The Sturmgeschütz (StuG) III was a well-armed and armoured vehicle based on the tried and tested Pz.Kpfw III chassis. Manned by the artillery originally, as it was considered a mobile howitzer, it went through many variants during WWII, and indeed was one of the few German AFVs to serve throughout the war on all fronts.
A conversion of the SdKfz 251/1 AusfD with two flame projectors mounted on the sides designated 251/16. The 2 main flame projectors were backed up by the usual shield-mounted MG34 or MG42 and an additional portable (albeit still attached by pipe to the halftrack) smaller calibre flamethrower which could be used by dismounted infantry. The crew would don protective headgear from full hoods to heavy scarves and goggles. Plenty of conversion opportunities here!
The Sd.Kfz 251 half-track was the ubiquitous German half-track used throughout World War II to transport Panzergrenadiers. The 251 was known by German and Allied soldiers alike as ‘Hanomag’ after its manufacturer Hannoversche Maschinenbau AG.
The Panzer III was one of the most numerous German tanks of the war, and was the mainstay of German armoured forces when they invaded France and the Low Countries, then later Russia. It was well armoured for the time and equipped with the 5cm KwK 38 or 39 L/42 cannon, the N variant having a 7.5cm KwK 37 cannon.
Containing a single Sd.KLfz 251/1 „neue” ausf D half-track, the 'Late’ version of the Hanomag, this easy to build, yet remarkably detailed, plastic boxed set gives your Panzergrenadiers mobility, a degree of protection and the supporting firepower of their MGs for and aft.
Germany, like many nations, made use of existing tank designs to make self-propelled guns and tank destroyers. The Jagdtiger was a colossal example of this practice – the Germans wanted to upgrade the much-feared Tiger II by mounting the 128mm Pak 44 cannon into a purpose-built armoured casement atop the lengthened King Tiger Chassis. 150 units were ordered to tackle the ever-encroaching Soviet armour – the Pak more than capable of tearing through Allied armour.
The Königstiger (officially named the Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B or Sd.kfz 182) more commonly known as the ‘King Tiger’ or ‘Royal Tiger’ by Allied troops, was a development of the fearsome Tiger I tank. Its introduction to hostilities in 1944 caused significant problems for the Allies but ultimately it saw action too late and in tew fewer numbers to have a game-changing impact on the war.
Fighting to stave off the massed assaults of the Allies on the Eastern and Western Fronts, these battle- hardened German soldiers are armed with the deadly Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle. Providing dogged resistance from hedgerows and shattered towns, they fight for every inch of land conquered by the Third Reich…
Germany’s aggressive campaigns of conquest ensured that her armies would fight in many countries far from the fatherland and in starkly contrasting terrain and weather conditions. German soldiers were well-equipped for their venture into Europe, and later North Africa, but found themselves ill-prepared for the bleak, freezing and unforgiving Eastern Front. When the Russian armies failed to collapse, the Wehrmacht found itself caught out on the Russian plains, freezing, literally in many cases, to death.
Specialist training bred hardened fighters and the Gebirgsjäger (mountain infantry) were regarded as elite alongside Fallschirmjager. Gebirgsjäger originated from the Alpenkorps of WWI, where they were used to defend the mountain passes from their Italian equivalent, Alpini.
Always at the forefront of the fighting, the Waffen-SS were well-equipped, even as the supply of new materials and weapons became more of an issue for the Third Reich as Allied bombing campaigns pummelled German industry.
As Hitler’s military machine unleashed their devastating assault on Poland in 1939, the SS were still in the process of transitioning from political to military organisation, becoming the Waffen-SS (armed SS) and the military wing of the Nazi party.