12. Volksgrenadier (list)

12. Volksgrenadier Division (LW German – NUTS!)

HQ – AR/PF, AR/PF + PzShreck
Sturm Platoon – Full
Schutzen Platoon – Full
Mortars (8cm) – 2 Sections
MG – 2 Sections
Scouts – 2 Rifle Squads, Command AR/PF
3 StuG G (late)
Light Artillery – 3 10.5cm
Me 262 A2a Sturmvogel – Sporadic Support

1550pts – 7 Platoons

The biggest issue that this list will have is the lack of anti-tank guns.  I really wish I could get some PaK40’s in there, but as I only have 2 guns and no crews I decided to leave them out for the time being. 

Should I run into a tank heavy list I imagine I will try to move to a good position and dig my infantry in, then let the tanks come to me.  Somehow, I do not imagine they will, considering the number of Panzerfaust’s that are present.  My artillery and mortars can keep a smoke screen up for movement, while I can try to use my Air Support to hit high value targets.  The StuG’s will be there to defend against enemy light armor.  Still, parts of it look fragile. 

The scouts will give me the Always Attack rule against other infantry lists, as well as a Spearhead move for my Sturm and Shutzen  platoons.  That should work for getting them fairly close to their targets early on. 

This is a departure from any sort of force I have fielded before.  It has both offensive and defensive attributes.  I play armor, not infantry.  Having to play defensively will be a new experience, so I imagine there will be a bit of a learning curve for me.  Still, I am excited to try it.  I played a generic Grenadier list for the Infantry Aces campaign and did fairly well.  It should teach me things about infantry that I might be able to use when playing armor, which is good considering the trouble I usually have against them. 

For 1750 the only real change would be to add the 3 PaK40’s and a battery of 3 NW41’s, while dropping the Panzershreck team.  Not totally sold on that idea either.  If I can scrape the models together for enough PzShreck teams, I could just as easily drop the NW41’s in favor of 3 more PzShreck teams (I would have to change the StuG’s back to regular rather than late models).

An alternate for 1750 that would work much better has me replacing the StuG’s for 3 Panthers from the 12.SS-Panzerdivision (making them Fearless Trained instead), and dropping the MG Platoon for a battery of 6 NW41’s.  Guess I need to get the rest of my Nebelwerfers done up.

Nothing about this list screams tournament winner to me.  But, I am interested in playing it and it looks fun, so does that really matter?  It is a constant struggle with my inner power-gamer.  I want to win (who doesn’t?), and have been known to choose my armies based on that.  Going with an actual unit rather than a generic list is part of my attempt to get away from that, so I guess I will see what I can do with this.  It was cheap to put together with models I (mostly) already had and is from a battle I have a lot of interest in (the Ardennes Offensive / Battle of the Bulge).  PLUS, as a ‘reward’ to myself for getting this done, I can always expand into a US Airborne army in the form of the 101^st (specifically, E Co, of “Band of Brothers” fame) if I want to have an opposed force from the same battle.

Next up, I am going to go over my armored lists. 

(note - Since writing this, LW points have gone up to 1780.  I have work to do)