Panzer-Lehr

 is an Axis Armored division in Steel Division. With Panzer-Lehr being formed from an instruction unit, most of its members were instructors or seasoned veterans. One of the Reich's most elite Panzer divisions, Panzer-Lehr was the best equipped one, even possessing its own Tiger & Tiger II tanks.

Bayerlein was more of a skilled and cold-minded Panzer specialist than a dashing frontline commander. He was one of the few German commanders to have served in almost every stage of the war. A WW1 veteran, Bayerlein was a staff officer during the Interwar, and served in the early campaigns of WW2 under none other than General Guderian & Rommel.

In 1943, he was given command of 3. Panzer Division on the Russian Front, which he managed to save from an encirclement, leading it in a breakout against Hitler's order to stand and fight… and was rewarded with command of the elite Panzer-Lehr for that feat! Yet he resented this 'heavy' division being wasted in the close-fighting in Normandy, where it couldn't give the best account of itself.

Bayerlein never shied away from transgressing orders, especially those that he considered militarily absurd or inhuman: he resisted the deportation of Hungarian Jews from his division's sector, refused to apply the scorched-earth policy in Germany, and despite threat against his life and that of his family's, organised the mass-surrender of his troops in the Ruhr instead of having them fight and die to the end.

Tactics
With only a few light vehicles and a weak economy in Phase A, Lehr has to be patient. It starts to improve in Phase B, yet still with a wanting economy. Phase C, on the other hand, opens the floodgates of the German arsenal, with all the heaviest and latest vehicles, backed by a very good economy.

Real World Composition

 * Panzer-Lehr-Regiment 130
 * Panzergrenadier-Lehr-Regiment 901
 * Panzergrenadier-Lehr-Regiment 902
 * Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 130
 * Panzeraufklärungs-Lehr-Abteilung 130
 * Heeres-Flak-Artillerie-Abteilung 311
 * Feldersatz-Bataillon 130
 * Panzerjäger-Lehr-Abteilung 130
 * Panzernachrichten-Abteilung 130
 * Panzer-Versorgungstruppen 130
 * Verwaltungsdienste 130
 * Sanitätsdienste 130
 * Veterinär-Kompanie 130