START COLLECTING: IMPERIAL GERMANY

So you've chosen to march with the Kaiser’s finest shock troops, the German Intervention Divisions? A good choice mein freund. In this article, we’re going to cover how to start collecting a German force for 1918 using the Force Lists and Unit Profiles in the 1918: Spring Offensive book.

Choosing a Force List and Doctrine

First off the bat, you need to decide what kind of force you want to field and how it's going to fight. The Spring Offensive book contains one Force List for Imperial Germany, the Intervention Division. This is an elite, aggressive formation, well-suited to the attack but also capable of taking a defensive posture when needed.

In 1918, a player’s choice of Doctrine shapes their force’s composition and how their force will fight. Each player selects their Doctrine during force construction before selecting the units which make up their force. There are three Doctrines to choose from:

• Grand Offensive 

• Lightning Assault 

• Tactical Defence 

To cover all bases, let's take a look at how we can put together an initial core force that will work with any Doctrine choice, and then how we might add additional units to adapt it to suit each Doctrine. 

(Note: For now, let's ignore the option to take Allies in our force, after all, this is an article about collecting Germans…).

Core force

Every force in 1918 starts with a platoon at its heart. The Intervention Division Force List requires us to take at least one Rifle Platoon (Intervention). We can also take up to three more such platoons  (i.e. a full company’s worth) if we are playing a big enough game. Being part of an Intervention Division, the Rifle Platoon (Intervention) is made-up of well-trained and well-equipped soldiers specializing in attacks and counter-attacks. As such, the platoon has a good base profile with Veterancy 4+, Initiative (6+) and the Elite and Shock Troops keywords. We also have the option of taking up to one Storm Platoon (we’ll leave this option for now, but come back around to it later).  

The German Rifle Platoon (Intervention) is built around two mandatory light machine sections and a mandatory HQ section, with up to three optional rifle sections in addition. We need plenty of infantry so let's take the three mandatory sections, which form a strong base of fire with their MG 08/15 machine guns, and one of the three additional rifle sections to act as a manoeuvre element. The HQ section comes with a Sergeant (the Germans were heavily reliant on NCOs as platoon leaders) but let's also add a Lieutenant for some additional Leadership capacity and an insurance policy against in-game misfortune. In terms of miniatures, we can cover this off nicely in one fell swoop with the German Rifle Platoon bundle. 

No German force should take the field without at least one MG 08 HMG to provide solid long-range suppressive firepower. So let's add one of those. With a few pieces of equipment and upgrades, this gives us a solid 150pt core force for our early games which we can then build out to the ' ‘standard’ (reinforced platoon) game size of 300pts. 

Grand Offensive 

This Doctrine choice enables us to take more tanks in our force than normal, to use a Creeping Barrage, and to use the Doctrine Gambits specific to it. The latter includes the ever useful (and aggressive) Over the Top and the Nation-unique Bruchmüller Bombardment. 

Battalion Support

Adding a 7.6cm Light Minenwerfer (essentially a sort of rifled mortar) opens up plenty of new tactical options: it allows us to drop smoke in useful places to block line of sight, conduct gas attacks to harm and hamper enemy soldiers, illuminate targets at night, or just lob good old HE bombs over intervening terrain. However, we will definitely need more firepower to properly cover our advance and therefore a Light Artillery Battery, which can be assigned to fire a Creeping Barrage, fits the bill nicely. 

Divisional Support 

Although a comparatively rare sight in WW1, who doesn't love a German tank? We have the option of a captured British Mark IV or the Teutonic homegrown effort, the monstrous seven-gunned A7V heavy tank. Due to our Doctrine, we can actually take both if we want, so let's do that! There are perhaps more optimal choices but this will certainly be plenty of fun. 

Fortifications are not high on our list of priorities for this Doctrine, so let's skip those. So with a few extra tweaks here and there, this is our force: 

Lightning Assault 

What self-respecting German player doesn't want to conduct a lightning assault? This Doctrine gives us a +1 bonus to the Initiative roll each turn, and allows us to take extra units with the Spray or Indirect keywords, such as flamethrowers and minenwerfers. 

As previously mentioned, we can take a Storm Platoon as part of the Intervention Division Force List, so let's do that as it pairs very well with the German LA Gambit, Infiltration Tactics. The mandatory sections are an HQ section and two Storm Sections. However, it's a big points sink, so we'll need to drop the Lieutenant  from the Rifle Platoon (Intervention) HQ to free up some points for support. 

Battalion Support   

A 7.6cm Light Minenwerfer is a solid choice and a Light Artillery Barrage gives us plenty of options, including the ability to timetable a smoke barrage to screen off dangerous fire lanes so that we can get nice and close. 

Divisional Support 

Now let's talk about flamethrowers. They're very short ranged and fairly fragile, but they hit very hard and they're cool as hell. Our Doctrine lets us take two, so let's take two, that way, at least one is likely to get close enough to flame the enemy trenches.  

Tactical Defence

Last but not least, let's look at defence. This is not the speciality of the Intervention Division but don't fear, it can still hold the line in a pinch and packs a strong counter-punch. This Doctrine lets us take more units with the Suppressive keyword and more Gun Teams. It also grants us a +1 bonus to Command Tests for off-table Artillery Units.

However,  we suffer a -1 penalty to our Initiative roll each turn, so we better not count on going first particularly often. 

Battalion Support

Machine guns are excellent when playing defensively (and are still very useful on the attack for that matter). The Overwatch keyword allows them to potentially shoot multiple times each turn so long as enemy units keep triggering their Reactive Fire. Let's max out and take three MG 08 HMGs in total. One good way to slow down the enemy is to block their advance with a barrage. So let's add the useful (and economical) Machine Gun Barrage to our force. 

Divisional Support 

The 7.6cm Field Gun can shoot a variety of different ammunition types, including AP to take on armoured vehicles. It also has a very long range and can even be upgraded to gain an Indirect Fire capability. We can take an extra Gun Team because of our Doctrine, so let's take two. 

Fortifications 

The Intervention Division is more limited in the fortifications it can take compared to many other Divisions. However, there are still plenty of good options. A Minefield and six sections of Barbed Wire should allow us to channel the enemy into a killzone if placed well. And if we add a couple of Slit Trenches, that will help us to shelter our vital machine gunners from enemy fire. 

Concluding thoughts 

So there we are - a core 150pt force for any Doctrine, and three variations to take it up to 300pts. There's also loads more to explore in the Spring Offensive book as the Doctrine and Force Lists system in 1918 gives you huge variety and access to many units we haven't even touched on above, such as the Forward Observer, 1.3cm Anti-tank Rifle Team or Machine Gun Marksman. And that's before we even get into the additional units, platoons, Force Lists and Doctrines (not to mention new nations) we have planned for the Western Front for the future.