Bat-rep Bagration German Panzer IV/70s vs British tankers

February 26, 2021 | Tom Gall | Flames of War, Gaming

By Tom Gall

With the new Bagration Germans lists, I’ve been quite eager to put them to the test on the tabletop. Here in Minnesota as the various quarantine rules have been loosening up, in-store gaming is starting to happen in various places. Walker brought his British against my Germans, for a game at D6 Games in Rochester Mn.

I picked the new Panzer IV/70V based formation. Being able to mix the Panzer IV/70s with a Panzergrenadier platoon as well as AA assets should in theory give the formation plenty of staying power. My 100 pt list was:

  1. Panzer IV/70 HQ 18pts
  2. Panzer IV/70 Platoon 4 for 36pts
  3. Panzergrenadier platoon (big) with 1 panzerschreck stand added
  4. Whirblewind platoon – 3 for 7pts
  5. Panzer III ob – 1 pt
  6. Nebelwerfers – 3 for 9 pts
  7. Pak43 Antitank guns – 3

 

The immediate concern was how would I tackle a 40 point reserve situation. While I could put the Panzer IV/70s in reserve, that leaves me 4 points short, and no easy or obviously 4 point option. I figured in the case where an opponent doesn’t have air the Whirlblewinds would be the correct choice.

Walker as it turned out brought a tank-heavy British list with many a Sherman and Firefly. Perfect choice for the test, tho he wasn’t aware of what I was planning ahead of time. Best of all, no air to worry about!

We rolled up encounter, with Walker taking the initial die roll as the attacker. He chose the side with the bombed-out town which left me the side which was a bit more open with a field here and there. I placed the Pak43s on my left flank, they had a reasonable field of fire. (Note the objective that Walker placed here was two infantry stands. He left his objective markers at home so we had to make do).

I deployed my Nebs in the middle, as well as my Panzergrenadier platoon on the right flank. The Panzer III ob was hanging out in a vineyard which we ruled as short terrain but requires a cross check. My Panzer IV/70 and Wirlblewinds in reserved as I had planned.

Walker deployed with his artillery in the center, and a Sherman with Firefly platoon on either side generally out of view. With both of us having scattered delayed reserves it made sense the dice would probably determine which side we’d mount our offensives on.

Turn 1

Walker once again won the die roll to see who would go first and moved his HQ platoon forward. I countered with my Panzer IV/70 HQ on the bottom half of my turn. Little action as we both were attempting to range in. My nebs going after his Priests and his Priests going after my infantry.

Turn 2

Walker pushed forward with one of his tank platoons, tho hiding, a perfect aggressive passive thing to do, with the Pak43s watching, definitely need to be very careful on the approach.

With a little more artillery dueling, I managed to bail out a Priest. Walker managed to take out a stand of infantry from my Panzergrenadiers.

Turn 3

First reinforcements arrived with Shermans rolling on table complete with a firefly. Perhaps a brewing tank battle on my left flank?  Who knows! I was trying to keep my HQ center to delay committing them until the reinforcement situation become clear.

Bottom of turn 3, no reinforcements for me. Unfortunately good shooting on Walkers part as well as artillery managed to take out half track and bail 2. Unfortunately they would decide to bolt off table as a result when I couldn’t get them back to good spirits.

Turn 4

Walker’s reinforcements rolls continued to be awesome. The rest of his tanks arrived and rolled and manage to arrive on my right flank. While a turn earlier it looked like the tank battle might be on the left side, it was really on the right side. Without reinforcements on the right flank soon, the game would be decided depending on how aggressive Walker would be.

The first set of reinforcements arrived. I took my Panzer IV/70 platoon and managed to roll a 1, so they would arrive on the far left flank totally away from where they needed to be. The race would now what could I get accomplished on my left flank while trying to hold Walker off on my right flank.

I managed to kill one score two hits with the Panzer IV/70s but miss identification takes the hits off the fireflies. Mumble.

Turn 5

Walker once again pulled in reinforcements, this time bringing in his platoon of Americans in support of the British tankers, their job in this game holding the objective on my left flank.

On the right flank, the tanks rolled forward to set up for a series of close assaults. As luck would have it,  between the panzerfaust and the panzerschreck within the platoon, I was able to take out a couple of tanks but at a cost. Thankfully the British backed off and wouldn’t be able to win this turn.

My whirlblewinds arrive, w00t! .. In the wrong place again, but more on the left flank might make things competitive, again if the infantry can hold on the right flank and my HQ Panzer IV/70s can land a shot or two as well as being able to knock the Americans off the objective. It’d be a long shot, but luck happens.

Or not. Piss poor shooting by the HQ element of Panzer IV/70s accomplished very little. Likewise, on the left flank the Whirblewinds and the PanzerIV/70 platoon weren’t able to take out the Fireflies. It’d be the next turn before I could assault for an attempt to win on the left flank. The right would have to hold one more turn.

Turn 6

It didn’t. Game for Walker.

Lessons Learned

Having a plan for reinforcements is essential for the point level you’re playing. The Panzer IV/70s performed pretty well and their crappy cross-check was something I had to watch and play for, but otherwise wasn’t debilitating. Great gun, good tank. Nebs make for fun cheap artillery tho they’re really not good at taking out armor such as Priests. The formation itself is strong and didn’t break due to losses.

In this case, the winning factor was not only Walker getting his reinforcements in a timely fashion but also having them arrive where they needed to be. Mine were a day late and in the wrong place.

Bagration German lists I think are going to be pretty strong. The formations are fun to play. Look for a future bat-rep with Hetzer Hetzing.