The LAST SS Panzergrenadier Platoon!

Or should I say "zug"?  In either case, the unit is finished which means I can put the following force of FT troops from 17. SS Panzergrenadier Division on the field to threaten Carenten:

Co commander, 2iC and 2 panzerschrek teams
3 SS Panzergrenadier Platoons
SS Heavy Platoon with 2 MG sections and a mortar section
Light SS Anti-tank Platoon with 3 7.5 cm pak 40 guns
SS Panzer Platoon with 4 StuG IVs (these are FV)

Throw in a Heer nebelwerfer section and some Osttruppen Grenadiers and I can send 1500+ points against Easy Company of the 101st. 

I think I will do a couple of 81 mm mortar stands to allow me to field an SS Mortar Platoon with 4 tubes and give me another platoon to filed.  The SS nebelwerfers are next, though I need to do a couple of conversions from the SS artillery pack to make it look the way I want.   Either way, herr Hauptstrumfuher will approve. 

The LAST SS PG Platoon!  Actually, I have a couple others I could do, but this is it for now.

MG 42 in the bocage will discourage most Allied attacks.  When in doubt, heavily flock your stands.  It hides many errors and adds a lot to the look of your units.  Especially from 3 feet away!

A MG stand peeks through a gap in the bocage. 

A panzerfaust SMG team can be substituted for one MG stand.  I typically don't do this, but each of the platoons has this for an option. 

 

 

MG teams move up under fire.  Pea dot camouflage is not hard, merely tedious. 

Pea dot camouflage from the rear.  The standard German infantryman has many things to carry that obliterate all semblance of camouflage. 

Panzerfaust SMG stand from the rear. 

Just a standard MG stand. 

Another view of a prone MG stand.  My painting has come a LONG way from the first Afrika Korps infantry done almost a decade ago. 

A last view of a prone MG 42 MG stand. 



"On to Carenten!  Where is Hauptman Von der Heydte?"

 

SS Panzergrenadier Heavy Platoon

     A slight pause from Villers-Bocage posting (I have another slew of pictures from the second run of the scenario) to post pictures of a newly completed unit.  I did this platoon to beef up my iconic Normandy SS Panzergrenadier force with the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division in mind to run Carenten style battles against the always FV US paratroopers.  The 17th is merely Fearless Trained so this isn't really a good deal from my point of view.  I did the full platoon with 4 HMG teams and a mortar section of two tubes.  Since I had acquired two of the SS infantry boxes from Battlefront over the years, I did the HMG teams in the firing positions instead of two being carried.  The latter looks pretty annoying to make as I think you would need to glue it together first before painting to make it stay together.  On the other hand, in my haste to do the final steps, I glued two of HMGs firing in the opposite position that the NCO/observer is pointing.  It doesn't look too noticeable, especially from a distance, and by the time I noticed it was too late to do much more than lament and shrug.  At least they don't look like the Frankenstein Panzer Lehr poses. 

The full Monty. 

Herr platoon commander waves his pistol to encourage the others.

Autumn splinter camouflage on the HMG team.

A mixture of uniforms will hopefully keep keener observers from detecting the NCO is pointing in the opposite direction that the HMG is firing.  The pose suggests he is turning his body to point so I guess I just looked at that instead of the arm.  Du'oh!

Another slightly confused team. 

These guys have the right vector. 

 

The mortar section has two tubes.  Enough to smoke a position or annoy dug in FV US paratroopers but that is probably it.

The mortar section observer team. 

Here the NCO IS pointing the right way, though the mortar looks almost vertical.  A very short range target perhaps . . .

The other mortar team.

The LAST SS Panzergrenadier platoon is primed and even started!  I will paint these all in the pea-dot camouflage to see if I can go any faster.  The unfinished FAMO in the background suggests the answer to that question is negative. 

 

I will probably do a 150mm nebelwerfer section next using a mixture of the figures in the blister, some SS artillery figures and a couple of SS gunners from the box.  The 17th SS Panzergrenadiers didn't have any nebelwerfers in their artillery park, but in my mind this is the iconic German artillery of Normandy so I will do this next.  Probably.