Tag: German

A D-Day: Waffen-SS Force That Is Easy On The Wallet

With John Lee

With the launch of the D-Day: Waffen-SS release, I thought I would take a look at how could a new player or someone on a budget, get a force on the table that would be semi-competitive or at least hold its own with such iconic equipment as the Tiger and Panther tanks, and the Puma armored car.  For the new player, it opens the door to playing Flames Of War without needing to buy, assemble or paint too much and get into playing the game quicker.

So, if we look at what we get in the excellent value starter set (Waffen-SS Panther Kampfgruppe), that will help decide what formation to run.  The starter set contains the following:

  • Complete A5 Rulebook
  • American “Start Here” booklet
  • 5 x Panther Tanks
  • 2 x Tiger Tanks
  • 1 x SS Panzergrenadier Platoon
  • 2 x Puma Armored Cars
  • 8 x Sd Kfz 250 Half Tracks
  • 2 x 8.8cm Tank Hunter Guns
  • 2 x Decal Sheets
  • 11 x Unit Cards

The bonus here is that the rulebook is included in the box – so the new player makes a saving right away.  Now if we look at what Formations are in the D-Day: Waffen-SS book, we can see what we can maximize from what we get in the starter box.  The best Formation to maximize this is the Panther SS Tank Company.  Let us look at what units comprise this Formation:

  • 1 Panther SS Tank HQ
  • 1 Panther SS Tank Platoon
  • 1 Panther SS Tank Platoon or Tiger SS Tank Platoon
  • 0-1 Panther SS Tank Platoon or Panzer IV SS Tank Platoon or StuG SS Tank Platoon
  • 0-1 Sd Kfz 10/4 SS Light AA Platoon or Sd Kfz 7/1 SS Quad AA Platoon

Looking at the Formation and what we get in the starter box, we can use all seven tanks in the Formation.  To maximize our investment, we can add a small SS Reconnaissance Platoon in Formation support. We can also add the following support options; 8.8cm Tank Hunter Platoon, Puma SS Scout Car Troop, and Sd Kfz 250 OP.  This leaves just two Sd Kfz 250 Half Tracks not used.  For a 100pt list, to round out the force we need to add a Wespe SS Artillery Battery in support.  So how does this look from list building perspective

So, what does this list have – 7 x AT14 Gun platforms.  Can take on any tanks at range and all our tanks have FA9.  Yes, the Panthers are hit on 3+ being Aggressive but also being Fearless, which means Remounting and Last Stand checks are on 3+ as well.  The Tigers are absolute beasts and with 2+ Morale and Careful, its relatively survivable to take a two-tank platoon.

Infantry to hold objectives or attack out of a Spearhead created with the Pumas.  8.8cm guns with AT17 and 48” range will take care of even heavy tanks at long distance – one hit – dead.  Perfect for an ambush or for sniping and keeping your opponent honest!

Armored artillery to pin down and remove dug in infantry and guns off the objectives whilst not being pinned themselves.

Pumas to Spearhead and cause a nuisance in the backfield with their AT9 gun – a threat to side armor of medium tanks!

For reserves, put the big Panther platoon in reserve with the Pumas.

To buy this army you need to only purchase the following for under $160:

1 x GEAB19 German LW “SS Panther Kampgruppe” Army Deal $100
1 x FW265 D-Day: Waffen-SS Book $20
1 x GBX155 Wespe Artillery Battery $37
TOTAL $157

We can also make some additions to the above list to change it a bit depending on your play style. I am a big fan on having some units pulling double duty and/or by making a tweak with a Command Card or two – so let’s have a look at an alternative list with a couple of minor tweaks but gives the army a different profile.

So, as you can see – the Formation and Formation Support itself does not change – just the support options.

The big difference is taking a full strength 8.8cm Tank Hunter Platoon instead of a short platoon.  A full-strength unit should hang around long.  With the upgrade to artillery command card, these guns now become an artillery unit as well as AT gun platforms with an indirect bombardment range of 88”!  This unit can pull double duty, is careful and will cause your opponent all sorts of headaches!

To buy this army you need to only purchase the following for just over $165:

1 x GEAB19 German LW “SS Panther Kampgruppe” Army Deal $100
1 x FW265 D-Day: Waffen-SS Book $20
1x FW265C D-Day: Waffen-SS Command Card Pack $10
1 x GBX175 8.8cm Tank Hunter Platoon (Plastic) $36
TOTAL $166

Now you might be wondering what to do with the two extra 8.8cm guns.  In the D-Day: German book, you can take two platoons of 8.8cm Tank Hunters of 2-4 guns each.  My favorite is to take two platoons of 3-4 guns in a D-Day: German Beach Defender list (that is a separate article to explore further soon).  So, as you expand your army, you will have more flexibility to play different armies from both books.

There you have it.  A couple of easy and versatile options to get into Flames Of War that is great on the budget and gives you the most bang for your buck starting a new force and the foundations to expand upon your German force.

~John

Painting Plane Tree and Oak Leaf Waffen-SS Camouflage

Many years ago Simon Hooker wrote a great article on the Flames Of War website and ever since it has been Evan’s “go-to” whenever he needed to paint SS figures. We wanted to share it with you again today in case you missed it among all the other great content on the website. All we’ve done is updated the article with some great pictures of Evan’s own Waffen-SS (Mid War) infantry.

Plane Tree

A Major of an SS reconnaissance section was the first to suggest the Waffen SS be equipped with camouflage clothing.

This lead to the development and widespread use of camouflage zeltbahns (Tent/Poncho), smocks and helmet covers within the SS. The use of the Wehrmacht’s splinter pattern zeltbahn predates those used by the SS, but I will go further into this pattern in another article.

The earliest clothing was tested in 1937 by a professor who based his studies on the effect of sunlight through trees. The Plane Tree pattern is the earliest used by the SS and can be seen in pre-war photos.

It is a reversible material that has a “spring” green and “autumn” brown side which a soldier can change depending on the surrounding vegetation. Plane Tree camouflage clothing was used up until around 1944.

For Painting Plane Tree camouflage I start with a black undercoat, in fact I start with a black undercoat on all my WWII miniatures as the colours tend to turn out a little bit more drab.

The first step is to get the base colour for the camouflage material, as you can see by the photograph of the Plane Tree; the “spring” side uses green to start with and then adds other colours on top. I paint camouflage in the same steps as the material is printed; that way, you get a closer look to the real thing.

Now on to colours. I use GW paints mainly due to the fact that I have easy access to this range and have made up my own colour recipes for consistency. Please experiment with different brands of paint to get the colour to match and let me know what colours you come up with (Particularly Vallejo as I’m just starting to explore this range).

The “spring” side colour scheme starts with a base coat mixture of 50:50 Castellan Green and Elysian Green. If you look at the photo of the soldier wearing the Plane Tree smock you can see two shades of green. In 15mm scale you would never be able to distinguish between these two shades, so one shade of green is enough.

The next step is to add some random shapes and dots in a 50:50 mixture of Rhinox Hide and Steel Legion Drab.

Once this has dried a third and final colour is added. Officially this should be black, but of all the examples of Plane Tree clothing I’ve seen, the black is always a washed out shade. This time a 50:50 mixture of black and Castellan Green is added in further random shapes and dots.


To finish the pattern off, using the base colour green, add small dots on top of the black shapes. You should get a pattern like the one in the step-by-step guide and your Plane Tree camouflage is complete.

Spring Plane Tree Vallejo
Base Green German Camo Bright Green (833)
Brown German Camo Medium Brown (826)
Black/Green German Camouflage Extra Dark Green (896)

Oak Leaf

Oak Leaf camouflage was introduced in 1942-43 and followed the same principles of creating a pattern of sunlight through trees as the plane tree did. In addition to zeltbahns, smocks and helmet covers, padded reversible winter parkas and panzercrew overalls were made from this material.

Like Plane Tree, Oak Leaf was reversible with one side being “spring” green/brown and the other “autumn” orange/brown. Oak Leaf was the most common of the SS reversible materials and saw use up until the end of the war.

Spring Oak Leaf Vallejo
Base Brown German Camo Pale Brown (825)
Dark Green German Camo Dark Green (979)
Green German Camo Bright Green (833)

The base colour for “spring” Oak Leaf is brown, so the first colour I apply to the undercoated figure is a 50:50 mixture of Rhinox Hide and Ushabti Bone. I tend to use bleached bone rather than white as it gives a dustier looking colour.

The next step is to add a dark green, made up of 2 parts Castellan Green to 1 part black, in the form of random shapes and dots.

Once the dark green has dried, mix up a light green using the same formula as that used for the Plane Tree base (50:50 Castellan Green/Elysian Green). Add the light green to the dark green shapes and dots, being careful to leave a dark green border as seen in the step by step guide.

To finish the camouflage off add a few dark green dots to the light green shapes. There you have it: completed Oak Leaf camouflage.

As I mention both Plane Tree and Oak Leaf are reversible. I’ve only used the “spring” colours as the army I’m building is based around the time of the Normandy campaign. If you’re collecting a German army around the time of the battle of the bulge for example, then you’ll want to paint your camouflage in autumn colours. The best way to do this would be to use the guide above, but replace the colours with autumn hues.

A search on the internet, your local library or book store should reward you with the colours you need to get the autumn look.

So what are you waiting for grab your miniatures, paint brush and paints …and get painting.

Thanks to Simon for this great article…

Additional painting tip from Evan

I’ve painted some autumn camo. I just used the same technique for the “spring” camo pattern as in Simon’s article above, but I swapped two of the colours for the “Spring” camo.

I kept the base brown, but swapped the Dark Green for Camo Black Brown (822 and the Light Green for Light Brown (929) – and then I just followed Simon’s instructions. This, worked really well for me.

Cheers,

~ Evan.

What German Products Can The Waffen-SS Use?

With Chris

The release of the D-Day: Waffen-SS comes with a small pile of new products that are filled with new models specific to the Waffen-SS. At the same time we have a massive range of Late War codes for the Germans that are perfectly suitable for you to use to build your new army.

To make it as easy as possible we have done two things.

  1. The fantastic catalogue at the back of the book contains all the models and their product code and descriptions. You can use this to help you find the products in our online store, or just tell your local retailer the codes and they can order what you need.
  2. Waffen-SS Inside Stickers. We recently started adding the new Waffen-SS Unit Cards and figures (where appropriate) to our older German products so they can be used by either Heer or Waffen-SS armies. You just need to select the right figures and paint them up.

Huh? I heard you say…

That’s right, products marked with this sticker will have the older D-Day: German Unit Cards inside AND the new D-Day: Waffen-SS Unit Cards! How good is that!

Whilst products marked with this sticker will have both sets of Unit Cards AND two sets of gun crews – one set of Heer (normal German army) crews, and another complete set of Waffen-SS crews made out of our new thermoplastic.

If you would like to check out the Waffen-SS catalogue you can download it here….

 

~Chris

D-Day: Waffen-SS Q&A

We asked people on our Facebook Group  to submit questions for a Q&A session with Phil (writer of the D-Day: SS book) and Chris (knows lots of things about what is going on round the company) with the intent of recording a fun video for you to watch. Unfortunately like any good plan, it didn’t plan on a devious and cunning adversary (COVID-19) staging a guerilla campaign and putting Auckland (the home of the Design Team) back under a lockdown. Instead we tied Phil to a chair and got him to answer these questions before he could return to his bunker (or fortress of mathematical calculations)…

General Questions

Phil preparing for enemy fire…

John Rick: How would you best describe the difference between the two different books for the Germans. What are the pros and cons of each? What are some general strategies for both?

Phil – That’s a big question! The D-Day: German book covers a wide variety of troops from the unenthusiastic Beach Defence Grenadiers to the elite Fallschirmjäger paratroopers, with the veteran panzer troops in the middle. And then, the command cards increase the variety even further. 

The D-Day: Waffen-SS book is more focussed, just covering the SS-Panzer divisions, although once again, the command cards create a lot of variety. By and large though, most of the SS-Panzer divisions were in the middle of either building up for the first time or rebuilding after destructive combat on the Eastern Front. This means that their level of training is more on the level of the Beach Grenadiers than the fully-trained army Panzer divisions, but at the same time, their high level of motivation is similar to the Fallschirmjäger paratroopers.

The pros of this are that you get some really excellent kit with great morale ratings for a good points break. The cons are that the less experienced and still partly-trained Waffen-SS are hit on 3+ like green American units. The best strategy to handle this, for both the Americans and the Waffen-SS, is an aggressive approach to battle. Make use of your initially higher strength to gain the upper hand early, and keep pounding the enemy so hard that they can’t exploit your weaknesses, while focussing on taking the objectives as quickly as possible – pretty much what you’d expect from the SS really!

James MacMillan: Did the playtesting focus on the SS alone, or was the interaction of the D-Day: German and D-Day: Waffen-SS book a large part of the process?

Phil – While you can mix and match between the two books, I think most players are going to focus on one play style or the other. So, yes, some playtesting was done using mixed forces, but mostly players were looking to exploit the differences from the D-Day: German book.

Mark Feris: When is this going to be on Forces and in the Android bookstore?

Chris: By the time you read this answer, it will be up on both.

Ryan Gale: Which formation is your personal favourite?

Phil – Well at the moment I’m exploring Panthers, both the army and Waffen-SS varieties. I’m still undecided as to which I like better. Having a few more tanks with the SS is great, but when things go wrong, they can go badly wrong, whereas the better-trained army Panthers have greater resilience and come back from setbacks more easily.

Chris – I would leave this to just Phil to answer, but I like my time in the spotlight too…. Tigers. Tigers. More Tigers. And maybe… Tigers. Plus I’d love to do a Sd Kfz 250 based force of armoured cars and infantry but that is definitely future Chris’ problem!

Units and Models in the Book

Oscar Mardones Schopflin and Petter Therén: Could we expect some new SS miniatures in Bagration: German or Bulge?

Chris – we have a new range of figures coming out as part of D-Day: Waffen-SS, designed by our talented sculptor Ales. These will be coming out in our new Thermoplastic. 

We are still nailing down a few of the finer points about what you can expect to see with the later books.

Nicholas Roche: Any careful formations? Or are they all aggressive (don’t-know-how-to-take-cover-stupid)?

Phil – The Waffen-SS are far from ‘don’t know how to take cover stupid’. In fact, they are middle of the road Is Hit On 3+, like many other troops. both Allied and Axis. But yes, there are command cards for the excellent 9th Hohenstaufen SS-Panzer Division that improve their rating to Careful (Is Hit On 4+).

Jean-Baptiste Piron: Will the 16. SS-Panzergrenadierdivision ‘Reichsführer SS’ , get their “Italian” StuGs back ?

Phil – Who stole them? Let me know the details and I’ll investigate.

Dean Marquis: Did the SS have a mixture of StuG IV and Stug III

Phil – The StuG IV was used almost exclusively by infantry divisions. As such, the 17th Goetz Von Berlichingen SS-Panzergrenadier Division had them. The other SS divisions in Normandy that had StuGs all had StuG III. 

The good news is that, since there is little difference between the two types, it doesn’t matter too much which model you use for them, the newer plastic StuG III or the old metal and resin StuG IV. However, if you really want to distinguish them, you could support your 17th SS infantry with a Jagdpanzer IV tank-destroyer unit rather than a StuG unit since both the Jagdpanzer IV and StuG IV were based on the same chassis and had similar performance.

Command Cards

Dan Neal: Of the new D-Day SS Title Cards, which do you think creates the most unusual or distinctive style of play? Maybe something that hasn’t really been available for German forces from D-Day and Fortress Europe?

Phil – Yes. Every SS Division that fought in Normandy (other than the baseline 12th Hitler Youth SS-Panzer Division) has their own command cards.

Gergő Tóth: Is there a chance to see the return of the Panzerwerfer-42? Maybe as a command card?

Phil – I’m sure that it is a distinct possibility in future books. Meanwhile, you can simply field them as Nebelwerfer rocket launcher batteries.

Luke Shagrid Hazley: Will there be any command cards to make an SS unit veteran/careful? And will we see leaders like Wittman/Barkmann return as direct only orders?

Phil – Yes. The command cards for the 9th Hohenstaufen SS-Panzer Division have them rated as essentially Fearless Veteran and Careful.

As for direct-only warrior models, all I can say is … Chris stop slacking!

In The Future

Bob Anderson: I’m really excited about the high level approach to reimagine the SS. Any chance you might revisit the SS units in Mid War with the same approach? Perhaps via a pamphlet?

Phil – I don’t believe that there’s any need to change the representation of the Waffen-SS in the Mid War books. The ratings in D-Day: Waffen-SS aren’t about the SS as a whole, but rather about the specific divisions that fought in Normandy, and the state they found themselves in when called upon to do so.

In 1942 and 1943, the handful of Waffen-SS Panzergrenadier divisions were some of the best divisions in the German armed forces. Determined, experienced, and well trained. However, those very qualities were what saw them thrown into battle almost continuously between early 1943 and D-Day and ground down to a nub. They were barely given time to start rebuilding when they were thrown back into combat in Normandy, with weeks of training rather than the months of training that the army divisions had benefited from.

Kevin Malvaez: Will we be seeing future books with SS from the other fronts/formations/options or do the command cards for this release have options for SS divisions outside of France/Normandy?

Phil – Given that Hitler relied increasingly on the Waffen-SS as the war progressed, even as their quality declined from insufficient time to train and integrate the replacements that this policy demanded, you can definitely expect to see new varieties of SS as the war continues.

Aleksandr Varyvoda: Will the book on the SS on the Eastern front be like the Gray Wolf in the last edition?

Phil – If you mean, will Bagration: German be an outstanding addition to every gamer’s library giving them new ways of fielding their Germans and new and exciting models, then it definitely will be like Gray Wolf, but even better. While it won’t focus on the Waffen-SS like this book (half of the Panzer divisions in Normandy were SS, while only two battered SS battlegroups were left on the Eastern Front), Wayne has a plan for it to definitely include some SS content between the book and the command cards.

Benjamin Thomas Alkærsig Christensen: Are there any plans for Hitlerjugend and Volkssturm in the future? Either as a list of their own (Bulge or Berlin books) or as command card upgrades/downgrades?

Phil – Most definitely. What would the Battle of Berlin be without the old men of the Volksturm and the young boys of the Hitler Youth?

Stuart Whigham: Will we be seeing SS Cavalry units, that can fight on horseback if need be?

Phil – Absolutely! They are Battlefront’s highest priority!

Chris – If this was a video like we initially planned you would see Phil’s “I may not be telling the truth” face right now…

Eric Deutsch: What are the current plans for 5th SS

Phil – You might have to wait and see there. Wayne’s been concocting some interesting ideas on how to build their battered veteran battlegroups.

Ben Fouche: No more kubel, motorcycle or schwimmwagen scouts?

Phil – All of the reconnaissance companies in Normandy were equipped with half-tracks, either the older Sd Kfz 251 or the neat little Sd Kfz 250 that has just been released. When we get the Eastern Front book, we’ll see reconnaissance units in these sorts of transports reappear.

Stuart Whigham: Will there be any SS Gebirgsjager units?

Phil – You’ll have to interrogate Wayne to learn the answer to that. I’m not sure you’ll get much out of him until he’s ready to talk though. He’s a tough nut to crack.

Nicholas Roche: Stuka zu fuss? 3.7mm AA halftracks?

Phil – You might have to join Stuart in his interrogation!

Helge Macintyre: Will we see SS or in other ways aggressive Sturmpanzers (Brummbar) with a lower price… as the present Price makes Them unplayable

Phil – The few Sturmpanzer units ever built were all army units, and during the middle of 1944, all of them were veterans of the fighting at Kursk, so the answer is definitely ‘not yet’.

Lee Werling: A lot of what I see here are “wish lists” to be brought back from V3. I hope you do! Freiwilligen SS was my favorite from Grey Wolf Revised.

Phil – Many of the really niche and specific forces in the older books probably won’t make it into future books in such a direct way. However, the flexibility of Version 4 usually allows you to build these forces out of the available components. I suspect that you can build something very similar to your old favourite from the D-Day: Waffen SS book and command cards.

 

Thanks to everyone that took the time to submit questions, hopefully the answers were enough for now to give you a sense of where we are going…

D-Day: Waffen-SS Spotlight

With Phil Yates

Between mid 1943 and mid 1944, the German focus was on the Eastern Front. After the failure of the German Kursk Offensive, the Red Army went on the offensive, throwing hammer blow after hammer blow to drive the Germans back to the Russian border. The elite 1st and 2nd SS Panzer Divisions were rushed to wherever the Soviets broke through, counterattacking to seal the breach. By Christmas, the divisions were worn out, barely a regimental sized battlegroup remained. They desperately needed to be withdrawn to France to rebuild back to full strength.

Check out D-Day Waffen-SS in the online store here…

Then, as 1944 began, the Red Army attacked again. The two new divisions being formed in France, the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions were rushed to the Eastern Front and the plans to rebuild the existing divisions were shelved. Finally, in March, the Spring rains turned the roads to mud and the Soviet offensives ground to a halt. All four divisions were returned to France for rebuilding, joining the 12th SS Panzer Division which was part way through its training. Six weeks into their training, still trying to bring large numbers of conscripted replacements up to scratch, the Allies invaded France on D-Day. Ready or not, the SS panzer divisions were rushed to the invasion front, counterattacking to drive the Allies back into the sea.

With a solid core of veteran leaders under your command, can your willing, but inexperienced troops defeat the Allies despite their massive superiority in numbers? Can you win a never-ending battle of attrition, or do you attack into the teeth of massed artillery, naval bombardments and airpower? Can you defeat the invasion and save your homeland?

Here are the forces you have available to you:

Tiger SS Tank Company

  • Fanatical veteran troops crewing the best heavy tanks available.
  • Thick armour and devastating 8.8cm gun, yet more mobile than most medium tanks.
  • Barge through terrain without a worry.
  • Almost immune to medium tanks, artillery, and infantry.
  • Integrated self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to protect from Allied aircraft.
  • Expensive, but the very best available.

Panther SS Tank Company

  • Fanatical veteran commanders to teach the replacements clever tactics.
  • Determined to succeed despite their inexperience.
  • Medium tanks with enough armour to stop Allied anti-tank guns, and a gun that easily penetrates any Allied tank.
  • Fast for a medium tank, almost as fast as a light tank.
  • Integrated self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to protect from Allied aircraft.
  • Flexibility. Can swap out platoons of Panther tanks for a platoon of Tiger heavy tanks and a platoon of Panzer IV medium tanks or StuG assault guns.
  • Easily outclasses all opposition, just watch out for your flanks.

Panzer IV SS Tank Company

  • Fanatical veteran commanders to teach the replacements clever tactics.
  • Determined to succeed despite their inexperience.
  • Solid medium tanks. Good armour and better guns than Allied medium tanks.
  • Protected ammunition storage and bazooka skirts limit effectiveness of US Bazookas, British PIATs, and Soviet anti-tank rifles.
  • Integrated self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to protect from Allied aircraft.
  • Flexibility. Can swap out a platoon of Panzer IV tanks for a platoon of Tiger or Panther tanks and a second one for StuG assault guns.

StuG SS Tank Company

  • Fanatical veteran commanders to teach the replacements clever tactics.
  • StuG assault gun has better front armour and the same gun as a Panzer IV medium tank, but has no turret so can’t shoot targets to the flanks, and is less effective when assaulting infantry.
  • Determined to succeed despite their inexperience
  • Integrated self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to protect from Allied aircraft.
  • Flexibility. Can swap out a platoon of StuG assault guns for a platoon of Tiger or Panther tanks and a second one for Panzer IV tanks.

SS Panzergrenadier Company

  • Fanatical veteran commanders to teach the replacements clever tactics.
  • Determined to succeed despite their inexperience.
  • MG teams give plenty of firepower.
  • Can add Panzerfaust anti-tank weapons and 7.5cm anti-tank guns to keep tanks at bay.
  • Plenty of integrated weapons, including heavy machine-guns, 8cm and 12cm mortars, 2cm AA, and 7.5cm and 15cm guns.
  • More mortars and infantry guns than an Army division for artillery support.
  • Flexibility to take a platoon in half-tracks as a mobile strike force.
  • Highly motivated assault troops who won’t give ground in the defence.

SS Reconnaissance Company Company

  • Fanatical veteran commanders to teach the replacements clever tactics.
  • Determined to succeed despite their inexperience.
  • Armoured panzergrenadiers mounted in smaller, sneakier, faster Sd Kfz 250 half-tracks.
  • Up to 7 half-tracks per platoon for maximum mounted firepower.
  • Sneaky scout versions of 8cm mortar and 7.5cm gun half-tracks.
  • Mix of old and new armoured cars including Puma 5cm and old 2cm eight-wheelers, and light 2cm wheeled or half-tracked armoured cars.
  • Armoured cars are integrated into formation.
  • Flexibility to take armoured and dismounted panzergrenadier platoons.
  • Can be integrated into armoured and dismounted panzergrenadier companies.
  • Sneak into position, then hit hard and fast.

Support

  • New Jagdpanzer IV tank-hunter. Cheap, effective, mobile.
  • Super-deadly long 8.8cm anti-tank guns on cruciform turntable have all-round field of fire.
  • Plenty of AA options to counter Allied aircraft. Self-propelled single and quad 2cm, or ground mounted 2cm light or 8.8cm heavy AA guns.
  • Lots of artillery choice, with Hummel 15cm and Wespe 10.5cm self-propelled guns, 10.5cm howitzers, and 15cm Nebelwerfer rocket launchers.
  • Allied air superiority prevents any German air support in Normandy

How Do The Waffen-SS Play?

You can build your Waffen-SS force in a variety of different ways. You can build a force of elite heavy Tiger tanks. With their heavy armour protecting them, these veterans have suffered few casualties while they learned their trade. Now they are deadly. Whether you take them as the core of your force, or as a backup to lighter troops, they are always effective.

You can build a panzer force, either mixing types to take advantage of their different capabilities, or focusing on one type to maximise its strengths. Panthers are cheaper than Tigers, but offer much of the same benefits, so long as you can protect your flanks. The Panzer IV and SuG are cheaper, but still good enough to outclass Allied medium tanks. With their fanatical crews, the Allies will have to knock out every tank.

Like the rest of the Waffen-SS options (other than the elite Tiger tanks) your panzers are less skilled than their Army counterparts, their commanders are Old Hands, so units close to the company commander can use his skill when making tactics rolls to do clever things like Blitz Move or Shoot and Scoot. This can mitigate their inexperience and counteract their tendency to get hit more often than their Army equivalents. Their lack of skill makes the Waffen-SS cheaper than Army troops, Make use of the greater numbers you get to overwhelm the enemy, and if necessary their determination to keep fighting to outlast the enemy and achieve victory.

Your other option is to go for a panzergrenadier force. Infantry as fanatical as these can be hard to beat. When attacking, they rarely remain pinned down, especially when their company commander is nearby giving them re-rolls, and in an assault they will fight until they’ve taken the objective or died trying. In defence, they are equally tenacious. The enemy will have to kill them all to clear the objective, something that can be dreadfully expensive given the amount of firepower they possess.

The key to any Waffen-SS force is to keep the pressure on the enemy using your excellent and plentiful equipment and rely on your superb morale to outlast them.

Normandy Campaign Missions

In common with the other D-Day books, D-Day: Waffen-SS has three new missions linked together with two of the standard missions into a campaign. The fighting is very fluid, from the counterattack on the Allied beachhead to a final dash to escape the Falaise Pocket. The first mission is Encirclement in which the Germans attack from the flanks trying to crush a salient formed by the Allied spearhead before more reinforcements can arrive from the beaches. The old standard No Retreat follows as the Germans attempt to keep the Allies penned in their beachhead.

The second new mission is Gauntlet, in which the Germans, cut off by the advance towards Caen, must dash down a narrow gap between two British forces to escape entrapment. With more units arriving from both sides as the game progresses, it’s an interesting challenge to hold the route open to extract your forces. Another standard mission, Bridgehead, follows as the Germans attempt to hold the Orne bridges open for the retreating forces to cross.

Finally, the third new mission is Into the Unknown, reflecting the loose fighting as the Waffen-SS attempted to delay the Allied forces pushing in the base of the Falaise Pocket in confused and open fighting. Like Dust Up, the fighting is across the diagonal of the table, but unlike that mission, neither side holds any objectives at the start of the battle. The combatants need to advance into No-Man’s Land to cover their own objectives and seize those of the enemy.

Who Are The Warriors

The D-Day: Waffen-SS command card pack includes six warriors: Ernst Barkmann, Emil Dürr, Adolf Peichl, Karl-Heinz Prinz, Rudolf Roy, and Michael Wittmann. All were awarded the Knight’s Cross. One of Germany’s highest awards.

Three of these soldiers were tankers in Normandy. Michael Wittmann, famed as Germany’s top-scoring tank ace, commanded the Tiger tank company that dramatically halted the British advance at Villers Bocage soon after D-Day. His elite crew make his tank truely deadly with its high rate of fire and re-rolls if it misses. In addition, his command tanks can be placed in ambush in addition to any normal ambushes!

Karl-Heinz Prinz led a Panzer IV company, making rapid and bold counterattacks to regain lost positions and stop British attacks. His card allows you to re-roll failed reserves rolls to bring his units onto the table. Ernst Barkmann was a Panther tank commander who had some interesting adventures when cut off by the American advance, claiming a number of M4 Sherman tanks before limping back to the German lines with a badly damaged tank. He’s a good shot and has a chance of surviving a hit that would destroy the tank of a lesser tank commander, giving him a chance to return to battle and fight on.

Rudolf Roy also commanded an armoured vehicle, a Jagdpanzer IV tank-hunter, with which he claimed 26 British, Canadian, and Polish tanks in five days, helping keep the Falaise Pocket open long enough for much of the German panzer force to escape to fight another day. His gunner’s shooting is deadly accurate and his careful use of cover makes him hard to hit as he stalks the enemy. Emil Dürr was also a tank-hunter, part of a unit of 7.5cm towed anti-tank guns. When his guns were knocked out, he gathered up Panzerfaust anti-tank launchers and hunted tanks on his own.

The final warrior is Adolf Peichl, a veteran of fifty close combats including the destruction of at least eleven tanks. When he’s fighting in an assault, he and any unit he’s leading will pretty much fight to the death, with him as a lethal whirlwind in the centre of the fight.

Ready For Battle

The D-Day: Waffen-SS book will give you some great new ways to use your existing D-Day: German army, as well as opening up new options for painting and army building.

~Phil

The D-Day: Waffen-SS Launch is Live!

Today we’ll be launching the final book in our D-Day series, with the Waffen-SS joining the battle!

Inside the book you will find:
• Background on Germany’s Waffen-SS during the events of D-Day and the breakout that followed.
• Instructions on how to build a Tiger SS Tank Company, Panther SS Tank Company, Panzer IV SS Tank Company, StuG SS Tank Company, SS Armoured Panzergrenadier Company, SS Panzergrenadier Company, and
SS Reconnaissance Company.
• A Painting and Basing Guide.
• Three new D-Day themed Missions.

Over the course of the day you can expect to see articles, list builds, videos, and plenty more, so by all means jump in and check it out.

The Battlefront Team