Have no Minis... What to buy?

Hi everyone! I apologise for the generic question, but I'm looking for guidance, as I'm new to this game and WW2 wargaming in general.

I have bought the core rules and the Overlord Beyond the Beaches books. As I'm sure you know, the core rules includes army lists for the Canadian 3rd Infantry and 12th SS Panzer. Scanning through the contents of Overlord, they seem to include British and American armored and infantry lists, as well as additional German battle groups.

Can you please recommend boxed set of armies for me to purchase to start out? Obviously some German army kit, and one of the Allied forces (or two?)... Something that would give me decent flexibility to play different scenarios in the books I currently have.

I've seen some nice kits from PSC, but it's a little confusing what to get, as there are quite a bit of such nice kits!! It may be that the recommendation is to get a combo of one big box and a few individual units. I don't know... Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance, guys.

15mm or 20mm?

20mm, sorry...

Don't think starter army boxes not that common in 20mm. PSC do a few but perhaps not the best way to go imho. To start off a platoon of infantry and tanks is a good way to go. Coincidentally a box of each from PSC will provide enough to do that. From there you can add more core units and support options to suit.

Oops! You're right, NTM. The army box sets I was looking at from PSC are 15mm... I thought they were 1/72 scale. So it seems I'd have to go the route you suggested anyway. So infantry and tanks to start out, huh? Have you mixed and matched minis from different manufacturers? I've read that some might be a tad smaller or bigger than others, but I don't know if it turns out to be negligible.

PSC do a couple of 1/72 army boxes but I can't post links for another 24 hours. There is indeed variation by manufacturer but I'm not the man to ask about 20mm.

Are there any other BG players near you? If yes, you chould first check what scale they are using.


Greetings
Wolflord

Thanks, Wolflord, that's a good idea. I don't know of anyone yet, but I'll look. I bought the rules to see if I could entice a friend to join me (he currently plays Warhammer). If all else fails, I'll just choose a scale and try to bribe my sons to play once in a while.

Some Shermans, 3 a Firely, some half tracks and a platoon of infantry will get the Allies started, I'd do Canadians myself.
For Germans, some Pz IV's some Stug III's and some infantry will do for starters. As you play and read it will become clearer what you need/want but never over buy to begin with, start small.
Start with plastic figures as they pretty cheap and then maybe branch out into metal once you know what it is you want and research the best make of figure for the job.
L

Great and sound advice, Leon. Thanks a lot. Where I live, there aren't any nearby shops where I can walk in and pick some up. I've started looking online, though. Thanks again.

if you want reasonable plastic sets in 1/72, can I suggest Caesar? Plastic Soldier review shows pics of them all, and they make good sets for US and Germans (and Brits for that matter). PSC tanks and vehicles are really easy to make, and look good, or Armourfast - quickbuild is the way to start. But the joy of BG to me is that I don't have to powergame, so I can field Pz3s, or half tracks, or jeeps etc. So I have avoided the King Tiger approach so far.

Of course, if you get hooked, then Leon makes some lovely metal figures, as does AB.

But plastics are a good start. All of my Germans and Russians are soft plastic 1/72, and they fight (and die) very well on the table.

Marc

Had not heard of Caesar or Armourfast, Marc. I'm sure it's because I'm new to all of this. Thanks for the recommendation. Also, if you can suggest an online retailer in the U.S., let me know. I'll start looking myself. As far as metal figures go, I found the AB website... but what about Leon's? Thanks, for the advice!

rObOty as for online retailers in the US the two I use most are The Warstore and Noble Knight Games. They might not have everything your looking for but it's a good place to start. Both businesses sell Battlegroup books and Plastic Soldier Company products and various other miniatures from other manufacturers.

http://home.clara.net/adlermin/
Just go to the 20mm pages
L

Thanks to both for the feedback. I'll check these websites out throughout the week!