German Platoon for early WWII

I've got my basic German force ready for action.  No doubt I'll gradually add a greater variety of support options, but I've now got enough to put them in a game, if I can ever make time for one!

The platoon (aka zug) has a small command team and three squads.

The command team consists of the officer (leutnant), senior NCO (feldwebel) and a three-man 5cm mortar team.  Senior leaders are on street-style bases so they easily stand out from the other soldiers.

Each squad has 10 men, including the squad leader (obergefreiter/JL), a three-man MG34 team and a 6-man rifle team.  The JL is on a taller, 3D-sculpted base, the LMG team on 25mm bases and the rifle team on 20mm bases to help to easily tell them apart.

Second squad is mostly kneeling, as an additional visual aid!

And third squad.

Many of the potential supports aren't necessarily Wehrmacht assets (like Shabby Nazi Tricks), or will not necessarily show up on the table (like pre-game bombardments).  I do however have a few supports ready to show up on the table.  These include the tripod-mounted MG34 (in a support role), the Pak36 anti-tank gun and the sIG 33 infantry gun, as well as a Leichter Panzerspähwagen (light armoured car, aka the SdKfz221), an Opel Blitz troop carrier truck and a collection of pioneers.

Not shown is my Panzer P38(t).

So, ready for action!  I may add a fourth squad to allow some more flexibility with the army lists:  'first wave' units apparently had four squads available.  I may also find some WWI-era MG08 machine guns to show the use of older weapons by some German units.  And of course I'll be on the lookout for more armour: can't have a Blitzkrieg German army without loads of Panzers!

Knights of Minas Tirith

 Taking a break from twentieth century conflicts, I quickly did up these Lord of the Rings Knights of Minas Tirith.  I toyed with the ideas of changing up the heraldry, maybe to represent the knights of Dol Amroth, or at least to paint them something other than plain black and white. As you can see, though, I just did them to match the movie version.

Pak 36 from Rubicon

 The Panzerabwehrkanone 36, aka the Pak 36, was the main anti-tank gun of the german Wehrmacht at the start of WWI, and was the counterpart of the French 25 mm Hotchkiss and the British 2-pdr QF anti-tank artillery.  I picked up this Rubicon Models version from Imperial Hobbies.

The model comes with 5 crew.  Hooray!  Most AT guns from other companies only come with 3!  And 5 is what Wikipedia lists as the correct number of crew (and yes, I know what is said about relying on Wikipedia, but this is just a hobby, so Wikipedia is good enough for me).  Of course, Chain of Command calls for Junior Leader PLUS 5 crew, so I made up an extra crewman from the Perry Miniatures DAK box.

The Perry DAK figure fits in nicely with the Rubicon figures.  The kit also includes several ammunition boxes, which I based thinking they may make good markers, maybe for a scenario with limited ammo.

All in all, hope this will be a helpful counterpart to allied armour.

German Pioniere

 Now that I've finished up the base infantry for the platoon (or zug, I suppose, since they are German), here is the start of the support units.  Since I am planning this unit for Chain of Command, pioniere arrive in teams of three men.  I've started with one pack of Crusader Miniatures' German Assault Engineers for the specialists, to be supplemented as necessary with one or more riflemen to make up numbers.

Here is a group shot.

The justifiably feared flamethrower or flammenwerfer, with a couple of riflemen in support.

And three more specialists, including a chap armed with a bag of grenades and a grenade launching sturmpistole.  Not sure when I'll use him, but he looks ready for action.  In addition, there looks to be a demolition expert and a fellow with a mine detector.  I'm not 100% certain the mine detector was available to the Wehrmacht in 1940, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

And finally, a group photo!

German Officers and NCOs

 Inevitably, it seems, I end up with more officers, NCOs, musicians and other command-type figures than I need, especially in ratio to the regular rank and file soldiers.  My 1940 Germans are no exception!

When I was prepping these forces for painting, I found I was short of suitable bases, so I stopped by Magic Stronghold Games, on Boundary Road.  That's where I was inspired to try 3D printed resin bases from Gamer's Grass.  If I was properly motivated, I would have shaved down the integral bases from the figures, but I chose not to, mostly as I was certain I'd end up badly damaging the legs of the figures.  Unfortunately, this means that I lose some of the benefit of the texture on the bases.  None the less, by putting leader figures on these distinct bases, they will stand out from the rank and file.

Senior leaders get to stand out a bit more as I have put them on city/street themed bases.  Here are a leutnant, feldwebel and kapitän, who will serve as the senior leaders for my platoon (or zug). 

Next up are the three squad leaders, possibly obergefreiter.  

And here are the 'extra' officers and NCOs.  They will no doubt be assigned to more specific roles eventually :)

50mm Mortar Team(s)

 Moving right along with the early war Germans, here are a couple of 50 mm (aka 5 cm) mortar  teams.  These models are from Crusader Miniatures.  

In Blitzkrieg 1940 army lists for Chain of Command, 5 cm mortars are deployed with a three-man crew.  Fortunately, I am unlikely to field two of these mortars at once, so I can simply use one mortar crewman and two loaders.  The German 5 cm mortar only has access to explosive shells, no smoke, so I won't be able to use my favourite tactic with my British 2" mortars of covering the battlefield with smoke!

The "ground level" shot isn't as good for these prone models as it is for standing or kneeling ones!

Looking top down is a better look!

Schützen

 Next up, here are the schützen, at least that's what I am calling the basic German infantrymen.  These are also from Crusader Miniatures.  Helmet decals are from Company B.  .

Each of my squads will need six of these riflemen.  I've added the pattern of 1, 2 or 3 dots to mark the squad.