Ghost Panzers – Reviewed and Spoiled

By  Tom “Chairborne” Mullane

The next German Mid-war book has arrived here at No Dice No Glory, and we would like to spoil it for you. When you combine this book with Iron Cross, I think you have a really bulked out set of options for the midwar Germans.

If you have been quietly petting your panthers or peeking in on the shoebox holding your Ferdinand, your wait is over.  Battlefront has effectively added the LW German equipment in here, but with midwar points.  This book should dramatically change what the German player takes in a list, and will add a lot of color to the Germans in general.

 

The Lists:

Panzer Regiment 39 (Panthers) – it’s here.

I think for any German planning on running Panthers, you’re more likely to take them in support but what do I know. At a whopping 18 pts apiece, these tanks are nasty.  They dropped from their LW standard of Front Armor 10 down to a 9 and their gun is a Donut-hole maker at AT 14. But even at 109 points as the tournament standard this year, I’ll be curious to see who takes them.

There are so many support options for a German player, having this as a solo formation is possible.

This comes in platoons as small as two (for 36 points) which is not a bad support choice in larger point games, and as large as 5 for 90 points. which is insane. If you took the minimal options, one HQ tank, and 2 platoons of 2 tanks, it would run you 90 points.  Leaving you with 19 pts for support or a second formation in a 109 pt list.  Not a lot of room for variety. Curious to see someone try this.  Not a bad ringer army? Five tanks and some Nnebelwerfers? Still, as a support option its not bad.  Thirty-six pts for 2 panthers beats  29 points for one tiger In my humble opinion.

11. Panzer Division

There is a lot of variety in the mixed German Tank list.  It reminds me a bit of the Desperate Measures lists that would let you put together a hodgepodge of tanks.  This may be the new standard Tank list for Germans running armor. You’ll notice I can take a Panther OR a tiger platoon as an INTEGRATED formation asset. Also…flammenpanzers.

I think between this and Iron Cross, We are seeing the replacement for Afrika Corps. What are our options? Well, see below…My HQ can be as cheap as eight pts for a Panzer III (5cm) or as expensive as 26 points for three Panzer IV (7.5cm)  For nearly all platoons your options are pretty diverse.  They also get that flame tank in a core spot.  Curious to see who tries that out.

I don’t know who in their right mind would take 7 Flammenpanzers…but at 50pts, there’s an option for that.  I think things like that make it possible to build things not just for the tournament scene, but for those huge mega games your club might want to play on a Kursk Style board.  That said…If someone is taking 7 flame tanks, I’d bet on my friend Tim Morrissey.

 

I included this picture of my friend Tim’s latest list.

Panzer-Grenadier Grossdeutschland

I have been waiting for this….for a while. I have around 30 painted half-tracks waiting to see the table for the past 2 years.  This list comes with a lot of options for half-tracks.  Big ones, small ones, little stubby mortar ones.  Its a carnival of annoyance for any poor immobile opponent.

The infantry guns are back!

This is THE list I would play because I have the vehicles for it. That said… let’s talk about the mounted assault rule.

I don’t know how this will go.  I suspect that without a ton of integrated AT or…god help us…a Boys AT Rifle, this may be more successful than my first instinct says it will be?

I certainly like it better than the old “Your halftracks are mobile death platforms that roll 15 dice and murder everything” old rule.  This seems more balanced.

At 13 points for a full platoon of 7 MG teams, and +2 for an AT rifle to call their own, these grenadiers seem properly pointed.  Also, they will need to move in conjunction with AT assets, or tanks will eat them alive.

This is a  far cry from the Late War Panzerfaust Jamboree I am used to driving my Shermans and Cromwells into.  I think again this shows a need to take some solid support (like the obligatory Marders) or to take a second formation.

505th Heavy Panzer Battalion (Tigers)

Nothing changes here. Tigers still clock in at 29 points apiece. They are still unkillable monsters for any poor allied player not bringing a tank destroyer or a 17pdr gun.

A full Formation taking minimal tanks (1 per HQ and 1 for 2 platoons), will clock in at 87 pts.

There are also a few fun command cards coming in a future article. But it is hard to imagine someone buffing these more than they already are.  There is now finally an option to run these as a company, as opposed to a support choice. I expect we will see some of these? I have mine painted for the Belgian Frontier, but they may make an appearance in a batrep soon.

301. Panzer Battalion (RC) (StuGs)

At 13 pts per tank, I think Assault guns are looking pretty good for me. That said, it adds up quick.  I see these being taken more often in support of infantry than as a formation unto themselves.  That said, someone is taking these because of these little buggers for sure.

For those players who weren’t around in V2, this thing is hilarious. It’s a remote controlled RC car packed with explosives. It is wire controlled. It used to leave a crater and boots in its wake.  I literally ran 3 platoons away from one when I saw it coming. The new rules are a bit more forgiving for the poor fool on the receiving end of this radio-shack Frankenstein monstrosity of German Engineering.

they were notoriously unreliable, and ahead of their time as an idea.  But you get to experiment with just 4 points for 4 of them. I may be buying these just to decorate them like Christmas sleds with a Grinch on top. I feel that’s thematically pretty fitting.

They allow the taking of the StuH 42 as a single tank mixed in with his other Late StuG counterparts.  This tank can handle nearly any problem. But it is pricey in large numbers.  Facing off against most medium tank formations, I think this thing would win out hard.

The best buy of the book may be these tanks at a robust 39 points for 3 of them (or 2 and 1 StuH 42).  The earlier war variant of the StuG is available in Iron Cross for those looking to run a period-specific battle.

These are pricier, because of their better overall stats.  It’s a good sign when I am actively debating over which of these tank lists I think I would take as a German player.  I am really looking forward to playing around. With these two books separated out the way they are, a tournament organizer could restrict this book to run a Late Mid War Tourney, or include it to broaden things out through 1943. I think that’s pretty cool.

The Support Options

Planes, Trains, and Brummbars (I tried to find the weird Umlaut to put over my A but I gave up)

Some highlights:

New Mobile Artillery and possible Marder Replacements:

The Hummel’s AT 11 gun in Direct fire and nasty 2+ bombardment means I think I will see a few of these on the table. 3 for 16 points, not a bad buy.

The Hornisse is a beefed up high-velocity cannon which can kill anything in the allied arsenal short of a KV without a save. you can get as few as 2 of them for 14 points.

I also have a bunch of Wespes, so I was excited to see them as well:

Three for 11pts or six for 22.  A good battery of artillery and not a bad secondary tank gun with AT 9.

New Aircraft Options 

Germany’s flying tank arrives. but it’s cannon is kind of lame. I can’t pass 5+ firepower’s so I’m a little bitter about that.

Brummbar!

A tank so ugly only a gamer could love it.  The Brummbar’s plunger like gun boasts a Brutal cannon, an automatic firepower test, and an artillery line. It will cost you 12 pts a piece and you can take up to 4.

And finally

The moment you’ve been waiting for…..

The tank that I will see rolling over the charred corpses of my valentines….

 At 17 pts apiece, these are not cheap. There is not a formation for them (there is in the command cards though) and they CAN take a Panzer III support/escort tank.

With the Panther’s going for only 1 pt more I may take those…but AT 17 with unkillable front armor is pretty tempting.

Don’t you love how the shape of the tracks makes it look like the cartoon gun on top is so heavy it’s bending the tank?

Conclusions: There is a lot to unpack here. And I’m leaving out an enormous amount of standard support. AA guns, Small Tracked Vehicles, little guys. I have our preview copy, but I’m buying the book anyway.  If I run a German list in midwar, this is the book I will be using.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you on a tiny battlefield soon!

Tom “Chairborne” Mullane is a writer and editor with No Dice No Glory. He lives in Danbury, Connecticut and teaches in Putnam County NY. He plays at store in Catskill, NY with Wargamers Anonymous and with Ordo Ineptus at Hobbytown in New Milford CT. If you’re nearby, send him an email and he’d love to get a game in with you.