Rommel !!

Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel, popularly known as the Desert Fox, was a German field marshal of World War II. He earned the respect of both his own troops and his enemies.

History

Rommel was a highly decorated officer in World War I and was awarded the Pour le Mérite for his actions on the Italian Front. In World War II, he further distinguished himself as the commander of the 7th Panzer Division during the 1940 invasion of France. His leadership of German and Italian forces in the North African campaign established him as one of the most able commanders of the war, and earned him the appellation of the Desert Fox. He is regarded as one of the most skilled commanders of desert warfare in the conflict. He later commanded the German forces opposing the Allied cross-channel invasion of Normandy.

Rommel is regarded as having been a humane and professional officer. Orders to kill Jewish soldiers, civilians and captured commandos were ignored. Later in the war, Rommel was indirectly linked to the conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Because Rommel was a national hero, Hitler desired to eliminate him quietly. He forced Rommel to commit suicide with a cyanide pill, in return for assurances that Rommel's family would not be persecuted following his death. He was given a state funeral, and it was announced that Rommel had succumbed to his injuries from an earlier strafing of his staff car in Normandy.

In Flames Of War

I have to say, After using Rommel multiple times in Flames of War, I love his special abilities...

Fingertip Feeling: Rommel was said to have Fingerspitzegefuhl, a fingertip feeling for battle. One German platoon in Line of Sight of Rommel may make a normal move within its deployment area after both sides have deployed but before any Reconnaissance Deployment moves.

Herr General: If Rommel's Command team is Destroyed during a game the German war effort has suffered a severe blow, despite any other gains. The German player loses one Victory Point and their opponent gains one Victory Point at the end of the battle.

Mammut: As well as Greif, Rommel also travelled in a Mammut (Mammoth), a captured Dorchester Armoured Command Vehicle, name Max. Feel free to model him with Max rather than Greif, but keep the vehicle characteristics the same as for Greif.

Rommel at the Point: 'Rommel an der Spitze' was a common cry in the Afrikakorps where Rommel led from the front. Any German platoon in Line of Sight of Rommel may re-roll any failed Motivation Tests and failed Skill Tests to make Stormtrooper moves.

Rommel is a Warrior and a Higher Command team rated as Fearless Veteran.

Rommel is mounted in Greif (meaning both Griffin and Attack), his Sd Kfz 250/5 half-track, and can join any Panzerkompanie (Page 24), Afrika Schützen (Page 26), or Panzerpionierkompanie (Page 30) in North Africa for +50 points.

A force led by Rommel may include an Escort Platoon equipped with captured Honey Stuart tank (rated as Confident Veteran) as an additional Support Platoon for the above costs.

While not game breaking like Patton, I like the extra Recon move BEFORE any other recon moves occur. This can allow you to make a mad dash towards an objective or help put you into a better position prior to your opponent moves.

And you failed your stormtrooper roll? If Rommel can see that team, roll again! Failed a motivation test and he's in line of sight - Roll again! The bonus to this? He doesn't have to join the platoon to allow the reroll of the motivation test! So if the platoon that fails their motivation to stay or flee the battlefield and Rommel lets them retake the test, and they fail again, Rommel doesn't disappear - just that platoon does.... How cool is that?

Here are the pictures of Rommel and Greif - enjoy!

I magnetized Greif so that I can take it off the base as needed.

I even added rut marks in the ground for Greif!