Borgward B IV (GE610) Four Models During the invasion of France in 1940 a number of Panzer Is were converted into demolition vehicles for use on mines, pillboxes and fortifications. The success of these improvised vehicles lead to the development of a specialised vehicle, the Borgward  B IV (B IV). More on the Borgward B IV… so I’ll now have a look at its use in Flames of War.

In Flames of War It always good to blow stuff up and with the B IV in Flames of War you can blow up bigger and better stuff. You can get B IVs as part of your Radio-control Tank Platoon. You can have up to 3 sections of B IVs controlled by either Panzer IIIs or StuGs (Page 31 in Ostfront). Each section consists of a control tank and a B IV.     A full Platoon will cost 540pts, but that’s a hell of a lot of explosive might.

Each B IV detonates with a blast radius of 2”/5cm around the vehicle, anything caught in that zone is in trouble. The B IV has two zones of effect, one for targets in contact with the carrier and one for those within 2”/5cm of it, but this only really effects armoured targets. Infantry, guns and unarmoured vehicles get no saves whether in contact or within 2”/5cm, though the B IV still requires a FP test if the targets are in bullet-proof cover, but this is usually not a problem with a FP 1+ versus targets in contact and 2+ versus those within 2”/5cm.

Against armoured target the B IV has an Anti-tank of 7 against those in contact and 2 versus those within 2”/5cm. It has a few drawbacks though, but as long as you are aware of them you can adjust your tactics to reduce their effect. The B IV is quite vulnerable to fire; it has an armour rating of 0 on its front, side and top. Due to its large explosive charge the B IV your opponent may re-roll fail Firepower tests to destroy them when hit by shooting.

Being 500kg of explosives it can react badly to being shot at, this means it detonates if destroyed and has all the effects described above. So keep friendly troops clear if you think it’s going to take some fire. It will also pay to deploy them in a position where enemy fire can’t be concentrated such as on the flanks or where lines of sight are obscured. Designed by Evan Allen Painted by Wayne Turner