Building a French fleet

[foxbat]

A friend of mine has decided to clean up the closet and part with some unpainted lead at bargain prices. I jumped on the chance and for about 40$, I became the owner of a GHQ Italian squadron made of 2 BBs (Vittorio Veneto & Andrea Doria), 1 CA (Gorizia), 2 CLs (Duca d'Aosta & Garibaldi) and 3 Soldati class DDs.
It's my habit to build matching opposing forces, so that I have everyting handy should I get the chance to introduce a new player to a rule I play. In the case of that Italian squadron, rather than opting for an obvious Royal Navy force, I've set my mind on a French fleet.
Not only because I'm French -though this undoubtedly plays a role here ;D -, but mostly because both the Regia Marina and the Royale at these times were expecting to face each other and built themselves mainly around that perceived mutual threat. It's, in my opinion, a very interesting "what if?" to wargame.

So, what French fleet, using GHQ minis only - I'm addicted I am afraid - would you build to roughly match my Italians? Thanks in advance for your input.

[shigure]

If you want to use GHQ ships then you'll probably have to go with the following:
Richelieu - BB
Dunkerque - BC
Algerie - CA
La Galissoniere - CL
Le Hardi - DD (sorry no Super Destroyers)

That's probably about as close as you can get just using the ships available from GHQ.

[foxbat]

That's a good option, thanks for the input. That's however a ship for ship match. Now, I've been going through the ship lists today, and I'm pondering another option :

Richelieu
Dunkerque
2 x Georges Leygue CLs
3 x Vauquelin DDs
2 x Fantasque DDs

Basically, swapping the Algérie for 2 Fantasques, in order to get a more torpedo oriented force. This leaves the Italians a firepower heavier by the broadside of a CA, which should somewhat compensate the slight superiority of the French BB over their Regia Marina counterparts.

[regiamarina]

Foxbat,

I think the fleet you have listed is fine. I have both Italians and French and we have played many games using these two fleets and trust me I have seen the Richilieu tear apart more than one Italian BB squadron almost single handedly.

This choice of ships basically gives you a slower more heavily armed and armoured fleet, the Italians, up against a faster, weaker armoured opponent in the French. The French guns are slightly better than the Italians too with a longer range so this should be an interesting match up rather than a standard pounding fight between two similar forces. I definitely think smoke will be a big factor in these games.

Martin

[shigure]

If you plan to use more DD's on the French side, then as regiamarina has pointed out the use of smoke will be critical for their survival. The Italian BB's carry secondary and tertiary batteries strong enough to do significant damage to a DD. The edge in torpedoes would be quickly erased. Let us know how the battle comes out when you get a chance to game it.

[foxbat]

That was my intention. It certainly will be tough for the French DDs, and smoke will certainly be used. This said, being one CA fewer will curb the superiority of the French BBs somewhat. I'll certainly post some AARs, and, beforte that, pics of my painted minis.