"What's that?", says I.
"Well it'll be a D-Day theme tournament celebrating the 70th anniversary of Operation Overlord", says Al.
"Oh cool!", says I.
"What you going to run?" Asks Al.
Hmmm..... What am I going to run? The title of this post gives you the final answer I came up with, but this leaves out a lot of list construction, head scratching and digging through my pile of lead. My first thought was this, what would be fun? If my first early war tournament taught me anything it is that any list I run has to be fun! I'd be fielding a German force (balancing out Al fielding Allies) which left me with options ranging from static infantry regiments to Tiger based heavy tank companies. The Tigers were very tempting, as was a Panzer IV company, however I had fielded all tanks in early war and fancied a change. So how about the other end of the spectrum, Grenadiers or a static infantry list? Well no, they were too far the other way and I've played them many times before. So how about the elite Fallschirmjager? Well tempting, but they are already very popular lists in late war tournaments and would no doubt be well represented by other players. Hmmm.... perhaps my pile of lead would show the way! After all I had two months until the tournament, plenty of time! I looked through my pile of lead and plastic and found a load of half built 251 C & D half tracks.... Which I immediately put aside in favour of two Grille H self propelled infantry guns! Well who wouldn'?! It is a armoured box on tracks with a large calibre gun sticking out of it! I immediately starting assembling them!
And then I started looking for a list in which i could field them. Not many for a D-Day themed tournament (Overlord and Atlantik Wall army books only). Well the SS has them - no too rascist. Panzer Lehr has them too. Panzer what? Panzer Lehr? Elite armour infantry and tanks from one of the best trained and equipped formations in the entire German army? Lots of cool looking half tracks that I just so happen to also have lurking in my pile of lead? Yes Please!
So Panzer Lehr it was, a decision based entirely on a tiny support platoon they happen to have access too and the fact I turned out to have everything I needed for them all ready to be built and painted. On to list construction proper!
List construction is a minor hobby in it's own right, it is a fine art that I regularly butcher in quests to be able to squeeze such war winning units such as German armoured trains, or perhaps create a formation made up entirely of one type of Italian tank with biplane support thrown in for good measure. This time it would be different though! This time I'd be sensible! This time i could.... fit Grille Hs, a unreliable King Tiger and 3 88mm AT guns in he same list! No bad!
Right, a sensible and fun list! First to consider what are the Allied players going to be fielding. Well Al reckoned and was proven right by predicting Churchill heavy tanks as being a popular choice. So how could my Panzer Lehr deal with these heavily armoured, decently armed but slow tanks? The answer while looking over the list was obvious 88mm AT guns, Tigers and Panthers. Well the 88mm AT gun battery were a sound choice. Add extra crew and this unit of 3 guns can throw and awful lot of heavy AT fire down range and even prove useful against infantry and possibly even allied aircraft at a push. So the 88s were in. Now we need to mobile firepower. Panther or Tiger? Well the choice was fairly easy in the end, although the iconic Tiger will always have that certain boxy appeal, the Panther tank can do everything the Tiger can, but for less points per tank, with a slightly better AT gun and slightly thicker front armour giving it the edge. Yes the Tigers have their Tiger ace skills, but you seem to pay a lot of points for what is in reality a randomized dice roll on a chart and lets be honest, you never roll the skill you really want or need to make them worth it. So 88s and Panthers in, Tigers out.
But what of the core platoons I hear you cry! Well they were easy choices. What is not to like about confident / veteran rated infantry mounted in half tracks?! I'll take two full platoons please! Now it is at this point I really started to consider one of the cool tournament features of Sturm uber Normandie, the 570 point swap out. Before each game, after knowing whether you would be attack or defending and knowing the unit that your opponent is fielding, you can choose between two different army lists with a difference of 570 points total. So naturally I decided on this, one list for attacking with and one list designed to defend.
With the attacking list I opted for the basic HQ platoon of the Oic and 2ic in half tracks, two platoons of infantry mounted in half tracks, 4 panthers for tank support, the half track mounted mortar platoon to put out smoke screens or to pinned down enemy infantry, a couple of nebelwerfers for the same job (i anticipated needed a lot of smoke to cover my advance) and a half track recon platoon.
For the defense list i opted for the HQ platoon in half tracks with added AT section of two panzerschreck teams in their own half track, two platoons of dismounted Lehr infantry, one platoon of mount Lehr infantry, 3 88mm AT guns and 3 Panthers. On the defense the AT guns and dismounted infantry would be deployed on table with the Oic with the job of holding until the mobile mounted Lehr infantry, Panther tanks and a mini platoon of the 2ic and panzerschreck teams arrived.
But what of the awesome Grille H SPGs I hear you cry! You know that unit that put you on the fieldin this army? Have you no sense of loyalty?! Well no. I will one day be running these awesome little guys, but unfortunately Panzer Lehr units are expensive and I simply couldn't fit them in either of my lists. Next time!
Next up: Project Panzer Lehr Part Two.
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