Gazza's Stuff

[chrisswim]

Cool, good stuff.
The Feline Den!
Those are tough, rough cats!

[Mortis57]

Cool, good stuff.
The Feline Den!
Those are tough, rough cats!

I was tempted to include the 10 Ferdinands but we all know that Elephants are afraid of Mice

[Mortis57]

I got a few more 3d printed things from BPM today. Just a few towed PaK 43s, deployed 21cm Nebelwerfers, and 3 Universal Carriers each with a battery of 15 PIATs.

[redleg]

Nice! Those are good prints!

[Mortis57]

There's nothing newly painted here although a few things are WIP. However I took these photos after making a few new storage boxes for some of the units/options.

Panzer Grenadier Regiment - Armoured Battalion and two Motorised Battalions.


Armoured Battalion


Motorised Battalion #1


Motorised Battalion #2
As is apparent I still need a company's worth of trucks at some point.


Panzer Grenadier Regiment RHQ & Options


Panzer Grenadier Regiment - RHQ, PHQ SdKfz 251/10 option, and Armoured Engineer Company
The RHQ can have either 6 SdKfz 251 or 2 SdKFz 251 and 4 Trucks. The Regimental gun battery can either be self-propelled or towed - vehicles for both.
There is also a bunch of spare Kubel- and Schwimmwagens stored here temporarily.
The three panzer grenadier platoons of each armoured company can have a SdKfz 251/10 as it's PHQ vehicle.
Top storage tray holds the vehicles for the Regiment's armoured engineer company.


Panzer Grenadier Regiment - SdKfz 251/17 options
The PHQs and MG Platoon of the three panzer grenadier companies have the option of having the SdKFz 251/17 as PHQ (and in the case of the MG platoon - all) vehicles.
As H&R now do three different versions of this vehicle, I felt the need to get all three.


Panzer Grenadier Regiment FlaK Platoon options and a 'What If' Company.
The three panzer grenadier battalions have an optional FlaK platoon. The various options include the SdKfz 10/4, SdKfz 7/1, and SdKfz 7/2. There's enough here currently to give each battalion a platoon - although only one of each option.
The less said about my realms of fantasy 1946 armoured company the better really.


What If Close Up
As H&R were only mad enough to sculpt the basic Schutzen Panzerwagen Auf 38(d), I converted a few to other variants (based on SdKfz 251 variants). I added a mortar to a couple (just visible to the left of the photo), a short 75mm (taken from a SdKfz 250/8 to another couple, and (this is where I was smoking the good stuff) a launcher with 4 X-7 ATGMs to a couple more. The X-7s are actually the 4 SS-11s from a couple of French AMX-13s.

[pmskaar]

That is quite an impressive collection of Sdkfz 251s and other vehicles you have there, Gazza!

[redleg]

Lookin good Gazza! Great collection!

[Mortis57]

Thanks guys - but let's face it - there's far too much to actually game with. Unless you did a rather big game with a least 4 players for the Regiment (a Regimental commander and three battalion commanders). Even a battalion-worth's of vehicles (never mind the infantry elements) takes some time to move.

Of course, having too much won't stop me buying more!. Theoretically, a 1944 Panzer Division has TWO Panzer Grenadier Regiments.

Anyway,something smaller enough to game with - a couple of Panzer IIIM companies.

I've just finished a 22 tank strong company of Panzer IIIMs that I bought (well) over 10 years ago. They're the second company of such that I've done and I now feel the need to give the previous company of bit of a revamp so that they are similar.

Both Companies
The newer company is in the foreground.


New Company


Old Company
Although I now want to give these a bit of a revamp, I don't want to repaint them completely. I think a drybrush of Humbrol 94 to pick out the edges etc. will suffice as well as painting the spare wheels and exhausts. I learnt a lesson from the newer company and will apply the turret decals before gluing in the aerials.


Close-Up of Newer Company


Models by H&R; Paints by Vallejo, Humbrol, and Games Workshop; Decals by Flight Deck Decals and I-94. The aerials are toothbrush bristles painted black.

[Mortis57]

[Edit]

Oops!

I must have quoted my previous post rather than editting it.

[pmskaar]

That is a very nice group of Panzer IIIs you have there, Gazza! A few years ago, I did 2 companies of Panzer IIIs. I based mine on the 6th Panzer Division at Kursk which had mixed Panzer III/IV companies. The companies in 2nd Battalion (The only Battalion present at Kursk) had long barreled Panzer IIIs (probably Js, Ls, and Ms together) and a platoon sized unit of Panzer IIINs with the short 75. In addition, each Company had 4 to 6 or more Panzer IVs assigned as well. I think it was 8th Company that also had a platoon of Flammpanzers as well. A very interesting organization to be sure.

[rhabstclair]

Wow! So much cool stuff!!!

[Mortis57]

Thanks guys.

Pete, I do have a few more Panzer IIIs awaiting a refurb.



From top to bottom:
6x Panzer III Ausf J (IIRC). Not sure why I got these. Maybe OP vehicles or Control vehicles for Goliaths etc.
3x Panzer III Ausf M - Probably intended for a Panzer III BHQ.
4x Panzer III Ausf N - Probaly for the same reason as yours - mixed companies.

[pmskaar]

There's the Panzer IIINs! What I don't know is that, in the case of the 6th Panzer Division, whether these were in a separate platoon within the company or parceled out to the other Panzer III platoons. When I painted mine, I made them as a separate platoon within the company.

The source I have, IIIrd Panzer Korps at Kursk, gives what basic type of tanks each company had within 6th, 7th, and 19th Panzer Divisions but how the platoons within the company were organized is not given. For example, 5th Kompanie had 10 Panzer III (5cm), 4 Panzer III (75mm) and 6 Panzer IV (75mm).
What I don't know from this, is if there were 3 platoons plus HQ section or were there 4 platoons. Back when the Panzer IIs were present in the line Kompanies, there were 4 platoons.


Here are some of my Panzer IIIs in a solo game I did about 2 years ago.


A close up of the 2IC tank. The decals are from I-94 back when they made really small white tactical numbers. When I made my 2 Kompanies, I had Panzer IIILs, Ms, and Ns in the mix. On some of them, I had full skirts, a couple with just turret skirts, and a couple that had no skirts at all including this one. It does give some variety for sure.

[Mortis57]

For example, 5th Kompanie had 10 Panzer III (5cm), 4 Panzer III (75mm) and 6 Panzer IV (75mm).

I would, if I was the company commander, have gone for:
CHQ: 2x Pz IV
1st Platoon: 4x Pz IV
2nd Platoon: 5x Pz III (5cm)
3rd Platoon: 5x Pz III (5cm)
4th Platoon: 4x Pz III (75mm)

But this organisation (From Osprey Battle Orders 35 - Panzer Divisions: The Eastern Front 1941-43 - p.23) gives a rather different one. It is for April rather than July and Kompanie 5 is one Pz III (75mm) short of your organisation but maybe they'd acquired an additional one by Kursk. I guess you could assign the 4th Pz III (75mm) to the 3rd Zug here to give each Zug 6 tanks.


And based on this paragraph from the following page, you can pretty much organise how you like (rather like the kampfgruppes of the later years).

In April 1943 the Panzer Kompanien began to reorganize according to the new mittlere Panzer Kompanie establishment, regardless of their actual designation, though a lack of tanks led to a mixture of different models of PzKpfw III and PzKpfw IV in each Zug, with an average of 18 medium tanks per coy, which still reflected the old organization. Apparently such reorganization was not widespread and was only carried out after new tanks had been delivered to the units.

[pmskaar]

Hi Gazza!

That is an excellent organization chart and one I wish I had when painting up my 2 Kompanies a few years ago. Having said that, I can mix and match as I see fit and probably not be too off the mark. It is interesting in your organization that the Panzer IVs are mixed in with the Panzer IIIs and not in a separate platoon. Good stuff there and the kind of Nerdism I try to achieve.