You ain't seen me, right! German Recce vehicles

One of the things that any Flames of War army is incomplete without is reconnaissance. There are a number of options available to the German Army and SS troops, from motorbike troops to armoured cars and even some light tanks. In the end, I decided to go with what I wanted to paint!

Schwerer Panzerspähwagen Sd Kfz 231 (8-rad)

Ok, so that's a bit of a mouthful, but don't worry, it was normally nicknamed the 8-rad, and so that's what I'll be calling it. The 8-rad was developed in the mid-1930s, following the poor performance of a six-wheeled predecessor known, with great originality, as the 6-rad. Following the redesign, the 8-rad was first produced in 1937, and was at the time the most advanced armoured car in the world. Featuring fully independent all-wheel steering, a powerful engine, good steering position and visibility for the driver, the vehicle was well received by the Army and offered unprecedented levels of manoeuvrability and range, and could travel at up to 53mph (not bad for an 8.5ton vehicle). It was, however, complicated and expensive to produce. Under 1500 models of the standard 8-rad and Sd Kfz 232 radio version were built before production was stopped in around mid-1943. Limited numbers of these vehicles saw service until the very end of the war.


Recce troops in Flames of War

As in real-life, reconnaissance plays many useful roles in Flames of War. It prevents ambushes, it stops the infantry from gaining defensive bonuses by 'Going to Ground', and it can greatly reduce enemy 'Spearhead' deployment giving more time for your force to engage before the enemy closes. All of these things synergise with other aspects of a FoW force, so whilst Recce teams are not, in and of themselves, particularly powerful, they act as force multipliers in a great many situations.

In addition, recce teams get bonuses to defensive saves, to take into account the fact that they are sneaking around rather than driving along a convenient road playing their stereo loudly and honking their horn! Furthermore, they can disengage part-way through the enemy shooting phase, hopefully allowing them to get back into cover. So, not only are they very useful, they are also survivable too! What's not to like?

The Painted 8-rads

I painted the vehicles in exactly the same manner as the StuG Platoon painted a week or so ago. See this link for further painting details. The camouflage scheme is slightly different to those of the StuGs, to assist in differentiating between platoons - after all, a great deal of camo painting in WW2 was done by the troops themselves, rather than back in the factory, so different men with different equipment would have produced a different effect! - but similar enough that they look like they belong in the same army!

So, what's next? Well, I've just about finished a test model for my British tanks, so we may have to do the rest of the Shermans!