Panzer III Ausf M

With the Analogue Hobbies painting challenge deadline of 20th March virtually upon us, I managed to sneak one last entry in at the last minute.

I had been waiting for more ANZAC Diorama figures to do, but again there were gaps in the time-frame of the 'supply chain', allowing me to get back to some of my own stuff...

So, here's a platoon, or 'Zug', of five Panzer III Ausf M, in 15mm scale, by The Plastic Soldier Company.

I love the PSC kits, great value for money, and easy to put together.

I have painted them up in my usual three colour German camo scheme, to match my existing FoW forces... I also used GW 'Rust effect' paint on the exhausts... Decals by DOM.

The Panzer III may not be as 'sexy' as the big cats, but it was a workhorse of the mid-war period and was still seeing action later in the conflict, so this platoon will be complimenting my existing Mid and Late War forces...

The Ausf M was just about the last incarnation of the PzIII, and had seem increases in armour thickness, size of main gun to 50mm and addition of Side Armour skirts or 'Schurzen'.

In the game, it has FA6 SA3 TA1, has a range of 24" with main gun and ROF3, AT9, FP4+, plus the usual MGs. That makes it quite a useful infantry support tank, able to knock out infantry, gun teams and lighter armoured vehicles, like half-tracks and suchlike. Its still a threat to the side armour of heavier tanks and will certainly hold its own against most tanks in the MidWar setting...

This platoon has been part of my background hobby work, which has gone under the project name of 'Operation Midnight Panzer'... with me typically ending an evenings hobby work, gluing together one of these little tanks before heading to the 'woodhill'... more of those to follow in a subsequent post...