Steyr Armoured Cars of the SS Heimwehr Danzig 1939

 A project that developed out of the Bolt Action scenario for the attack on the Polish Post Office in Danzig is the Steyr ADGZ armoured cars used by the SS Heimwehr Danzig. I have come across a few blogs and videos on YouTube where gamers have just substituted some other German armoured car for the Steyrs, but that just doesn't cut it in the Conscripts.

The Steyr armoured car was developed in Austria in 1934 and used by their army and police force prior to Anschluss, They had a very distinctive look in that they are almost symmetrical front to rear. In fact, they had two drivers, one facing forward and the other rearward, so the vehicle can drive in either direction at full speed. The SS bought a number of them, some of which were used in Danzig. Later in the war, they were used in anti-partisan operations in the Balkans.

At the moment the only sources of Steyrs in 1/56 scale are on 3D sites like Shapeways, but those can be rather pricey once shipping is included. As luck would have it, a friend of mine had recently acquired a 3D printer, and he was interested in trying something different. He purchased a file for printing the armoured car online and, after some necessary modifications, printed off two for me for the total cost of $15, which included the cost of the file.

They assembled fairly easily, with some sanding here and there, and drilling out the holes in the wheels a bit larger so they would fit on the axles. 

 They were painted a basic early war Panzer grey, which was straightforward enough, but then came the problem of finding appropriate decals. The Steyr armoured cars used by the SS Heimwehr Danzig bore rather unique markings such as SS runes and skulls, but also names of various German territories that were viewed by the Nazis as 'belonging to the Reich' such as 'Ostmark', 'Sudetenland', and 'Memelland'. Again, while kits and decal sets for the Steyr exist in 1/72 and 1/35, they do not in 1/56.

Not having the ability of print water transfer decals, I resorted to printing them on paper with a laser printer. I started with the image above, changed the colour of the background to match the grey of the vehicles, and printed it off. I then cut out the parts that I wanted, sanded the backs to make the paper thinner, and glued them on the model with PVA. I am pretty pleased with how they turned out. 

If you are interested in more information of the Steyr ADGZ, follow the link below.

 https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/nazi_germany/Austrian_ADGZ.php

The next step is the construction of the Polish Post Office that will take center stage on the wargames table. More to follow.

Polish Army of 1939 - Bóg, Honor, Ojczyzna (God, Honor, Fatherland)

 A while ago I picked up an early war Polish force from the Warlord Games 28mm Bolt Action range. The original plan was to have it ready for the 80th anniversary of the start of the Second World War. It got based and primed, but then stagnated until recently. So here is the final result.

1 7TP tank - A development of the British Vickers 6-ton light tank the Polish 7TP saw combat in the Defence of Poland in 1939.  Although significantly better armed than the German Panzer I and Panzer II, the 7TP was never fielded in enough numbers to change the outcome of the war. This is an early version of Warlord Games resin kit which did not come with the exhaust at the back, so I scratch built one.

 

2 TKS tankettes, one equipped with a 20mm cannon. Here is a link to a video featuring a full-size replica of the TKS.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNLxDP0omKs&t=4s

 

1 HQ consisting of an officer, NCO, medic, and radio man

 3 x 10 man infantry sections (two with Browning Automatic Rifles)

 

1 Anti-tank rifle team, and 1 MMG team with wz. 30 machine gun

 

1 Bofors 37mm Anti-tank gun 

1 French 75 mm field gun Mle 1897, designated in Poland as 75 mm armata wz. 1897-17

 

These were all painted using the Flames of War Polish Early War Paint Set and the Army Painter Strong Tone Quick Shade.

With the completion of my Poles, fellow Conscript Dallas and I have been looking at doing some Poland 1939 scenarios from the Bolt Action campaign book, 'Germany Strikes - Early War in Europe'. The first of these involves the defence of the Polish Post Office in Danzig (Gdansk) on 1 September 1939. We have both been working on more early war Germans, as well as some unique support weapons, vehicles, and buildings required for the scenario. More to follow.

On an interesting note, a number of the figure options and sculpts have changed since I first purchased my Poles.