Peiper Down: The New SS lists in the Ardennes Offensive

By Mitch Reed

One of the first articles I wrote for this blog was a piece in my “Lists We Play” series where I talked about some of my favorite Waffen-SS lists.  One of the lists I did mention in that piece was KG Peiper from Battlefront’s Devil’s Charge book, which at the time was relatively new.  The new Ardennes Offensive (AO) book augments the Waffen-SS force that took part in the offensive by adding two new lists which I will detail in this article.

Much like my last article on the Waffen-SS I want to reiterate my distaste of the actual SS, however their inclusion in the game does cause us to remember their history and helps us ensure that we never see another organization like that again.

KG Hansen
In my overview article on AO, the I said that KG Hansen is like KG Peiper without the tanks - however there may be more to this list than what I assumed at first glance.  The biggest reason why players would shy away from a list like this is because it is rated a Fearless/Trained instead of Fearless/Veteran like most other Waffen-SS units.  However, being that these guys are trained means that you are paying less for then as you would vets and in a true Bulge themed tournament, where they use the snow and fog rules these guys may not get shot up so much. 

One thing I didn’t like about this list was the lack of types of tanks you can pick, however I forgot how great the Panzer IV/70 (V) is.  They have a front armor of 9, and a gun which has an AT of 14, which at 390 points for a platoon of three is not too bad. They do have some downsides: they move slow, have glass sides (side armor 3) and are overloaded.  However placing these in ambush would be deadly to any American tank the Battle of the Bulge book.

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Flames of War Panzers to the Meuse from The Ardennes Offensive

I mentioned how much I liked the Panzers to the Meuse (PTM) lists in my overview of the Ardennes Offensive (AO) previously and I wanted to go over why these lists are so much fun and competitive.  These lists were first released as a PDF, and then again as part of the Devil’s Charge Digital Exclusive and now they find themselves in AO, and I hope that other German players will see how great these lists are.

Much like everything else in the German inventory you are paying premium prices for quality equipment. You will never have a huge force on the table with any PTM list, however you will have an aggressive force that is a blast to play.
The basic lists contained in all the PTM releases are a Panzer Company, a Gepanzerte Panzergrenadier Company, a Gepanzerte Aufklarungs Company, and a Panzergrenadier Company.  However each of these lists can be fielded for the 1nd, 9th, 116th, or Panzer Lehr Divisions that each have their own distinct flavor.  So PTM is really a collection of 16 very unique lists and the options each contain are vastly different.
Another key element of the PTM lists are how some of them are “Always Attacks” and some units get the “Spearhead” special rule.

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Flames of War - Vehicles of the 761st Tank Battalion

With the new Bulge compilations on the horizon, one of the new lists being added to the Allied compilation are light and medium tank companies from the 761st Tank Battalion - the first African-American armored unit to see combat in the U.S. Army. The unit has a very fascinating history fighting essentially their own version of a "two-front war" against prejudice and bigotry at home and against the Germans in Europe. I won't go through the unit's full history here, but there are several good books covering the unit including Joe Wilson's The 761st Black Panther Tank Battalion in World War II and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's (yes THAT Kareem) Brothers in Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Battalion, WWII's Forgotten Heroes.

Organized as a independent battalion with four combat companies and an HQ, the unit used a variety of medium and light tanks, though the exact mix was different than seen in some of the standard armored divisions. Companies A, B, and C were medium tank companies and used a variety of Sherman tanks. Company D was a light tank company equipped with Stuart tanks until the end of the war.

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The Ardennes Offensive Reviewed and Spoiled

As someone who loves to play with his Panzer’s, I was very excited when I had the opportunity to review “The Ardennes Offensive” the new release from Battlefront that covers the fighting along the German frontier from late 1944 until early 1945.  This book combines the German lists from a few previous releases such as Blood, Guts, and Glory, Devil’s Charge, Nut’s, and some downloadable content that was available from the Flames of War website such as Panzer’s to the Meuse.  In the past I have played a few lists that have come out of these books, and was interested to see what this new release had in store for these older lists as well as what new lists they had to offer. 

The 234 page book features all of the background history of the campaign and the units involved in the fighting; but most of us want to know about this lists.  The Ardennes Offensive (AO) features over 20 core lists, with a few of them having different options depending on what unit you wish to model your force after.  You have a lot to choose from in AO, from top of the line Panzer units featuring the biggest of cats to units that represent the last ditch effort of Germany to stave off defeat.

I plan to review each group of lists to give you better insight as to what this book has for the dedicated Germany player.

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