Axis Forces on the Eastern Front

Introduction

When Operation BARBAROSSA began in 1941, it heralded the start of one of the most apocalyptic conflicts in history. Four years of war would see millions dead, and vast swathes of cities and land destroyed. The fighting stretched from frozen plains to parched, dusty plains over thousands of miles. Battles were fought with thousands of personnel and tanks clashing in barely comprehensible numbers.

Within such a vast theatre of war, the range of uniforms and equipment was also huge. Just in terms of field uniforms, Germany had a different pattern for almost every year of the war and numerous camouflage uniforms. Coupled with their co-belligerent powers, the modelling scope is quite vast and somewhat hard to comprehend; hopefully, this book will assist in adding some clarity to the confusing array of equipment issued.

This period saw the rapid evolution of personal camouflage clothing. The various patterns used are all complex and daunting to paint, with subtle minutiae between the changing variants and patterns. I’ve broken these down into clean, simple guides that should make it easier to replicate using a simple process.

A bewildering array of equipment was used on the Eastern Front. It is impossible to cover every combination and permutation of dye and manufacturing periods in a volume of this size; however, I have attempted to cover all the basic and most common combinations. I’ve also attempted to cover the issue and usage dates of various equipment. I haven’t gone into too much detail on insignia and field gear as those would take a volume of their own to describe.

One way of adding a more interesting element to your Eastern Front wargaming is to add the forces of one or more of the Axis powers. While often overlooked in favour of the large armoured clashes of famous German divisions, the Axis forces shouldered a significant burden of the fighting in Russia in operations that are well suited to gaming.

Finally, I hope that this book helps to make putting your collections together easier and motivates you to get them painted and onto the table!

1

Tools: Basic tools and modelling advice

TIPS AND TOOLS

Getting started

One of the major issues facing the forces of the Axis was the huge and bewildering array of matériel in use. Equipment was drawn from across the length and breadth of Europe, requiring an equally huge and disparate logistical system. In some ways this is reflected today, as someone first entering into collecting and modelling the campaigns in Eastern Europe is presented with an overwhelming array of models, scales, paints, glues and tools, as well as a vast number of other elements.

While the huge range of hobby products, paints and tools on the market is truly vast and expanding rapidly all the time, this book will attempt to provide some guidance and knowledge on the most commonly-required tools and techniques. I’ll also attempt to cut through some of the technical terminology, giving a bite-size description of what is required for a few of the most commonly-used techniques.

As a solid rule of thumb, when it comes to buying tools you’re better off buying better quality. These may prove more expensive, but will work out cheaper in the long run and the results will be more than worth it. That said, it’s probably also worth scouring the internet and checking with club mates or friends for reviews to see if it sounds like something you would find useful and fulfils your specific tastes and needs.

Readers of the other books in this series will be familiar with the following sections; however, I’ve repeated it here for those new to the hobby.

Plastic, metal or resin?

The Second World War is probably the most widely-supported period for models in any and all scales, with thousands of different products available. Generally speaking, for gaming purposes these are provided in either white metal, resin or hard and soft plastics.

Plastic figures are typically provided on a frame called a sprue, from which they need to be removed. Since about the 1960s, many extremely popular and classic sets of figures from the likes of Airfix, Esci and Revell have been produced, predominantly 20mm-sized figures produced in a soft, polythene type of plastic that required a vigorous scrubbing with warm water and washing-up liquid before painting. Thankfully, this is becoming less prevalent and modern miniatures, typically being produced in hard plastic which is far less prone to warping and bending, has better adhesion for paint and is also far easier to glue. The 28mm-sized figures are most commonly a hard plastic, though there are also several hard plastic 15mm and 20mm ranges. The majority of 28mm figure manufacturers provide each figure in several pieces to allow you some variety in their posing, and I’ll go into more detail in assembling these a little later. Plastic figures are best assembled with special-purpose plastic glues, again something I’ll discuss later.

Probably the most common material for the production of wargames figures, however, is lead-free metal, and these figures dominate all the various gaming scales. Most historical ranges are produced in this material, and the figures are usually supplied as single-piece castings and typically come with a small stand attached to the figures’ feet to aid placing them on their bases. Both plastic and metal figures can have moulding lines along their sides, and occasionally excess areas of metal or plastic called flash as a by-product of the production process that will need to be removed. This is a simple task and requires scraping along the line with the blunt side of a blade or a quick sanding down with some files. Again, I’ll cover that a little later too.

Metal models require assembling with superglue or an equivalent, and larger models such as artillery and cavalry will require a degree of patience as they can quickly become somewhat frustrating if you try to rush putting them together. When assembling any figure, though, patience and test-fitting will always pay off here.

Relatively rare, although some ranges are starting to introduce it as a material, is resin. This is at first glance much like plastic, though is a little more brittle and is often supplied with casting blocks that need trimming away. Resin is light with crisp detail and is best treated as working with metal, using superglue for assembly.

KNIVES, CUTTERS AND FILES

The first thing you’ll need to do, unsurprisingly, is to get the component parts of your figure ready for assembly and clean away any residue from the manufacturing process. This can take several forms, but the most common are flash and mould lines which form when the model is being cast in its mould. These appear as either prominent lines around a figure or as chunks or ‘worms’ of excess material, most especially on edges and undercuts of the figure. These casting imperfections can appear in any material and removing them will massively improve the appearance of the finished model, especially when you are using the dry brush techniques.

Hobby knife

These broadly fall into two types: those with replaceable blades such as the ubiquitous X-Acto hobby knife, and the Stanley knife. Either one of these will probably be your most frequently used tool in