Meanwhile in Egypt in 1941 . . .

A medic from the Deutsche Afrika Korps (DAK) tends to a wounded soldier.

For awhile now I've been transitioning from 15 mm to 28 mm due to the fact it's harder to paint them with my eyesight . . . I mean due to the great quality of 28 mm figures that are out there. That's my story and I am sticking with it! Anyway, World War II has always been one of the big boys in the hobby and I enjoy playing historically based encounters during this period.

  The 8 cm Granatwerfer 34 (8 cm GrW 34) was the standard German infantry mortar throughout World War II. It was noted for its accuracy and rapid rate of fire.

When I did my first serious 15mm army in WW II it was the Deutsche Afrika Korps (DAK) or in English the German Africa Corps. Now that I am seriously contemplating doing a force in 28mm, what better way than to start with the DAK?  I found a good deal from Wargames Foundry on eBay for an Afrika Korps Support Group, scarfed it up and started painting. Yep, I'm one of those gamers that has at least 3 to 5 projects going on at the same time.

The boxed set of figures, which are beautifully sculpted I might add, comes with 2 officers, 1 radio operator, a lovely vignette with a medic, one mortar and one machine gun team all with bases. The figures were really easy to paint primarily due to the fact that they are great figures. I have found out over the years, the better the figure the easier to paint.

As I have had trouble assembling weapon teams together in the past after they were painted, I decided to put the machine gun and mortar teams together and then paint them. Wow. What a difference that made.

DAK officer and radio operator.

For historical figures I believe the painting should be historical; but if you used ancient iron on the officer's buttons instead of medium shiny gold I could care less. After a military career, and as a historian, I can attest just because it is in the regulations, that might not be what they are wearing. Add to that the tendency of all, even modern fabric, to fade and wear out, I figure that if it is close enough, the heck with the official painting guide. The other great thing about the North Africa campaign, supply was a major issues and soldiers used what they could get.

MG 42 medium tripod mounted machine gun team.

The colors I used were all Vallejo Paints (because the closet store is Hobby Lobby and they are good paints): 

1. Khaki: Uniform and canvas/gaiters on boots.

2. Green Ochre: Helmet and other metal.

3. Neutral Grey: Webbing.

4. Buff: Canvas (Potato) bag and soft cap.

5. Green Grey: Ammunition pouches.

6. Flat Earth: Boots.

7. Dark Brown: Canteen except for the metal which was Gun Metal.

8. Gun Metal: Weapons dry brushed with silver.

9. Flat White: Uniform piping, etc.

10. Sky Blue: Goggles and binoculars.

Easy and to the point.

 Both German officers and the medic vignette.

I am also going to do 3 squads of ten men each. I made the mistake of looking at the Warlord Plastic figures and my head almost exploded (a model maker I am not - my speed is the Perry Marching Napoleonic French and the Warlord Games ECW infantry!). The rest of the infantry will be Artizan figures. And just when I thought I had my plans all set - I saw the Warlord Games Mediterranean theater Fallschirmjagers! Yikes. What to do?

Lance Corporal of Fallschirmjagers in Ramcke's Parachute Brigade.