Panzerschutzenkompanie

And another to add to the list. This one is very similar to the previous army (Schutzenkompanie) posted here. Just switch out the trucks for the Sd Kfz 251/1s

HQ

- Company HQ - 60 pts

Combat Platoons

- Schutzen Platoon - HQ w/Anti-tank rifle, 3 Schutzen squads - 265 pts

- Schutzen Platoon - HQ w/Anti-tank rifle, 3 Schutzen squads - 265 pts

- Schutzen Platoon - HQ, 3 Schutzen squads - 245 pts

Weapons Platoons

- Schutzen Machine-gun Platoon - 2 sections - 135 pts

- Schutzen Mortar Platoon - 3 sections - 180 pts

- Schutzen Infantry Gun Platoon - 65 pts

Divisional Support 

- Assault Gun Platoon - Comm. plus 2 StuG A - 495 pts

- Self-propelled Infantry Gun Platoon - 135 pts

- Tank-hunter Platoon - 4 Panzerjager I - 335 pts

- Bunker Flak Platoon - 2 Bunker Flak - 450 pts

Total - 2,630 pts

Cheers

Dave

Schutzenkompanie

You've seen the first two tank companies here, and here. Now I can start on the infantry companies. First up is the Schutzenkompanie. These were the best infantry in the German army, loaded onto trucks to keep up with the Blitzkrieg advance of the German armor.

HQ

- Company HQ - 45 pts

Combat Platoons

- Schutzen Platoon - HQ w/Anti-tank rifle, 3 Schutzen squads - 200 pts

- Schutzen Platoon - HQ w/Anti-tank rifle, 3 Schutzen squads - 200 pts

- Schutzen Platoon - HQ, 3 Schutzen squads - 180 pts

Weapons Platoons

- Schutzen Machine-gun Platoon - 2 sections - 135 pts

- Schutzen Mortar Platoon - 3 sections - 180 pts

- Schutzen Infantry Gun Platoon - 65 pts

Divisional Support 

- Assault Gun Platoon - Comm. plus 2 StuG A - 495 pts

- Self-propelled Infantry Gun Platoon - 135 pts

- Tank-hunter Platoon - 4 Panzerjager I - 335 pts

- Bunker Flak Platoon - 2 Bunker Flak - 450 pts

Total - 2,420 pts

Cheers

Dave

Mittlere Panzerkompanie

As promised, here is the second of the army "lists" from my collection, the Early War Mittlere Panzerkompanie (or Medium Armored Company).

HQ

- 1 Panzerbefehlswagen, 2 Panzer II C (early) - 120 pts

Combat Platoons

- Mittlere Panzer Platoon - 4 Panzer IV D - 600 pts

- Panzer III Platoon - 3 Panzer III E - 390 pts

- Panzer II Platoon - 4 Panzer II C (early) - 180 pts

- Panzer II Platoon - 4 Panzer II C (early) - 180 pts

Weapons Platoons

- Leichte Platoon - 1 Panzer II C (early) and 4 Panzer I - 195 pts

Divisional Support 

- Panzerschutzen Platoon - HQ, 3 Schutzen squads - 245 pts

- Bunker Flak Platoon - 2 Bunker Flak - 450 pts

Total - 2,360 pts

Three more armies to come, all using what I already have painted.

In Ogre news, I got a hold of a Golgfag, a Firebelly, and a Bragg yesterday. I was severely disappointed with the quality of the Firebelly, so once the Flames Of War posts are complete, prepare for a rare dose of vitriol on my blog.

Cheers

Dave

FOW Panzergranadiers - Part 7

Another quick update for you all after another busy weekend of birthday parties, street fairs, ghost tours, and crab feasts. The things we do to keep our children entertained ; )

Above you can see my Infantry Gun Platoon, armed with the 7.5cm leIG18 light infantry guns. Their role was to advance with the infantry attack, taking out hazards like enemy machine-gun nests.

I also painted up a platoon of Panzer IV Ds for the Mittlere Panzerkompanie. For Early War, these tanks are very well equipped, boasting some of the highest armor and (tank mounted) anti-tank ratings of the period.

I also started on some Panzer 38(t)s for the Czech Panzerkompanie list. These are some tanks that will also be able to be fielded in a Mid-War list.

And finally, here is Erwin Rommel ready to invade France in 1940. I'll be able to add him to a few of the Early War German lists.

Well, I've taken a few more photos of the current collection and I'll reveal those each day this week in a new army list each time, so you get a chance to see how it could all be fielded.

Cheers
Dave

Leichte Panzerkompanie

I started working on this project to see just how easy (or difficult) it could be to build up a collection of Flames Of War models that could span numerous lists and periods during the war. Well, I have been pleasantly surprised by the speed with which I've been able to assemble and paint these 15mm models. Sure, they're a lot smaller than the 28mm I'm used to so they should take less time, but I'm pleasantly surprised by just how much less time and by the techniques common to both scales.

Anyway, this is the first of a series of posts of Army Lists and accompanying photos of the models I have painted for them. First up will be a "journey" through the Blitzkrieg Early War book, starting with the Leichte Panzerkompanie.

HQ
- 1 Panzerbefehlswagen, 1 Panzer I, 2 Panzer II C (early) - 155 pts

Combat Platoons

- Leichte Platoon - 1 Panzerbefehlswagen, 2 Panzer I, 2 Panzer II C (early) - 200 pts

- Leichte Platoon - 1 Panzerbefehlswagen, 2 Panzer I, 2 Panzer II C (early) - 200 pts

- Panzer II Platoon - 5 Panzer II C (early) - 225 pts

- Panzer III Platoon - 3 Panzer III E - 390 pts

Divisional Support 

- Panzerschutzen Platoon - HQ w/Anti-tank Rifle, 3 Schutzen squads - 265 pts

- Bunker Flak Platoon - 2 Bunker Flak - 450 pts

Total - 1,885 pts

Not a bad start to it all. Of course I haven't tested it on the tabletop yet. Next in the series, the Mittlere Panzerkompanie.

Cheers

Dave

FOW - Panzergrenadiers Part 6

Despite a busy weekend, including a broken water main and a leaking roof, I managed to get two more platoons finished for my German Flames Of War army.

First up was the MG-34 platoon. Four bases plus a command stand. This was also the first unit I painted the Heer symbol on the helmet (right side - black, white and red shield).

The Mortar platoon is almost finished for Early War lists, just a motorcycle and sidecar to add. I also painted the Heer symbol on these guys too. Now to go back and paint it on over 100 other tiny helmets ; )

Finally, I've started work on my Ogre Ironblaster. Seems like it's going to be quite a bit of work!

Cheers
Dave

FOW - Panzergrenadiers Part 5

I can't believe it was only a month ago that I started on this fun little project. I also chuckle as I type the word "little" as I now have close to 3,000 points of painted Germans for FOW (that includes the Light Panzer Company I painted last year).

Anyway, on with the latest additions. Above you can see my Company HQ, which will be good for the HQ of the Schutzenkompanie, Panzerschutzenkompanie, Kradschutzenkompanie, Infanteriekompanie, and (at a bit of a stretch) the Pionierkompanie and Liechte Pionierkompanie lists from the Blitzkrieg book. Not bad for ten guys and two bikes with sidecars ; )

If I want to upgrade my platoons from Schutzen to Panzerschutzen, I now have a dozen Sd Kfz 251/1 halftracks ready to roll! I might get back to painting the rows of seated soldiers that are supplied with the transports. I think it just adds that neat little touch.

Once I had the necessities sorted out, I moved on to the rest of the AFVs from the Motorised Rifle Company boxed army. Above are the Self-propelled Infantry Guns, the 15cm sIG33 auf Panzer Is. Try saying that three times fast. For the crew I painted their epaulette piping red, instead of the white I've used for my infantry, but more on Waffenfarbe in a different post.

The Panzerjager Is are my Early War tank hunters. As such, they have pink piping, as befits their branch of the Heer.

And finally for this batch I have an Assault Gun platoon, two Stug A assault guns and their command halftrack, an Sd Kfz 253.

You may have noticed some strange white lines across parts of my halftracks and Stugs. I added these primarily for visual contrast on the dark grey hulls. They were inspired by some tanks I saw at Historicon back in July, tanks painted by Bill Wilcox (and shown above). You can see the white stripes painted on the back of Bill's beautifully modeled and painted tanks. These were apparently used by some tank units as aerial recognition markers, with the aim of clearly showing the Luftwaffe where the friendlies were down on the ground.

I decided, rightly or wrongly (ie. with no further research) to add these to my halftracks and Stugs. I'll be going back to add them to my Panzers once I've got the rest of the collection sorted out.

So, if you've enjoyed these models so far, I know you will be blown away by checking out the miniatures in this thread from the Flames Of War forums. I was floored when I saw the detail that could be achieved on 15mm miniatures and I know that when I get to eventually doing a very researched, themed army, this will be the standard I will be aiming for. Please check it out.

Cheers

Dave

FOW - Panzergrenadiers - Part 4

Well, I had hoped to get another post in again last week, but it wasn't to be. Following my last post the East Coast of the US felt the tremors of a 5.8 earthquake (centered near the GF9 office in VA) and the wrath of a Category 3-2-1 Hurricane (Irene). While the first event didn't impact my vacation at all (although I did feel it all the way on the Outer Banks of North Carolina), the second certainly did. It was quite the constant topic of conversation, and as it seemed to be growing in strength and proximity, NC was put on a State of Emergency, and we were under mandatory evacuation orders. This meant we had to leave our relaxing paradise a day early and try to prepare as best we could once back in Baltimore for the storm's arrival there.

There has been quite a lot of chatter about whether or not media outlets like The Weather Channel overhyped the dangers posed by the storm. Personally I felt like they pushed it a bit too far, but what else have you got to work with when you're a 24/7 weather channel?

Regardless of the actual severity in my local area (only one tree downed, no power outages) I know that a lot of my friends suffered various levels of deprivation (some are still without power after two days) and that the only road to our idyllic vacation location was cut completely (washed away), so regardless of the "hype" the storm has had a considerable impact all along the Atlantic coast.

Of course, all that time inside waiting for a tropical storm means quite a lot of painting. These shots are overalls of my three platoons of Panzergrenadiers. I went back to the first platoon you saw and repainted much of the webbing black, following the advice of John from Santa Cruz Warhammer (who buys and sells WW2 kit for a living). I then painted up my second platoon, all with the M40 uniform pants, which were the German Fieldgrey rather than the standard grey I used for most of my first platoon.

For my third platoon I assembled them from a donation gratefully received from my mate Brien. Even at 15mm I could tell these guys were a little different. The pants on some of the models were a little puffier, the boots shorter, and they had quite a bit more webbing. I'm assuming these are Mid-Late War troops, and I painted them to match my second platoon as best I could. Now that I have three platoons painted (the most I'll need for any one game) I figure that when it comes to building actual lists I can field the 1st and 2nd platoons first in my Early War lists, and the 2nd and 3rd platoons first in my Mid-Late War lists. At a push I could field all three in any period (which was always the plan).

To match with my "slightly different" troops from 3rd platoon, I figured I'd paint up the four Steyr Kfz 70 trucks that were a gift from my mate Rob. It seems these trucks were a later introduction to the war effort, meaning it was appropriate for my 1st and 2nd platoons to ride in the Krupp Kfz 70 trucks that saw service throughout the war. Again, at a push I'm sure not many folks would mind me using all the trucks together regardless of period. In addition I painted four Kfz 15 field cars for the command teams, although only three are needed at the moment.

As part of my final platoon I used one of the signposts from the plastic bases sprue to add a little bit of extra character. You can see here I've opted for the signpost that would never really exist, but it shows the potential targets for my army, it can be posted anywhere in Europe between France and Russia, that should be flexible enough ; )

Next time around I hope to have the Company HQ underway (if not completed) along with some photos of actual kit from John.

Take care.

Cheers

Dave

PS. You may also have noticed some activity in my "Hobby" tracker. I decided that if each of these 15mm guys was to count as a model, I couldn't leave it as it was. Back when I painted up the tanks for the Heroes of Armageddon project, I awarded myself "10 models painted" for each tank. I went back and removed all those extra points (counting each tank as a single model), then added back in a point for each FOW model painted (one for infantry, one for trucks, one for tanks etc). I feel much more karmically in balance now.

FOW - Panzergrenadiers - Part 3

Time to knock out another quick, lunchtime post about my Germans.

Last night I painted up some examples of how I'm going about painting my Early/Mid/Late War Germans for Flames Of War. In my last post some folks were interested enough in my approach to basing to ask me for more info. Ask and you shall receive...mostly.

Above you can see the three and a bit stages I'm going through to paint up the plastic rubble bases (from Battlefront). These bases are quite cool, in that there's already a lot of detail on them that takes drybrushing well, but not so much stuff that they're threatening to detract from the miniatures. The "multi-hue" approach is something I learned from friends John Shaffer and Jason Buyaki. I typically use it a lot for terrain building, but not so much for mini basing (until now that is).

Step A: Paint the base with Vallejo Charred Brown (similar to GW Scorched Brown).

Step B: Drybrush Vallejo Dark Grey (similar, but a but darker than GW Adeptus Battlegrey). Pick out the things you want to be "red brick" with Vallejo Red Leather (no GW analog) and dust a bit of the Red Leather around the edges.

Step C: I threw in a base that is entirely drybrushed with Red Leather, obviously in the middle of a town square as there is no building debris (although I may bring some in when I put the modes on).

Step D: Finally, put down a light drybrush of Vallejo Pale Sand (also no GW analog).

By varying the colors as you build up the basing, you can add a lot more depth than you would usually get by doing the old "brown, light brown, lighter brown" progression. The light dusting of the Pale Sand at the end helps tie the colors together.

After this I'll be gluing in the finished figs, filling gaps with putty, gluing down some GF9 Super-fine Grit, painting it appropriately, then adding some very small tufts of Silfor Late Summer Buffalo Grass, just like in the pic below. Easy.

While I was at it I figured I'd show you how I'm painting up my infantry. As you can see, most of the guys are being glued to "popsicle/paddle pop/iced lolly/craft" sticks to increase the assembly line speed.

Step A: All the basecoats are applied. All colors are Vallejo unless specified.

• Tunic and pants - German Fieldgrey WWII

• Helmet - German Cam. Dark Green

• Rifle stocks and tool handles - Beige Brown

• Bread bag - Flat Earth

• Pouches and straps - Leather Belt

• Rifle barrel - Gunmetal

• Flesh - Tan

Step B: The entire model is given a wash with a mix of GW Devlan Mud and a thinned Charred Brown.

Step C: Highlights are added to the flesh (Dwarf Skin) and the tunic and pants (German Fieldgrey WWII).

If the wash has been too dark on some other areas, I'll go back and highlight them with the basecolor.

So, there you have it. That's how I paint my Germans.

Now back to work.

Cheers

Dave

FOW - Panzergrenadiers - Part 2

So, I've been quite busy, painting up bunches and bunches of little mens. Thanks for taking my filler post about the awesomeness that is the pending Ogre release in the spirit it was meant. and yes... I'll post some pics of my existing Ogres when the time is right.

Anyway, last night I finished off the infantry for the first of my Panzergrenadier platoons. One command stand (front center), six Rifle/MG stands (rear), one light mortar stand (front left) and an Anti-tank rifle stand (front right). I'm pretty happy with not only the way they turned out, but also with the speed I was able to paint them despite coming to grips with 15mm again.

I used the plastic Rubble bases for all the stands (except the light mortar and anti-tank rifle), which gave me a good start. I painted everything separately (models and bases) then glued the infantry to the stands. This seemed like a great plan at the start, but it did mean that I used quite a bit of putty and additional basing grit to make sure that everything blended seamlessly.

Over the years I've learned that the key to painting up an army efficiently and effectively is to get into a rhythm with it. I'm pretty sure that by the time I'm finished my next platoon, I'll be in that rhythm and ready to share "the secrets" I've learned then.

With all the prone models in the figures I have, I found the guy holding the mortar to be quite amusing, with his butt sticking up in the air, apparently just begging to be shot in it.

In the comments on my last post JMHahn commented on the differences between certain things in different periods of the war (like the SdKfz251/1C and SdKfz251/1D). Check it out here. His comment was pretty much spot on, but it got me to thinking a bit more about my "accuracy" and the reasoning behind this whole project.

The idea for this is not to be "cheap". As we go along you'll see me spend quite a bit of money. Getting the most out of the purchases will be important, just as getting "reasonably" close to accurate will be important. Building a collection that can span all three periods (Early, Mid, and Late War) will mean that sometimes I'll come up against the 1% of folks who not only know their stuff back to front, but also care enough to call me on it.

JMHahn characterized it as being a 97:2:1 split (don't know the difference: know, but don't care: know and care greatly). Possibly because of the folks I know and circles I travel in, I suspect the ratio I'll encounter will be more like 80:17:3. I'm hoping that should I encounter too many in that 3% I can calm them by pointing out things I have done to achieve accuracy, and remind them, we're all just playing a game.

Of course, I also fully expect that at some stage in the not too distant future, I'll find an army that grabs me so much I'll want to build it as accurately as possible, with all the bells and whistles.

And here's a sneak peek at another project I'm working on at the moment. This is Commissar Hark, the next fig in the long-term, ongoing commission to build a Tanith army.

Cheers

Dave

FOW - Panzergrenadiers

Last year I assembled and painted a Flames Of War Early War Light Panzer Company, in around 20 hours from start to finish (over a week). I was quite happy with how they looked and with how quickly they painted up. So happy, in fact, that I resolved to paint up some infantry to go with them in my "New Year's Hobby Resolutions" post.

Well, I'm finally ready to get to the infantry.

Part of the Blitzkrieg book that I really liked (and immediately understood, as opposed to the rules, which I'm still learning) was the cool picture of the Early War German soldier (reproduced above). For my Light Panzer Company I used this scheme to paint the crew on my Bunkerflaks. It looks good, and it got me thinking...

...and a few months later I was chatting with Warren from Beasts of War at Salute. He mentioned hearing from a few folks that Flames Of War was a bit daunting to get into because there were so many options, starting with Early, Mid, or Late War, then German, British, Italian, American, Soviet, Finnish, Hungarian (etc etc), then Tank, Armored Infantry, or Infantry (and dozens of specialist lists). Where is a potential FOW gamer to begin?

This also got me thinking...

...then Battlefront released their plastic rubble bases, and I knew it was time to stop thinking and to start acting.

We all know that the really cool thing about WW2 15mm armies are the huge amounts of very detailed tanks you can put on the tabletop. For many armies (particularly the Germans), their tank technology evolved rapidly during the short span of WW2 and many new tanks were put into service in an incredibly swift arms race. There's really nothing you can do about that. For each period there's a slew of new tanks to have fun with. So I figure I'll just talk about the infantry.

My plan for this project is to build a collection (rather than a particular army) of German infantry stands and support that contains as many elements as possible that can be used across all three (or only two at worst) of the periods. I'm going to use the rubble bases for my collection, which means that I'll be building forces for the European theater. For Early War they could be part of the invasion of Poland or France, for Mid War they'll be invading Russia, and for Late War, they'll be back peddling all the way to Berlin.

As you may have already surmised from reading about the other armies I've built over the past few years, I'm usually all about the story of the army. But as you've also seen, most of these stories I've made up myself. History is obviously a little different, but as Flames Of War allows for some ahistorical armies to be fielded, I'll be putting aside the larger story and concentrating on having fun painting up the infantry and creating lists that are feasible and cross as many periods and styles as possible.

To get me well on the way, I stopped by the office today and picked up the bulk of what I'll need.

• There's the Motorised Rifle Company that gives me two of my Rifle platoons that will form the core of my army (useable across all periods). It also contains a Mortar platoon that is also useful across all three periods, an MG34 platoon that is good for Early War, a bunch of support AFVs (most useable across two periods), and quite a few trucks (also useable across all three periods).

• I added an MG42 Platoon, which replaces the MG34 platoon in Mid and Late War lists.

• And an Infantry Gun Platoon, using the 7.5cm leIG18 gun that was used in all three periods.

• And a Platoon of the famed "88s", the 8.8cm Flak 36 Anti-aircraft guns, again used in all three periods.

• You can see a bunch of trucks, thanks to my friend Rob who hooked me up with some figs he didn't need anymore.

• And in that brown box are 12 SdKfz 251/1C halftracks. Panzergrenadiers used these halftracks during the Mid and Late War period, but they'll also work well for the SdKfz 251/1 halftracks that were used during the Early War (or so I've been told).

I'm going to learn an awful lot about building and painting 15mm infantry, and a lot about building armies for Flames Of War, and an awful lot more about how the German army was equipped and operated during WW2.

Wish me luck, and please, be gentle with me ; )

Cheers

Dave