Bataillon I, 115. Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment

(August 26th, 2012.)

Now the first tank battalion was ready for combat, but infantry still made up the largest part of the division. In this particular division the infantry was motorized and moved around in Opel Blitz trucks and Sd.Kfz. 251s (Sonderkraftfahrzeug). I especially like the latter and thus chose to use one for the first infantry battalion of 115. Panzergrenadier-regiment, by 1943 the only infantry regiment in the 15th panzer. During the earlier battles in North Africa these regiments were known as Schützenregimenter. The soldiers fought from or alongside their armoured fighting vehicles and I have therefore placed a few of them next to their mobile cover. German infantrymen wore sand coloured or olivegreen uniforms. For this infantry unit I only had green available, but I'm planning on mixing both uniforms on future stands.

Left: An infantryman in prone firing position. Right: My Sd.Kfz. 251 with infantry.

 In the description next to this figure you can read his unit is the 104th regiment. When this regiment arrived in Africa it was a 15th panzer asset, but later it was reassigned to the other German armoured division in the Afrika Korps: 21. Panzer-Division.

Abteilung I, 8. Panzer-Regiment

(August 24th, 2012.)

Because I think it's a rather large venture to gather hundreds of thousands of men just to recreate an actual battle I turned to modelling. Still it would take ages to paint that amount of figures, so I decided to pick a single military formation: division-sized. A common WWII-division would number around 15.000 heads of military personnel. Fortunately it is divided into regiments, which in turn contain a handful of battalions. For every battalion in my division I would make a representing model.

    I used to build military models being around ten years old, so they weren't that good. When in highschool I rediscovered the hobby and the first German model I bought was a Panzer III N. On the back of the box the possible decals were shown which you could stick on your model after painting it. Among them were the signs for a tank belonging to 15. Panzer-Division, set in the year 1943, the last year of the North Africa campagins. This is more or less the moment I settled on building Nazi-Germany's 15th armoured division, a unit sent to the desert under the banner of Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps.
    My Panzer III N represents the first Abteilung (battalion) of 8. Panzer-Regiment: the tank-regiment of the division. On the side and rear of the turret you can see it bears the number '3': this is the company it belongs to. First to fourth company made up the first battalion of the regiment, companies five to eight the second. This specific type of the Panzer III, 'N', was armed with a 75mm short-barreled, low velocity gun. It's not designed to destroy other tanks, but to take out enemy infantry and any entrenchments they had dug. 

Left: The back of the box :p. Right: My Panzer III N.

Left: 15th panzer division's logo. Right: My Panzer III N.

Actual Panzer IIIs.

Introduction

(August 23rd, 2012.)

Where it started I can't really recall, but over the years I've contracted an obsession for armed conflict. For instance, a theatre of the Second World War I find most intriguing is North Africa's Sahara desert. When in the film Lawrence of Arabia (1962) T.E. Lawrence is asked what, regarding the desert, he is personally attracted by he answers that 'it's clean'. Whilst I know it's a romanticized movie, not set in the complete same war and desert, the quote possesses a certain truth in my opinion. As said in the 1973/74 documentary The World at War, the desert seemed to be 'made for war', for there were no Jews to exterminate and hardly any citizens to bother during the fighting. It was a 'clean' war that only involved the Axis and Allied armies - killing one another.

Afrikafeldzug (1940-1943)

This video was made by HCTerrorist, who claims none of his vids are political.

Hello! a few days ago a decided to make a blog about my hobby/obsession, I hope anyone reading it likes it. :)