The Colonel's Recovery Repeats: Late German World War II Forces in 15mm

I'm officially a cranky old man with a cane with 6 weeks to go until full recovery. The good news is that I have started painting again per the PLAN! BWAH HAH HAH HAH HAH Agghh *cough, cough*. Okay, enough of that. 

I have always been amazed at the versatility of Battlefronts' 15mm line of WWII vehicles and figures. The detail is amazing and the parts and figures add to the possibility of endless conversions. None of the vehicles were painted with an air brush and about 95% of the paints used are Vallejo with some Citadel colors. All of the figures and vehicles below are based on actual photographs (some rare color pictures) from the war. Original published on April 16, 2024. 

The Panzerkampfwagen VI please don't ask me which version); the infamous Tiger Tank.

While I am finishing up some projects that I am not quite ready to post yet, I thought I would share some of my favorite photos from my Late War German World War II force.

Panzergrenadier Executive Officer.

10.5 cm Artillery Battery

Fire Direction Center with Communications truck.

Gun Teams.

One of the rare Mounted Panzer Grenadier Companies on the Western Front, 1944.

Late German World War II Forces in 15 mm

The Panzerkampfwagen VI; the infamous Tiger Tank.

While I am finishing up some projects that I am not quite ready to post yet, I thought I would share some of my favorite photos from my Late War German World War II force.

Panzergrenadier Executive Officer.

10.5 cm Artillery Battery

Fire Direction Center with Communications truck.

Gun Teams.

Mounted Panzer Grenadier Company.

Taking an August Break Re-Post: My Afrika Korps miniatures featured in A Wargamers Guide to The Desert War 1940 - 1943

 I'm honored to have some of my Afrika Korps miniatures featured in Daniel Mersey's latest book A Wargamers's Guide to The Desert War 1940-1943 available on Amazon and at other fine retailers.

It's humbling to see miniatures you have painted in the same company with Michael Perry of Perry Miniatures, Wargames Illustrated and Big Lee himself!  (If you have not seen Big Lee's Miniature Adventures, you are in for a treat!)

Afrika Korps 88mm Gun featured in the book

If you want to see the other photos, you have to buy Dan's book!  Here is the summary: Continuing this exciting new series of guides for wargamers, Dan Mersey gives a wargamer's perspective on the North African campaign of World War II. Dan gives an overview of events from the opening British successes against the Italians, to the famous duels between Monty and the Rommel (the Desert Fox), right up to the US-led invasion of Operation Torch and the eventual defeat of the Afrika Korps, and offers advice on how to recreate these on the gaming table. Daniel 

Mersey discusses factors to consider when choosing an appropriate set of commercially available rules, or devising your own, to best suit the scale and style of battle you want and to capture the flavor of the period. The relevant ranges of figures and vehicle models are also reviewed. Analysis of the forces involved, organization, tactics and strategies will help with building your armies and there are interesting scenarios included. Whether this is a new period for you, or you are looking to refresh your existing interest in the period, this handy guide is sure to hold much if interest for you.

Keep a Journal!

Me painting the second battalion of a regiment.

I was recently asked on a recent posting what color palette I used for a unit I painted. Without hesitation, I pranced up to my war room, blew off some dust, and grabbed my Ancient Tome of Knowledge and replied with which colors I had used.

The Ancient Tome of Knowledge

I don't remember exactly when I starting keeping a journal of hobby information, but it was in the mid 2000's and I was working on the 2nd Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 15mm for Flames of War. I usually do not work straight through a project so I had painted one unit, did something else and then came back to the Highlanders. Hmmm . . . how did I paint them? Thus the journal. I highly recommend keeping a journal, it's not hard, and it can be a real memory jogger! It's also useful for interesting information, even if you are not working that particular part of history or fantasy. Here are some examples of my notes and the figures they produced.

What started it all.

15mm British Infantry from Battle Honours (Flames of War).

My painting guide using hard plastic Perry Miniatures French Infantry.

I like to add color to my tabletop whenever possible, so half of our Soviet Infantry was Soviet Naval Infantry.

A variety of 15mm figures and tanks for my Soviet Naval Infantry from Battle Honours.

I think there more Highlanders in a British Peninsular Army than Wellington could have wished for and more German Fallschirmjagers (paratroopers) in table top armies than there were in real life. Why? Because they look cool.

28mm Metal Farschirmjagers from Warlord Games. Their plastic Farschirmjagers, in my opinion, are too difficult to put together. (But I'm not great a models!)

The English Civil Wars, or if you prefer The War of Three Kingdoms is one of my favorite periods. Figures are 28mm from Warlord Games and Perry Miniatures. Yes, I know I need to fix some of the Infantry flags by trimming off the white.

I love Colonials especially the British Raj and the British Indian Army. Figures in 28mm by Artizan Designs and Copplestone Castings.

The latest entry. Figures are 28mm from Copplestone Castings and the correspondent is from Artizan Designs.

Havildar Abdul Qadir orders you to start that journal!

 

Late War Germans.

Finally got around to taking pictures of my Late War German Grenadier (Infantry) Company. If you are looking for a Flames of War force with a lot of offensive mobility - this is not it! In fact, you will probably be the defender in most scenarios. On the other hand, this is a tough force to dislodge and it does have the ability to counter-attack lost objectives with a small armored force. Another factor I like with this army are the variety of options you can choose to support you force. I've played 1500 and 2000 point games with different options and have found this an enjoyable force on the tabletop. I also built the force with an eye toward employing them as Panzergrenadiers in some games, so there are some "extras" with this force. I don't know what version this is and frankly don't care . . . I just have fun!


Here is the start of the force, the Company Headquarters. The company commander and XO both are modeled with the panzerfaust options. Normally, there is only one panzerschreck anti-tank team per headquarters, but some of the late war grenadier/panzergrenadier options allow up to three teams.

Here is the 1st Platoon. The platoon leader is modeled with panzerfaust and some of the infantry stands have panzerfausts for squad options.

2nd Platoon.

Machine gun Platoon.

Another view of the machine guns.

Mortar platoon with 2 sections of 8cm GW34 mortars. The platoon has a forward observer team per section.

Hang! Fire! (Okay, I'm remembering the "glory days" of my youth. As a lieutenant in the US Army I led the 81mm mortar platoon of B/2-47 Infantry and the 107mm mortars of CSC/2-47 Infantry)

Sniper. Very good for pinning hordes of Soviet Infantry.

The pioneers (combat engineers). I love this platoon! Even though as rifle teams each stand only has a rate of fire of 1, it's a large platoon and has a tank assault of +4 . . .

. . . plus this is one of the items they can build prior to the game starting with a pioneer wagon or truck.

The pioneers can also use the radio controlled Goliath demolition carrier. I have discovered in games that the threat of the carrier tends to be more devastating than the actual use. I actually destroyed one Cromwell tank and caused another tank to bail out once with my Goliath - honest!

Time for the divisional support. Here is my Tiger platoon. Depending on the points and who I'm playing I'll take one to three for my platoon. I've had mixed success with my Tigers; not very good in the attack (slow speed and easily outflanked if not supported) but they do a great at long range fire support.

Assault gun platoon of StuG IV's. Why assault guns and not tanks? Well . . . I got them for a great price on eBay! I actually have one more to paint.

Anti-aircraft gun platoon of three Sd Kfz 10/5 (2cm). Good for use against aircraft and enemy infantry.

Air support.

Artillery Battery of 10.5 cm guns.

When I need an extra objective, the Kfz 68 Radio truck works out just fine.

Pinmarkers.