WW2 – Winter Germans – Squad EFFECTIVENESS – Hysnaps Politics, Gaming, Music and Mental Health

So I previously looked at what I could build using the Band of Brothers starter set Germans – WW2 – Band of Brothers – squad Optimisation Part 2, now I am going to plan how to build the Winter Germans, these will potentially be used for the pro nazi French LVF which then became the 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division aka the Charlemagne Division.

Lets have a look at the options for German Grenadiers from the Armies of Germany book.

We have the following options –

Heer Grenadier Squad – Regular
- Min 5 to Max 10men
- Upto 2 SMGs
- Upto 3 Assault Rifles
- Upto 1 LMG
- Upto 4 Panzerfausts.
Heer Veteran Grenadier Squad – Veteran
1. Min 5 to max 10 men
2. Upto 7 SMGs
3. Upto 10 Assault Rifles
4. Upto 2 LMGs
5. Upto 4 Panzerfausts

So we have a max of 30 figures – assuming that we will still need an Officer, lets limit ourselves to 29. I think I’ll take another figure as a Forward Observer – arm them with the flare gun, and another 2 to make a Sniper team. However we also have the Grenadiers from the Band of Brothers to include in any force, so I start with already existing –

1 Officer
3 LMG Teams
1 NCO/ Forward Observer/ Mortar Spotter
4 Riflemen.

So that means I only lose 2 from the potential 30, which will be used to make the Sniper team, and if I add the 10 already existing back in I have 38 figures to work with, we already know that 9 man teams are the best bang for buck – so we have enough to make 4 squads of 9, and 2 men left over. Or as our investigation into Squad effectiveness showed 5 men teams may be better – so possibly 7*5 man teams and 3 men left over.

I’ve been thinking about the Panzerfaust issue – that is how to manage and monitor the number available and used, in the end I have decided to use the Red Explosion Pin markers included in the Band of Brothers set add a couple of the spare Panzerfausts to them and voila we have a Panzerfaust counter, which could handle upto 12 Panzerfausts for a squad. As such I will not use either of the Panzerfaust parts in the set to build any models, this will give me greater flexibility and better trackability.

OK lets hit the figures.. what are our options – now we can either have Regular or Veteran squads, my IMPACTFULNESS calculator does seem to suggest Regular are better value – now is that true if we try multiple smaller units over a few large units.

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These figures just need the Tricolour shield adding to make them ready for the units I wish to represent.

So following my first game with my Fallschirmjagers, small squads with 2 LMGs seem to have an issue that they quickly lose firepower when they take casualties, so potentially I will avoid this. Thus lets have a look at the available options.

Now I am approaching this assessment in a different way – I have now generated a full grid of options for squads from 5 to 12 figures using rifles, SMGs, Assault Rifles and upto 2 German LMG’s. This will allow me to filter the whole results and analyse all the options available. This will rely less on me guessing/thinking up the combinations and more on looking at all available options.

So lets start with the Regular Herr squad –

Squad Size	Options	Average of IMPACT	Max of IMPACT	Min of IMPACT	StdDev of IMPACT	Var of IMPACT
5	20	8.44	11.24	5.51	2.52	6.33
6	12	9.29	10.52	5.51	2.16	4.67
7	13	8.38	10	5.51	2.12	4.51
8	14	7.98	9.63	5.51	1.93	3.71
9	17	9.84	11.57	7.19	1.95	3.79
10	20	9.53	11.26	7.19	1.78	3.17
Totals	96	8.95	11.57	5.51	2.15	4.62

So from analysis of the 96 options we have – here are some observations

The greatest IMPACTFULNESS is generated by a 9 man squad, then a 10 man squad and finally a 5 man squad.
Based on the Averages I will get a better squad if I take any combination for a 9 or 10 man squad, and although I wont get great an IMPACTFULNESS using a 6 man squad I have greater chance of randomly selecting one with a Higher IMPACTFULNESS – this is based on the average of the options for each of the Squad sizes
The lowest IMPACTFULNESS is 5.51 – this is an all rifle unit.

These are easier to see in this Whisker and Block chart, where you can see the large empty areas, the scores are grouped at the Upper Quartile and Lower Quartile, the overall

And if we compare the IMPACTFULNESS by the Squad Cost in Points we see unsurprising a relative link between points spent and MAX IMPACTFULNESS but you can also see the large gaps in the middle.

So what are the most impactful and what are their points cost –

IMPACTFULNESS – 11.57 – 9 Man Squad – 2 Rifles, 2 SMG’s, 3 Assault Rifles, 1 LMG team – 131 points
IMPACTFULNESS – 11.52 – 9 Man Squad – 3 Rifles, 1 SMG, 3 Assault Rifles, 1 LMG Team – 128 pts
IMPACTFULNESS – 11.26 – 10 man squad – 3 Rifles, 2 SMG’s, 3 Assault Rifles, 1 LMG Team – 141 pts
IMPACTFULNESS – 11.24 – 5 man squad – 3 Rifles, 1 LMG Team – 70 pts
IMPACTFULNESS – 10.52 – 6 Man squad – 4 Rifles,1 LMG Team – 80 pts

I would be tempted to build 2 of the 131 point squads as assault squads, and use the 11.24 point squads for 3 more squads.

If I do this I’d need

5 LMG Teams of 1 LMG and 1 Rifleman
4 SMG’s
6 Assault Rifles
15 riflemen

Leaving me with 5 figures to create an officer, forward observer, medic/second officer and sniper team. this would cost me 472 pts for the core squads, 50 for a regular sniper, 50 for the 2nd lieutenant and 100 pts for the Forward Observer (artillery), to this I could add a Sdkfz 222 and a Panzer III G to get an anti partisan force.

IMPACTFULNESS Calculator for Bolt Action