Culmination in the Ardennes

     One of the many reasons that the German offensive in the Ardennes in 1944 failed is that they literally ran out of gas.  Panzers don't get great gas mileage, and Volksgrenadiers need bread and ammunition to fight.  With scare stockpiles to begin with, any interruption in the logistics chain would cause the Wacht am Rhein surprise to fall apart.  And it did.  Allied air power was pretty good at interdicting the German supply lines, and the Panzer Divisions culminated before the German objectives could be reached.

    I believe I have culminated as well painting Late War Battle of the Bulge (LW BOTB) Germans.  I certainly never planned this to be a major project.  I figured I would just paint one (1!) panzergrenadier platoon in winter camouflage and use the various tanks I had for my Normandy endeavors to flesh out a BOTB German force.  Ha!  The figures proved to be very enticing as they painted up nicely, and the winter motif was particularly enticing.  There were many very interesting actions in the Bulge as well, far beyond the standard Bastogne siege and relief.  The battle at St. Vith caught my interest and so the lone panzergrenadier platoon expanded into separate forces to represent the Fuhrer Escort Brigade (a Confident Veteran force) and the less confident 18th Volksgreandier Division, (a Reluctant Trained mob), both of which saw fierce action around the city.  Any way, after almost two years of painting LW BOTB Germans, I have decided to take a rest for a bit on this front.  Instead of the one (1!) envisioned panzergrenadier platoon, I painted up:

- Company HQ
- 2 panzergrenadier platoons each with a panzerschrek stand
- a heavy platoon for the panzergrenadiers with 4 HMGs and 4 81mm mortars, which could easily be broken down into separate HMG and mortar platoons.
- 3 volksgrenadier platoons (2 with assault rifles and one R/MG), each with an attached panzerschrek stand
- a 120mm mortar platoon
- a 4 gun 10.5 cm lefh 18/40 battery with 4 guns
- a hetzer platoon with 4 hetzers
- a stand alone 88mm flak gun for antitank purposes
- a lot of forward observers

A full storage container of LW BOTB Germans.  The top drawer has the HQ, panzergrenadiers and heavy platoon.  The Mobelwagons are from my son.

Drawer number two has the three volksgrenadier platoon and the 120mm mortar platoon.

Last but not least.  Drawer number three has heavy weapons for the Germans; the 10.5 cm battery, the hetzers and the 88.  Plus some supplies to fight over.  That's a lot of winter stuff.  

     That's a lot of Germans!  And there are a lot more to go.  One of the advantages of being ~2 years behind the latest "Oh shiney!" draw at Battlefront is that I picked most of these up at substantial savings (at least that's what I tell Frau PanzerCDR . . . ) so my lead pile is pretty big.  If I decided to go back to the Bulge I could easily pull out a pak 40 ATG platoon, or some pioneers, or maybe some LW Panthers, or something.  But these, and their American LW winter opponents will have to wait for a bit until I get motivated by the snow or Battlefront figures out just what Version 4.0 is supposed to be.  I am not sure which will come first, but either way I'll be ready!