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Holding the Weser-Aller Line
Design Notes

Gaming
Holding the Weser-Aller Line
Humour and Stories
Fielding the 2nd Marine Infanteriedivision
Rankings
With Alexander Costantino
Rules Updates & Downloads
Tactics The 2nd Marine Infanteriedivision was founded during a
V4 Unit Cards
time of desperation in the Wehrmacht. Due to the strain of a
two-front war, German war industry could no longer lavishly
equip divisions to the same standard as just a few years
Recent Articles prior. And equipment the army did have was falling into
Late War Soviets for New Players disuse as they could no longer afford to fuel or repair it.
White Death: Mid War Finnish Forces Even with these constraints, after two months of equipping
1942-43 Spotlight and training the 2nd Marine Infanteriedivision was
Beginner's Guide to Getting Better at considered in good fighting condition and rushed to the
Flames Of War front.
Firestorm: Kursk
Due to the conditions of the German army on the Western Front, the Marines did not have much access to heavy
Firestorm: Stalingrad
equipment. This means the artillery, aircraft and panzers that had formed an integral part of German strategy in battles
Railway Anti-Aircraft Guns prior, could not be relied upon to carry the battle any more. That put the brunt of the fighting effort on the infantry,
Bulge: German Recon Formations which is reflected in the way this list plays in Flames Of War. While the Marines on the ground could not rely on armor,
4th Edition Useful Downloads
air, or artillery they could rely on heavy fire support from massive flak guns that could penetrate any allied tank in
existence and fire large high-explosive shells to clear out attacking enemy infantry. Some of these flak guns were also
Bulge: German Flak Half-Tracks
mounted on rail cars and used as a base of fire during defensive operations. The special rules for these mounted flak
Holding the Weser-Aller Line guns make their initial volleys in game devastating, but they are very exposed once the enemy knows they are there.
Historicon 2022 Results
Building a D-Day German Puma Scout
While definitely lacking it the Marines were not completely without heavy equipment. Several Tiger 1E tanks from KG
Company Grosan fought with the Fusilier Battalion at Essel and Schwarmstedt. In addition two Hetzers also fought alongside the
Hungarian Heavies
battalion, but these quickly ran out of ammunition and retired. At Verden the 7th Regiment were eventually supported
by the 10.5cm leFH18/40 and Russian-made 12.2cm FH396(r) guns of the divisional artillery, which arrived later in the
Artillery In World War III: Soviet campaign. Another formation supporting the Marines known as KG Totzeck brought with it 15cm NW41 and 21cm
Fielding the French in Late-war Flames NW42 rocket launchers that supported the Marines.
of War
Those Haughty Germans: Fielding
German Forces From Great War
EXCITING TIMES – THE BRITISH ARE
COMING!!
Getting Started in the Great War with
Brett’s Brawlers
Getting started with the French in Great
War
Angriff! Or, Getting started with ‘Steiners
Stosstruppen’ in Great War

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In addition to their heavy fire support, the Marines also benefited from their tremendous fighting spirit. This came as a
shock to the British advancing towards the Weser and the Aller, who had expected light resistance from broken and
demoralised army units. The Marines’ dogged defence at places such as Rethem and along the banks of the Aller
earned them the in-game rating of fearless to reflect their willingness to fight and die defending the Wesel-Aller line.
The defensive core of any Marine-Grenadierkompanie will be your infantry. These marines are equipped with
everything they need to hold objectives and deny the enemy victory. On the defence, their Panzerfausts make
armoured assaults unlikely to succeed, and their assault rifles and machine guns make infantry assaults just as
difficult. Their motivation makes them difficult to pin and fearsome in close combat assaults. Attaching heavy machine
guns to these infantry platoons makes them even more resilient to attack.

With the Defending the Weser and Aller special rule, this
list will be defending most of the time, which plays to the
strengths of the list. In fair fight missions, however, this
list will be forced to manoeuvre, which takes some skill
with a list that lacks a lot of motorised transport, which
was characteristic of the German army in 1945. Mobile
battles, while still allowing you to defend, will require you
to hold objectives you are not allowed to deploy on,
making the mobility of your forces important there as
well.

At lower-point battles this list excels; your core infantry platoons are cheap enough that you can easily fit them in with
enough support to counter all likely opposition. Below is an example of what a 75-point force might look like.

Marine-Grenadier Company (Berlin: German Command Card) Points

Headquarters
Marine-Grenadier Company HQ
(Bulge: German Volksgrenadier Company

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with Berlin: German 1st & 2nd Marine-Grenadier Divisions
command cards applied)
2x StG44 assault rifle team with Panzerfaust 5

Combat Units
Marine-Grenadier Assault Platoon
7x StG44 assault rifle with MG42 and Panzerfaust 10
Marine-Grenadier Assault Platoon
7x StG44 assault rifle with MG42 and Panzerfaust 10
Add 1x Panzerschreck anti-tank team 1
Marine-Grenadier Rifle Platoon
7x MG42 & K98 rifle team with Panzerfaust 9
Add 1x Panzerschreck anti-tank team 1

Weapons Units
Marine-Grenadier sMG42 Machine-Gun Platoon
4x sMG42 HMG 3
Marine-Grenadier 8cm Mortar Platoon
4x 8cm mortar 5
Marine-Grenadier 7.5cm Tank-hunter Platoon
3x 7.5cm gun 10
Marine-Grenadier 15cm Gun Platoon
2x 15cn infantry gun 6

Support Units
Tiger Training Platoon (Formation Support Unit)
2x Tiger (8.8cm) 15

Total 75

As the point level increases you can strengthen the infantry, as well as increasing their support. Below is an example
of a 100-point list.

Marine-Grenadier Company (Berlin: German Command Card) Points

Headquarters
Marine-Grenadier Company HQ
(Bulge: German Volksgrenadier Company
with Berlin: German 1st & 2nd Marine-Grenadier Divisions
command cards applied)
2x StG44 assault rifle team with Panzerfaust 5

Combat Units
Marine-Grenadier Assault Platoon
7x StG44 assault rifle with MG42 and Panzerfaust 10
Add 2x Panzerschreck anti-tank team 2
Marine-Grenadier Assault Platoon
7x StG44 assault rifle with MG42 and Panzerfaust 10
Add 2x Panzerschreck anti-tank team 2
Add 1x sMG42 HMG 1
Marine-Grenadier Rifle Platoon
7x MG42 & K98 rifle team with Panzerfaust 9
Add 2x Panzerschreck anti-tank team 2
Add 1x sMG42 HMG 1

Weapons Units
Marine-Grenadier sMG42 Machine-Gun Platoon
4z sMG42 HMG 3
Marine-Grenadier 8cm Mortar Platoon
4x 8cm mortar 5
Marine-Grenadier Tank-hunter Platoon
4x 7.5cm gun 13
Marine-Grenadier 15cm Gun Platoon
2x 15cn infantry gun 6

Support Units
Tiger Training Platoon
2x Tiger (8.8cm) 15

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Ardennes SS Pazergrenadier Platoon
7x MG42 team with Panzerfaust 10
Luftwaffe Heavy AA Platoon
4x 8.8cm AA gun 6

Total 100

At higher point levels the list will start running into things such as heavy tanks and large amounts of artillery that can
punch holes into the infantry. The higher the points, the more this list will struggle, as the only thing you can really do
is create a more integrated defence and weather the oncoming storm, much as the Marines did in 1945. Also included
in this list are rail-mounted flak guns. These can fit into most lists, but are especially deadly when fielded in larger
numbers, which is possible at higher point levels. Below is an example of a 120-point force.

Marine-Grenadier Company (Berlin: German Command Card) Points

Headquarters
Marine-Grenadier Company HQ
(Bulge: German Volksgrenadier Company
with Berlin: German 1st & 2nd Marine-Grenadier Divisions
command cards applied)
2x StG44 assault rifle team with Panzerfaust 5

Combat Units
Marine-Grenadier Assault Platoon
7x StG44 assault rifle with MG42 and Panzerfaust 10
Add 2x Panzerschreck anti-tank team 2
Marine-Grenadier Assault Platoon
7x StG44 assault rifle with MG42 and Panzerfaust 10
Add 2x Panzerschreck anti-tank team 2
Marine-Grenadier Rifle Platoon
7x MG42 & K98 rifle team with Panzerfaust 9
Add 2x Panzerschreck anti-tank team 2
Add 1x sMG42 HMG 1

Weapons Units
Marine-Grenadier sMG42 Machine-Gun Platoon
4z sMG42 HMG 3
Marine-Grenadier 8cm Mortar Platoon
4x 8cm mortar 5
Marine-Grenadier Tank-hunter Platoon
4x 7.5cm gun 13
Marine-Grenadier 15cm Gun Platoon
2x 15cn infantry gun 6

Support Units
Tiger Training Platoon
3x Tiger (8.8cm) 23
Ardennes SS Pazergrenadier Platoon
7x MG42 team with Panzerfaust 10
Luftwaffe Heavy AA Platoon
(with Twin 8.8cm Rail AA Gun command card)
4x Twin 8.8cm AA Railway gun 16
Luftwaffe 3.7cm AA Platoon
3x 3.7cm AA gun 3

Total 120

While this list lacks some of the heavy firepower many German
players are accustomed to, it does boast reliable and well-
equipped infantry. And these infantry platoons can be supported
by a variety of flak, anti-tank and infantry support weapons to
create a hornet’s nest for attacking armies. Whether you are a
German player looking for a new way to play your infantry, or just
an infantry player who prefers a defensive style of play, these
Marines will do it for you.

~ Alexander

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