Continuing off our previous article about the Waffen-SS in Flames of War, we take a look at how the new SS units perform in battle and how they can be used either as a standalone force or alongside their Heer Counterparts.
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Waffen-SS and the Heer
As mentioned previously, the Heer and the Waffen-SS had a fractious relationship. The initial performance of the Waffen-SS during the invasion of Poland left a lingering impression on German high command that the SS officer corps was poorly trained and that their troops were overly aggressive and took heavy casualties. However, with the subsequent re-structuring of the Waffen-SS, in particular the transfer of Heer officers to act as Chief-of-Staff for better coordination, and the direct support of Hitler, the Waffen-SS performed well enough in the invasion of France, advancing further than any other unit and stopping just 250 miles from Paris, leveraging on their propensity for aggression to overwhelm defensive positions. Hitler was understandably pleased at this show of force, and personally congratulated the Leibstandarte division, telling them, "Henceforth it will be an honour for you, who bear my name, to lead every German attack." (Flaherty, T. H. (2004) [1988]. The Third Reich: The SS.)
With the direct support of the Fuhrer and their own command structure, the Waffen-SS were essentially their own army. While this chaffed Heer command, the need for manpower on the eastern front demanded that the Waffen-SS be deployed as frontline units again and again on the steppes of Russia. This brutal grind inflicted grevious casualties on the Waffen-SS divisions and they were rotated out to rear-line duties outside of OKW command, and participated in heinious anti-partisan and policing duties, leading to many massacres and atrocities.
By 1943, the Waffen-SS divisions were reorganised into Panzergrenadier divisions in France, and rapid recruitment to shore up losses meant that they had lost their moniker as 'elite' units, with most of the foreign SS divisions being only good for rear-line duties.
Having lost none of their spirit of raw aggression, however, the SS Panzer corps were responsible for most of the furious fighting after the loss of the 6th Army at Stalingrad. Leading a counterattack to capture Kharkov, the SS panzer corps disobeyed direct orders to hold positions and instead directly attacked the city, leading to 4 days of block to block fighting and inflicting more than 70000 casualties on the Soviet army at the cost of 44% losses to the division.
One of the reasons for this fraction between the Heer and the Waffen-SS was that the Waffen-SS, while subserviant to German High Command, also took orders from SS operational command as needed. This dual command system meant that the Waffen-SS would in theory answer to the army corp, but in practice would often go off and do their own thing in the field.
Field Marshall Erich von Manstein best sums the relationship up:
"...Yet, bravely as the Waffen-SS divisions always fought, and fine thought their achievements may have been, there is not in the least doubt that it was an inexcusable mistake to set them up as a separate military formation. Handpicked replacements who could have filled the posts of the NCOs in the Army were expended on a quite inadmissible scale in the Waffen-SS, which in general paid a toll of blood incommensurate with its actual gains. Naturally this cannot be laid at the door of the SS troops themselves. The blame for such unnecessary consumption of manpower must lie with the men who set up the special units for purely political motives, in the face of opposition from all the competent military authorities. In no circumstances must we forget, however, that the Waffen-SS, like the good comrades they were, fought shoulder to shoulder with the Army at the front and always showed themselves courageous and reliable. Without a doubt a large proportion of them would have been only too glad to be withdrawn from the jurisdiction of a man like Himmler and incorporated into the Army."
(Manstein,e. [1955] Lost Victories: The War Memoirs of Hitler's Most Brilliant General, p.187)
Hammer and Anvil
Let's take a look at what the Waffen-SS brings to the table that distinguishes them from their Heer/Luftwaffe counterparts. As mentioned in the first article, the Waffen-SS's biggest distinguishing factor is their aggressiveness in battle, represented by their 3+ to hit stat. Besides that, players have also noted that they are lacking in the anti-tank department with the SS-panzergrenadiers, being able to only take panzerfausts compared to Heer Panzergrenadiers, which boast multiple shreks.
In summary:
Pros:
+ Good equipment lineup
+ Excellent morale, rally, counterattack and assault values
+ Cheap (for German) points costs
+ cheap anti-tank guns and artillery formation support
Cons:
- 3+ to hit profile
- Mediocre anti-tank capabilities on infantry
- locked into an aggressive playstyle
- very poor scouts (3+ to hit at the same points cost as Heer!)
Compared to their more defensive Heer counterparts, the Waffen-SS are suited to aggressive manuvers to best make use of their superior numbers and morale. In defense they are easily taken out by massed artillery where cheaper and more inferior units will suffice. If used as a partner formation to a Heer tank or infantry company, the SS will almost always be either fire support or a fire brigade to shore up weak points.
Units of note:
We've already gone through SS Panthers and SS Panzergrenadiers with a fine-toothed comb and everyone knows what they are about, so let's look at the rest:
SS Tigers
Clocking in at just 1 point more per tank than their Heer variants, the SS tigers are the ultimate apex predator on the assault, with 2+ counterattack. Uniquely among their SS brethren, SS Tigers are 4+ to hit, representing the pinnacle of panzer training and motivation. A common sight for any assault oriented army and a frequent black box addition to any German force.
SS Panzer IVs
The wet dream of any German commander, the SS panzer IVs may be easily hit, but you can bring a lot of them to bear down as a cavalry force. On average a 4-tank platoon costs barely more than a 3-tank Heer Platoon, bringing more bang for your bucks.
ATG teams
ATG Teams such as the Pak40 and 88s are valuable additions to any German force, and the SS ATG teams have a few quirks to them. In particular, they have a fantastic rally value, which makes them rock hard in the face of MG or artillery fire. The PAK40 teams can only bring a 3-gun platoon, but the tradeoff in points and reliability mean that they will always have a place as fire-support in any SS or Heer formation.
Artillery
While the infantry guns and mortars have nothing much to write home about, the SPGs of the Waffen-SS are potent because of their significant points discount. Cheaper Wespes and Hummels will go a long way towards pounding recalcitrant infantry and gun teams into submission.
Listbuilding in flames of war
With most of Asia's players coming in from Team Yankee, I'd like to give a few tips on listbuilding here.
Unlike Team Yankee, Listbuilding in Flames of War is subject to a few quirks, namely the sharing of formation support choices between books and command cards. This leads to some mental gymnastics for newer players when starting out because of the potential combinations between armies (eg. Waffen-SS armies with Fortress Europe formation support 'representing' an eastern front force).
We normally recommend to build armies in the following manner for ease of mind:
1. Select a formation which best suits your force you are representing. Whether it is a Waffen-SS Panzergrenadier formation fighting in Normandy or a Panzer company on the eastern front, this will set the direction for the rest of your force.
2. Fill out the formation as much as humanly possible. Formations in Flames of war are quite fragile, especially tanks given their scarcity, so it is generally a good idea to fill up beyond the compulsory black boxes to keep your units sticking around on the battlefield!
3. Select a formation support table from the book of your choice. At this point, Germans have Fortress Europe, D-Day and the Waffen-SS book, so there is no shortage of options to flesh out your force. Just remember to budget some points in!
4. Select command cards if needed. Command cards are a much discussed about option to the game, and serve primarily as flavour to represent specific formations from history on the tabletop. In practice however, the command cards sometimes lead to some 'gamey' moments in listbuilding, especially when it comes to cards which give discounts to units (and light tanks), leading to large amounts of salt online. The most common command card by far is the 'Lucky' card, which gives a universal re-roll for 1 point. Almost-always taken if you have the points to spare, this re-roll is the difference between a win and a loss on either a counterattack or armor save, so use it wisely!
Summing it up
The Waffen-SS book is a valuable addition to the Flames of War inventory, and for many people will give them the chance to field one of the most infamous fighting units in history. Do look forwards to more articles on Flames of war, especially for the upcoming Bagration series!
About the Writer:
Eddie is an avid painter who also enjoys anime, studying military history and hopes that Girls Und Panzer will come true one day so that everyone can resolve their differences with tank Airsoft.
