Welcome to the next installment of my latest flames of war project. When I first came up with this idea, I remember chatting with people about the ability to have an army almost entirely of non German vehicles, that idea has stayed with me. There is something really appealing about turning the enemies guns against them, about painting them in your colours and using them. This post will show off some of my favourite captured vehicles.
When Barbarossa dropped one of the biggest shakeups was the introduction of the T34, with its frankly ridiculous stats, FA6, SA5, AT8/9 it’s pretty much an absolute killer, however it’s not indestructible as I found out using one with my Finns, AT7+ will wear you down and kill you! The other big issue with the captured German T34 is it being trained, in an otherwise veteran army I always worry about the trained fire-magnet it is sitting there waiting for artillery.
I painted this chap the same way as the Czech 38t’s, the biggest issue was working out the lines for modulation- particularly on the side. Going for a top down on this thin slope just didn’t work as I planned (long flat surfaces are far easier) hence the excessive stowage on the sides to hide it! The other part of the hull I dislike is have to ‘light’ edges end to end on the front/top of the hull, shouldn’t have done that! The same also for the top of the turret/gun mantlet. Once again though it’s the rust and weathering which really sets it off, that red vs grey to my eyes is spot on. Whilst originally there were not going to be any numbers, I thought it needed some for coherency with the rest of the force, hence the 102 following on from the IC/2IC.
The other platoon here are my Panhards. Now doing 3 of these compared to 10 meant I could appreciate the process far more, I could also apply one important lesson – don’t attach the radio antennae – the buggers keep falling off! In game terms I still love this armoured car, with 1/1/0 stats, AT6 FP5+ though is where it really shines to me, whilst some may think the 8-rad with its 3 AT5 shots is better, numerous engagements have shown me that’s no the case!
Painting these was little issue due to the sides. On the one hand the left/right sides are perfect- long flat, the front and rear are really short, and my masking screwed up. In the end I had to tidy up a lot by hand.
I also then realised as I went on how much I had attached the antenna – with no tracks there is none of the flat brown I used on the 38t’s. The antennas would have been great in the colour. Instead the tires are painted Vallejo panzer ace – dark rubber. I hoped the brick dust would compensate
I tried to not overload these with extra gear, but still have them look a little used!
So here they are finished, again pretty happy with the end result – now it’s time to burn baby burn… Till next time Coxer