Himmlisch Drachen Stamm

I have not gotten much work done on my models as I would have like this year and I've gotten even less done on my Flames of War stuff. That said I have spent a lot of time thinking about my fantasy Flames of War force. Ideas are still in flux but I'm beginning to have a framework for how my fictional army is organized and the in-game, on the table composition of my force. For now I am calling my nation Himmlisch Drachen Stamm which should be German for Heavenly Dragon Clan. I thought this would be fitting as I used to name my German list on Easy Army after dragons: Blue Dragon, Fire Dragon, Eastern Dragon and so on. Continuing with this theme I will be naming my companies after dragons as well. When I started playing Flames of War I knew nothing of how real armies are organized. Since starting the War Journal podcast I have learn more about how German was organized during World War 2. I'm still no expert but I now have the desire to learn more. I will be adapting what I learn to my dragon companies so my fictional Himmlisch Drachen Stamm can somewhat mirror historic WWII Germany.

As for what my Himmlisch Drachen Stamm will look like on the table, I have a little more concrete ideas for that. Since I've started playing Mid War I have gain a liking for Italy. That means my army will be a mix of German and Italy forces on the gaming table. The storyline behind Himmlisch Drachen Stamm will be that of a single nation, not two ally nations. From here on I will be purchasing items from two separate intelligence briefings. An Italian mid war briefing that will most likely be the Parachute Company in the North Africa book. The other briefing will be something from the Bridge of Remagen book which will give me a late war German force to use. Once I have enough assembled models to make lists from either briefing, the next step will be to pick up the Fortress Italy book. Hopefully I can find an intelligence briefing in it that would allow me to use elements from both of my previous lists. I am undecided on how I will paint my force. Right now I am leading towards painting infantry in mostly historic colors while vehicles would be half historic, half my own creation. It doesn't help that none of the paint I currently own lends itself to being historically accurate. I will be designing my own logo to have on my vehicles instead of the Iron Cross.

As I write this I realize after playing Flames of War for almost two years I am still at the beginning of my hobby. I suppose it make sense given that I have invested most of what little resources I have into other games. Also until recently I had no idea of what I wanted my army to look like and even now I just have a rough draft. But I now have a direction where to head towards. While I can't paint anything until I decide on my schemes (and get those colors), I can have my vehicle assembled and primed. Infantry I want fully painted before I glue them to their base so it will be a while before I can finish my Volkssturm Platoon. My two Wirbelwinds on the other hand will be on the gaming table much sooner. Once they are assemble my next purchase will include my personal favorite tank, the Jagdtiger...