Building forces.

Here’s an excellent resource:

http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=23386.0

@The11HP20:

That’s a huge help. Thanx a ton. Now I can watch my beautiful hordes grow.

My pleasure.  And don’t worry about the OCD thing: obsessing over sculpts is hardly unusual on this board.  We have quite a few “piece junkies” around here, myself included.

@The11HP20:

I guess this is where things get complicated. These are the types of units I want in each force. How many of each should I have to ensure I never run out no mater what I’m playing. Obviously I have some house rules in mind.

Interesting question.  The answer (at least as I see it) would depend on what you mean by not running out of the types of units you want to use.  Part of the solution no doubt involves throwing sheer numbers at the problem: buying multiple copies of the games that contain the units you like.  That’s my own standard operating procedure; in fact, the only games of which I don’t have multiple copies are the Milton Bradley one and the D-Day / Bulge / Guadalcanal trio of operational-level games.

However, that may only solve part of the problem you describe because larger numbers don’t in themselves translate into greater unit type diversity.  No matter how many copies you buy of A&A 1941, for example, you’ll still only end up with two heavy tank designs (the Tiger and the IS-2) in a total of only two colours on the Axis side and three colours on the Allied side.  Painting pieces is one way to diversify the colour range, of course, but not everyone is inclined to use that approach.  In my case, for instance, I never paint my units; I much prefer trying to figure out what kind of national sculpt sets I can build using only the colours which come out of the box.  And anyway, all the paint in the world won’t transform a Sherman into a Pershing, at least in terms of shape.

Just to toss in another complication which I’ve run into myself: note that the out-of-the box sculpts don’t provide every player nation with units of the same type even when they ostensibly serve the same function.  The Global 1940 mechanized infantry unit, for example, is a half-track for most but not all nations: the one for Italy is a truck, and the ones for Britain and ANZAC are armoured personnel carriers.  The tac bombers are even more diverse: they include land-based and carrier-based planes, dive bombers and torpedo bombers and ground-attack aircraft and multi-mission planes like the Mosquito.  So depending on how finely you want to divide the sculpt types, you may end up with gaps in some of your national line-ups.  The best way to fill those gaps, if you’re okay with not limiting yourself to official A&A sculpts, is to supplement your pieces with extra units purchased from Historical Board Gaming (HBG), whose available range keeps getting larger in terms of both colour and unit types.

@The11HP20:

I have looked into HBG and FMG pieces along with other routes. In fact I have some American HBG stuff on the way from ebay. I ordered a runner each of land and sea units from Attack! in red. They closely match the red Japanes pieces I have even if they aren’t all that great. I’m fine with the infantry and artillery though. I plan on doing the same thing for my French land forces. I see no point getting too excited about acurracy when I look at my French equipment from Stalin. It’s a cheap way to get multiple types of infantry, and artillery. The same goes for other unit types if you don’t mind the appearance.

I agree that the artillery pieces from Attack! look fairly decent alongside A&A sculpts.  I was never too fond of the game’s infantry sculpts, which look a bit crude and wear rather baggy uniforms.  I prefer the standard infantry pieces from another Eagle Games product, War: Age of Imperialism (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/859745/war-age-of-imperialism?size=medium).  Like most of the game’s other pieces, it comes in the basic game colours and in an expanded range of extra colours that can be purchased separately.  The level of detail is a bit better than in Attack! in my opinion, and I think that the Victorian design of the sculpts suits them nicely for use as WWII colonial troops.

@The11HP20:

I guess this is where things get complicated. These are the types of units I want in each force. How many of each should I have to ensure I never run out no mater what I’m playing. Obviously I have some house rules in mind.

Light inf
Heavy inf
Mech inf
Light arty
Heavy arty
(Possibly) sp arty
Armored cars or light tanks
Med tanks
Heavy tanks
Fighters
Tac bombers
Bombers
Transports
Subs
Destroyers
Cruisers
Battleships
Carriers

Many of these items are available from HBG although you’re going to be playing the waiting game for a bit for every nation to have a full range of sculpts.