Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So with a lot of Bolt Action hubbub recently, I figure'd I'd post some of my Afrika Korps I've been working on.

I decided to make a 1000 point and a 1500 point army list; the 1000 point is from the Rommel Triumphant theater selector from the Armies of Germany book, circa 1941, whereas the 1500 point list is from the Rommel's Defeat theater selector, circa 1943.

The core of the army is a reinforced platoon with Perry's fantastic plastic Afrika Korps miniatures. I cannot recommend this box set highly enough for anyone interested in playing Germans in Italy, Africa, Tunisia, Sicily, etc. The box includes an entire core platoon/zug - 38 figures - 30 infantry (three squads each with NCO w/ SMG and an MG34), plus 6 support crew (along with 50mm light mortars, anti tank rifles, mg34s), and officers and radio operators. I personally have bought two boxes and still have figures leftover as I am considering adding another squad of infantry (or to make mine "full strength"). I can keep gushing over how much I love these figures but I'll let other reviews do that for me (http://paintbrushheroes.blogspot.com/2014/08/perry-miniatures-afrikakorps.html)

As I mentioned, I have two lists for my DAK. Each list is led by a LT with aide, and features a radio operator/Forward Air Observer. The platoon's three squads are accounted for, along with anti tank rifle, attached light mortar from company support, and MG34 teams. I chose to make the squads at 8-men instead of 10-men to represent the platoon being understrength, as the DAK never fully got all the supplies and manpower it needed. Both lists include the trusty Pak 36, towed by an Opel Blitz (which a squad can also hop onto), and a Kubelwagen to ferry the officers around. Additionally, the Early list includes a Panzer II and a small unit of kradschutzen for armor and recon, while the Late list replaces those with a Tiger and an sd.kfz 222. Additionally, the late list upgrades the LT and two infantry squads to Veteran status. Additionally, I have added another attached squad of infantry (four squads total) to both lists, also understrength.

My method for painting all these dudes is pretty simple: undercoat black, then overspray Army Painter Desert Yellow (as it's a nice dunkelgelb clone), drybrush bone/sand/white, and then use some thinned inks to paint the various shades of trousers and jackets and such. One thing I love about the DAK is that they were supplied with all kinds of shades of uniforms, all mixed and matched, and the sun bleached 'em all out. My goal is to have a rather motley look to the infantry buttttt still a uniform sun-bleached look. Basically I'll be using the included instruction sheet with the Perry DAK box set as it's so very useful.

First pic of the army with the infantry basecoated. I had already started work on the Tiger, Panzer II, and Opel Blitz a little while ago:

Second pic is after the first coat of drybrushing:

I hope to speed paint the army tonight and get most of it done - perhaps even totally finished by the weekend! We'll see, however.

The pics don't load for me (the links yield 403 errors).

Screw it, just added them as direct attachments.

Liking the finish on the Blitz...


Though if I may offer one (anal) criticism... The Germans rarely used crosses on softskins unless they were captured vehicles.

Told ya it was anal... Still looks lovely though, and with the crosses has a real 'war movie' feel to it, which is kinda cool. Reminds me of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'.

Clever idea with the mg team insertable base gap.

Edit: also I hope the allied army doesn't take the ark of the covenant. It would be a shame for such a nice collection to undergo such face melting.

Big P wrote:
Liking the finish on the Blitz...
Though if I may offer one (anal) criticism... The Germans rarely used crosses on softskins unless they were captured vehicles.
Told ya it was anal... Still looks lovely though, and with the crosses has a real 'war movie' feel to it, which is kinda cool. Reminds me of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'.

Thanks! Dang, I was using some guy's FoW DAK blog as inspiration and his trucks had the cross. Well I've already applied the decal and weathered over it!



Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Strombones wrote:
Clever idea with the mg team insertable base gap.

Yeah, I use Renedra plastic bases for all of my infantry and teams, and do the cut-outs on the weapons bases for casualty removals.

 Strombones wrote:
Edit: also I hope the allied army doesn't take the ark of the covenant. It would be a shame for such a nice collection to undergo such face melting.

You guys!

... now I want to get a wiry bespectacled SS officer.
With a fancy gilded box.
As an objective marker.

Should I make a weird Mark VIII tank with turret for the army now?

...and a big barechested German to get in the way of a plane propeller...


I wouldnt worry... think it looks deadly anyway!

Big P wrote:
Though if I may offer one (anal) criticism...

Speaking of which, I'm struggling with having four infantry squads in the platoon - would there be historical precedence for having an overstrength platoon - or combining two understrength platoons into one? I'm trying to retain the 'spirit' if not the full on authenticity of a particular unit.
(I'm also considering shuffling some points around and having a fifth squad in the 1500 point list, but if I do, I feel I should just try to have two platoons in the list)

Just drop that Tiger and you'll have plenty of points.

 Manchu wrote:
Just drop that Tiger and you'll have plenty of points.

That Tiger's sole purpose is to make your British sweat bullets, my friend.

It's a good thing I just assembled a Boys AT Rifle team last night, huh? womp womp

 Manchu wrote:
It's a good thing I just assembled a Boys AT Rifle team last night, huh? womp womp

Hey, if you get really, really lucky, at close range, you might be able to cause superficial damage on the rear of the Tiger.

 judgedoug wrote:

Big P wrote:
Though if I may offer one (anal) criticism...

Speaking of which, I'm struggling with having four infantry squads in the platoon - would there be historical precedence for having an overstrength platoon - or combining two understrength platoons into one? I'm trying to retain the 'spirit' if not the full on authenticity of a particular unit.
(I'm also considering shuffling some points around and having a fifth squad in the 1500 point list, but if I do, I feel I should just try to have two platoons in the list)

Certainly in the DAK.

At times, an entire company could often amount to the same number of men as a single platoon from losses. All units would have vary strength levels and would merge platoons or companies as required to make best use of the men in the easiest manner to command.

Big P wrote:
Certainly in the DAK.

At times, an entire company could often amount to the same number of men as a single platoon from losses. All units would have vary strength levels and would merge platoons or companies as required to make best use of the men in the easiest manner to command.

Thanks! Now my mind is at ease! How do you feel about the rest of the 1k and 1.5k army compositions? Seem reasonable?

Seems reasonable to me. Looks good too.

I love how this platoon is turning out. Great job. And those heavy weapon bases with the cut out are really cool.

Well gents, didn't get as much done last night as I would have liked, but you can start to see where I'm going with the various shades of greens and tans. Got all the helmets/ammo tins/support weapons done, most of the uniform colors blocked, and some blacks for MG's and some accessories and such. Should finish that tonight and perhaps get the flesh painted, too.

I love WIP threads. Subscribed for sure. I think this army is going to be a blast to play in game as well. It's got a little bit of everything.

Got a lot of stuff done last night. In fact I think the only thing I have left to do is some hairdos, webbing, rifle straps, and boot soles; followed by a soft tone dip. And then of course decals and weathering on the vehicles, and then basing, which I believe I will do as a sandy/scraggly grass kinda thing.

Man these are looking great now!

Keep going, almost there.

Whoa man..coming along nicely!

Those are looking great, Doug. Are the cutouts on the MG teams for spotters?

These are coming on with impressive speed.

Does it bother you that you're using a late model Tiger I? The Tiger I's that served in North Africa had the earlier rubber-rimmed roadwheels and 'dustbin' cupola.

 Tailgunner wrote:
These are coming on with impressive speed.

Does it bother you that you're using a late model Tiger I? The Tiger I's that served in North Africa had the earlier rubber-rimmed roadwheels and 'dustbin' cupola.

Hmm, I assembled the Rubicon kit according to earlier/mid production, hence the two headlights and the filters. It's entirely possible I screwed something up and put on the wrong wheels! In which case, it's a bit too late as I tossed the spare parts and this guy's already mostly done!



Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Azazelx wrote:
Those are looking great, Doug. Are the cutouts on the MG teams for spotters?

Thanks! Yeah the MG teams are 3-man, so I use a cutout for any team weapon that has more than two guys (for casualties). Same for the Pak 36.

I like that small tank, which kit is that?

 hjfkuiper wrote:
I like that small tank, which kit is that?

The Panzer? That's a Warlord Panzer II resin kit!

Well, over the weekend I battled some Brits with my DAK- and lost!, which I attribute entirely to them not being finished. With that in mind, last night I finished the infantry's boot soles, hair, rifle slings, webbing, and a few other random bits. I just finished dipping them with AP Soft Tone. Now I'm gonna watch some Netflix and leisurely weather the Sd Kfz 222 and Kubelwagen and do finishing touches on my Tiger. I hope to do all their basing tomorrow - and then wait for a day that isn't below freezing to hit them with AP Anti-shine

Impressive work. You've done a whole army in the time it takes me to do a squad and without compromising on quality. Definitely jealous. Painted armies always perform better by at worst being so nice all painted you don't notice you're losing.

 durecellrabbit wrote:
Impressive work. You've done a whole army in the time it takes me to do a squad and without compromising on quality. Definitely jealous. Painted armies always perform better by at worst being so nice all painted you don't notice you're losing.

Hey, thanks! Nah, it's just assembly line painting. Get the whole army assembled and primed, then paint one color at a time. And to be fair, there's a lot of little mistakes and a few small things I missed here and there, but I paint most armies for the "three foot rule" - as long as it looks good from three feet - or the distance from your eyes to the minis on the table when you're playing - then I'm happy. Plus the AP tone/dip covers a lot of those mistakes, too I put a lot more effort (and break out the nice brushes) when I'm painting characters or big monsters or tanks. So to keep myself sane I'll do assembly line painting then the next project will be a nice Mierce model or something then back to another assembly line painted army.