Deacons

There aren't a lot of support options for British tanks in the North Africa campaign. With a horde of tanks you really don't need a lot. This is one platoon I couldn't resist. Although 2lb and 6lb portee AT guns were much more prevalent, I couldn't resist the very 'cool' looking models of the Deacons. These armored 6lb AT guns have more armor on their sides and rear than they do on their front! The photo below on the left is the view my opponents will most likely see during a game.

I mounted the gun mechanism with rare-earth magnets allowing them to pivot and also be removed for storage if desired. For color scheme I had two choices: the very bland desert sand color, or the factory-applied 'Mickey Mouse' cammo scheme. I couldn't find any evidence that the more colorful scheme was used in combat, and it's a terrible pain in the buttocks to paint so I opted for the more plain scheme. Desert rats decals were added to the fenders and rear of the vehicles, again without photographic evidence of their use on the Deacons. Without them the would have looked just too plain.

As for use in game, these hit a lot harder than my 2lb-armed Crusader II tanks but are a lot less armored. They do have the 'tip and run' rule allowing them a short move away from the enemy after firing which might help them conceal themselves. At a similar point value to three Crusader II tanks I'll probably reserve the use of these for 1750 point lists and leave them in the box for 850 point games.