Building a force with the Tank Training Company Army Deal

Building a force with the Tank Training Company Army Deal  With John Lee  With the launch of the Berlin: German release, I thought I would look at how a new player, or someone on a budget, can get a German force on the table that would be semi-competitive or at least hold its own with the focus on the new shiny plastic Panzer II and Wespe.  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. So, if we look at what we get in the excellent value army deal (Tank Training Company), that will help us decide what formations to run.  The army deal contains the following:

Complete A5 Rulebook. German “Start Here” booklet. 3 x Panther (late) (7.5cm) Tanks or Jagdpanther (8.8cm) Tank-hunters. 3 x Panzer IV (7.5cm) Tanks. 3 x Hetzer (7.5cm) Tank-hunters. 3 x Panzer II Tanks. 2 x King Tiger (8.8cm) Tanks. 3 x Wespe (10.5cm) Self-propelled guns. 1 x Panzergrenadier Platoon. 2 x Decal Sheets. 9 x Unit Cards.

The bonus here is that the rulebook is included in the box – so the new player makes a saving right away.  Now if we look at what formations are in the Berlin: German book, we can see what we can maximize from what we get in the army deal.  The most obvious formation is the Tank Training Company, but we will also explore the Clausewitz Panther (IR) Tank Company and Panzer Battle Group.  We will look at options for 100pts.

Before diving into the formations, let’s look at the new kit in the army deal for this release.

The Panzer II sprue is a welcome addition in plastic, and you have the option to make the early (future-proofed) and late versions.  For this release, it would be the late version with more armour. A nifty little vehicle that sports FA3 SA1 TA1 with a 2cm gun with AT5 FP5+ and a range of 20” alongside ROF3 MG.  Still useful to combat enemy armoured cars, light tanks, guns, and infantry.

The Wespe/Marder II sprue is doubly welcome in plastic.  Finally, we get to round out the artillery in plastic with the Wespe, and the Marder II for FJ and Hungarians as well as a support option in Berlin.  The Wespe has an indirect range of 72” AT3 FP3+ with smoke bombardment and direct fire of AT9 FP2+, brutal, smoke, and 24” range.  Lightly armoured with FA1 SA1 TA0.  The Marder II has an AT12 FP3+ gun with a range of 32”.  Better armour with FA3 SA1 TA0.

Onto the formations now and looking at the Tank Training Company first, let us look at what units comprise this formation: 1 Tank Training Company HQ 1 Panther (late) Training Platoon or Panzer IV Training Platoon or Stug Training Platoon or Hetzer Training Platoon 1-2 Panzer IV Training Platoon or Stug Training Platoon or Hetzer Training Platoon 0-1 Panzer III Training Platoon or Panzer II Training Platoon 0-1 Triple 15mm Flak Training Platoon 0-2 Panzergrenadier Training Platoon or Panzergrenadier (late) Platoon Based on the formation and what we get in the army, we can use all the army deal box contents and add an extra box of Panzer IVs to get to 100pts! Tank Training Company

Six units for the formation break.  Two solid platoons of Panzer IVs with the Panzers providing the oomph and the infantry to defend an objective.  Panzer IIs to go hunting for enemy light armour and guns.  The Tiger IIs provide the long-range high-end AT for sniping the enemy’s armour at long range and provide a distraction for your opponent.  Wespes provide the mobile artillery template to pin down the enemy positions for your assaults.

To buy this army you need only to purchase the following for $185: 1 x GEAB25 German Tank Company 110 1 x GBX142 Panzer IV Tank Platoon 50 1 x FW273 Berlin German Book 25 TOTAL $185 We can change this up a bit to give us a variation on the formation using the same combination of models:

Changing up the HQ to Panzer IVs and replacing the second Panzer IV platoon with Hetzers gives us a slightly different flavour with no changes to the points or need to get more models.  We still have the same firepower and six units for the formation break.  The Panzergrenadier Training Platoon get the Pioneer School Command Card for 1pt and allows the Infantry Teams in the unit to cross minefields safely on 4+ and dig in on 4+.  The command cards cost an additional $15.

Next up is the Clausewitz Panther (IR) Tank Company.  This formation is comprised of: 1 Clausewitz Panther (IR) Tank Company HQ  1 Clausewitz Panther (IR) Tank Platoon  1 Clausewitz Panther (IR) Tank Platoon or Clausewitz Jagdpanther (IR) Tank-Hunter Platoon or Clausewitz Panzer IV/70 Tank-Hunter Platoon or Clausewitz Panzer IV Tank Platoon or Clausewitz Tiger Tank Platoon or  0-1 Clausewitz Panther (IR) Tank Platoon or Clausewitz Armoured Panzergrenadier Platoon or Clausewitz Panzersturm Platoon 0-1 Battlegroup Ostwind AA Tank Platoon or Clauswitz Armoured Triple 15mm Flak Platoon or Clausewitz Armoured 2cm Flak Platoon By adding a couple of boxes of armoured flak tracks, we can still use everything from the army deal (except the Panzer IIs) to put together this formation: Clausewitz Panther (IR) Tank Company

Five units for the formation break.  Wespes for the artillery template.  Full Infantry platoon and Armoured Triple 15mm Flak Platoons to anchor the formation and provide firepower for the assault.  We still have all the tanks from the box to provide the main armoured thrust with the King Tigers providing the long-range AT17 or use for assaults.  Just be careful with the platoon of two Panthers being a bit fragile.  Using the IR tanks gives you an advantage when fighting at night by rolling two dice on the Night Visibility table and choosing the highest score to see how far you can see. Another option is to change the configuration of the Armoured Panzergrenadiers to reduce to five teams but gain three half-tracks (1 x Sd Kfz 251 (2cm) and 2 x Sd Kfz 251 (MG) for the same points – just purchase an additional box of Armoured Flak Platoon half-tracks for $30).

To buy this army you need only to purchase the following for $195: 1 x GEAB25 German Tank Training Company 110 1 x GBX180 Armoured Flak Platoon 60 1 x FW273 Berlin German Book 25 TOTAL $195

Finally, the Panzer Battle Group.  This formation is comprised of: 1 Panzer Battle Group HQ 2-3 Battle Group Panther Tank Platoon or Clausewitz Panzer IV Tank Platoon or Clausewitz Tiger Tank Platoon or Clauswitz Stug Assault Gun Platoon or Clausewitz Panzer IV/70 Tank-Hunter Platoon 0-1 Battle Group Hetzer Tank-Hunter Platoon 0-1 Battlegroup Ostwind AA Tank Platoon or Battlegroup Wirbelwind AA Tank Platoon 0-1 Battle Group Escort Platoon By adding a couple more boxes, we can still use everything from the army deal except the Panzergrenadiers, Panzer IIs, and King Tigers to put together this formation: Panzer Battle Group

Six units for the formation break.  Wespes provide an artillery template and two platoons of careful Panthers with the Panzer IVs, Hetzers and Wirbelwinds rounding out the formation.  The Wirbelwinds provide the anti-infantry firepower and AA cover for the rest of the tanks.  If you want to take some infantry, you could change out the Panzer IVs for a full-strength Panzergrenadier (late) platoon giving you a solid infantry unit to defend or assault.

To buy this army you need only to purchase the following for $225: 1 x GEAB25 German Tank Training Company 110 1 x GBX181 Panther (Late) Tank Platoon 50 1 x GBX166 Armoured AA Tank Platoon 40 1 x FW273 Berlin German Book 25 TOTAL $225 If you already own a German army, this is still a good deal to grab your new Panzer IIs and Wespes in plastic and round out the rest of the tanks to complete your collections.

There you have it – some options to ponder for getting started with different formations with the army deal.  Enjoy! ~ John Lee Note: All prices are US dollar retail.