Fallschirmjägers Return To Mid-War in Death From Above

By Tom Burgess

Fallschirmjägers are the second army I did for Flames of War some ten years ago. Since then they have been one of my most played forces. Though I have not been above running them as Grenadiers in Mid-War, now we can officially play them as a Mid-War Version 4 force option.  The new Death From Above books adds Fallschirmjägers to our Africa, Sicily, and even East Front  Mid-War Version 4 battlefield where they certainly are characterful and truly elite units.

The timing of the release of Death From Above and its Fallschirmjäger force list is very fortuitous following right after the release of the new Late-War Fallschirmjäger figures with the D-Day German Forces in Normandy book. The new Late-War figures will be right at home in a Mid-War force with a few exceptions. This article will focus on the changes between the Fallschirmjägers list in D-Day German Forces in Normandy and Death From Above.

The basic Fallschirmjäger formation in Death From Above is virtually the same the same as in D-Day German Forces in Normandy. The HQ, two mandatory Fallschirmjäger platoons, one optional Fallschirmjäger platoon, one optional Fallschirmjäger Machinegun platoon, two optional 8cm Stummel Mortar platoons available in Late-War are still there as for the Mid-War list.

What is different is there is no 7.5cm Tank hunter platoon available for the Mid-War Fallschirmjäger formation.  In fact, there is no anti-tank gun unit in the Mid-War Fallschirmjäger formation. In the Death From Above book, there is no 12.0cm Mortar platoon option either. However, there is a Death From Above command card gives you the option to swap your 8.0cm for 10.5cm Mortars in the formation which have the same stats of the Late-War 12cm Mortar, save for a range of 48″ vice 56″ and a 3+ save vice 4+. It looks to me like you could take two of these cards and upgrade both mortar platoons if you wanted.

The Fallschirmjäger HQ in Mid-War is much the same as it would be in Late-War. The HQ obviously will not be able to take the Panzerfaust option but it can take two 7.5cm Recoilless Guns at three points each. I am very happily surprised to see these guns return as they were not a piece of kit I expected to see again.

Though the 7.5cm Recoilless guns only have a 16” range and an AT of just 9, they help make up for the loss of the option for an anti-tank gun unit within the formation and will help the bolster defense against assaulting enemy Mid-War tanks.  Be careful though, when they fire, they not only lose gone to ground, but the blast from recoil is so big they also lose the bonus for being concealed.

The Fallschirmjäger platoons themselves have the exact same composition and cost that they have in Late-War with the option to add up to two sMG42 HMG teams.  They have the same awesome stats as the Fallschirmjägers have in Late-War.  They do not have the option to add Panzerschrecks in Mid-War of course, but they can add a 2.8cm Anti-Tank Rifle for two points. With ten MG42/K98 teams, two sMG42 HMG teams, and a 2.8cm Anti-Tank team the Fallschirmjäger platoon is a thirteen team, nineteen-point killing machine.

The Fallschirmjäger Machinegun and Mortar platoons in Mid-War are basically the same as they are in Late-War.  However, in Mid-War the 8.0cm Mortars, have a third option for a two-tube platoon at two points in addition to the three and six-tube platoon options.  The 10.5cm Mortar command card in Mid-War can only be used to upgrade a platoon of two or three tube mortar platoons. The two-tube 10.5cm option will actually be one point cheaper than the Late-War two tube 12cm Mortar platoon.

The support options are where the Mid-War and Late-War options differ heavily. The first of these is the dreaded Mid-War Marders. The Fallschirmjägers have their own Marders, but four of these come in at 23 points. That’s a heck of a lot more than the 16 points you’d pay for normal Wehrmacht Marders. The benefit the Fallschirmjäger Marders get for that increase in cost is a one-point better Remount, Counterattack, and Follow Me bonus.

Fortunately, you can still take the Marder option from the other Mid-War books as the Fallschirmjäger Marders may be a bit too costly for many players. The Mid-War Fallschirmjäger have a support slot for one anti-tank gun platoon which can be 3.7cm (the Stielgranate option is there), 5.0cm, or 7.5cm units. These units come in four, three, or two gun platoons. They, of course, have the great Fallschirmjäger stats. The fearless motivation to unpin will be a big help to keep these guns blazing away.

The Mid-War Fallschirmjägers have artillery options not available to their Late-War counterparts currently. The single Fallschirmjäger artillery slot can be filled with a platoon of 7.5cm Mountain Guns or a platoon 10.5cm Recoilless Guns.  These come in units of two or three guns. The Fallschirmjägers in Mid-War also can take an Observer K98 team to spot for these artillery units and formation for one point. This is not an option for the Late-War Fallschirmjägers so far.

A support option in Death From Above that is very different from both D-Day German Forces and other Mid-War German books is the 2cm Anti-Aircraft platoon. In other Mid-War books, German forces have to make do with very vulnerable truck-mounted 2cm AA guns or more expensive, only slightly less vulnerable light armored AA.

In the new Mid-War Fallschirmjäger support list, this platoon has four, three, or two dismounted 2cm Anti-Aircraft guns. A 3+ save and gun shields make them much more survivable. Their mobility will be less of course, but with a 4” tactical move, and 6” dash and an 8” road dash, they do retain some mobility.  They can also dig in.  I just happen to have an unpainted blister of these that I will certainly be moving up in my painting queue.

The Mid-War Fallschirmjägers formation can also take a Fallschirmjäger Pioneer platoon as a support unit in the Death From Above book. This platoon will have either seven K98 teams and three flamethrower teams or five K98 teams and two flamethrower teams. In either case, a single 2.8cm Anti-Tank Rifle is an option.

The teams in this unit have the Pioneer rule that lets them cross minefields on a 2+. There is a Death From Above command card if you wish to field an entire Fallschirmjäger Pioneer company if you don’t mind giving up the option to take mortars in the formation.

The final Mid-War Fallschirmjäger support option is the nine-point bomb armed Stuka. As mentioned previously, the Death From Above Fallschirmjägers can also pull support units from other Mid-War books and may include an Italian ally unit.

We already discussed some of the command cards that will go with the Death From Above book. These include the usual suspects, but curiously the Transport command card appears to be absent for the first time in a command card deck. The “hero” command cards for this book include Ramcke (2+ Tactics for formation units within 6”, Von Der Heydte (no he does not “resurrect” teams, he gives a 2+ to pass Rally and Last Stand for formation units within 6”), Koch (formation units with 6” Blitz on a 2+ and have 2+ to pass Rally and Last Stand, and Witzig (formation units within 6” have a + to pass Last Stand).

So what do I think as a long time Fallschirmjäger player about these elite troop being added back into Flames of War Mid-War? Well, it’s great to have them back in Mid-War tough I am concerned about the lack of a real anti-tank unit within the formation. I am very excited to see some special kit return with LG40 Recoilless Rifles, 7.5cm Mountain Guns, and 10.5cm Recoilless guns.

The dismounted 2cm Antiaircraft guns are something I can’t wait to push against armored car hordes. In the end, we get back some even more solid German infantry for Mid-War but it will require many support units from the existing German books to maximize its effectiveness as a force. In the end, I’m very happy to have Fallschirmjägers back in Mid-War for character and scenario play. I’m not sure they are incredibly competitive, but at higher points, they may become more enticing to me for tournament play as well.