List Building with the 26. Volksgrenadierdivision Army Deal

List Building with the 26. Volksgrenadierdivision Army Deal By John Lee With the launch of the Bulge 80th Anniversary Army Deals, I thought I would look at how a new player, or someone on a budget, can get a German Volksgrenadier force on the table that would be semi-competitive or at least hold its own. 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.

Check out the 26. Volksgrenadierdivision Army Deal in the online store...

Overview So, if we look at what we get in the excellent value army deal (26th Volksgrenadier Division), that will help decide what Formations to run (other than the obvious one on the box!). The army deal contains the following: 1 x Volksgrenadier Company HQ 1 x Volksgrenadier Assault Platoon 1 x Volksgrenadier Rifle Platoon 1 x sMG34 Machine-gun Platoon 1 x 8cm Mortar Platoon 1 x 12cm Mortar Platoon 1 x 7.5cm Gun Battery 1 x 7.5cm Tank-hunter Platoon 1 x Volksgrenadier Scout Platoon 10 x Unit Cards 1 x Command Card 1 x Major General Siegfried Moldenhauer Team 1 x Destroyed Panther Objective 1 x Destroyed M4A3E8 Easy Eight Objective 20 x 26th Volksgrenadier Division Dice 20 x 26th Volksgrenadier Division Tokens and 2 x Objectives

This is not your normal army deal you usually see comprising mainly plastic sprues. This army deal has exclusive metal extras including warrior teams and all infantry and gun crew are metal in winter uniforms. The only plastic sprues you will see in this box are the Pak40 guns themselves. It also comes with two themed custom objective markers (destroyed Panther and destroyed M4A3E8). To top that off, it comes with the themed dice token and standard flat objective markers. The cost for the army deal is a bit more expensive but the extras are well worth it, and you save more money overall with all the goodies inside the box!

Now this box has been primarily designed for running the Volksgrenadier Company in the Bulge German book. We will look at building a 100pt list around that first but there are five other options to build where we can also maximise what we get in the army deal box. The first two are the 12th Volksgrenadier Division (title) command card upgrades to the Veteran 12th Volksgrenadier Company Formation and Berlin Battlegroup Formation which we cover off. The remaining three Formations – Clausewitz Panzersturm Company (Bulge German Book), Panzergrenadier Company (Bulge German Command Cards), and 1st and 2nd Marine-Grenadier Divisions Kriegsmarine (Berlin German Command Cards), I will touch on at the end of the article.

As mentioned in the content list, there is one metal warrior team – Major General Siegfried Moldenhauer. We will look include him in one of the lists. The command card included in the box is Siegfried Moldenhauer. For 6pts this card has two key benefits. The first is around assaults. The Formation Commander hits on a 2+ and if joined with an infantry platoon, that platoon hits one better than normal. The second is around passing Counterattack and Rally die rolls for units where the unit leader is with in 6” and line of sight of the Formation Commander.

Volksgrenadier Company Onto the Formations now and looking at the Volksgrenadier Company from the Bulge German book, let us look at what units comprise this Formation: 1 Volksgrenadier Company HQ 1-2 Volksgrenadier Assault Platoon 1 Volksgrenadier Rifle Platoon 0-1 Volksgrenadier sMG34 Machine-gun Platoon 0-1 Volksgrenadier 81mm Mortar Platoon 0-1 Volksgrenadier 12cm Mortar Platoon 0-2 Volksgrenadier 7.5cm Gun Platoon 0-1 Volksgrenadier 7.5cm Tank-Hunter Platoon 0-1 Volksgrenadier Scout Platoon Based on the Formation and what we get in the army, we can use all the contents of the army deal box and add a few extra boxes to get to 100pts! This is how it could look based on what is pictured on the box and Bulge German force diagram:

Nine units for the Formation break for the Volksgrenadier Formation. We have enough points left to add a secondary Volks Hetzer Tank-Hunter Formation and a battery of upgraded 8.8cm artillery with OP! This force is completely themed with Volks units. This is a cracking force – it looks defensive, but you can go on the attack with it. Four artillery templates with an OP. The dual purpose Volks 8.8cm artillery battery also provides the AT17 out to 48” to keep your opponent honest. Pak 40s (AT12) with three platoons of Hetzers (AT11) to take on enemy light and medium armour. Scout platoon provides spearhead as well as your third infantry platoon.

To buy this army you need only to purchase the following for $325: 1x GEAB28 26. Volksgrenadierdivision Army Deal  125 3x GBX167 Hetzer/Marder Tank Hunter Platoon  150 1x GBX175 8.8cm Tank Hunter Platoon  40 1x GSO237 Plastic Sd Kfz 250 10 TOTAL $325

There are command cards to upgrade the Volksgrenadier Formation from Reluctant Trained Aggressive to Confident Veteran Careful. This next list looks at upgrading the Formation which means its better overall but means there are less units:

Seven units for the Formation break. Only one unit of assault guns now (StuGs instead of Hetzers) but the core Formation is now harder to hit and better skilled including assaults. Three artillery templates. Still have the Volks dual purpose 8.8cm artillery unit to provide the high end AT17. Soft skin transports to move the 8.8cm artillery unit and 7.5cm tank-hunter platoon if needed. We now also include the Warrior Siegfried Moldenhauer to add his weight to the force.

To buy this army you need only to purchase the following for $225: 1x GEAB28 26. Volksgrenadierdivision Army Deal  125 1x GBX143 Fallschirmjager StuG Assault Gun Platoon  50 1x GBX175 8.8cm Tank Hunter Platoon  40 1x GSO237 Plastic Sd Kfz 250  10 TOTAL $225

Berlin Battle Group Onto the final Formation we are going to look at in detail. The Berlin Battle Group comprises the following units: 1 Berlin Battle Group HQ 2-3 Panzergrenadier (Late) Platoon or Ardennes SS Panzergrenadier Platoon or Volkssturm Platoon or Hitlerjungend Platoon or Volksgrenadier Platoon or Panzergrenadier Training Platoon or Berlin Fallschirmjager Platoon 0-1 sMG34 Machine-gun Platoon or sMG42 SS Machine-gun Platoon 0-1 8cm Mortar Section or 8cm SS Mortar Platoon 0-1 7.5cm Gun Platoon or 7.5cm SS Gun Platoon or 15cm Gun Platoon or 15cm SS Gun Platoon 0-1 7.5cm Tank-Hunter Platoon or 7.5cm SS Tank-Hunter Platoon I love that you can mix and match different units with this Formation creating some distinct flavour, and we can replicate that with the army deal. Here is a list that takes advantage of that and adds King Tigers to round out the force:

Seven units for the Formation break. Three infantry units – each with different weapons and attributes giving you flexibility on the battlefield. Supported by 8.8cm Flak guns and a couple of Tiger IIs to round out the force.

To buy this army you need to purchase the following for $212: 1 x GEAB28 26 Volksgrenadier Division Army Deal   125 1 x GBX149 8.8cm Heavy AA Platoon    40 1 x GE829 Hitlerjugend Platoon    27 2 x GSO 235 Plastic Tiger II sprue    20 TOTAL $212

As mentioned earlier, there are three further Formations that I will touch on that this army deal could work for. The Clauswitz Panzersturm Company is a mechanised Formation from the Bulge German book, and we can use most of the contents in the box. Only units we cannot use from the box is the HMG platoon, 8cm Mortar platoon, and the 7.5cm Gun platoon. The 7.5cm Tank-Hunter Platoon can be fielded as a support unit. You will require at least 21 half tracks for this type of force of various variants though – while it has a very cool factor, will be more expensive to purchase. The next Formation is the Panzergrenadier Company from the Bulge Command Cards. The layout of this Formation has all the units you get in the army deal alongside adding some others such as tanks, flamers, more artillery, and AA to provide some more firepower and a combined arms force. The last Formation to touch on is the 1st and 2nd Marine-Grenadier Divisions Kriegsmarine from the Berlin Command Cards. This Formation is like the Volksgrenadier Company in terms of units in the Formation, so you can use everything in the box except the 7.5cm Gun Platoon. They are slightly more expensive as their Motivation rating moves from Reluctant (with 4+ Last Stand) to Fearless giving you another way to play this type of force based on your playstyle. There you have it – a few options to ponder for getting started with this army deal. Enjoy!

~ John