FOW TACTICS: Having Panther For Breakfast
New Flames of War players often struggle with opposing the Panzer V “Panther”. However, while they were superb machines, they have as many weaknesses as strengths.
High frontal armor. Excellent mobility. Good long-range penetration. Rated Confident Veteran at worst. What’s not to be afraid of? The Panzer V is a beast in Flames of War, and with good reason: designed with German thoroughness and incorporating the best aspects of the Russian tanks they encountered on the Eastern Front, the Panzer V is widely regarded as having been the best medium tank of the war.
And you, gentle readers, are just the officers to take that reputation down a peg.
Get Un-psyched
First let’s get rid of any psychological indoctrination the Germans may have put into your heads.
- Panthers will beat any single Allied machine in a straight fight. Luckily, FoW is points-based.
- Panthers will burn a lot of your tanks. Luckily, tanks are not the only unit in FoW.
- Panthers will prove difficult to destroy. Luckily, FoW is not won by killing the other guy’s Panthers.
Panther Weakness 1: Numbers
CV Panthers cost almost exactly twice as much as their older Panzer IV brethren, and are no better in a number of ways. This is the Panther’s greatest weakness, and in fact is several weaknesses in one.
First, anything that doesn’t know the difference between AT11 and AT14 is half as vulnerable to Panthers. Light vehicles, guns, infantry and transports would much rather face Panthers than any other German medium tank. Bailing 1 Panther of 3 in shooting is enough to permit an infantry assault in the next Step; bailing 1 Panzer IV of 6 is not even close.
Second, any damage you inflict costs the Germans doubly. This is particularly nice because you can often only get 1 German tank under an artillery or airstrike template; hitting a Panther is like getting two! Smoke bombardments are larger, and if you can get 2 Panthers under one you’ve essentially invalidated a fifth of the German force for a turn.
Panther Weakness 2: Side Armor
Panthers’ side armor rating of five is not impressing anyone; in addition you may note that they lack the Schuerzen, or skirts, of lighter German tanks. These combines to mean that any Panthers caught in the flanks by even light tanks are sweating, and Bazooka or PIAT defensive fire absolutely terrifies them.
Panther Weakness 3: Top Armor
Panthers are no tougher than a Panzer II from the top, and all Germany’s enemies in Flames of War are well-poised to take advantage of this. Keep ranging artillery on them and they will have to move away from the Ranged In marker; keep them moving away from markers or infantry and their already-limited 6 shots go down to a miniscule 3. Suddenly they are not even that great at what they were bought for!
Panther Weakness 4: No Protected Ammo
OK, so maybe lacking a special rule should not technically count as a weakness. But Panthers are most frequently Confident, and a 50% chance of such a pivotal playing piece sitting out a turn is a big deal. Going back to Weakness 1, you’d have to bail out 8 Panzer IV’s to have the same effect!
Hopefully these Panther-specific tips help you put Jerry where he belongs. How to deny any kind of Veteran armor its advantages is another subject entirely that I hope to cover in a future post. Do you frequently face German heavies? If so, what have been your methods for dealing with them?
