On top of that, they get to customize their army and get upgrades for free all around. The Germans generally have to pay to benefit from Hitler's Buzzsaw or Tiger Fear. They can make the British rules fun. Chain of Command has unique British rules that tie in doctrine. Free units generally don't add flavour, they just make things unfair.
Eh, Id disagree with disliking the artillery observer and air observer being "invisible" forces youre having to fight. At platoon level, a heavy howitzer would not be firing indirect, and a plane would be over the table for barely even a second before its gone. The observers make two very real support elements feel a lot more believable than having a plane zoom around 24" a turn like 40k does. Make them be an observer, be a powerful but not entirely reliable element, just like they were historically. You call em in, and pray they show up on time and on target. I agree the arty observer isnt very well costed, but the basic idea works well in my opinion and feels like how an artillery barrage should roughly function in the game. Much better than watching a heavy artillery piece fire indirect at what is practically point blank range.
My observer must be cross-eyed because he’s definitely worth the zero points I pay for him… So many bad memories from this game, but I really want to enjoy it!
Maybe once your done your unit guides would you consider restarting your faction reviews and possibly review Romania? Finding stuff on Romania on UA-cam is next to impossible and with the new campaign book coming out that probably will include Romania I think they are a severely underrated faction and want to see your thoughts.
As a Soviet player that 2D6 pick the higher for radius has helped when dealing with my opponents. Especially because when I do take it I usually have at least one 6 when determining the radius and just shutting down a good chunk of army with pins for a couple turns
MY first game using AO was with the Brits, naturally. In the first turn only the AO and my LT passed their LD test to get onto the board, and at the beginning of turn 2 the barrage promptly scattered over and took out all 2 of the modes I had on the table. Looking forward to the medic and also the Chaplain if you do that for the US.
Great write-up as always; I think it could be worthwhile to take an extra man on the free British observer, if for no other reason than two dudes for 10pts with SMGs is a great small assault unit that can keep PIATs, bazookas, and mortar teams on their toes. But beyond that, I tend to take my observers solo because you're right: how often are you going to use those 10pts?
I’ve been searching for a video on WWII forward observers and can’t find anything. My grandfather was a forward observer for the 9th Infantry, 26th field artillery division. I’m really bummed I can’t find any content hardly at all about what their jobs were like and what they went through.
Mate! Your whinging about off table artillery points more to a lack of imagination than anything, but before I continue, thanks for the info. Now then. If you have some nice medium to heavy guns you want to put on the field, lets face it, you would be unlikely to be so close to a target with these weapons that you would see them. Which means you game them in a different way and consider the following options. Scenario 1, the guns themselves do not cost any points but you have a defensive company positioned to defend them. In lieu of the fact that you wont have any tanks or afv's you can apply a house rule and allocate 1 + D3 MMGs or simply go with four. Unless you have HMG's that you want to use, but I think MMG's would be better. The scenario then goes as enemy attack to silence the guns and at the end of each turn your surviving guns fire earning points for victory. Scenario 2 You have a game on a table with a FOO who can call in strikes from turn one, every second turn. Then the rest of it is as per the first scenario. The loss of one gun or gun crew only silences that gun and a penalty on the other board on the artillery table could apply. That is just two options for engaging artillery with their FOO. Making him a real FOO fighter. With these options you can game each scenario independently, in which case I would do the assault on the guns first keeping a record of the number of times they fired. Or you could game concurrently and bathe in the salty tears of your enemy as you destroy his fire support or successfully defend yours.
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I always pay +20pts and add 2 extra guys with the spotter. This is so that once he's 'fired' the artillery you then have a 3 man infantry unit that are armed with SMGs. Thats 6 shots, so near guaranteed getting a pin on an enemy unit, small enough compared to actual infantry squads to be ignored and a viable threat if you want to chuck them in to combat near the end of the game or in support of other units getting objectives.
I have taken the British observer team once with rifles and as I take the rapid fire ability so that's 4 shots from them, great for going on Ambush and adding pins at range.
Great vid
Worth noting the heavy howitzer hit can remove buildings from the field. More of a use for an actual heavy howitzer though.
I absolutely love your breakdowns on both bolt action and legion glad that you are back!
Howitzers are not supposed to be on the battlefield. Neither are planes or ships. If I feel I need any of these things to be represented by a model, they'll go on a shelf, counter, or another table elsewhere in the room.
I really appreciate your videos. I've been getting onto Bolt Action and having all of these smaller breakdowns really helps new guys like me wrap their head around the intricacies of individual units, while you give examples of how the unit's rules could potentially play out. Good stuff.
Glad to see you back. Love your videos!
Thank you for this One! The Video I was searching for!
I play British and whenever I have spare points I always give my observer a second man. I usually fire off my artillery strike on turn 2-3, and I find having an extra small team with SMGs can be incredibly useful. For 10 points I double the damage output and survivability of a free unit.
Two men with SMGs can put out lot of damage in close quarters, either with 4 point blank shots hitting on 2s or charging another small team and wiping them out with tough fighters. I'll usually stick them in the back with my howitzer/mortar/sniper as a counter punch unit to any enemy flankers or trucks that try to rush my support teams.
Another helpful video! thank you for the rule and strategy discussion. I look forward to more helpful tips & tricks from you
You sum up my thoughts perfectly- it's annoying to have your game changed by something off the board, especially if it's free and gives your opponent an initiative edge. The British rules are not fun to play against- you have to play against a free artillery observer and if it's a scenario with preparatory bombardment, they make your game miserable without even starting the game. On top of that, they get to customize their army and get upgrades for free all around. The Germans generally have to pay to benefit from Hitler's Buzzsaw or Tiger Fear. They can make the British rules fun. Chain of Command has unique British rules that tie in doctrine. Free units generally don't add flavour, they just make things unfair.
oh god I forgot to even mention preparatory bombardment! Really screws with attack and defend scenario balance.
Hi! Here again to request on behalf of my friends and I a vid on how to build italians :) (blackshirts, bersaglieri, alpini)
Eh, Id disagree with disliking the artillery observer and air observer being "invisible" forces youre having to fight. At platoon level, a heavy howitzer would not be firing indirect, and a plane would be over the table for barely even a second before its gone. The observers make two very real support elements feel a lot more believable than having a plane zoom around 24" a turn like 40k does. Make them be an observer, be a powerful but not entirely reliable element, just like they were historically. You call em in, and pray they show up on time and on target.
I agree the arty observer isnt very well costed, but the basic idea works well in my opinion and feels like how an artillery barrage should roughly function in the game. Much better than watching a heavy artillery piece fire indirect at what is practically point blank range.
My observer must be cross-eyed because he’s definitely worth the zero points I pay for him… So many bad memories from this game, but I really want to enjoy it!
"I have a cousin at Horse Guards, sir, and I have friends at Court."
Maybe once your done your unit guides would you consider restarting your faction reviews and possibly review Romania? Finding stuff on Romania on UA-cam is next to impossible and with the new campaign book coming out that probably will include Romania I think they are a severely underrated faction and want to see your thoughts.
Glad your back and posting missed your posts 🙂
Do a review of the different small arms. (Pistol, rifle, smg, assault rifle, auto rifle, LMG)
This has actually crossed my mind, but i want to get through the HQ units for the Unit Guide first.
As a Soviet player that 2D6 pick the higher for radius has helped when dealing with my opponents. Especially because when I do take it I usually have at least one 6 when determining the radius and just shutting down a good chunk of army with pins for a couple turns
MY first game using AO was with the Brits, naturally. In the first turn only the AO and my LT passed their LD test to get onto the board, and at the beginning of turn 2 the barrage promptly scattered over and took out all 2 of the modes I had on the table.
Looking forward to the medic and also the Chaplain if you do that for the US.
Yooo my boy back
Lol well can’t wait for the air observer video
Great write-up as always; I think it could be worthwhile to take an extra man on the free British observer, if for no other reason than two dudes for 10pts with SMGs is a great small assault unit that can keep PIATs, bazookas, and mortar teams on their toes. But beyond that, I tend to take my observers solo because you're right: how often are you going to use those 10pts?
great video
I’ve been searching for a video on WWII forward observers and can’t find anything. My grandfather was a forward observer for the 9th Infantry, 26th field artillery division. I’m really bummed I can’t find any content hardly at all about what their jobs were like and what they went through.
A top 5 best and worst looking tanks would be great
*Bob Semple has entered the Chat*
@@HollywoodWargaming best or worst? 😏🤨
would love to see a unit guide for australians or review of the new italian sets.
Where is the Chinese faction video?
Mate! Your whinging about off table artillery points more to a lack of imagination than anything, but before I continue, thanks for the info. Now then. If you have some nice medium to heavy guns you want to put on the field, lets face it, you would be unlikely to be so close to a target with these weapons that you would see them. Which means you game them in a different way and consider the following options.
Scenario 1, the guns themselves do not cost any points but you have a defensive company positioned to defend them. In lieu of the fact that you wont have any tanks or afv's you can apply a house rule and allocate 1 + D3 MMGs or simply go with four. Unless you have HMG's that you want to use, but I think MMG's would be better. The scenario then goes as enemy attack to silence the guns and at the end of each turn your surviving guns fire earning points for victory.
Scenario 2 You have a game on a table with a FOO who can call in strikes from turn one, every second turn. Then the rest of it is as per the first scenario. The loss of one gun or gun crew only silences that gun and a penalty on the other board on the artillery table could apply.
That is just two options for engaging artillery with their FOO. Making him a real FOO fighter. With these options you can game each scenario independently, in which case I would do the assault on the guns first keeping a record of the number of times they fired. Or you could game concurrently and bathe in the salty tears of your enemy as you destroy his fire support or successfully defend yours.