An Introduction to the Panzerwerks

Avro Lancaster Mk Is of No. 44 Squadron RAF over Lincoln, 29 September 1942

So, where to begin? I have set this blog up to document my adventures into the world of wargaming and military modelling, specifically regarding the Second World War.

Several of my family members served with British forces overseas, and my Grandfather crewed a Lancaster Bomber with No. 44 Squadron RAF for the final two years of the conflict, so I was raised on a steady diet of stories surrounding the Second World War.

However, it wasn't until the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings on 2004 that I began to take a real interest in the history of the war. For the week of the anniversary commemorations it seemed the television was full of fascinating documentaries and interviews, and the depth of the subject matter really struck a chord with me.

Like most people who've been through the British education system, I have studied Nazi Germany and the Versailles Treaty in the past but the actual history of how the war progressed was completely new to me. I was like a man possessed, devouring tome after tome of information on everything from campaign histories down to small-unit tactics and technical information on armoured vehicles. It was the latter that truly captured my imagination, I've always found tanks fascinating and like many people who research WWII, I was instantly drawn to the German heavy Tiger and Panther tanks.

Tiger tanks spearheading an assault south of Orel during the Kursk offensive, July 1943

This interest in armour developed into a desire to wargame the conflict, eventually resulting in my purchase of a number of figures for Flames of War, a 15mm scale combined arms wargame. For the few months I have been attending the regular gaming nights at Battlefront Europe's European HQ in Nottingham, where I have been learning the game. It turns out this is a very good motivation to get an army painted!

I will be posting units in my army as they are painted, with the odd painting tutorial or review where appropriate. I'm also taking part in the Operation Overlord campaign that WWPD.net are currently running, so there may be the occasional battle report making an appearance too. I may branch out in the future to include military modelling in 1/48, 1/35 or 1/72 scale, but that may be quite a way down the line.

Anyway, on with the show!