Iron Cross – The Tank Lists

By Tom “Chairborne” Mullane

has released their long-anticipated Eastern Front books detailing the forces of the Soviet Union and expanding the option for the German players from the previously released Afrika Korps.

German players have been chomping at the bit to get their hands on some new lists and forces.  Command cards and items like the 90th light infantry division have been a nice way to tide things over and add some options, but the new Iron Cross book for Flames of War Version 4 gives you a lot more choices and tactical flexibility.

The paint scheme of the armor on the eastern front is not the only difference in the new Iron Cross book. We finally see the return of some old favorites in the German arsenal return in this book.

Panzer IV Company

Continuing the trend of strong core formations that encourage multiple formations or taking support options, this list is all tanks.  No infantry are integral to the formation.  The points are the same in the Afrika Korps books, but in many cases, the variety and numbers of tanks you can take are more varied in this book than in Afrika Corps.  If you want to mix up your Panzer III types and Panzer 4s to gain some points, its pretty easy here.

The Panzer IV continues to have the variety that can bombard or the one with a menacing gun. In Mid-war, the difference between AT 10 and AT 9 is huge.

I can see players taking this kind of formation with a grenadier or pioneer formation.  Word on the street is that halftracks are coming in the next eastern front book (of which this is not to be the only release) And as someone who likes running German Mech infantry, I eagerly await what will come out for them in Mid War.

Panzer III

Here we start to see the variety of tank options blossom.  integrated Panzer IVs and IIs make this what I think will be the more popular tank formation.

You can take more hulls, and bring different tools for different jobs.

You’re also not restricted to the same type of Panzer III’s.  You can mix and match.  And that can provide a German player with a great points saver or spender depending on what kind of list you want, or how many points you have.

Finally, we introduce the Panzer II

At 2 points per tank it’s a beauty.  The Panzer II has enough armor to repel small arms fire, and enough of an AT to worry soft skins and AT and AA guns.  Not a bad investment for a 6-pt platoon.

The Real Strength of the book is in the support options.  Something I suspect we are going into some more later.  But to brush on a few of them now…

StuG Life!

The Early model StuG is for me one of those “so ugly its’ beautiful” kind of models.  It also screams Mid War.  I have plenty of StuG III or IVs but this hull is distinct enough with its stubby little gun, I don’t think I would want to proxy it.

The Tiger is also available….for its robust 29 pts for 1 and 58 points for 2. Its AT 14 gun will see its way through the front armor of many a Churchill or KV.  And despite a few AT guns being a moderate threat to it, the Tiger is still King of the Battlefield, and a force to be reckoned with.  I don’t ever see the need for more than one, but some folks will try to squeeze them in for sure.

The coolest Tank option with the tiger now, however, is a rule from old V3 that I loved in their lists.

You can add an escort Panzer III (uparmoured, or 7.5) tank for each Tiger, for an additional +8 points.  The best part? The extra PZIII doesn’t count against Morale when it is killed off. This makes me strongly consider taking at least one Tiger in my German lists.

So what is missing?

I was looking to see if the Panther would make an appearance.  But no dice yet.  I can’t imagine what kind of points we would be looking at, but I have to imagine it would be similar to the Tiger’s 29 pts.  Their slightly lower side armor has always made them a bit cheaper, and their lack of the special Tiger Ace rules and bonuses will make them a little cheaper. But who knows?

I look forward to getting some of these models on the table, and I hope German players have some fun mixing up their existing lists.

Thanks for reading!

Tom “Chairborne” Mullane is a writer for NDNG and has been playing and painting FOW since 2011. He is a teacher in NY, and lives in Danbury CT. Come by Hobby Town in New Milford CT for games on weekends, or send me a line on the forums or via email if you want to get in touch.