Achtung! Panzer! FOW Bagration: German Tanks on the Eastern Front

By Preston Jacob

“What difference does it make for me if you have two tanks to my one? You send them out and let me smash them in detail!” – Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.

The Eastern front Germans finally make their introduction into Flames of War late war with the new Bagration: German book. There’s a lot to be excited about for any German player, no matter what kind of army you enjoy playing.

I am most excited about the new tanks being brought into late war for the Wehrmacht. I will evaluate all the new tanks in this book as there are a bunch to go over. I will preface that I will not go over tanks that have already been released such as the StuG, Panzer IV, Tiger and Panther but rather the new tanks making their first appearance in late war.

Hetzers!

It’s the small tank everyone loves, and as the saying goes; “Hetzers gonna Hetz!” That’s right friends, the Hetzer is here for your battles on the eastern front. This tiny little tank destroyer will give even the mighty T-34 headaches.

With front armor 7, side armor 3, and top 1, along with being hit on a 4+ these tanks have a very good chance of surviving most allied guns. Being rated as confident trained, they have decent motivation and decent training. You’ll be able to blitz and shoot and scoot on average half the time which should be enough to hold off the Soviet tank horde.

They maintain the “Third Reich” rule of having a last stand of a 3+, they’ll stick around more often than not if testing. The only motivation areas they lack in is their counterattack and assault ratings are both a 5+. Even though these tanks are small their cross check is a 5+ when crossing difficult terrain since they are technically overloaded.

They have the same gun as a StuG and Panzer IV having an anti-tank rating of 11 with a 3+ firepower and a 32-inch range, you’ll outrange most Soviet tanks and guns, though they do have the overworked rule meaning you’ll be hitting at a +1 if the vehicle moves.

Panzer IV/70

This book is filled with tank hunters and one of my favorites is back in the game; the Panzer IV/70. The flat top panzer is back and ready to make an impact. The appeal to this tank back in V3 was that it had “front armor of a Tiger and gun of a Panther”.

Well it still retains the same armor and gun stats as it had in V3. With front armor 9, side armor 4 and top armor 1 this will be a tough hull to crack, especially with it being hit on a 4+. Its anti-tank 14 gun with a 3+ firepower and 40-inch range is the same ratings as the Panther and Tiger’s gun, so this is a mighty little jagdpanzer that will knock out even the thickest of allied armor.

Being rated at Confident Veteran, it has good motivation and the best training, so you’ll be able to blitz and shoot and scoot out of the way more often than not so you’ll be able to play cat and mouse with enemy tanks which is what this tank hunter does best. It, unfortunately, has the same issue the Hetzer has with a 5+ cross check and a 5+ counter attack but it assaults slightly better than the Hetzer with a 4+ assault rating and like most German units has the Third Reich 3+ last stand.

Elefant

After its powerful but limited performance at the Battle of Kursk, the Ferdinand was sent back to production for an upgrade, and now makes its introduction into late war as the Elefant tank destroyer. The most powerful and heaviest armored tank the German war machine has produced will halt the Bolshevik hordes in their tracks.

Its stats remain the same as it’s predecessor with front armor 16 so it’s indestructible from the front, and has side armor 7 with top armor , this tank is going to cause trouble for the allies. Its gun is impressive with a 48-inch range and anti-tank 17, only the Late Churchill, IS-2 and IS-85 even have a chance of surviving against the Elefant.

During its refitting the Elefant was given something the Ferdinand hadn’t; a machine gun. Now it will be able to competently defend itself against infantry during assaults. Being rated as confident veteran rounds out an already impressive unit. Like most jagdpanzers it suffers in counter assaults only coming back on a 5+ but it’s not horrible as its assaulting on a 4+ and with a 3+ cross check it’s the best of any of the new tank hunters in this book.

Panzerwerfer 42

This next unit technically isn’t a tank but is listed as a tank unit in the book. I feel this unit needs some attention. This is the Panzerwerfer 42 rocket launcher. The Wehrmacht put a rocket launcher on the back of an armored half-track. This little vehicle packs a punch. Essentially giving a nebelwerfer battery an armor save and mobility, this unit adds a lot of versatility to your army. It can be taken in units of two or four, I don’t see any reason to take less than four. The rockets are the same as the nebelwerfer having a salvo template rated at anti-tank 2 with a 4+ firepower and being rated at confident veteran and hit on a 4+, this will be an extremely effective artillery unit to your army.

Ostwind and Wirbelwind

The last two tank units I’ll cover at once since they’re both very similar. The anti-aircraft panzers help protect your other armored vehicles from pesky allied planes and these are two of the best. The Ostwind is an improvement over the previous Mobelwagon since it has better armor with the same gun. Having a front armor 4, side armor 3, and top armor 0 it’s the heaviest armored anti-air panzer.

It retains the 3.7 cm flak gun from the Mobelwagon with a rate of fire 3 stationary and rate of fire 2 moving, anti tank 7 with a 4+ firepower its a decent gun to take on both planes and lightly armored vehicles. At confident veteran and being hit on a 4+.

The next anti-air tank is my favorite of all time; the Wirbelwind.

This flak panzer boasts the highest rate of fire 5 stationary and 3 moving, anti-tank 5 with a 5+ firepower it pumps out a lot of shots. This flak panzer is not only great against aircraft, but will chew up enemy infantry out in the open.

Having front armor 3, side armor 2, and top armor 0 it’s not as heavily armed as the Ostwind but what it lacks in armor it makes up for in pure rate of fire. Both are rated as confident veteran and hit on a 4+ so keep them out of sight of enemy tanks and they will help protect your panzers from enemy aircraft.

There is so much to look forward to in this new book and with the number of new tanks we get to add to bolster our defenses on the Eastern front, this will surely swing the war in favor of the Wehrmacht. The mighty panzer corps, helped by these fresh reinforcements will surely crack the Bolshevik swarm and push the Soviets back to the Volga once more!