Déjà vu All Over Again: German Eastern Front Spotlight
By Mike Rafferty
It’s that time again, Germans are getting the spotlight in the Eastern Front compilation book. Battlefront has been consolidating their Mid-War books and personally, I liked the old North Africa and Eastern Front books, so this is a good thing. Eastern Front combines eight smaller books, with the Germans portion combining the two hardcover releases, Iron Cross and Ghost Panzers, and the Fallschirmjager Mid-War softcover release.
Much like the previous releases, Eastern Front focuses on the iconic battles around Stalingrad and Kursk. These are the most well-known battles of the eastern front of World War II and it makes sense for Battlefront to focus on them, especially considering the new starter sets are called Stalingrad and Kursk. Even with the focus on these two iconic battles, the Germans are provided with a variety of formations that should allow a German commander to recreate any historical force
Iron Cross focused on infantry formations along with the 1942-1943 panzer divisions. Think Panzer Grey or Dunklegrau vehicles instead of the later yellowish Dunklegelb vehicles you see in later 1943 and Late War. Forces include a Grenadier, Panzergrenadier, Panzer III, and Panzer IV companies. Unlike the Ghost Panzers Panzergrenadier company, this one isn’t mounted in half-tracks. The main difference between the Panzergrenadier and Grenadier companies is that the Panzergrenadiers are MG teams and max out at seven stands and can take an anti-tank rifle team. The Grenadiers max out at nine Rifle/MG stands and can add an anti-tank rifle team and two MG-34 teams. Support options are broadly the same, with the Panzergrenadiers able to take mobile AA and more anti-tank guns.
The tank formations are similar to every other German Panzer IV and Panzer III company. You can mix short and long-barreled Panzer IV platoons and include one Panzer III and Panzer II platoon. The Panzer III company lets you bring a wide variety of Panzer IIIs, along with one Panzer IV and Panzer II platoon.
The Ghost Panzers section focuses on Kursk which means Panthers and Tigers galore! The background material focuses on the Kursk operation and the battles around Prokhorovka. The Panther is an expensive tank at 18 points and with two minimum units required it’s likely that formation won’t see a lot of play at 100 points. The Tiger company is in the same boat as the Panthers, with two minimum platoons required at 29 points per Tiger. At least the HQ and two platoons can be as low as three Tigers.
The mixed Panzer company is a mix (get it) of Panzer III and IV (lates), Panthers, Tigers, and Flammpanzers. Grossdeutschland is spotlighted for the Armored Panzergrenadier company, being the same as the walking Panzergrenadier company just with half-tracks and armored support options. Finally, there is the Stug company so you can live out your Stug Life fantasies. Stugs have the option of bringing Bogward demolition carriers, which I’ve never used personally but would like to give a try. The stugs act as remote controllers for the Bogward which drive towards the enemy and explode with a strong artillery template.
The Fallschirmjager force is the new one to the books, previously coming out in a softcover bundle. Fallschirmjager platoons are large, 10 stand platoons that can add up to two MG-34 and one anti-tank rifle. Combined with fearless, this makes a strong unit for holding objectives that has a lot of firepower. I’m also happy the Fallschirm Pioneer Platoon is back as I recently painted one of those up along with my Fallschirmjager company. That camouflage is annoying and they need to get as much play as possible.
All your favorite support options are here, including the mass-produced Ferdinand seen in almost every German list. We also have the return of some Mid-War monsters including the Dicker Max, Sturer Emil, and the Panzer I F. I always had a soft spot for the Panzer I F and will have to paint some up.
I’m not a tournament player, so my perspective on this book is coming from a scenario and casual player perspective. From what I’ve seen of the Mid-War lists at Adepticon, I think players will be able to build some solid lists out of this book. I’m already debating if I should do a Kursk scenario and how many T-34s I’ll need for it (a lot). At a cigar night in the near future, I’ll decide that I need to paint a tank regiment of the 5th Guards Tank Army. Watch for that project log coming soon along with the second mortgage on my house.
My first army in Flames was an attempt to build a Panzer IV company out of the old Grossdeutschland book in first edition. Because I was a poor college student that worked during the local Flames games day, I never actually played first edition and didn’t start playing until second had been out for a while. The command cards provide a lot of the variety in formations I appreciate as a scenario gamer and will let me make (somewhat) historically accurate forces for games that I run. Personally, I love the look of a horde of grey panzers rolling over the table and I’m looking forward to getting some games in at my local game store. Now to see if Battlefront takes AMEX.
Another great walk through Mike, thank you. I can’t wait to see the 5th (Gds) Tk Army regiment encroaching Prokorovkha from the North!
Thank you, it was a lot of fun to write and run down memory lane. My group did a large Kursk game years ago and I’ve been wanting to do it again. I’ll keep everyone updated!
I own 2 Bunkerflak, 2 Dicker Max and 2 Sturer Emil from V3. Without buying models I can’t use due to unit size limit, how do I get the unit cards for them? Would they be included in the deal on the Eastern Front unit and command card pack, or do their unit cards only come with the models?
That’s actually an interesting question. Since Battlefront stopped putting unit cards in their new releases (because of the unit card packs? Maybe?), I’m not sure they will give these units an exception.
In the end, what I started doing, was to simply make a screenshot of the unit in Forces, and crop it until it had a good size.
This way, I was able to get all of my unit cards on a single A4-paper sheet. Any special rules you can look up in your manual and write on the back of the sheet.