SS-Panzerpioniers - Order of battle considerations

Some time ago I decided to collect and play Gepanzerte Panzerpioniers, and I still want to remain faithful to that. Panzerpioniers were really strong in FOW V2, but in V3 their strength was limited a little bit. I'm still working on models, but it is time to also think about the order of battle.
I have some experience with SS-Panzergrenadiers. I was able to prepare a well-balanced order of battle that enabled me to face nearly all opponents with high chances of winning or ending with tie.
Unfortunately, I start to realize that with Gepanzerte Panzerpioniers it will be really difficult to find a good roster. First of all, I know only two briefings for Gepanzerte Panzerpioniers, and only one for SS is in Earth & Steel. They usually get a limited number of supporting options - especially in SS briefings. They are also expensive as hell - especially SS, which is of course a typical for elite forces. A little bit better situation is with Heer Panzerpioniers briefing available at BF site. However, I have lots of SS-infantry stands, and nearly no Heer stands, so I would have to paint too much infantry to field them right now.

To sum it up. I'm looking for a universal Gepanzerte Panzerpionier order of battle that is capable of fighting with all type of forces with a chance of winning - I don't like to prepare for any particular kind of opponents.

I have doubts about the rosters I considered. Maybe you will be able to help me? Maybe you know other books where can I find other rosters that are V3 compliant?

The other thing of course is that I have some models right now, and I would like to limit the necessity of painting new ones.

Roster proposals:

2nd SS - 4 platoons with StuGs and Barkmann (1745)

Company HQ = 75+90
- 2x Panzerfaust SMG - 20
- 2x SdKFz 251/2 8cm - 70

SS-Panzerpionier Platoon = 365
- 3x Squads - 315
- Panzerfaust SMG - 10
- Goliat - 30
- 1x Additional SdKfz 251/7D - 10

SS-Panzerpionier Platoon = 385
- 3x Squads - 315
- Panzerfaust SMG - 10
- Goliat - 30
- Opel Maultier - 30

Ernst Barkmann Panther A = 275

SS-Assault Gun Platoon = 435 - 4x StuG G

SS-AA Gun Platoon = 120
- 3x AA 3.7 FlaK43
- 3x Opel Blitz (Portee option)

Remarks:

• Four platoons with many independent teams gives a great number of points on table from the beginning. You always start with Barkmann and mortars, and depending on mission type you can add pioniers and AA guns or pioniers and StuGs, or even two platoons of pioniers.
• Two platoons of pioniers - the first one is an offensive one with additional half-track, the second one is more defensive with support vehicle to ease digging in.
• As an attacker against infantry I'm going to use the advantage of mobility and strong platoons - I think it will be difficult to defend against such a sea of half-tracks supported by five tanks. Especially in "no retreat" mission, when defender has limited forces at  the beginning. In fair fight against infantry, I will follow a "hit fast, hit hard" strategy taking advantage of strong platoons on the table early on (I could start with 1240 points on table). The good option is also to use the AA guns that have a portee option - this can help them to participate in attack.
• Against tanks, I will have to defend. I feel that I will have a problem when facing companies with large number of tanks (e.g., Soviets, Brits, etc.), because I have only 5 AT guns (AA guns have AT 6, so they will not help much even on side armor) . Pioniers use to be deadly for tanks (with flamethrowers and goliath rules), now it will be the hardest part. In fair fight missions I will probably dig in at the beginning, and try to play for a tie - trying to eliminate as many tanks I can, and looking for a chance to move one of pionier platoons on an objective if it is left without protection. I think I may try to play also a little bit agressive with StuGs - still there are 4 tanks that can be used to flank enemy trying to break through the wall of pioniers. In defensive battle I will probably dig in and leave StuGs in ambush.
• One of the problems is lack of true artillery - I have only mortars that can be used rather for smoking enemy positions.

2nd SS - 4 platoons with Tigers and  Barkmann (1750)

Company HQ = 75+90
- 2x Panzerfaust SMG - 20
- 2x SdKFz 251/2 8cm - 70

SS-Panzerpionier Platoon = 355
- 3x Squads - 315
- Panzerfaust SMG - 10
- Goliat - 30

SS-Panzerpionier Platoon = 355
- 3x Squads - 315
- Panzerfaust SMG - 10
- Opel Maultier - 30

Ernst Barkmann Panther A = 275

Heavy SS Tank Platoon = 480

- 2x Tiger 1 E

SS-AA Gun Platoon = 120
- 3x AA 3.7 FlaK43
- 3x Opel Blitz (Portee option)

Remarks:

A similar roster to the previous one - the only main difference is about exchanging 4 StuGs to 2 Tigers. Which is better? To be honest I don't know. Tigers are of course solid tanks, however, they are also less predictable due to Tiger Ace Skills. Moreover, instead of four potential targets for artillery there will be only two, so they will be easier to kill by aircrafts or heavy artillery. They give also less ROF. On the other hand, they have two pros. First of all, they have thick side armor which helps in protecting from mass of advancing light tanks. The second benefit is a long range gun, that enables to stay behind the line of infantry and knock out enemy tanks.

Unfortunately, I would have to buy and paint additional Tiger to field this company (which doesn't seem to be a problem).

2nd SS - 6 platoons with Marders and  15cm (1750)

Company HQ = 75+20
- 2x Panzerfaust SMG - 20

SS-Panzerpionier Platoon = 375
- 3x Squads - 315
- Panzerfaust SMG - 10
- Goliat - 30
- 2x Additional SdKfz 251/7D - 20

SS-Panzerpionier Platoon = 355
- 3x Squads - 315
- Panzerfaust SMG - 10
- Opel Maultier - 30

SS-Assault Gun Platoon = 215 - 2x StuG G SS-Tank-Hunter Platoon = 230 - 3x Marder IIM

SS-AA Gun Platoon = 120
- 3x AA 3.7 FlaK43
- 3x Opel Blitz (Portee option)

Motorised Heavy SS-Artilery Battery = 360
- 4x 15cm sFH18

Remarks:

• First of all, I have to admit that I don't have most of the minis that are in the roster (Marders and 15cm guns), so it is rather a long-term proposal.
• Six platoons means that I could start with three of them on table.
• It would be great in defending against tank companies. It has a very strong artillery that could either use bombardment or play the role of heavy AT guns (ROF 1, AT 13, FP 1+). Marders would be great in ambush. Actually, if you consider all the heavy AT guns that people have in Late War it doesn't make so much difference if you have an armor rating of 6 or 0 - still it is about surviving fire power tests and remounting after bail out (protected ammo for the win!). There are also two StuGs to support infantry in attack.
• This order doesn't have much vehicles that could be thrown to support pioniers in assault against infantry. Only two StuGs can do the job right. Still Marders could help by distracting defenders tanks and AT guns.

What do you think?

Meet my army: Part VI - SS-Panther Platoon

I finally managed to finish the SS-Panther platoon I was working on recently. It was also a platoon that I experimented on with the couple of new techniques.
First of all, I used an airbrush to paint the camo for the first time. Unfortunately, I had problems with leaking air, but somehow I managed to paint what I needed. Second technique was filtering. It is a technique quite similar to washing, but you have to dilute the paint little bit more (I used oil paints and turpentine) and use nearly dry brush, which is the main difference from wash (where you apply dots of paint). It gives really nice effects. You can apply many layers and observe how colors change. I started with a mixture of brown and black and than applied couple of layers of light ochre. Finally, I tested a new technique for foliage camouflage.


You can find couple of photos below and the full gallery here.

I plan to use the panthers together with the SS-Panzer Pioniers I'm currently working on. We will see how they work together. 

However, I had a chance recently to test the panthers against Kondziu and his new Soviets from the Red Bear book. I prepared a Panzergrenadier Kampfgruppe form 5th SS division "Wiking" from the Grey Wolf book. It was really sad to see how ten T-34/85 and three SU100 chased my trained panthers here and there... sad...really sad.

Hans is a good commander, he navigates well in the unknown terrain

Ups... Hans had a wrong uniform, now it is correct...

Meet my army: Part V - Heavy SS-Panzerspäh Platoon

Actually, I should write about my panzerpionier platoon to make it in the proper order, but couple of additional half-tracks are still waiting to be painted, so I feel justified to skip them for a second ;)

So today, I would like to present the platoon that I recently painted - Heavy SS-Panzerspäh Platoon. It consists of SdKfz 231 8-rad vehicles.

Although the platoon is denoted as "heavy" it is a little bit misleading if you consider the late war period ;) To be honest the SdKfz 231 8-rad is pretty useless in engagement against most of the armored vehicles (OK maybe you can try to knock out half-tracks or mobile AA guns). However, it was not intended to be used for this purpose. I recall the words said by some german veteran who stated that the best recon patrols could be recognized by looking at the muzzles of their vehicles - the one that has no signs of gun powder or soot is the best :) Panzerspäh just should avoid going into combat. It is more important to remain undetected than to burn couple of trucks...

Personally, I plan to use them to support my infantry in assault against other infantry units. They will sneak near the enemy and reveal their position with the "eyes and ears" special rule. They can also provide fire support with their MGs and 2cm gun (ROF 3 and FP 5+ makes them more effective against dugged-in infantry than MGs). I also plan to use them to engage enemy artillery - of course mainly the one that can't fire back ;)

I had an opportunity to try them once against Finns. They were engaging BT-42 with a doubtful success ;) FP 5+ makes it hard to knock out any armored vehicle. Still I like them and I definitely give'em a try :)

Gallery

The SdKfz 231 8-rad models you can see below were produced by Battlefront. They are really nice models, however, the plate at the front of the vehicle is missing two parts between the plate and vehicle's frontal armor. I made them from the blister cover.

I tried to whether them by adding many small scratches to their armor to reflect the damage that would normally be done by the difficult terrain they have to go through. I also added some foliage camouflage - not much to not spoil the model.

German universal unit markers

I've not been posting recently much, but I am back today with a new sheet of unit markers for Germans. As maybe some of you remember I have small markers attached to bases of my infantry teams to inform about their type and platoon they belong to. If you haven't seen them yet, you can find my previous markers [here].

Unfortunately, the markers were limited to 2nd and 12th SS only. Because of the new books that will be published in few days by BF (covering also SS-units at Eastern Front), I've decided to prepare a new set of markers that are not bound to a specific division. I also introduced couple of changes to them. First of all I removed officer insignia - I think people were not able to see them from the distance, and honestly there are probably few people that could recognize them. I also decreased the size of the marker and tried to emphasize the most important information - the type of team (the icons were not always self-explanatory for the people who were playing with me for the first time).

If you like them feel free to use them in your own forces. You can download markers from [here].

Meet my army: Part IV - SS-Rocket Launcher Battery

Actually, there is not much to say about the Nebelwerfers NW41... It is a must have for any german player.
It is extremely cheap (even for SS companies) option for quite powerful artillery support. Because it is a rocket artillery, it doesn't suffer from range-in penalties. However, your enemy can range-in based on smoke trails, but from my experience it doesn't matter much :)

What you can see below is the content of NW41 blister, plus one additional Kubelwagen as a transport team for the observer.

Gallery

Meet my army: Part III - SS-Scout Platoon

Although it may not seems so at first glance, the SS-Scout platoon is one of the most interesting units available in Flames of War (Late). It is a little bit expensive, you have to pay 180 (+5) points for the large version of the platoon, but it really pays off. So what do you get for these points? Hmm, only and as much as four stands of infantry ;)
These four bases form one of the most flexible infantry units. In its basic form, the platoon is treated as a recon platoon, which is very useful if you have to attack another infantry company. You get recon movement at the beginning; if the platoon is used correctly, it can prevent from exposing your forces for a nasty ambush; and what is extremely useful it can use "eyes and ears" rule to remove gone to ground from other units. Of course you cannot forget that it has cautious movement ability, which makes it very difficult to hit if you can move in cover (e.g. through fields or forests). To sum up, you can send these boys in front of your panzergrenadiers to prepare the attack.

This is not all, of course. They are even more fun if you are a defender (which highly probable if you are playing SS-Panzergranadiers). You can exchange each MG team with the SMG Panzerfaust team. They loose their recon capabilities, but they become real tank hunters. I rarely use them in that form as a separate platoon, but you may also make attachments to other platoons - what I do frequently. Just imagine... You have two core SS-Panzergrenadier platoons. Each of them has two teams with Panzerfausts. For instance, you can attach two additional teams to the platoon that is defending your front lines and the remaining one team to the second platoon. Assuming that you have your CHQ and 2IC in 6'' range of that platoon, you are able to use six Panzerfausts if someone decides to assault your forward platoon. I don't think there is any tank platoon that can survive such punch :) In order to assault, your opponent will have to spend couple of rounds on softening your defense with heavy fire.  This gives your guns hidden behind your infantry enough time to cause serious casualties in enemy platoons.

Modeling

Battlefront provides a special set GE819 that contains tank hunter version of the platoon. Mine, however, was composed from the minis that remained from the my SS-Panzergrenadier box, and some random german figures. I added also a blister of Schwimmwagen jeeps and BMW motor bikes as transport.

Gallery

Here is a whole platoon, with all configuration options:

Schwimmwagens in action...

The recon version of the platoon:

Tank killers:

BMW motor bikes:

Meet my army: Part II - SS-Panzergrenadier Kompanie

Front cover of the GBX18 box set

Today, I would like to continue the section called "meet my army", and present the core forces of my company. It was the second box I bought from Battlefront -  GBX18. The box gives you a solid base for the SS-Panzergrenadier kompanie. It contains:

• 2x HQ with 2x panzerschreck teams
• 2x SS-Panzergrenadiers platoon (6x MG team and 1x SMG / Panzerfaust command team)
• SS Light Anti-tank gun platoon (3x 7.5cm PaK 40)
• SS Heavy platoon (4x HMG) - the one I rarely use

SS-Panzergrenadier company during assembly

The minis are great, you will find soldiers in many interesting poses enabling to compose two types of bases - dynamic and static.

The good point about the box is that if you combine it with a platoon of tanks or assault guns (e.g., StuGs), it will give you a battle-ready company for 1500-point battles. If you add a battery of nebelwerfers you are ready to successfully fight in 1750-point battles.
It's really cost-effective, however, if you are starting your adventure with FOW, I would recommend you to consider it twice before you decide to collect SS forces. They are in fact a nice option for beginners, because they are elite force, expensive in game points - which results in less models you have to buy to field a tournament-level company. However, their uniforms differ significantly from the other German forces, so you will not be able to easily change rosters. It may sound odd at the beginning, but when your collection of models expends you will want to field most of them for sure. If you can live with that, you will be really pleased to see how enemy panzer platoons brake their teeth on your stone-hard panzergrenadiers :)

Gallery

Here are some photos of my SS-Panzergrenadiers. For sure, you will find many better painted figures at Battlefront forums, nevertheless I feel no reasons to be ashamed :)

SS-Panzergrenadier Kompanie

Company HQ with additional transport teams that are not included in the box set:

SS-Panzergrenadier platoons in action:

PaK 40 teams silently waiting for tanks in ambush:

Heavy machine gun platoon - every yankee nightmare...