Desperate Measures Panzer Anti-Aircraft Options

Desperate Measures Panzer Anti-Aircraft Options with Steven MacLauchlan Until recently, my Late-war German Anti-aircraft was limited to some Flakpanzer 38(t)s and Sd Kfz 10/5s. While those are great options for Normandy and the early part of the Eastern Front, I found myself sorely lacking any of the cool Panzer IV based AA choices. With Desperate Measures giving you the option for Möbelwagons, Ostwinds, and Wirbelwinds, I couldn’t make up my mind.  So, in typical Steven fashion, I just went all in. Learn more about Desperate Measures here...

The Möbelwagon In the end, I decided to only do two Möbelwagons. Since they have the same cost as the Wirbelwind, I decided they would be relegated to the role of actual AA defence. I often use AA platoons that are relatively inexpensive to not only provide solid protection from aircraft, but to increase my platoon count on the cheap. The Möbelwagon fits nicely into both of those roles when purchased as a pair. They are fragile, however, and so you need to be careful with them. In most situations these would be my first choice to be placed in reserves, and when on the board they would be deployed quite conservatively.  With 24”/60cm on their main gun, they are fantastic at shooting down aircraft. Anti-tank 6 also makes them great at popping light Recce vehicles, and Man-packed guns. Against anything with any punch, they’re easy prey, so be cautious!  Even massed rifle fire will bring them down. Learn more about the Möbelwagon here...

The Wirbelwind Where the Möbelwagon can’t go gallivanting around, the Wirbelwind comes out to play! Adding a Hull MG and a turret, higher ROF, and increased armour (Frontal armour 3, Side armour 1, Top armour 0) over the Möbelwagon makes these little beauties a very attractive option. They give up Anti-tank (from 6 to 5), range (from 24”/60cm to 16”/40cm), and Firepower (from 4+ to 5+), however, making their role more focused on ground targets than the Möbelwagon. Their increased armour and ROF makes them ideal for chewing up infantry and light gun formations. They will also make any half-tracks and armoured cars think twice about getting within their range. I tend to view them as light tanks, and push them accordingly. They still offer a whole handful of dice against air targets as well, making them a very versatile and inexpensive unit. Learn more about the Wirbelwind here...

The Ostwind The Ostwind offers the best of both worlds; marrying up the increased protection, turret, and Hull MG of the Wirbelwind with the excellent main gun of the Möbelwagon for just 5 points over the Wirbelwind. This, friends, is my favourite of the bunch. At 60 points (Confident Veteran), these are a must-have in my Desperate Measures Panzer Kampfgruppe lists. If I only have around 150ish points, I’ll try to go for either three Wirbelwinds or three Ostwinds. If I want to go the full monty, I’ll pair them up with two Ostwinds and two Wirbelwinds.  This is a pretty good combo, and becomes a meaty unit on its own! With enough firepower on the move to keep anything light honest, and enough firepower when stationary to decimate, in addition to being a very strong deterrent to any aircraft, this unit is fantastic! Learn more about the Ostwind here...

In my game with them against Hero Motostrelkovy they were pretty useful, but fell to a hero heavy artillery strike. I’m looking forward to getting them on the board again soon, and rolling handfuls of dice! Read the After Action Report on this game here... ~ Steven.