Road to Corrivarly

It is almost time for one of big UK FOW events, Corrivarly 2023 on 4 /4 Feb. This event has been a staple of the UK FOW calendar for over a decade and is hosted by Hammy at Battlefield Hobbies. The key ‘hook’ is that each table has pre-assigned mission. In FOW V3 attack and defend was dealt with in the normal tank attacks inf and mech system with a dice off if the same type, however in a world of V4 ‘stances’ a new system is in place. Each player gets 2pts for a formation with an armoured HQ, 1pt for a formation with a Mech hq (infantry stand with transport) and 0 for a infantry formation. The total is then averaged (if multiple formations). Eg a tank formation will always attack mech. If you have the same points then you dice off. This does of course run the risk that you could defend on a table with a deep reserve mission, so your armoured list needs to consider this. Luckily Corrivarly has a second aspect. You may bring 2 lists with list 2 allowing you to change up to 40ps.

With these aspects in mind I have been pondering what to take for a few weeks. As usual I have a lot of armies waiting to be played. My shortlist included

1. Brigade Panthers with Finnish T26s and SS support. A very good list packing lots of light armour, 7 Panthers, 3 PZIV/70s, AA, Nebs and Wespes. However defending will be tricky with deep reserves and also Eddie will never let me live it down 😉
2. 12 Volks (cautious vet guys) with 3 platoons, guns and 3 King Tigers are reserves. Swap is to basic version 3 x sets of AT guns on table (2 that bombard) and 3 x King Tigers.
3. Similar to above but with 3 x Romanian platoons with 3 x King Tigers .
4. Breaching group with option 1 having double Achilles and option 2 double Crocs.
5. My old faithful Brit Recce with Achilles, 17pdrs, double french resistance, Crocs and AVRE. Swap would be a list to attack inf with double Crocs, double AVRE and air (to deal with King Tigers).

The agony of choice! In the end I have fallen back to my Winter Bulge US which I haven’t actually used yet (despite all the work on 3 platoons worth of snow scenic bases!).

With a grand total of 0pts for attack purposes I will be defending a lot. That said I have a 50% chance to attack vs other pure inf lists. I have recently painted some 3inch guns so fancied trying out the outpost gun card. That ‘should’ provide some nice AT on table, combined with the 57mm guns and bazookas to allow the hellcats/shermans to ride to the rescue. ~30 odd stands of cautious infantry is rather spicy especially when they rally and pass last stand on a 2+ if my HQ is near by. That said the 5+ counter is a constant problem. That’s why I have 3 rather than 2 platoons….redundancy is key. The 2 x mortar platoons lack range but are dirt cheap and pack smoke, which is always useful when I need to move to an objective in something like counterattack or breakthrough. They are also easy removals in fighting withdrawal. My Hellcats performed great at the Warfare event last Nov, so a platoon of them seemed fitting. I also needed some mobile AT and just managed to squeeze in 5 x 76mm SHermans, although AT12 and aggressive. I would still argue they are the best value tanks in the game though.

List 2 mixes things up for a more of a anti inf focus. I lose the static AT but gain double Priests (for a whopping 4 templates and 4 smoke bombardments). Personally I think US priests are one of the best units in the game, with their Vet rating and Time on target. I also gain air support for further AT duties (threat to King Tigers). Patton will mitigate the 4+ rally for the infantry increasing it to 2+ allowing them to take punishment and keep going. With lots of smoke I hope to get them into assault pretty quickly.

Of course no plan survives contact with the enemy, but at a minimum I have a very pretty force which will hold its own. No one will look it, rub their hands and go this will be a walk in the park, and at the end of the day, that’s the best you can ask for when you are playing a game of dice.