Bagration German: Win on the tabletop, but still lose the war

By Tom Gall

The Flames of War Late War series continues with the latest book Bagration German. This is force is the mirror to the . Battlefront has slated the book, command cards, unit cards are more for a January release. Already if you look at the Battlefront site, you’ll see a .

Will this book make up for the Russian advances contained in the Bagration Soviet book? Is there a new meta ahead?  Will Hetzers Hetz? What surprises await? Let’s dive and see what Bagration German offers for you!

The Book

Simple stats, the book is 105 pages, covering the history of Operation Bagration, German special rules, German vehicle guide, 11 new company lists to choose from, more support units for you to field, a short painting guide, basing guide, terrain wrap up, city fighting rules, a linked campaign with new thematic missions and finally a catalog of German hardware.

The Lists

As mentioned there are 11 lists added into your German arsenal for Late War with this book. They are:

1. Grenadier Company
2. Storm Grenadier Company
3. StuG Assault Gun Battery
4. Hetzer Tank-hunter Company
5. Tiger Tank Company
6. Panther Tank Company
7. Panzer IV Tank Company
8. Panzer IV/70 Tank Company
9. Armoured Panzergrenadier Company
10. Panzergrenadier Company
11. Reconnaissance Company

All of these lists are modeling German forces from the summer of 1944 into winter 1944 as the German army was being pressed back across the Eastern Front. German tactics and organizations evolved during this time and those doctrines are reflected in the design of these lists.

The German force diagram that all the lists fit into doesn’t contain any surprises. The supporting units, the formation support is all as you would expect. We’ll cover the new support unit options just a bit later.

Let’s look at some company lists in detail starting with the Grenadier Company. A bog-standard unit, and the bread and butter of the German army the Grenadier Company is now added to LW. It was not in either of the D-Day books for Germany. The unit is characterized by Careful, Veteran, Confident infantry. You’ll have choices between 8cm or 12cm Mortars, 5cm or 7.5cm Tank-hunters, 15cm Guns, all in all reflecting a Late War force.

Of note is the Grenadier Scout Platoon which is a reconnaissance unit. This integrates into the formation of the ability to perform spearhead movement without turning to a support option. The Scouts are armed with your choice of K98 Rifles or MP40SMPs. The SMG option is interesting as a spearhead unit they’ll be starting out closer to the enemy. If you play them aggressively and close for an assault, they, unfortunately, have the Scout Assault 4+ skill rating, which isn’t terrible, however, and it’s a big one, they are a 6 counterattack. Most likely this is a unit you’d want to use for spearheading when able but then use defensively.

In the case of the Grenadier HQ and Platoons, panzerfausts are builtin. They are limited 1, but regardless Faust you very much, they will. Panzerschrecks are a 2 point add and you’re able to have up to two. The largest platoon is thus seven stands of MG42 teams plus two panzerschrek teams, plus up to two sMG42 HMG teams for a total of 11 teams.

The new variation on Grenadiers is the Storm Grenadier Company. It packs more punch having the ability to field more platoons of base units. You don’t need to choose between 8cm or 12 cm mortars, you can field both! While it can’t field the 5cm tank-hunters you can field up to two platoons of 7.5cm tank-hunters in this formation. That’s a lot of PaK40 yummy.

Like the Grenadier Company, it also has a Grenadier Scout platoon for a Spearhead capability. The core of what makes a Storm Company a Storm Company is the Storm Grenadier platoon. Armed with MG42 RoF 3 halted and 2 moving with a 16″ range. Like the Grenadiers they are Careful, Confident, and Veteran. Also, like the Grenadiers Panzerfausts are built-in with the same option add up to 2 sMG42s and 2 Panzerschrecks teams. Plenty of firepower for putting a little brrrrrrt into your game.

What about the difference in price between a Storm Genaradier Platoon and a normal Grenadier Platoon?  They both have a choice of either five or seven teams. The Storm Grenadier Platoon is 8 points for five teams and Grenadier platoon is 7 points for the same number of teams. For the seven team option it is a difference of 2 points, going from 9 points for the Grenadiers to 11 points for the Storm Grenadiers. One or Two points for more firepower isn’t a bad deal for the infantry platoon, especially when you consider that either option has 16″ of range.

Let’s turn to the StuG Assault Gun Battery next. StuG platoons are still organized in groups of 3 7.5s or 2 7.5s and 1 StuH with its 10.5cm gun. StuGs are just a bit more than 5 points apiece. This formation picks up the capability for an escort platoon. An escort platoon is either 7 or 10 teams of StG44 armed rifles who have the tank escorts capability.

Tank escorts as the name sounds ride on tanks, are able to fire while mounted, and can dismount to charge into contact. Given their 2+ assault rating, they’ll surely have the ability to get some serious work done in assault. You do have to field a StuG Assault Gun batter to have access to them, however. The minimum number of points you’d need to invest would be 6 points for the HQ, 16pts times two for the two StuGs plus one StuH option for a total of 38 points without the cost of the escort platoon at either 9 or 13 points. This could be an interesting late-game reinforcement option.

The next new company is the Hetzer Tank-Hunter Company. Hetzers are 4 points each, which is mighty cheap for a 7 frontal 11 AT tank. Taking a closer look tho there are few reasons for why these are so, as you would say in German billig.

They are rated Confident, Trained, Careful with an SP Gun Assault rating of 5. Last stand is a 3, so while their frontal armor of 7 might be a bit less than what you’d like, they’re not easily run away. The next bit of bad news is a 5+ cross check.

Is that is major issue? If these are an ambush unit, you might be plopping them into position and not worry about moving. They are also rated overworked, (+1 when firing after you’ve moved) which reinforces the idea the the idea of tactically place them, and try not to move them. Since the formation is only Hetzers, this is likely a good candidate as a secondary formation that complements something else. Another downside to the unit is the vehicle machine gun is only a rate of fire two! It was a as it was remotely controlled from inside the tank.

As a formation, you could max out at 14 Hetzers. That’s plenty of Hetz to Hetz. If this is a support platoon, 4 Hetzers are 16 points, that could be just the thing you’re looking for.

The Tiger Company is very straight forward with your choice of Tigers, Tigers and more Tigers for the same price of 12 points each as found in other LW books. They are Confident, Careful, Veterans with a remount of 2 and last stand of 2. Tiger tough as you know them. The formation adds once feature which is new across most of the armor formations in Bagration German an AA platoon choice between the Wirbelwind, Möbelwagen Ostwind and SD KFZ 7/1 Quad. All interesting choices that we’ll example in the “New” hardware section below.

Let’s move on to the Panther Company, while we’ve seen Panthers before in other LW German books, this formation of Panthers is quite exciting and one that I think we’ll see quite a lot of on the tabletop. You’ll notice that the second required platoon is a choice between Panthers, Panzer VIs, Panzer IV/70s, Tigers, or Armoured Panzergrenadiers!

Also, there is the addition of the AA platoon with the same choices as the Tiger company before. Stats and point costs are the same as other LW German books at 11 points each, and a Confident, Careful, Veteran, giving you lower-cost options between tanks and armored infantry reflects more of a kamppfgruppe type force as the need for German forces to firefight and plug holes as the retreat back to German in 1944 was occurring.

The Panzer IV Company offers much the same design as the Panther Company, with the second required platoon giving you exactly the same set of choices. From a force perspective, you’ll have to ask yourself, do you want lots of Panthers with a single platoon of something else or do you want to have lots of Panzer IVs with a single platoon of something else? Again the AA options are the same as the Tiger and Panther Companies. Otherwise, we’ve seen and know the Panzer IV from previous books. Three are 16 points, five are 28 points.

The Panzer IV/70 Company is a new and exciting formation for your German repertoire. While the formation follows the same model as the Tiger, Panther, and Panzer IV companies where the second platoon is a choice between more Panzer IV/70s, Panthers, Tigers, or an Armoured Panzergrenadier Platoon, the Company features what I think is soon going to be a new often fielded unit the Panzer IV/70.

Feast your eyes on those stats, 9 frontal, rated Confident, Careful Veterans with a last stand of 3, what is not to like? Hold that thought. Next gaze upon that gun, an AT14 weapon with a 40″ range, ooo, that’s going to leave a mark. Good movement speeds, this is the kind of German improvement in weapons you’re looking for. Now ok, you probably noticed that 5+ cross check. I did too. Let’s remember that historically these were weapons used on the defense, with the idea to fire and retire. Without a turret, they weren’t well suited to react to enemy movements or in city fighting.

The stats speak for themselves and for 9 points, they offer something a bit cheaper than Tiger or a Panther with some great long-range fighting capabilities. Will you be picking some up? I sure will!

Next is the Armoured Panzergrenadier Company. This is another list that has evolved for LW reflecting the evolution in German tactics. The core of the unit is the Panzergrenadiers mounted in Sd Kfz 251 halftracks. Like the Grenadiers, they now have panzerfausts built into the unit, rated limited 1. Unlike the Grenadiers they are limited to one optional Panzerschreck team.

The formation is otherwise fairly similar to the same formation in D-Day German. Costs are roughly the same with a 2 pt increase per unit which of course is due to the included panzerfausts.  There is one major exception. The optional 3rd infantry platoon now offers a selection of Panthers, Panzer IVs, StuGs, or Panzer IV/70s. Giving you access to a tank platoon as part of the core unit instead of support is a great change that lowers the chances of having your core formation broken. This could be a very compelling list to consider.

The Panzergrenadier Company is likewise similar to the formation found in the D-Day German book by the same name. The changes are much the same as what was just noted in the Armoured Panzergrenadier Company. Integrated panzerfausts, bump up in price by 2 points. The 3rd optional infantry platoon is expanded to be a change between more panzergrenadiers, Panthers, Panzer IVs, StuGs or Panzer IV/70s. The panzergrenadier platoon does have one major change as compared to the D-Day book and that is you may only add up to 1 Panzerschreck team, where, in the D-Day book the exact same platoon can add up to 3 Panzerschreck teams. Given the difference in Company capabilities, you’ll have to ask yourself, do you want access to more Panzerschrecks or a platoon of tanks within your core formation? I’m taking the tanks in my core formation.

The last new company is the Reconnaissance Company. The company is fairly close to what is found in the D-Day German book but with a couple of modifications. The 221/222 as well as 231 options were added under the Puma platoon. Unlike the other infantry companies in this book, panzerfausts are optional for this unit and thus the platoon costs are the same as what is in the D-Day German book.

“New” AA Hardware

We’ve covered the Panzer IV/70 and the Hetzer already, let’s jump into the new AA. Players from prior versions of Flames of War certainly remember the Wirbelwind, Ostwind and Möbelwagen. They are all back in v4 and give you a range of AA options to counter the increasing air superiority that the Allies enjoyed during the end of the war.

The Wirbelwind is a quad 2cm AA gun mounted on a Panzer IV body. You get the benefit of armor production with a high rate of fire. While it might only have a 20″ range, given that it is mobile it’s ability to keep up with your units as they move is a huge benefit. The platoon size varies from two for 4 points up to four for 9 points. In a pinch, with a RoF of 5, that can certainly defend against incoming infantry for a late-game desperate situation. Against aircraft, the 5+ firepower perhaps isn’t the greatest but you’ll make up in RoF, right?

Next is the Möbelwagen, with the armament upped to a 3.7 you get a nice uplift in AT. Not much of a boost in range but again you’re mobile so keeping up with your unit as they’re moving isn’t an issue. The rate of fire drops, it is but one gun after all, yet the improvement of firepower to a 4+ gives you a better chance of shooting down aircraft as well as making armored cars not want to get anywhere near you.

Last is the best of the bunch when it comes to mobile AA. The Ostwind also fields a 3.7cm gun so the stats are the same as the Möbelwagen. Where the unit improves is in the case of frontal and side armor. Will the Ostwind isn’t a tank, a frontal of 4 does make it harder to recon without a real anti-tank gun.

Between the 3, if you are going to field AA, which is the better choice? First I very much like all 3 of this unit options. Mobile, armored and AA can be important if aircraft are in your meta. Even if they aren’t AA can be helpful to go against soft targets. From a points perspective, the Ostwind is the most expensive at 3 points per model, while the Wirbelwind is the least at 2 points per model. All of these platoons can be fielded in 2, 3 or 4 numbers. For the value, the Möbelwagen appeals most to me. I appreciate the Wirbelwinds higher rate of fire, but I like the AT value of 7 on the Möbelwagens gun as well as the improved firepower.

Support Options

The support options for Bagration German contain a good number of units you’re already familiar with as a Late War player. Wespes, Hummers, 10.5cm artillery, 8.8cm Heavy AA, etc, lots of good friends and useful units! There are some new units “hidden” in the support options. Let’s look at the Elefant, Hornisse, and the Panzerwerfer 42.

Do you like big guns with a lot of reaches out and BOOM? If so the Elefant and the Hornisse are exactly what you are looking for.

The Elefant is the updated Ferdinand, with a Machine-gun and it’s very impressive 8.8cm gun with a massive 17 anti-tank rating. Still a 3+ FP, this thing just needs to hit its target and it’ll get work done for you. At 15 points each, they are expensive. Behind a 16 frontal armor, these won’t fear much on the battlefield unless they get on your flanks.

Maybe 15 points a vehicle isn’t quite something you can afford, but you still want a big gun. That’s where the Hornisse comes in. This is a unit that has already been part of Mid War, but it wasn’t until now that it was an option in Late War. At 8 points per vehicle, you get all the joy of an AT 17 gun but you have to give up some great armor to protect you. With a top armor of 0 and frontal of 2, cover, range and luck are what is going to project this unit.  If you consider Marders, they are half the cost at 4 points per model, but only an AT12 gun. The question you have to ask yourself is just how much BOOM do you need in your life?

The last unit to talk about is the Panzerwerfer42. For Late War this gives you an artillery option that is armored and thus resistant to being pinned down, with a salvo template. Like mortars and nebelwerfers, the anti-tank of 2 won’t accomplish much against armor however for against infantry, especially Soviet infantry that tends to be in huge numbers, this is the tool you need. The unit unfortunately only comes in groups of 2 or 4.

An option for three would have been really nice or even five to get into a re-roll for misses. No such luck. Even then a battery of four Panzerwerfer 42 costing 16 points is a great value. You’ll notice that unlike the majority of artillery options this unit has machine-gunned which for late game if you need to defend in desperation an objective or throw back infantry, you’ve at least have something.

Closing Analysis

We’ve not looked at the command cards yet that are available for Bagration Germans. Stay tuned we’ll have a NoDiceNoGlory article on that, or you can listen to the podcast which also covers the cards. The cards as usual bring plenty of flavor including the SS units on the Eastern front during this time period.

The Bagration German book provides a number of substantial upgrades to improve the fighting ability of a Late War German force. Yes, we didn’t get Tiger IIs. If you really need/want that kind of firepower, field Elefants! The book is a great value and in my opinion, is yet another “auto-buy” for your Flames of War gaming.

The Tank Companies contained in the book move towards the Kampfgruppe style of combined arms that the Germans employed late in the war as the situation became more difficult for them. For list building the book brings great options for your 2nd required platoon allows you to go tank heavy and add in infantry or infantry heavy and add in tanks to your core formation. Breaking the moral of these kinds of formations is going to be very difficult. That is but one element that will make Germans more competitive in Late War by turning to this book.

The Panzerwerfer42 is a great new artillery option for the Germans. Being able to utilize a salvo template with an armored artillery unit that can defend itself with machine guns is something to seriously consider fielding.

While the Tigers and Panthers are just as good as they were in the other Late War German books the addition of the Panzer IV/70 as a cheaper option with good frontal armor and good gun will challenge armies from other nations. You’ll want and need some!

Now for just one more thing… buried in the book on page 85

Battlefront is reissuing the Firestorm Bagration campaign!  This isn’t the Ace Race to Minsk campaign, this is something MUCH larger. Those that remember the , from way back in 2011, I’m sure are super excited to see this picture.  This campaign set features a map board and miniatures to play out a Bagration campaign. This will be great fun and a perfect item to generate lots of interesting games.