Jagdtigers of 512. Schwere Panzerjagerkompanie with Chris Townley When Wayne put together the Schwere Panzerjägerkompanie in Nuts there was a lot of discussion around the office about how great a Jagdtiger company would be. Then, when Mike focused on the 512. Schwere Panzerjägerkompanie in Bridge At Remagen the discussion was reignited with the Confident Veteran and Reluctant Trained options to go along with the Reluctant Veterans (from Nuts). I decided to paint a company based around six Jagdtigers with the idea that it was better to start off with the maximum number I was likely to field in a game. This ensured that I got them all finished rather than ending up with a couple of unfinished tanks that I would never likely to go back to.

Chris shows off his finished Jagdtigers from 512. Schwere Panzerjägerkompanie…

Chris talks about what options he is working on for his 512. Schwere Panzerjägerkompanie…

Thinking about the Jagdtigers and how they would work on the tabletop it was easy to see that they would be capable of dealing with any Allied tanks on a one-on-one basis. However, the chances were that they would be out numbered in most firefights, so the key (in my opinion) was to think about how I would support them on the tabletop.

512. Panzer and Assault Gun Platoons These options are only available to 1. Kompanie, but if you think about the idea of swapping out one Jagdtiger for four StuG G (late) assault guns or Panzer IV J tanks it is worth looking at. They will provide you with an additional platoon of Veteran tanks that are capable of assaulting (in a pinch), and will help thin out the hordes of attacking Sherman, T-34 and Chaffee tanks that will be nipping around the flanks of your Jagdtigers. The downside is that many opponents will look at them as being the only tanks they can destroy so you need to keep them out of the way and only push them into the line when they can make a difference.

Schwere Panzerjäger, Panzer and Tiger Platoons These platoons give you more options for dealing with enemy tanks without paying for the massive amounts of armour and the big gun of the Jagdtiger. For my money the Tiger I E looks like one of the better options because it ticks the assaulting option; can take out medium tanks was ease; has high enough armour to shrug off hits from 75mm guns; and comes with Tiger Ace skills. Just don’t park up somewhere and have a gun duel with a Sherman Firefly or a SU-100 and you should get your points worth out of them.

Infantry, Infantry, Infantry... The 512. Schwere Panzerjagerkompanie are supported by plenty of infantry options; there should be something for everyone. If you are running the 2. Kompanie you can have access to a seven Panzerfaust MG stand Scout Platoon, with the option of adding Sd Kfz 251 half-tracks. Not only does this give you enough MG dice to shoot up a Soviet infantry company, but they can also mount up and try a Mounted Assault. The Panzergrenadier Platoon gives you similar capabilities but with Reluctant Veterans rather than Scout Platoons Reluctant Trained rating. The Volksgrenadier Platoon is a great option for parking up on an objective and basically being a pain as they have Panzerfausts and a deadly mix of Assault Rifle and MG teams.

Last but not least is the cheap and cheerful Volkssturm Platoon. They have enough Panzerfausts that enemy tanks won’t try to roll over them and they don’t count towards your on table platoon count when it comes to Reserves! Don’t forget that your company has the Defenders of the Ruhr rule, so will automatically defend in most missions allowing your infantry to (potentially) start the game dug-in and ready for the incoming enemy. Infantry support is a key part of a 512. Schwere Panzerjagerkompanie because without them you will be assaulted by enemy infantry and outflanked by enemy tanks and tank destroyers. They will block routes of movement and force your opponent to spend time destroying them, whilst your other troops are busy winning the game. A platoon of infantry is an automatic inclusion in my books!

Big Guns! The company is spoilt for choice on this front with rockets and barrels of all sorts. The smaller MW41 rockets are great for taking out infantry and dropping smoke, whereas the heavy NW42 rockets will smash anything that fails a save, but being Trained you cannot rely on getting too many full size salvos thanks to their Heavy Rockets rule. As for the guns you have even more variety but I am going to focus on two options: the 7.5cm FK40 option which is six PaK40 guns that can do a little bit of indirect fire, or supplement your anti-tank line-up for 295 points (Reluctant Veteran) or 195 (Reluctant Trained); and secondly the 15cm sFH18, if you need their direct fire capabilities you are probably in trouble but it might make an attacker think twice about having a go at your artillery park, but their ability to drop Anti-tank 5 and Firepower 2+ fire will force attacking tanks to spread out a little.

Here Comes The Luftwaffe Finally you have access to nearly any type of Anti-aircraft (or AA) imaginable; from the iconic ‘88’, through to the smaller 2cm and 3.7cm options. You can also get some armoured AA with the 512. Panzer Anti-aircraft Gun Platoon in the form of Ostwinds and Wirbelwinds. I am definitely torn when it comes to the best option here, as the ‘88’ gives me the ability to take some of the Anti-tank load off the Jagdtigers, whereas the 3.7cm and 2cm options are cheap and (assuming) you deploy them near your Big Cats, will provide enough AA fire to take care of AOPs and any pesky Jabo that might be nearby. The Ostwind and Wirbelwind give you options though to take the fight to the enemy and attack unsupported infantry platoons, or even intermix with the tanks to stop them from being assaulted. For me this one comes down to personal preference, how many points you have left, and what you want to paint!

If you do not want any dedicated AA on the table you can always put your trust in some Air Support of your own to keep enemy planes at bay. They also give you some options to hunt down enemy troops that decide to cower from the 12.8cm guns on your Jagdtigers. My personal favourite is the Arado 234 B as it was fun to paint but all three options are worth checking out.

What About Carius? Of course I have left the best to last. If you do not know the legend of this particular man there are plenty of places to read more (Bridge At Remagen is a good place to start) so I’ll stick to game theory here. He can replace your Company Commander in 2. Kompanie, which nicely upgrades your Company Commander to Veteran (reducing the number of Time On Target artillery strikes!) and brings with him the ability to ignore Concealment and Long Range modifiers. However, with great power comes great responsibility and should a Hero Of The Fatherland fall in battle you will lose a Victory Point (or VP) and your opponent will gain a VP. You are going to need to trust in that Veteran rating when the shells and bombs come raining down!

Hopefully this gives you something to ponder when it comes to building your own Jagdtiger list. A Jagdtiger company is pile of fun to run on the tabletop and depending on what you have painted already can be a fun little Expansion Pack for an existing army, or a springboard to a brand new one  as many of  the support options can be found in so many other lists. ~ Chris.