Battlefront 15mm Sd.Kfz.231 8-Rads – Deutsches Afrikakorps/Panzerarmee Afrika for Flames of War

Battlefront 15mm Sd.Kfz.231 8-Rads - Deutsches Afrikakorps/Panzerarmee Afrika for Flames of War, What a Tanker, Battlegroup, 1:100, 1/100

With my desert Panzers slowly coming to an end, next up was to get some of the ancillary models painted. I’ve always loved armoured cars, since I had a little Matchbox toy of a Daimler Dingo as a child, and I’ve also always liked the interesting angular shapes of German armoured cars and half-tracks. I probably thought that these unusual designs from the 1930’s and 40s looked futuristic back then. 🙂

Battlefront 15mm Sd.Kfz.231 8-Rads - Deutsches Afrikakorps/Panzerarmee Afrika for Flames of War, What a Tanker, Battlegroup, 1:100, 1/100

The current incanation of the DAK force list in Flames allows for either one or two units of 2x 231 Scout Cars. With 2021 supply issues, I was unable to find any DAK-specific boxed sets, but I did find a Late-War SS box, so those got painted for the different force in a different theatre. The only difference I can seem to see is that some of the models often painted in desert colours have additional front and/or rear armour. The PSC kit has these as optional extras, but I’ve been unable to get hold of that box, so maybe in the future for a different force.

Battlefront 15mm Sd.Kfz.231 8-Rads - Deutsches Afrikakorps/Panzerarmee Afrika for Flames of War, What a Tanker, Battlegroup, 1:100, 1/100

I actually prepped and sprayed these months and months ago, but had to wait on my decal order from Skytrex for German Number plates (highly recommended, by the way – their 2-colour decals are actually lined up properly, unlike both Battlefront and PSC who both use the same print house). I also clipped their wonky, bendy, unstable main guns and replaced them with straight wire from a paperclip. I may have lost a tiny bit of gun detail, but I’ll take that in the trade-off of not having them look like limp noodles!

Battlefront 15mm Sd.Kfz.231 8-Rads - Deutsches Afrikakorps/Panzerarmee Afrika for Flames of War, What a Tanker, Battlegroup, 1:100, 1/100

These models were all painted in the same manner as my previous Panzers, with a little of the milliput stowage added here and there to make the models a little more distinct. No unit numbers or designations, but I added an additional Balkenkruz to the upper hull of two of them to designate the unit leaders.

Battlefront 15mm Panzer III Ausf.J/L & Ausf.N- Deutsches Afrikakorps/Panzerarmee Afrika for Flames of War

Battlefront 15mm Panzer III Ausf.J/L & Ausf.N- Deutsches Afrikakorps/Panzerarmee Afrika for Flames of War, What a Tanker, Battlegroup, 1/100, 1:100

After painting a reasonable few Panzer IIIs and IVs late last year, I was satisfied with having added some armoured punch to my infantry-based Afrika Korps force. At that point I decided I needed an OpFor for local gaming, and so started painting British 8th Army tanks in turn. Seeing how many of those I got done made me realise I needed to shore up the DAK to be roughly the same, so it was time to add a few more models.

Battlefront 15mm Panzer III Ausf.J/L- Deutsches Afrikakorps/Panzerarmee Afrika for Flames of War, What a Tanker, Battlegroup, 1/100, 1:100

First thing, then, was to add some Panzer III “specials” which will have the option of adding to the existing Zugs, creating a new Zug and also provide escort options for the pair of Tiger Is. I went for these since they can pass for non-uparmoured PzIIIF/Gs with the standard long 5cm guns in a pinch, and also since there were simply more of the J/Ls in action during the period I’ll be playing in. Plus, they have to go up against all those Lees/Grants/Shermans on the Allied side!

Battlefront 15mm Panzer III Ausf.N- Deutsches Afrikakorps/Panzerarmee Afrika for Flames of War, What a Tanker, Battlegroup, 1/100, 1:100

I also didn’t have any Ausf.N at all previously, so I decided to add a single Zug of three models to reprsent these and give some options and variety on the tabletop – again, especially in light of the wide variety of Allied armour I’ll be able to run opposite…

These models were all painted in the same manner as my previous Panzers, though these feature milliput stowage mixed in with the plastic parts that I’m both proud of and completely aware that can’t really be seen or noticed 😀