"If the tank succeeds, then victory follows."
- Major-General Heinz Guderian, "Achtung Panzer!"
(500 points) The German Army regarded its Panzer Grenadiers as well qualified for certain defensive tasks, especially the defense of broad sectors, because of their extensive allotment of light, medium, and heavy guns. If the Panzer Grenadiers have reached an objective well behind the opposition's front lines, they were oftentimes instructed to halt an advance made at considerable sacrifice (even though they might be able to continue it) so that troop units which are not motorized can be given time to come forward. Now in stock!
Release Date: September 2005
Historical Account: "Heroes Road" - Formed from volunteers of the Nazi youth movement, the average soldier in the SS Panzer Division Hitler Jugend was barely 18 years of age when it was constituted in 1944. Led be such veteran field commanders as Kurt Meyer and Fritz Witt, 12.SS Panzer was sent to France in April 1944 where it was stationed south of Paris when the Allies landed in Normandy that June. It was quickly sent north where they first saw action at Caën and then again at Le Capiquer.
12.SS withdrew from the front on July 11th, after suffering grievous losses at the hands of Allied units. It next saw action at Falaise, where it was tasked with keeping the exit to the Falaise pocket open as long as possible so that other German units could withdraw in good order. While it achieved its objective, the Division was almost completely destroyed and had to be re-formed in Germany with new volunteers. The unit fought in the Ardennes during the bitter Battle of the Bulge, and again in Hungary before ending the war in Austria in May 1945. |
