Afrika Korps test painted Pz.III H

Probably something I never thought would happen, I was lured into Early/Mid-war North Africa by the local Flames of War gamers. Mainly due to their escalation campaign and upcoming multiplayer battle. No small part did news from Forged in Battle play that more Polish Early War releases would be postponed until May/June. And there is no way I will buy cavalry or motorized cavalry from other sources - it's both too expensive and they just don't reach my quality demand.

So I think I spent like 12 hours over 2 days looking at different German Panzer armies which would be cheap in money, and have few models which would allow me to paint the force up in no time. Initially I wanted to play a Tiger company, but I could not convince myself that it would be fun to play or fun to meet. Instead I bought the North Africa armybook over at EasyArmy for 2 dollars and looked at the panzer formations in that book, finally settling for the 15th Panzerdivision - unknowingly picking Rommels boys which if pretty fun since it is one of the coolest German commanders of WW2.

My 1500pts army will look like this

Command 2x Pz.III L

Platoon 1: 3x Pz.III J

Platoon 2: 3x Pz.III H

Platoon 3: 4x Pz.II F

1x Tiger I E

3x Sd Kfz 10/5 (2cm)

Not  a large army in terms of models. Should not be a big distraction from my other projects. Models will be Plastic Soldier Company (Pz III tanks) and Forged in Battle (the rest). And a Zvezda Stuka dive bomber.

The 15th Panzerdivision looks like a very fun force if I would want to expand. Generous amounts of infantry and artillery support, and even Rommel and a retinue of captured Stuart tanks. I also like the ability to field the Tiger tank and fun stuff like the PzII tanks in one and the same army.

Also, considering the amount of Desert War enthusiasts down at the club I will have no problem finding allied opposition for this force.  I also find it funny that I started with FoW the other way around compared to many other players from what I have learned. I began by buying and painting a horde of infantry, and then followed that up with a quick and cheap tank army.

The color choice is inspired by fellow FoW gamer Patrik and his own German tanks and armored vehicles. Got a close look at them this weekend and thought it looked really good. Basically Khemri Brown and Dheneb Stone. Devlan Mud and Calthan Brown washes. And black wear and tear and dirt. No special pigments or anything like that.