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BLITZKRIEG GERMANS
The German war machine had been growing for
sometime, and Europe had been divided on how to
deal with the growing threat of National Socialism.
In 1939, however, as the Germans annexed Austria
and Czechoslovakia, and then invaded Poland, her
neighbors could no longer stand idly by. They were
ill-prepared for the speed with which the German
forces could move: Panzer Divisions manouvering
swiftly to take key objectives, followed closely by
mechanized infantry to exploit the gains. Blitzkrieg
was the term applied to this rapid and fluid form of
warfare, so very different to the static trench warfare
of the Great War.
This Painting Guide will provide you with a stepby-step guide to painting the basic infantryman of
the German Heer and one of the most-recognizable
vehicle silhouette of WWII - the Sd.Kfz 251/1
Hanomag half-track. These models are painted for
the early war period, representing the Blitzkrieg
forces that invaded Poland, France, and even the
early stages of the Russian invasion.
Following the step-by-step painting guides, youll find
a collection of other units from the German early-war
forces that display the variety of painting possibilities
when collecting these models.
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The first step is always to prepare your models for painting. After
assembling a squad of five models, we applied a layer of fine basing
grit, and let the glue dry.
Many people undercoat their models with black or white sprays.
We chose to spray each model with AP Uniform Grey spray as
sometimes a black undercoat can mean you have to apply multiple
coats of your other paints, and white can leave the colors appearing
much brighter than the desatured uniform colors of WWII.
The next step includes painting the basecoats over the largest areas.
We started with VMC German Fieldgrey WWII over the uniform tunic
(leaving the trousers grey). This was followed by VMC German Camo
Dark Green for the helmet, gas cape pouch (on chest), and gas mask
cannister on his back. We then painted his face and hands with AP
Tanned Flesh, a good base colour for Caucasian skin.
In order to help them stand out a little more from the equipment,
the uniform was highlighted again with a 60/40 mix of VMC German
Fieldgrey WWII/VMC Pale Sand, and the bread bag was highlighted
with VMC German Camo Beige. Finally, the skin was highlighted
with VMC Flat Flesh.
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Copyright Warlord Games Ltd, 2015. Warlord Games, Bolt Action, and the Bolt Action logo are trademarks of Warlord Games Ltd. All rights reserved.
The next step was to paint all the webbing and metal areas with
AP Matt Black. At this point we painted the eyes and the fine
piping on the collar and epaulettes with VMC White.
Epaulette piping would be a specific colour depending on
which part of the military the soldier served in. For the humble
infantryman this would be white. The collar tabs would have a
background in the same colour although for infantry this would
be the standard dark green of the collar itself.
Top Tip
Decals
If you feel like adding
more detail to your
German infantry
models, we make
a range of great
waterslide decals
covering a variety of
the units that were
part of the German
war machine.
Early in the war, the German forces applied unit decals to the sides
of their helmets to more easily differentiate them in the field. Over
time these decals would become obscured or damaged and,
by the middle of the war, they were rarely replaced.
Basing
Basing is the thing that really helps tie your army together.
There are many, many ways you can do you basing, depending on
where you want your troops to be fighting, and what your gaming
table looks like. For our purposes, we painted the base completely
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Copyright Warlord Games Ltd, 2015. Warlord Games, Bolt Action, and the Bolt Action logo are trademarks of Warlord Games Ltd. All rights reserved.
pEven from the outset of the war, the troops of the Waffen-SS were some of the best equipped
in the German armed forces. These early war SS soldiers are wearing fieldgrey trousers (instead
of grey), but retain the black leather jackboots (that would be later replaced by regular boots. All
are wearing plane tree pattern camouflage helmet covers and camo smocks.
www.warlordgames.com
Copyright Warlord Games Ltd, 2015. Warlord Games, Bolt Action, and the Bolt Action logo are trademarks of Warlord Games Ltd. All rights reserved.
www.warlordgames.com
Copyright Warlord Games Ltd, 2015. Warlord Games, Bolt Action, and the Bolt Action logo are trademarks of Warlord Games Ltd. All rights reserved.
www.warlordgames.com
Copyright Warlord Games Ltd, 2015. Warlord Games, Bolt Action, and the Bolt Action logo are trademarks of Warlord Games Ltd. All rights reserved.
uThe Sd.Kfz 231 heavy armoured car (6-Rad) was used during
the early years of the war in reconnaissance roles, and during
the later years in policing and anti-partisan roles. This once has
recently seen a bit of service as the road dust around the lower
half would suggest.
qEven the motorcycles and sidecars of
the Kradschtzen platoons were painted
in the same German vehicle grey.
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Copyright Warlord Games Ltd, 2015. Warlord Games, Bolt Action, and the Bolt Action logo are trademarks of Warlord Games Ltd. All rights reserved.