Today’s release sees the Germans receive some much needed anti-armour support in the form of assorted tank destroyers. As well as lighter tanks such as the Jagdpanzer IV L/48 and L/70 variants and the Hetzer, there is also the powerful Jagdpanther – capable of defeating any deploy Allied armour.
These are all available in 20mm and 28mm, but other scales can also be produced – just ask!
More information for each vehicle can be found on their pages, linked above.
This release is the start of a line of Eastern Front German designed by the amazing Just Some Miniatures, and to say they’re something awesome is not an exaggeration! It’s been incredibly difficult prying these excellent models from Martin’s hands long enough to photograph them all
Starting with the German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22nd June 1941 (Operation Barbarossa), the Eastern Front lasted for the remainder of the war until 8th May 1945. Encompassing the invasion of the Caucasus (Case Blue), the Battle of Kursk, Siege of Stalingrad many more famous incidents of the war, it ended with the Soviet push into Berlin and subsequent surrender of the German forces. It is estimated that 75-80% of all combat during WWII took place on the Eastern Front.
The sheer amount length of time it lasted, the terrain involved and the range of forces arrayed against each other, means that sooner or later almost any vehicle, artillery or infantry fielded by either the Soviets or Germans saw action. We covered some of these last year with our focus of Soviet and German vehicles that fought at Kursk, and now we expand with a range of cavalry and infantry suitable for your Eastern Front battles.
First up are some fast moving cavalry, with both an officer team and two troops available – a rifle armed squad with a supporting MG42, and an assault squad armed with STG44s and an MP40. These are then followed by three separate infantry options – a 10 man rifle squad with a pair of MG42s, a 5 man assault squad with SMGs and an STG44, and a deadly 5 man support squad with two MG42 machine guns. Finally, some anti-armour capability is offered with a two man Panzerschreck team.
However, this is just the start of rolling out new German models, in the coming weeks look out for vehicles, heavy guns, more cavalry and more infantry alongside and assortment of support teams……
This release sees the introduction of some new models to expand our range of German units and to offer them some much needed mobile flak support. Towards the end of the war, German forces were under pressure from Allied air superiority. Static and light mobile AA platforms were not always sufficient to guard against incoming air attacks, so a new range of armoured Flakpanzers based on the PzIV chassis were introduced.
As always, here’s a little background on the various new units…..
The Möbelwagon was a self-propelled AA platform consisting of a single 37mm AA gun rotating mount in an open topped superstructure mounted on a PzIV chassis. Originally intended as a stopgap measure, the Möbelwagon saw service with a number of Panzer Divisions on the Western front and 240 were made in total.
This model is available with the sideplates fully closed (travelling mode), partial open (AA mode) or fully open (ground attack/AA mode).
The Wirbelwind was a self-propelled AA platform consisting of a quad 20mm autocannon mount in an open topped turret mounted on a PzIV chassis. A successor to the earlier Möbelwagon, the Wirbelwind had a very high rate of fire, but lacked range and stopping power against the Allied aircraft of 1944, often requiring several hits to cause sufficient damage. This led to the development of the heavier Ostwind, with a 37mm cannon.
However, the high rate of fire, combined with a fully depressable gun and rotating turret made the Wirbelwind deadly against ground troops and light vehicles. Approximately 100 were made between 1944-45.
The Ostwind was a self-propelled AA platform consisting of a single 37mm AA gun mounted in an open topped turret mounted on a PzIV chassis. It was developed as a successor to the Wirbelwind once it was realised that the Wirbelwind lacked range and stopping power. As with the Wirbelwind, the Ostwind proved to be deadly against infantry and light vehicles and was an effective mobile gun platform.
The Kugelblitz was the ultimate development of the Flakpanzer and featured a pair of 30mm autocannon in a fully enclosed rotating turret fitted to a PzIV chassis. It was designed to address the issues of the Ostwind and Wirbelwind – chiefly that they were tall and the open turret made the crews vulnerable to attack.
Only 5 examples of the Kugelblitz were manufactured, and only one saw action.
Further updates are also available via our Facebook page.
Hopefully you found this bit of background history interesting and our models will be reinforcing your German armies.
This releases sees the German infantry entering in force. Reinforcements include an officer team, Panzerschreck team, rifle and SMG armed infantry and forward observer team. As well as the foot sloggers, AT capability is provided by the Panzerschreck and the PaK 97/38 medium anti-tank gun. Armoured support comes in the form of the PzII Flammpanzer flamethrower tank, with a motorcycle and sidecar mounting an MMG. Transport is provided by the Citreon CV11 staff car, and the radio back variant of the Maultier truck. Existing support and transportation is already available with the FlaK 38 88mm AA gun and various vehicles.
In addition, we also offer a German infantry platoon bundle of the above infantry and a SdKfz 222 armoured car. This is available at a very reasonable discounted price and free UK shipping. This is the fifth of our platoon bundles, in addition to the Japanese, Italian, British and Soviet platoons already released.
As always, here’s a little background on the various units…..
During the war, the Heer infantry formed the largest part of the German army and saw action across Europe and the Eastern Front. Constant recruitment along with some infantry being in combat since 1939 meant that quality levels and experience could vary wildly. Some units were veteran grenadiers while others were recently recruited rear-echelon troops with only basic infantry training.
This unit consists of 10 men (1 NCO, 1 MG, 1 MG loader and 7 soldiers with rifles), or 5 men (1 NCO, 4 soldiers with SMG)
The Panzerschreck was the German equivalent of the US Bazooka and British PIAT. It was a reloadable shoulder fired anti-tank weapon and a development of the one-shot Panzerfausts. Within its most effective range (50-60m) the hollow charge warhead could penetrate up to 160mm of armour – higher than the frontal armour of a Churchill VII.
German officers were generally well trained and capable leaders. Some had gained experience during the Spanish Civil War and some even in WWI. Officers were also trained to step up immediately if their superior were killed or incapacitated, and continue to fight under their own initiative.
Trained in liaising with artillery batteries or Luftwaffe squadrons, forward observer teams can coordinate devastating barrages of fire or close air support to cover the advance of troops or soften an enemy position before an assault.
All of the German armed forces made use of motorcycles, and many had additional sidecars. Often armed with an MG34 for close support, these light vehicles were used extensively for reconnaissance. Unlike similar motorcycles of other nations, many of the German sidecars had powered wheels, enabling them to traverse difficult terrain more easily.
The PaK 97/38 was a hybrid AT gun manufactured using captured French components and used during WWII. In addition to the Germans, it was also fielded by Italy, Finland, Hungary and Romania, as well being fitted to the chassis of the Soviet T-26 to make an interim mobile AT platform. It performed acceptably, despite being based on a late 19th century gun, but suffered from a low effective range, violent recoil and difficulty in hitting small, mobile targets.
The PzII Flammpanzer (or “Flamingo”) was an adapted PzII tank equipped with two limited traverse flamethrowers and a turret mounted MG34. Initially delivered to units in 1940, over 150 were before production ended in 1942. The Flamingo was used by two battalions and both were deployed in the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa. Heavy losses on the Eastern Front saw both battalions re-equipped as standard panzer units and the remaining Flamingos converted to Marder II tank destroyers.
The SdKfz 222 was a German armoured car developed from the 221, and was fitted with a 20mm automatic cannon and co-axial MG. It had a top speed of 50mph and up to 30mm of armour. Additionally, the open-topped design of the turret also allowed for limited AA capability. Nearly 1000 were produced in total and it saw service on the Eastern Front, North Africa and Europe.
At the start of WWII France had more vehicles per person than any country in the world except the US. Germany however did not have such a mechanised population, and so after occupying France, utilised many French vehicles. As well as the armoured vehicles that would be converted into ammunition carriers and tank destroyers, there were also many normal cars. Among these was the CV11, a civilian car that first entered production in 1934.
The sedan model was a popular staff car in both the French and German armies and many were exported from France, seeing action in North Africa and the Eastern Front.
The Maultier was a half-tracked truck of the German army in WWII developed as it was found that wheeled trucks were insufficiently capable of navigating the mud of Russian roads in bad weather. Mostly based on the Opel Blitz chassis and utilising redundant Pz. I track assemblies, some were also made using a Mercedes, Ford and Alfa-Romeo chassis and Pz. II tracks.
In addition to the standard cargo and troop carrying trucks, some were also fitted out as radio trucks. These were used as forward command positions as well as communication relays and hubs.
Further updates are also available via our Facebook page and all new releases will be showcased on our Instagram page.
Hopefully you found this bit of background history interesting and our models will be reinforcing your German armies – Vorauszahlung!
As MarDav grows, so does the list of excellent WWII printed models created by the designers that we work with.
In order to to keep everything as clear as possible, nothing is listed in the webstore until it is printed, painted and photographed so that you see the final product – not simply a rendered image. However, we do have a large catalogue of available models that ultimately will all be released via the website.
As a result, this does mean that it can take some time to work through all the exciting new files we get, but we do have a plan and so have put together an upcoming release schedule in the run up to the end of the year.
Depending on how quickly we work through any tweaks and test prints, releases may be made before their due date, but hopefully no later than listed here. As much as we would like to release everything at once, we think this approach is better!
Type 1 Ho-Ha (Japanese)
M3 Scout car (US/Allies)
Fiat truck (Polish)
CMP F-60 truck (British)
30 CWT truck (British)
Indian Pattern Armoured Car (British)
Otter Armoured Car (British)
Marmon Herrington Armoured Car (British)
LRDG truck/jeep crew (British)
47/32 AT gun (Italian)
Rifle squad
Forward observer team
Sniper team
Officer team
MMG team
Infantry platoon
T34/85 tank
T20 gun tow
OT 26 tank
SU 122 assault gun
ISU 152 assault gun
Rifle squad
PIAT team
Officer team
Infantry platoon
Bofors AA gun
Universal carrier
3” mortar carrier
Churchill Mk IV tank
Valentine tank
Rifle squad
SMG squad
Panzershreck team
Officer team
Forward observer team
Pak 97/38 medium AT gun
Motorcycle and sidecar w/MG
Sectional factory
Ruined sectional factory
Power plant
Workshop
Walls
Urban ruins
Trenches and gun pits
Italian defensive positions
As you can see, it’s quite a list and will massively expand both our list of available models, as well as the range of countries that we have platoon deals for (currently Italy and Japan), so don’t forget to add some of our WWII 3D printed models to your Christmas list!
Updates are also available via our Facebook page and all new releases will be showcased on our Instagram page.
Martin & Dave
