Next painting project - 10 and 12 Kompanies, III Battalion, SS Panzergrenadierregiment 26 - Kampfgruppe Wünsche (7 - 8 August 1944)

Hi folks,

The last few weeks has been spent prepping and researching (a lot of researching) into my next major painting project. This will be one armoured infantry company (#10 company) alongside the heavy (support) company (#12 company). In addition, platoons from various other support elements within III Battalion, SS Panzergrenadierregiment 26 as well as the divisions artillery and support units. 

Once the infantry is painted, this force (less half-tracks) will also fill in for the dismounted motorised troops of SS Panzergrenadierregiment 25. Although I may have to add dismounted SS support units, such as mortars and infantry guns.

At the time of Operation Totalize, this battalion, less #9 Company, were part of Kampfgruppe Wünsche. 

III Battalion made up the only armoured infantry battalion in the Division at the time, with 4 companies mounted in sdkfz 251 half-tracks. I have no idea at the moment what the strength was of the unit at the time of Totalize, but I am willing to bet it was nowhere near full strength. Collection wise, better to have more which can go futher! The presence of half-tracks in this unit also explains why I decided to cover troops from a 2nd (different) Kampfgruppe. 

This Kampfgruppe also took part in the German counter attacks against the allied break-in on 8th August 1944, and included Tigers from Schwere Panzerabteilung 101, Panthers from I/12 SS Panzer Regiment and Panzer IVs from II/12 SS Panzer Regiments 8th company. 

My collection already includes 7th company Panzer IVs, and some Panthers marked up with partially hidden identification numbers. The Tigers are another future project. My existing models are for Kampfgruppe Waldermuller, who were supported by the dismounted troops of I/SS-Panzergrenadierregiment 25. 

My main focus for this project will be on the vehicles initially, and primarily on the standard half-tracks. I've found that in recent large games I've had to borrow these models from others in order to represent German units, so figured it was about time I painted my own. Unfortunately, this full unit (which I'm building to a rather unhistorical full strength), has a lot of vehicles. More when all the support elements are included. Around 40 vehicles in total. 

So far, I am working on the infantry carriers, command and HMG carriers (16 half-tracks in total). 

My current thinking is to do these in batches of 4 vehicles. Infantry I will worry about in the future! I've still to work out whether any of these should have additional weapons, such as 37mm A/T guns. 

A large part of my issue has been checking I have the required decals before I start, which led me to having serious issues establishing what the hull numbers should be. Some help on the Flames of War German Forces Facebook group gave me a starting point, in the form of images of this unit being inspected prior to D-Day. The visible hull numbers allowed me to determine the layout for the unit. Young David then came to my rescue with a graphic for another Panzer Divisions numbering system, which matched what I had found. I've been updating my painting plan with these numbers as I find them. 

I'd note here that I am aware the 12th SS tank units 'added five' to the hull numbers. However, I've no evidence that this was done by the Panzergrenadiers and the copy of the order I have seen refers only to Panzers. The images of these vehicles from May 1944 shows them with the numbers I've used in my plan. 

Note that yellow = WiP. 

I have had to guess hull numbers for some platoons, such as the Grilles (6 of which were delivered to the Division in July 1944). I've included flamethrower half-tracks, which some sources state were not present in Normandy - although I have read a Canadian account of being attacked by these vehicles while fighting 12th SS. I'm unsure of hull numbers for these currently. Also in this plan are 3 more Wespes, 3 Hummels and some Panzerpioniers (which may be upgraded to their own small company, although this may involve more halftracks). Three Pak40s and tow vehicles have been added, and I'm planning a full unit of six 8cm half-tracks (again, issues with sources here, the BF books say the unit had double the number in the normal OOB - so I may decal these as a mix of 3 different companies). 

For Flames of War fans, the plan was initially done for v3 using the Atlantik Wall book. However, I've made the decision to largely switch to v4 unit organisations (which drop HQ teams and vehicles for  support platoons), mainly due to wanting to save money and painting time on command vehicles and teams for support units. It was a hard decision, but easy to fix in the future if I need to, and easier on me in the short term. As an example of what this means, in v3 a battery of Wespes would have also required a Kubelwagon and OP team per platoon, and a HQ section with command and staff teams, truck and Kfz 15 field car (a total of 4 additions vehicles and 4 infantry teams). In v4, you only represent the six 'fighting' vehicles. 

All in all, this is a bigger project than my more recent allied ones - from a research, motivation and painting perspective. Painting German kit, especially camo'ed German kit, will take longer. There is a personal issue with making a start, due to some indecision paralysis. Then there is the foliage needed. The infantry is also harder work - while I have the nice older metal SS figures, they are also wearing camo. And don't get me started on storage space.

But you eat an elephant one bite at a time, so I'd best get started (but don't worry, I have a few random British vehicles and teams to paint as I go, just to mix things up a bit).