My brother-in-law is going to go halfs with me building an Axis collection so that he can play occassionally and I can use them as well if I want to take a break from my SSU.

We both love the fluff/concept/models for the zombies and gorillas so we plan to build a full platoon of each with the appropriate matching heroes.

Our question is what would people suggest to field with these two specialized platoons to balance them out in a 300AP list (our go to game size)?

I'd like to see people that have experience with Axis suggest an army list to go with a full zombie platoon and/or a full gorilla platoon for this point value.

Any input appreciated.

The big problem is that you can't run full gorilla platoon and full zombie platoon with the heroes that give you the full platoons and even have a 300 point list… it just is not even possible.

Markus + full platoon of 4 squads of gorillas is=120 points

Totenmeister + full platoon of 4 squads of zombies = 104 points

=224

While you might think, "great now I just add on another 76 points", you can't because

A) support units cannot be taken with gorilla or zombie platoons

B) you can only have 2 platoons at 300 points… Unless you go higher than 300 points, you can't have a third platoon.

But,

Give me 10 minutes to make you up a list that contains both Markus and Totenmeister and plenty of zombies and apes, be 300 points and still have some other units to support them.

It is why I have always said to never run character specific platoons… same goes for allies and an Action Jackson platoon… why limit yourself to wasting a platoon that allows you no support choices when you can get 3 paratroop units over 2 different platoons and have plenty of support for them while only losing a fourth paratroop unit that you get with the special Jackson platoon. The extra paratroop unit is not worth what you lose. This is even more true for axis and their special platoons as support is where axis really shine. The juice is just not worth the squeeze. Their walker are better and so losing support choices hurt them, and their snipers are better because they have access to Angela. Even their observers are better because they have cheaper walkers that have the artillery rule to make observers more worthwhile, not to mention that with the artillery mode on their granatwerfer on the Hans ( a downright bargain walker at 25 AP plus it comes in the revised core set which many people will buy for the savings alone, not to mention that it has models you can't get anywhere else).

No brainer.

I should have clarified:

I didnt mean both at once.

We want full zombies and full gorilla platoons w/ heroes so we have the option of choosing either, but would only run one or the other in any given list.

So we are looking for people to give us ideas to finish out seperate 300pt. lists for each.

We might even like an additional zombie or gorilla unit as support in any other platoon we take if possibe (I dont have book handy), the more of them the better. That being said we arent familar with the Axis and what would compliment the zombies/gorillas the best.

Keep in mind that since I plan to play SSU that is what he will be facing the most (if that helps yoou decide what to take).

I hope that clarifies things.

Aha… I see… ok, that is doable.

I will make up a sample list for each and a list that uses as many zombies and apes together with 2 heroes as well. Just gimme 10 minutes or so, unless some Speedy Gonzales beats me to it.

Ready, set, GO!

Here's a list that gives you lots of gorillas and zombies and some support in case you do want to run both:

Gorilla Platoon

Markus

+ 4 sections of gorillas

=120 AP

Blutkreuz platoon

Command: Sturmpioniere

1st: Zombies

3rd: Zombies

4th: zombies

Support: Ludwig

Ludwig

Sniper team

Platoon upgrade: Defenses to have the snipers dug in (hard cover)

OR

Improved communications: to give the Sturmpioniere a radio, a 6th model and the ability to give orders to apees anywhere on the table and to one zombie unit anywhere on the table (plus they have the failsafe order for making more zombies out of apes!)

Either platoon upgrade option is 179

Total = 299

In regards to mixing and matching two lists that have a gorilla platoon and a bunch of stuff and a separate zombie list with a bunch of stuff, what kind of units do you like? A gorilla platoon is 120 and a zombie platoon is 104 so with either list you will have considerable points to spend on other units in a 300 point list and there are tons of options available. You can even have a heavy walker in there with the points you have available after one of these platoons!

Thanks for taking the time.

Oh, the time was well spent… I actually really enjoy making lists. I was actually making a Khador list for warmachine while I was reading your post. I just pushed it aside, pulled out my warfare book and did that instead. This stuff is fun for me

If you have an idea of other axis models/ vehicles you like or units you think you want to buy or try out, let me know and I will put together a list how they could work with apes or dead things for 300 points. Because there are so many options, its easier if I have an idea of some of the units you like. The best complement for apes and/or zombies are units that have mid-range suppression capabilities to allow the apes and zombies to get close without getting torn apart on the way there and so they can hit units hard without being reacted to because the target units were suppressed by your mid-rangers ahead of time. Fortunately, axis have lots of shooty mid-range units to choose from, so who do you wanna paint?

On a quasi-related point, I would just like to note that a full gorilla platoon (4 boxes + Op. Seelowe) comes to approximately $125 USD MSRP, which is just a tad more than buying a 5-man squad of the new Ork Meganobs from GW's new 40K massive price hike series ($23 USD @). I don't know about other people, but I call that a bargain.

What models are in that new 40k massive price hike line…. oh ya, that's right, all of them!

**** straight it's a great deal, and that's including the fact that you are buying a somewhat pricey campaign box just to get one model. This is a great example for the people who don't play the boardgame and complain about having to buy a boardgame focussed campaign box just to get the hero they want.

Axis Recommendations:

Snipers

Angela (sniper hero)

Kommandotrupp (Blitzkreig special order is outstanding)

Angela plus snipers is the single most powerful combo in the game, IMO. Better than Markus and gorillas, better than red devils and Jackson, better than, well, any other combo going. They are just nasty. They are pretty weak but with hard cover get tougher and if you get first turn they can remove soo many points off the table that even if you kill them they have easily made their points back and then some… outstanding combo.