Now that Armies of Germany: Third Edition is well and truly out in the wild, we’re taking a more in-depth look at the options presented by the Defend the Fatherland! special rule. We’re starting off with the Fallschirmjäger, the elite German airborne troops – how they play, what kinds of forces you can make with them, and how you can use our range to assemble your army. Let’s jump in!
The Defend the Fatherland! option for turning your units and teams into Fallschirmjäger is nice and simple – take them as Veteran, and give them Stubborn for +1pt per man. Right off the bat, this largely informs us of what kind of force these paras will be – smaller, more elite, and harder to get rid of than your average ‘bods’! Handily, Fallschirmjäger fought all the way through the war, and they feel quite distinct in the Early, Middle, and Late periods of Bolt Action. With the help of the Warlord Games App, we’re going to put together an army list for each period, look at how it’s designed to work on the table, and see how we can build it using our extensive German ranges!
Early War Glider Assault List – View Army List
This list is heavily themed around the assault on the Belgian fortress of Eben-Emael in May 1940, where a small group of handpicked Fallschirmjäger landed on top of the largely subterranean complex in a precision glider borne landing. Using flamethrowers and demolition charges, the paratroopers were able to destroy many of the turrets and gun positions, and trap the much larger Belgian garrison underground, eventually forcing a surrender.
As everything had to come in by glider, this list doesn’t include any heavy weaponry, nor any armoured support – instead, it’s composed of Stubborn Veterans with plenty of short-range firepower, who’ll look to get up close and personal. As such, this is a list that will reward an aggressive playstyle, making use of the survivability of its units to get across the board quickly and get to grips with the enemy. Every unit has to do some heavy lifting here, particularly the Rifle Platoon Commander who makes good use of the Fallschirmjäger ‘extra man’ option to lead a rather nasty little squad into battle!
When it comes to modelling this force, we’re presented with a great opportunity for some kitbashing and ‘painting solutions’. Our late-war Fallschirmjäger kit is the perfect base, and simply by painting the Knochensack jump smock in a plain green rather than camouflage (our Rapid Deployment US Army Green is a good choice here) you can get them looking much more early-war. For the flamethrower teams, the new German Veteran Infantry box provides a ready source of plastic parts that require only slight fettling to fit, while the new Winter Fallschirmjäger kit supplies all the uncovered paratrooper helmets you need (these seeming to have been the vogue in the period). Other assembly is really simple – avoid the assault rifles and Panzerfausts, and you’ll have an early war Fallschirmjäger force in no time at all!
Western Desert List – View Army List
This force is designed to represent a fairly ‘generic’ force of Fallschirmjäger in Africa, operating in a primarily defensive role to try and hold back the advancing Allies. While still relatively lightly equipped, as this is not an airdropped force, it does include some support weapons to enable it to more effectively take on enemy armour and infantry – naturally, these are all crewed by paras!
The core of any Bolt Action force is the infantry, and with three large Fallschirmjäger squads in the Rifle Platoon, this force has plenty of bodies that will be tough to shift from defensive positions and can take and hold objectives. Backing them up is a nice mixture of anti-tank and anti-infantry firepower which, if well-emplaced, can be a nasty surprise for any attacking force – underestimate the Light AT Guns at your peril! This army is designed to play in a more defensive or counter-attacking style, absorbing pressure and incoming fire before hitting back and seizing the initiative.
Troops in the desert tended to wear whatever was most comfortable – usually, not a great deal if they were working hard! Our metal boxed set of Fallschirmjäger in tropical uniform is a perfect starting point to inform your modelling choices, but you can really go to town with kitbashing here. Again, combining our late-war Fallschirmjäger plastic kit with the new German Veteran Infantry will give you plenty of options for your infantry, and you can also incorporate components from the plastic Afrika Korps or even British 8th Army kits for that ‘desert’ look! The Afrika Korps weapons and artillery teams, with their crew largely shirtless and in shorts, are ideal for your artillery, and if you want to go the extra mile you can clip off any heads wearing army-style Stahlhelms and replace them with plastic paratroopers’ helmets. Simply paint them up in a desert tan (Army Painter Brownish Decay Speedpaint 2.0 is what I’d go with), and they’re good to go.
Late War European Defenders – View Army List
Our final Fallschirmjäger force represents the iconic ‘Green Devils’ resisting the Allied advance through Europe, and has plenty of fun toys to play with – while our previous lists have been at 1,000 points, this one is at 1,250 to let us bring some heavier equipment, including some armour. At this stage of the war, the Fallschirmjäger were deployed almost exclusively as elite infantry, meaning we don’t have to worry about any of their kit being air-mobile!
This compact, hard hitting force of tough veterans is built around a strong infantry core – the large Platoon Commander team and first squad are absolutely packed with automatic weapons and will look to get up close and personal, while the second squad has a pair of LMGs to act in more of a defensive fire support role. The Rifle Platoon also includes a couple of really interesting units, with the Green Fallschirmjäger providing low-cost bodies at the expense of staying power (representing those raw recruits used to replace casualties at the end of the war, even in elite units), and the Spähtruppen using their Infiltrators ability to start the game deployed well forward. The second component of the force is the armoured platoon, with the StuG III menacing enemy armour with its powerful cannon, while the Wirbelwind ‘Flakpanzer’ looks to absolutely shred any infantry or light vehicles foolish enough to get in range. While low on order dice, every unit in this army packs a serious punch, and can be played either offensively or defensively as the mission requires.
Getting this force on the tabletop couldn’t be simpler. Our new plastic Winter Fallschirmjäger kit lets you build all of the infantry, and with the addition of the plastic StuG, resin and metal Wirbelwind, and a Warlord Resin sniper team, you’re good to go! The winter oversuits can be painted in a huge variety of colours, from snow-white through to various shades of green and grey, as well as camouflage, while the tanks are a great opportunity to practice your whitewashing technique or really go to town with some late-war camo patterns. If you’d prefer a slightly less chilly-looking army, you can simply substitute the Winter Fallschirmjäger for the same late-war plastic boxed set used to make the other forces.
Start Your Collection
Armies of Germany: Third Edition makes it possible to field an entire army of Fallschirmjäger for the first time in Bolt Action – these are just some of the possible themes and combinations that you can build! Now… get ready to jump!
