Ze Germans!
Before I go into what I’m doing for Project Platoon or why I’m doing it, I think perhaps introductions are in order. While Jasper, Guy and Mark are very visible and actively involved with WSS, I tend to stay a bit behind the scenes. I’ve been working here at Karwansaray Publishers for just over a year officially (and much longer than that unofficially). I am basically responsible for the look and feel of all our magazines: I make design decisions and work on all the related marketing and publicity stuff you need when you have lots of books and magazines. I’ve got a fair amount of professional experience in web development, so that’s also one of my big responsibilities. I’m an artist by training, or at least that’s what my university degree says, so I guess I’m actually almost doing something I was trained for in my current job (how often does that happen when you have a BA). I am also a huge nerd and have been one for a long time. I have always been nuts about computer games especially, but also RPG’s and general nerd-culture. Tabletop wargaming is a fairly new thing for me which I got into through Jasper. We were both really into 54mm figure painting, but he became obsessed with the smaller stuff and I just came along for the ride.
And now, I’m just going to come out and say it: my favorite part about wargaming is the painting. I’m an artist and that’s what I do. I like playing the game too, but I’m not overly fussy about the details beyond that. Historical wargaming is great, but fantasy or any other form would suit me just as well. My predilection for painting sort of leads into my choice of army for Project Platoon. I’m painting mid to late-war German Heer, mainly because of the fact that I really like the colors and detailing on their uniforms. It also gives me a chance to do a bit of camouflage without going the totally evil SS route. I like history a lot, but I am also not like the guys who are intensely interested in the historical background of their units. I am however looking at lots of pictures of the German army both in black and white and color to get inspiration for this project. I am learning a lot about costume and dress in World War II Germany and how it changed and evolved throughout the war as supplies became increasingly scarce. I am fascinated by visual history. Also, since I’m pretty new at this, I’ll be the one to give a bit of beginners perspective on setting up a small force like the one we’re building here.
Speaking of which, I’ve already finished off the commander of my platoon. Meet Lieutenant von Panzerhosen, leader of the infamous Kampfgruppe Panzerhosen. Yes, clearly I’m not taking this too seriously! I’ll be introducing you to the rest of his command team soon. They’re actually finished now, but I didn’t want to get too carried away (that’s something else I should point out - I can paint pretty well, but also pretty fast, so don’t be surprised if I get my platoon finished before everyone else)!
