Afrika Korps trucks

 Here is a set of 15mm plastic Afrika Korps trucks.  Five of them are from Plastic Soldier Company, one is by Zvezda.  The Plastic Soldier Company (PSC) version is a bit more detailed, but both are perfectly serviceable kits. 

Here a couple picks, they must be at an oasis, or perhaps on the set of an Indian Jones film.

 One nice detail about the PSC kit is that it includes optional parts to build Mercedes trucks, and even to built Opel Maultier halftracks.  I didn't build any halftracks yet, but I did build two of the trucks as Mercedes.  Here is a side-by-side of an Opel Blitz (left) and a Mercedes (right).

Like the DAK infantry, these are for use in DAK Attack -- usually as targets for an LRDG raid.  But can also be transport or jump off points for infantry in a game of Chain of Command.

Afrika Korps platoon

I recently painted an old set of Battlefront 15mm Afrika figures.  They are individually based for use with Chain of Command and DAK Attack.

First, some WIP shots.

You may be wondering why they are wearing green.  Apparently, when the Afrika Korps first deployed to Africa, they were issued a light Olive Drab uniform designed by the Tropical Institute of Hamburg.  Wargames books speculate the experts at the Institute were misinformed about the lack of vegetation in North Africa. I can’t help but wonder if the Institute was left in the dark about what part of Africa the uniform would be used in.  Who knows.  Either way, it was too green and too dark!  

Fortunately it started fading in the sun.  I’ve tried to depict that here by dry brushing a lighter shade of green over the base coat.

Apparently, the soldiers quickly added bits of Italian and British uniforms when they could get them, and also later issues of clothing were in a sand color.  

So the next step with these is to paint some guys with khaki coats and/trousers.  Should give them a pretty motley look!  Also, their helmets will be a very light brown/tan.

And here they are finished:

Here is the whole platoon.  They have 5 MG34s (four on bipods with the rifle squads, one on a tripod), a 50mm mortar, and even a PzB39 anti-tank rifle…which probably was effective against the old Cruiser tanks the British were still using in 1940-41.

Next up, these guys need some trucks so they can keep up with the panzers:

What A Tanker - first games

Earlier this week the Austin Historical Gamers of Dragon’s Lair tried out “What a Tanker,” Too Fat Lardies’ WWII tank skirmish game.  It is a single-tank to platoon level game, the same as GF9’s “Tanks” game, but with very different mechanics.

Each turn, you roll a hand of six order dice for each tank. Each number of pips corrresponds to a different order or action by the tank’s crew: drive, acquire target, aim, fire, and re-load.  A six is wild, and so very useful. 

We played two games in a single evening, both times matching up three T-34/76s against a pair of PZ IV-Hs and a STuG III-G. 

The rules are really simple, and fast.  My eight-year old really enjoyed it and remained engaged through both games.

Ouch, in the second game, Jake’s T-34 snuck around behind me, brewing up my PZ IV.  He went on to single-handedly take out the other Panzer IV and the STuG.