I picked up my copy of BG&G at the LGS on Saturday and promptly devoured it from end to end. The purpose of this post isn't to do a blow by blow review of the new source book. Stevie Mac and the boys at WWPD have already done a great review of it.
Normally I'd steer clear of a book focusing on the Western Front. However, there are a couple of things in the book that compelled me to make the purchase...
As Sinsynn would say..."Yeah, him.". Behold the beautiful, stylish and chin mantlet-liscious Panther Ausf G (late). It's one of the first tank models I ever made and it's held a special place in my heart ever since. When it was clear that this tank was going to be in BG&G, I knew I had to get my greedy paws on it.
Now that I've done cleaning up after myself, let me speak of the two German armored lists which can field this magnificent beast.
First up...
I posted the TO&E for the FHH Panzerkompanie because the "regular" Panzerkompanie shares the same framework. The major difference between the FHH Panzerkompanie and the other PzKp is due to this other big beast...
Nice! No zimmerit either! I hate zimmerit. It's an abomination and a spawn of all the worlds evils. Perhaps I'm over exaggerating, but I'm still traumatized by a model in my youth that was covered with the stuff.
The FHH gets the Panzer IV L(70), while the Panzerkompanie gets Panzer IV J's and StuGs. The Panzerkompanie seems to be a better choice for me because of the Panzer IV J. I can proxy the Panzer IV J to be an Panzer IV H in the Grey Wolf list I'll be making (ditto the Panthers). The Panzer L (70) is very cool looking and a menacing machine of destruction, but I don't want to own 10 Panzer IV H's and 10 Panzer IV J's. Heresy, I know.
Now with list compatibility paramount in my design, I can do a couple of things.
Panther Heavy List
2x Panther 260
4x Panther 520
4x Panther 520
4x Panzer IVJ 240
3x Wirbel 110
10 Panthers for 1,650 points!
Panzer IV J List
2x Panzer IV J 120
4x Panzer IV J 240
4x Panther 520
4x Panther 520
4x Wirbelwind 150
6 Panzer IV J, and 8 Panthers for 1,550 points. It's the best option if I want to use the most Panzer IV's in conjunction with the Panthers.
I've noticed it's tough to get to the point levels of tournaments like 1,575, 1,625 and 1,750. There aren't no upgrade options with the panzer platoons. They are what they are.
I think platoons of 4 tanks have more staying power than 3-tank platoons, especially with the Trained rating. Having that extra "live" tank may make a huge difference when calculating when it's time to check morale.
The last 40 pages of BG&G is Tank Aces. A journey through 500, 700 and 900 point levels. The included map is very cool, along with the "character sheet" where you can track the progress of your Tank Ace (including notching up kill rings on the sheet). I'll definitely use Tank Aces for MW and LW Eastern Front battles.
BG&G has something that should appeal to everyone, not just American players. Have a look at your LGS. I doubt you'll be disappointed. The graphic layout and production style that started with Version 3 continues in BG&G. Pictures and diagrams explain all the new special rules. Great work, BF. It was $$ well spent for me.
I keep thinking about picking up the book, I was unsure about RT Panthers but the more I read about it on WWPD the more I'm interested to see them on the field.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for my copy to arrive at my LGS.
ReplyDeleteThough I still have my doubts how well a RT Panther list perform against other lists.