Staff Early War Armies: Chris' Leichte Panzerkompanie To kick off our series of articles on the Battlefront staff Early-war armies, we take a look at Chris' German Leichte Panzerkompanie.

Once I heard about the plans to release Early-war a little over a year ago I have to admit I was very excited. Not only because it was an opportunity to paint some great new toy soldiers, but also because I had never played a single game of Early-war. Earlier in the year I had the opportunity to attend the New Zealand National Wargaming Convention where the organisers were kind enough to loan me an Early-war army. It was over the course of this weekend that I realised Early-war was like playing your favourite game in which you know the rules, but have to learn a completely new set of tactics! These thoughts were reinforced time and time again over the course of play testing.   When choosing what army to take I have to admit I took the easy option - German armour! As the new masters came in from Evan I got progressively more and more excited, especially after seeing the new Panzer I and II's. I had to build an army using these cool little vehicles, therefore I based my army around a German Leichte Panzerkompanie. I wanted to create a force that was capable of dealing with multiple threats - large numbers of infantry backed up by Anti-tank guns, medium tank swarms and the heavy tanks you just know you are going to see. Trust me when you only have Anti-tank 5 or 6 a Matilda is a pretty heavy tank! See all the Staff Early War armies here...

The German Leichte Panzerkompanie Organisation Diagram

After much pondering, I settled on was a fully optioned Company HQ with my commander in a Panzerbefehlswagon, supported by a pair of Panzer II C (early) and a Panzer I. My intent was to be able to assign the spare Panzers out to my Combat Platoons to bulk them up and create an assault platoon that could take a few casualties and still be effective.   Two Leichte Panzer Platoons with the same mix of vehicles meant that it would be difficult for my opponents to Gun Tank my company commander. As no matter which platoon he joined, there would be someone there to kill off first. Left: One of Chris' actual Panzer III E.

Assigning the spare Company HQ vehicles and attaching the independent teams to one of these platoons would give me the option to create a nine tank platoon. This platoon should therefore be more than capable of assaulting a dug-in infantry platoon and pushing them off an objective. A full strength Panzer II C (early) platoon gave me a unit capable of holding its own in a shooting match with other lightly armoured tanks. Their Protected Ammo also ensures they have a pretty good chance of re-mounting their vehicles if bailed out. This is more common with lower Firepower rating of Early-war. Last but not least was a minimum strength Panzer III E platoon. Three tanks for 390 points might seem like a lot, but with Frontal Armour 3, ROF 3, Anti-tank 6 and Firepower 4+ means that these three tanks can make a difference in protracted firefight.

I have yet to figure out what to take in order to round out the army. Although I realised at this stage I am still short of one of my objectives; an ability to deal with the Char B, Matildas and other heavy tanks and quickly running out of points! Therefore, my plan is to play a few smaller games and work out how to expand the list, although Stukas, Pioneers, Panzerschutzen (think Gepanzerte Panzer Grenadiers from Mid-war), Heavy Artillery, Luftwaffe 88's, Bunkerflaks and Recon are high on my list of options (and what a list of options!). Right: Another view of Chris' Panzer III E.

Chris' Leichte Panzerkompanie Army List

Headquarters Company HQ - 155 points 1 x Panzerbefehlswagon 2 x Panzer II C (early) 1 x Panzer I

Combat Platoons Leichte Panzer Platoon - 200 points 1 x Panzerbefehlswagon 2 x Panzer II C (early) 2 x Panzer I

Leichte Panzer Platoon - 200 points 1 x Panzerbefehlswagon 2 x Panzer II C (early) 2 x Panzer I

Panzer II Platoon - 225 points 5 x Panzer II C (early)

Panzer III E Platoon - 390 points 3 x Panzer III E

Note: Eagle eyed readers will notice that this is also the same as the German Light Panzer Company Army box. During our play testing I had so much fun with the force we decided to use it for the deal. It also gave people plenty of opportunities to expand the force out to 1500 points or more using our existing range of figures and vehicles - rather like I am planning on doing!

Chris' Actual Army in Progress

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