German Early War Battalion Support

In addition to the three companies of line troops and the heavy company of machineguns and mortars, I've added some support elements. These were sourced from the excellent Zvezda mini-sets, with some additions from the venerable Esci Wehrmacht.

Here are three platoons of combat engineers. In order to differentiate different classes of troops, I've opted for basing two instead of three figures per base, so that it is readily apparent that these guys are special (and thus a great target for artillery fire). The two bases are mine detector teams, using one figure from the Zvezda set and one from the Esci Germans. The Zvezda miniatures are exceptional and although more petite than their Esci counterparts, they look OK on the same base. The third base is an Esci flamethrower and a simple infantryman.

Anti-aircraft support (where's the bloody RAF poms?) is a 20mm gun from Zvezda. Not much to say, except that the fit is so tight that I prefer to assemble the model and then run some Tamiya extra thin cement along the join lines. Capillary action takes care of the rest. This will probably spend more time shooting at infantry than planes.

The ubiquitous early war doorknocker provides the battalion with some much needed anti-tank firepower. Granted, it won't penetrate a Matilda, but other than an 88, nothing else is available 'till they invade Russia. Again the model is from Zvezda, with an extra crew from the Caesar 150mm howitzer.

Finally these guys. Nope, they aren't Wehrmacht. Any idea where they're heading?

That's all for now from cool, evening Athens.