Left Handed Panzerfaust: Off to Africa I go

Monday, 1 May 2017

Off to Africa I go

I have hinted it for the past month in my posts and I have finally began my adventure into Africa with the Deutches Afrikakorps (German African Corps), commonly known as the DAK.

I have decided to go with the 15th Panzer Division. Why the 15th? Most people with a good knowledge of the DAK have heard the exploits of the famed 21st Panzer Division. The 21st Panzer Division went on to fight in Normandy and took with them their reputation from the desert as a formidable opponent. Thus it would make sense they are a more popular choice for DAK armies, plus they had a very recognisable divisional emblem. However I dare to be different.

15th Panzer Division Insignia

Without going into the full history of the DAK, the 15th Panzer Divsion shortly arrived after the 5th Leichte Division which went on to become the 21st Panzer Division. The 15th missed out on the early engagements with the 5th Leichte however the 15th were involved in all major offensives and known battles within the Africa Campaign. I am of the opinion they are often over shadowed by the almighty 21st Panzer, and I wish to bring them to life on the table.

I have chosen two paths with regards to modelling them however may expand on this. Firstly I will be doing the 115th Shutzen Regiment and the 8th Panzer Regiment. The 115th Shutzen Regiment was a mechanised infantry fighting force. The 8th Panzer Regiment made up the bulk of the armoured fighting vehicles within the 15th Panzer Division.

I decided to step away from the usual Artizan/BTD miniatures combination and went for the newly released Offensive Miniatures mixed with some Perry Miniatures which have been out for quite a while. I will do a separate post about these miniatures however all I can say is that the Offensive Miniatures are offensively good and the Perry's are superb! I will be using a combination of Warlord, Rubicon, Offensive and Perry Vehicles. Usually I like to paint up a test figure. Well this time I painted 10 test figures.

Offensive Miniatures EGDK 305 - 10 DAK Infantry Squad

You can see much variations in the uniforms. There are plenty of great articles about DAK uniforms and there really is no set formula for painting DAK due to the harsh conditions of the desert. Put this into google images and you will see what I mean. Rather than using a specific painting guide I just used a whole lot of images and used the paints I had on hand to come up with these combinations. I have a pinterest board for inspiration.

My army will cover all periods of the DAK from the early days of 1941 to the defeat in Tunisia in 1943. It should be noted that the DAK sun hat, AKA the Pith Helmet was favoured by the troops due to its sun protection and comfort. There is a great article about helmets the DAK wore here.

This army will mostly be used for Battlegroup Tobruk and Bolt Action. If you haven't checked out Battlegroup I highly recommend you do. It is designed for 15mm-20mm play however we have played it in 28mm with no dramas. If you crave a more historical feel to your games as Bolt Action sadly falls short at times, Battlegroup is your turn to rules!

Make sure to follow the Blog for more updates about my journey into the desert! Lets check out my test minis!