I recently picked up a pair of Panther Ausf G 1/72 models from the Italeri fast build range. With just 12 parts per vehicle, they hit the mark for me.
These will be added to my late war German forces for use with the Rapid Fire Reloaded rules.
I have been keeping a record of their build progress over on the Commanders web page (link below), but now painted and absorbed into the Order-of-Battle, it was time to give them a bit of a back story.
In their first action they could well be from 31st Panzer Regiment, serving with 5th Panzer Division, under the direction of Generalmajor Rolf Lippert, during the defensive battles in East Prussia 1945.
Their respective identity numbers 231 and 234 show that they are from 2nd Company, 3rd platoon and that they are tanks 1 and 4, the two surviving tanks of what had been a five tank platoon just a couple of weeks earlier.
Each tank has a crew of five, the commander, a driver, a gunner, a loader and a radio man, who also doubled as the machine gun operator.
Both crews had done their basic training at Erlangen and then moved to 5th Panzer divisional reserve to complete their training, but the rigours of the last two months in trying to stem the relentless Soviet advance, had seen them drawn into action much sooner than would once have been the case.
Tanks 2, 3 and 5 of the platoon had all been lost and abandoned while duelling with T34/85’s and with increasing numbers of the JS II’s arriving on the front, little reminder was needed that the Soviets had plenty of new material to make good their own losses.
Feldwebel (equivalent of a sergeant) Wilhelm Schmidt, at 19, had by default, become the platoon commander, he was content to stay in vehicle 234, working with the crew that he had known since Erlangen.
It is late January, Königsberg is now isolated by Soviet armies and 5th Panzer is responsible for the southern perimeter, facing 11th Guards Army.
The company have orders to take up positions overlooking open fields in front of a small hamlet …… T34’s are again advancing!
Resource Section.
At the moment (December 2023), my sister webspace ‘COMMANDERS’ is showing a build page for these kits, which just follows their journey across the painting table. LINK
https://commanders.simdif.com/current_build.html
Two fine looking vehicles and back story Norm. I have those in the stash to do but I have to brace myself and tackle the Vespid Models one first.
ReplyDeleteHi Phil, I did some of their Shermans, which felt quite plain and wasn’t expecting too much from these, but was pleasantly pleased with the detail.
DeleteNice work, Norm!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jonathan, I can see these having regular outings.
DeleteThose look great. I have to admit that after assembling some very fiddly SHQ vehicles (who need to fit separate steering wheels!) I switched to Frontline Wargaming's Resin Vehicles.
ReplyDeleteStick the tracks on and you are done - not such detailed models but fine for wargaming purposes.
Hi Mike, yep, I am not a modeller, so want things that can get to the table a little easier.
ReplyDeleteOne of my absolute favorite of the German big cats from WW2! Very nice job, Norm! Love the camo scheme.
ReplyDeleteHi Steve, the Panther certainly has ‘the lines’! There so much right with that tank.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Tanks! With Panzer VI my favourites!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michal, they certainly are an icon tank design.
ReplyDeleteLovely looking pair of late war armour and good sounding backstory!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Hi Iain, it will be interesting to see how the Plastic Soldier Company Panthers (bigger and with zimmerit paste) will look next to them. I don’t worry too much about such things and think it will be a rare occasion that I field more than 2 panthers.
ReplyDeleteWhoops - sorry Norm -p I had addressed the comment to the wrong blogger - I blame my age!
ReplyDeleteExcellent looking additions - often been tempted to add these (or Armourfast equivalents) to my own collection PLUS a couple of IS II for the Soviet side - hasn't happened yet as the 20mm collection only gets into action very intermittently! I do have 1 Panther - but it is the venerable Airfix kit!
Hi Keith, in the stash, I have. Zvezda JSII box, it has 1 fast build frame (hoorah) and one standard multi part frame (boo-hiss) to make up 2 models. It will be interesting to do a side by side comparison. I have done Zvezda 15mm fast build before and they are very good.
ReplyDeleteNicely done Norm very effective camo pattern. It reminds me my late war 15mm Germans don’t have any panthers ! Which at some point I need to remedy.
ReplyDeleteThanks Matt, as mentioned above, if you only want a couple of 15mm vehicles, Zvezda do a nice fast build one, otherwise it is PSC. Neither include decals for the 15mm, which is a shame
ReplyDeleteFine work there Norm and these fast/easy build models as perfected by Zvezda way back when, are such a boon for us wargames. The Panther is such a lovely tank to look at, but so overly complex as to limit its usefulness on the battlefield (btw the Tank Museum have a great Youtube channel they review tanks in their collection, well worth checking out). Great to have a back story too, and something I had pondered for my Germans, to take them from Poland '39 to Germany '45, but have yet to actually do anything with it!
ReplyDeleteHi Steve, Mrs. Wargamer is trying to encourage me to go to the Tank Museum next year, but there is method in her madness as she has relatives near enough to visit once there !!!!!! Alarm, alarm !!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe Plastic Soldier Company Panther is meant to be the same scale, but is noticeably bigger - I will think about it, but perhaps for my second pair, I might be better to go for another Italeri box instead and abandon my PSC!
Well, IMHO Bovington is an absolute must! Sooo much to see you really need to allocate a full day there to take it all in. A couple of points of note:
Delete- You pass TE Lawrence's house at a road junction as you near the museum. Can't remember if it's open to the public or not...
- Around lunchtime you can get a (free?) tour of there storage area which is packed full of stuff awaiting refurbishment, if it is lucky, if not at least it's stored safely. We missed knowing this so worth trying to get on it if you can.
Then of course you are in a very beautiful part of England with so much to see!
Steve, my sister went last year and they felt that they could have had an extra day there. Staying local would give a good springboard to other things that interest us. The storage area sounds interesting. Thanks for the shout.
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