By Jonas With the basic troopers covered in part 1, it's time for the first support options to show themselves. While we already have a lot of support options painted up in plain DAK uniforms, I wanted to have some dedicated troops for these Fallschirmjägers. Even if that means doubling quite a few weapons, it'll look nice on the battlefield. Those extra support options can come in handy in larger battles and multi-platoon games as well. Some of these are a bit on the cheating side, simply using DAK miniatures and painting the jacket in the Splittermuster camo. A rivet-counter might notice it close up, but at a distance they blend in well enough for me. A Medium Machine Gun team is always a good start for a new force. The German double LMG sections already pack a lot of punch, and if you deploy one of these next to a section you can badly punish any Allied infantry opposition unless you're at a terrain disadvantage. The team comes from Black Tree Design, and can be supported by generic ammo mules to get up to the proper five-man size. I painted up a metal Warlord Games Raketenpanzerbüchse 54, or Panzerschreck, team as well. Far too early for Gazala, these were developed based on the bazookas that Germany faced for the first time in Tunisia in early 1943. So it never saw service in North Africa, but could be used at the very end of the Italy campaign or if using these models for a very dry summer battle in 1944. Another Warlord addition, this time the 2.8 cm heavy panzer rifle, or schwere Panzerbüchse 41. These and other weapons that could be moved by hand were an important part of the FJ arsenal, as they could be carried into difficult terrain and used when trucks and halftracks were not available. While not designed to deal with the heavier armour employed in WW2, they remained in production until 43 and saw widespread use in Gebirgsjäger and Fallschirmjäger unit as well as in motorized divisions throughout the war. I don't field flamethrowers that often, but I wanted to have the option available anyway. And with the huge amount of buildings Shirty has been building for North Africa, this Black Tree Designs flamethrower could come in handy in upcoming city fights. I used to paint the flames with a more red and black flame, but looking at pictures from WW2 as well as reenactors, the flames looked more yellow bordering on white, so I tried it an I think I like it this way. Sniper teams are a simple addition to a Chain of Command force, as they're basically just one or two extra riflemen. These Warlord snipers help each other spy for targets as they try to hide behind a small bush. Another simple addition is a mortar spotter team. Thes two Black Tree Design radio operators will do, calling in barrages on their enemies.
The Fallschirmjägers are now ready for the tabletop, though still a bit reliant on borrowing in troops from the DAK collection. After getting used to painting the camo I feel like getting even more troops for this little project. Maybe some more metal minis to upgrade the plastics and add variation? I'll definitely look into some nicer LMGs, and maybe some extra generic crewmen for PaKs and other support weapons. I'd love to hear if you have some ideas of other support options you'd like to see in a FJ force. Cheers, Jonas
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