Building a Finnish & Danish Starter Force with WWIII: Nordic Forces

Building a Finnish & Danish Starter Force with WWIII: Nordic Forces By John Lee With the launch of WW3 Nordic, I thought I would look at how a new player, or someone on a budget, could get a force on the table that would be competitive, or at least hold its own for Finnish and Danish.  For the new player, it opens the door to playing WW3 without needing to buy, assemble or paint too much and get into playing the game quicker.

There is an army deal for the Swedish forces but not for the rest of the forces in the release.   Starting with the Finnish we are lucky that they use mostly Soviet equipment and that we can get most of it from one or both Warsaw Pact Army Deals.  We will explore two options here to show how to maximise using these boxes. So, let’s look at what we get in the first excellent value army deal (T-72 Tank Battalion) that will fill out the Finnish T-72FM2 Armoured Company.  The army deal contains the following:

1 x Complete A5 Rulebook 1 x “Start Here” booklet 7 x T-72B or T-72 Tanks 5 x T-55AM2 or T-55 Tanks 2 x BRDM-2, Spandrel or SA-9 Gaskin vehicles 2 x Hind Helicopters with rare earth magnets and flight stands 2 x SU-22 aircraft with flight stands

The bonus here is that the rulebook is included in the box – so the new player makes a saving right away.  We can make use of the T-72 and T-55 tanks.  The remaining plastic sprues are of use if you are already running armies that use them (like myself).   We will look at options for 100pts.  Before jumping into the formation, looking at the force diagram has Swedish allied support options, that can be part of your force without having to field a full allied formation. 0-1 STRV 103 S-Tank Tank Platoon or STRV 104 Centurion Tank Platoon 0-1 PBV 302 Armoured Rifle Platoon 0-1 LVRBV AA Missile Platoon 0-1 HKP 9 Helicopter Platoon They also have the option to field a Swedish AJ-37 Viggen Attack Group.

Onto the T-72FM2 Armoured Company formation now, let us look at what units comprise this formation: 1 T-72FM2 Armoured Company HQ 2 T-72FM2 Armoured Platoon 0-1 T-72FM1 Armoured Platoon or T-72FM2 Armoured Platoon or T-55M Armoured Platoon 0-1 BMP-2 Jaakari Platoon or BMP-1 Jaakari Platoon or BTR-60 Jaakari Platoon 0-1 2S1 Carnation Howitzer Battery 0-1 ZSU-57-2 Anti-aircraft Platoon Let’s look at how we can maximise the formation using the army deal plus some additional boxes:

We used all the T-72s and three of the five T-55’s from the army deal.  Six units for the formation break.  Infantry support along with artillery, AA and recon.  The bonus is we can also field a platoon of S-Tanks!  This is a solid elite tank force and able to use the Soviet equipment with NATO tactics! To buy this army you need only to purchase the following for $406:

1 x TWPAB01: Warsaw Pact T-72 Starter Set $110 1 x TSBX07: 2S1 Carnation Battery $46 1 x TSBX02: BMP Company $50 1 x TSBX14: BTR-60 Platoon $50 1 x TFIBX01: T-55 Marksman Platoon $41 1 x TSWBX01: Str 103 S-Tank Platoon $30 1 x TFI702: Jaakari Platoon $27 1 x TFI703: Weapons Platoon $27 1 x WW3-08: WW3 Nordic Forces $25 TOTAL $406

Looking at the next option for the Finnish using both Warsaw Pact Army Deals, we can take a dual formation force of BMP1- Jaakari Company and T-55M Armoured Company. We have seen what is in the T-72 Tank Battalion Army Deal above, let’s now look at the second Army Deal (BMP Motor Rifle Battalion) to see what we can use out of it.  The army deal contains the following:

1 x Complete A5 Rulebook 1 x “Start Here” booklet 9 x BMP-1 or BMP-2 Armoured Fighting Vehicles 9 x Assault Rifle Teams 6 x RPG-7 anti-tank teams 5 x T-55AM2 or T-55 Tanks 2 x BRDM-2, Spandrel or SA-9 Gaskin vehicles 2 x SU-25 Frogfoot aircraft with flight stands

We can make use of all the BMPs from this Army deal, six out of seven T-72s from the first Army deal and all the T-55 tanks from both Army deals.  The remaining plastic sprues are of use if you are already running armies that use it (like myself) or for a future army. Looking at the two formations now starting with the BMP-1 Jaakari Company, let us look at what units comprise this formation: 1 BMP-1 Jaakari Company HQ 1-2 BMP-1 Jaakari Platoon 1 BMP-1 Jaakari Platoon or BMP-2 Jaakari Platoon 0-1 T-72FM1 Armoured Platoon or T-72FM2 Armoured Platoon or T-55M Armoured Platoon 0-1 95 S 58-61 Anti-tank Platoon 0-1 ITO 78 Anti-aircraft Missile Platoon 0-1 81mm Mortar Platoon 0-1 120mm Mortar Platoon

The second formation is the T-55M Armoured Company which is comprised of: 1 T-55M Armoured Company HQ 2 T-55M Armoured Platoon 0-1 T-72FM1 Armoured Platoon or T-72FM2 Armoured Platoon or T-55M Armoured Platoon 0-1 BMP-1 Jaakari Platoon or BTR-60 Jaakari Platoon 0-1 2S1 Carnation Howitzer Battery 0-1 ZSU-57-2 Anti-aircraft Platoon Combining the two army deals along with a few other boxes, this is what we could put on the table for 100pts to run this dual formation force:

Six units for the main formation break and four for the secondary formation.  Two formations make it harder also to break the force.  Lots of guns and missiles!  Has AA coverage but no recon or artillery but five platoons of tanks and a well-rounded force. To buy this army you need only to purchase the following for $417:

1 x TWPAB01: Warsaw Pact T-72 Starter Set $110 1 x TWPAB02: Warsaw Pact BMP Starter Set $110 1 x TSBX14: BTR-60 Platoon $50 1 x TFIBX01: T-55 Marksman Platoon $41 2 x TFI702: Jaakari Platoon $54 1 x TFI703: Weapons Platoon $27 1 x WW3-08: WW3 Nordic Forces $25 TOTAL $417

If we want artillery, then we look at getting another BTR-60 box and the Mortars blisters which contain both 81mm and 120mm mortar platoons for $77.  To add them to the above list, we would remove one T-55M platoon and move the T-72FM1 formation support platoon into the T-55M formation.  Both mortar platoons into the BMP-1 Jaakari formation giving two templates and adding two more units for the formation break bringing that to eight.

Finally, we round out the article with the Danes.  They have three formations to choose from including the Centurion DK Tank Squadron which is what we will look at here.  As with the rest of the nations in this release, the Danes can take West Germans allied support options in their force diagram.  They are:

0-1 Leopard 2 Panzer Zug or Leopard 1 Panzer Zug 0-1 Marder Panzergrenadier Zug or M113 Panzergrenadier Zug 0-1 Roland Flakpanzer Batterie or Gepard Flakpanzer Batterie 0-1 LARS Raketenwerfer Batterie 0-2 PAH Anti-Tank Helicopter Flight They also have the option to field either the West German Tornado Strike Flight or US Marine Corps AV-8 Harrier Attack Flight.

The Centurion DK Tank Squadron is made up of the following units: 1 Centurion DK Tank Squadron HQ 2-3 Centurion DK Tank Platoon 0-1 M113 Armoured Infantry Platoon 0-1 M113 TOW Platoon 0-1 M106 120mm Mortar Platoon 0-1 M109 SP Howitzer Platoon Looking at the formation, we can only use standard boxes, but the new Centurion box is one of the most anticipated releases! (For me at least!).  Let’s see what we can put on the table for 100pts whilst optimising what we buy:

Six units for the formation break.  We have ten Centurions supported by four Leopard 2s.  Recon to provide spearhead along with AA coverage, infantry and one template.  To buy this army you need only to purchase the following for $399:

2 x TSWBX02: Centurion Tank Platoon $100 1 x TNOBX03: Feltvogn Recon Troop $27 1 x TGBX01: Leopard 2 Panzer Zug $50 2 x TGBX07: Gepard Flakpanzer Batterie $60 2 x TGBX09: M113 Panzermorsar Zug $60 1 x TUBX24: M109 Field Artillery Battery $30 1 x TNO702: M113 Storm Troop $20 1 x TGR708: West German Fliegerfaust Gruppe $27 1 x WW3-08: WW3 Nordic Forces $25 TOTAL $399

We could change it up by removing the Leopard 2s, upgrading the M109s to M109A3, adding a full PAH flight, and a second Centurion formation (just the tanks) for an additional $116.   I also think the Centurion DK Tank Squadron is an ideal candidate as a cheap allied formation for an existing army you may already have.

There you have it – some options to ponder for getting started with one of the new Nordic nations for the best bang of your buck.  Enjoy! ~ John