Wayne’s New Zealand Late War Grand Tournament Gebirgsjägerkompanie Army I was quite lucky that two things coincided and forced me to focus on finishing my Gebirgsjägerkompanie. I started this project some time ago, but when we started planning The Art Of War II, the project was given more impetus. We decided to feature a few of the Battlefront staff and the armies they were working on and I was lucky enough to be volunteered. My army is themed on the 5. Gebirgsdivision in Italy, 1944-45, as found in the PDF Intelligence Briefing on the site. When I’m working on something for a book or the site I tend to get caught up in the history of a particular unit, so I have a lot of partially completed projects in my wargames cupboard.

With the Gebirgsjäger I thought I’d better get myself sorted out and complete something. Mountain troops have always appealed to me, as well as the Gebirgsjäger, I’ve also got a pile of miniatures waiting to start a Mid War Italian Alpini force. I like the strange equipment, interesting weapons and most of all the cool hats.

My Force for the tournament:  Headquarters    Company HQ Replace both Command SMG teams with Command Panzerfaust SMG teams 60 points Combat Platoons   Gebirgsjäger Platoon 3 Jäger Squads Replace Command Rifle/MG team with Command Panzerfaust SMG team 165 points Gebirgsjäger Platoon 3 Jäger Squads Replace Command Rifle/MG team with Command Panzerfaust SMG team 165 points Gebirgsjäger Platoon 3 Jäger Squads Replace Command Rifle/MG team with Command Panzerfaust SMG team 165 points Support Platoons   Infantry Gun Platoon Replace both 7.5cm leIG18 guns with 15cm sIG33 guns 155 points Scout Platoon 2 Scout Squads Replace all Rifle teams with Assault Rifle teams 190 points Mountain Anti-tank Gun Platoon 3x 5cm PaK38 110 points Looted Assault Gun Platoon 3 StuG M42 75/34 and 1 StuG M42 75/18 assault gun 260 points Mountain Artillery Battery 2 Gun Sections with 10.5cm GebH40 howitzers 195 points Assault Gun Platoon 3 StuG G 285 points Total 1750 points

For the photography deadline of The Art Of War II I managed to get the Headquarters, Combat Platoons, anti-tank guns, 3 Italian StuG M42 75/34 and some artillery completed. Initially I painted some 7.5cm GebG36 guns, but decided later to paint up some 10.5cm GebH50 howitzers. These I had to convert from parts of several other guns. I also did a lot of head swaps to give many of my troops Bergmutze caps. These heads were removed from Afrikakorps artillery crew. Other conversions included making long guns for the Italian StuG M42 75/34 assault guns.

The guns were made from aluminium tube I got from my local model shop, the bands were just made with photocopy paper with a coat of magic wash to seal it. I’ve now completed the artillery and I’ve finished painting the scouts, but I’ve still to base them. The last few things I have to paint before the tournament on 25-26 October are the Infantry Gun Platoon, one Italian StuG M42 75/18 and the three StuG G assault guns. I may actually finish it with time to spare! How I based my army... Wayne