Book Review: SdKfz 251/9 & 22, Kanonenwagen, Dennis Oliver (Land Craft)

 

Another excellent instalment in the ever-growing Dennis Oliver section of the WWII German Tank/Land Cradt series. This time on kanonenwagen variants of the German half-track workhorse that was the SdKfz 251.

All the usual elements are in place: a brief history of the design and manufacture; unit histories; the ever inspiring colour profiles segment; model showcase/products; unit composition (under the official German 'kreigsstarkenweisung' heading!): technical details, etc. 

Terrifically illustrated on all fronts, from contemporary black and white photos to the colour profiles and beautifully built models. One of the nicest builds, by Juanjo Domingez, is in my favourite/chosen 1/72, and, despite its tiny size, is the chosen and favoured 'cover girl', so to speak. 

Perusing this inspires me to possibly try converting one of my extant 251s into a long-barrelled kanonenwagen! And I would, unhesitatingly, recommend this to those interested in the AFVs and suchlike of this fascinating era. Excellent!

Book Reviews: Tank Craft, various WWII German armour, Dennis Oliver

In this post I'm looking at a batch of four Pen & Sword Tank Craft titles, all on WWII German armour, and all by Dennis Oliver. I've reviewed numerous other titles by Oliver here before, and I've grown to really enjoy them. Indeed, to love them. Textually they can be a little heavy going; not due to poor writing, thankfully [1], but simply because there's just so much factual detail. If you're a proper Panzer Nut, however, you soon get a taste for that. 

Obviously these are aimed at modellers, so the 'camouflage and markings' sections, what used to be termed the 'colour plates', are a particular attraction. And in the Dennis Oliver titles the illustrations - for which I can find no credits, which is a pity - are of an excellent quality [2]. The model showcase sections also give the reader ideas and inspiration, re what can be done. A minor quibble here, and I've said this before, is that 1/35 dominates. I'd like to see a greater variety of scales represented, including the 1/76 and most especially 1/72 that are my favoured scales.

Panther 222, or the Overloon Panther, featured in Tank Craft 24.

Oliver has a particular m.o. which means frequently his titles follow or share a series of familiar paths, in terms of structure adopted and info given. This said, there are exceptions, the Panther Tanks book in this batch being a particularly good example, in that - apart from the ever present parts (colour plates, model showcase, modelling products, etc.) - it's mostly structured around the consecutive generations of brigades.

Several of the recurring features that give Oliver's contributions to this series their particular flavour, and which you'll find in some of these titles, are such things as timelines, unit histories, schematic diagrams illustrating unit composition, and more generally a sense of thoroughness and detail that is equal parts awe-inspiring and intimidating, to the more laid back buff such as me. But as I said above, the more I study this stuff, the more I too become addicted to the detail of it all.

A different but very similar picture to this graces p. 57 of the Tiger book.

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Panzer III, German Army Light Tank, Operation Barbarossa, 1941 (Tank Craft 27) - Dennis Oliver 

Focussing on the Pz III, a key piece of the German armoured thrust into Mother Russia, this excellent addition to this ever-growing series is chock-full of great reference material for the modeller.

It's kind of ironic that in the Tank Craft series as a whole there are already, so far, three titles on the Tigers I and II, and only one apiece on the Panzers III and IV. In truth the latter far outnumbered the former. But popular interest has generally favoured the later and larger tanks, and the coverage in this series, so far, conspicuously confirms that.

This very evocative photo appears, albeit small and cropped.

Many of Oliver's trademark features are here: timelines, unit compositions with diagrams, unit histories, and info on technical details and modifications. Then there are the showcase, model products, and colour profiles. Re the latter, these are of the usual high standard found in Oliver's titles. But as they're almost all in the earlier war German dark grey, they might not be the most exciting.

Not a tank that generates the same buzz as the 'big cats', the Panzer III is still an interesting weapon/vehicle. It'd have been nice to see a few more and perhaps more interesting period photos. And similarly, it's a bit of a shame that all the showcase models, as impressive as they may be, are 1/35, except a lone 1/48 example. Surely rather than having four 1/35 models, they could've had at least one in 1/72?

An excellent and highly useful book, but not quite as good as the other three under review here.

JagdPanzer IV, German Army & Waffen-SS Tank Destroyers, Western Front, 1944-5 (Tank Craft 26) - Dennis Oliver 

I only have one JagdPanzer IV in my German WWII arsenal, at present. Thanks to this book I now know that mine is a IV/70(V), as opposed to a IV/70(A). In all honesty I hadn't realised there were two such similar yet different looking variants. I definitely prefer the lower-profiled A type. And this book has given me a fabulous example - well, numerous, actually - of camouflage and markings to use as a basis for finally painting and finishing a tank model that I built aeons ago.

Another view of this vehicle appears on p. 59.

I don't quite know exactly why, but I love this vehicle, and I love this book. Maybe in part it's because it's a great example of how the German war machine of WWII took a tank that'd become obsolete in its original role, and successfully repurposed it? I like the Pz IV, and it's kind of nice [3] that instead of binning it, it got a new lease of life [4] as a tank destroyer. But I think it's simpler than that: it just looks so damn cool! As a friend of mine (not a modeller) likes to joke; the Germans may have lost WWII morally and militarily, but aesthetically? No question, they won.

A fabulous 1/76 Matchbox Jagdpanzer IV, by Theodoros Kalamatas.*

I also love that this book features a smaller scale model in the showcase section. And not only is it smaller - it's a Matchbox 1/76 kit - but it's also simply built 'out of the box'. None of your intimidatingly good/unaffordably expensive 1/35 trickery or wizardry, with after-market parts, conversions, and whatnot. Anyway, a great book. Love it. Highly recommended. 

* View more of Kalamatas' superb work here.

Tiger I & II Tanks, German Army & Waffen-SS, Normandy Campaign, 1944 (Tank Craft 25)

- Dennis Oliver 

Another quality instalment in this growing library of highly useful publications. This one I love not just for all the usual excellent info and illuminating imagery, but for featuring not just one, but two 1/72 models, in the showcase section. Bravo! There's also a 1/48 example as well. Amongst many other things, one inspiration this particular volume has determined me on is adding more zimmerit to my Tiger models, both the Is and IIs. 

Patrick Lapalu's impressive 1/72 Tiger II

One of the themes developed in the text is very interesting, re the small number of Tigers vs their perceived advantage/threat. The Germans making much of what really was, as a percentage of their materiel, a little, and the Allies fearing that behind every bocage hedge a dreaded Tiger lay in wait, ready to pounce. Taken alone or in conjunction with Oliver's other Tiger titles in this series, this is a very useful book. One I'm very chuffed to have.

Panther Tanks, German Army Panzer Brigades, Western & Eastern Fronts, 1944-5 (Tank Craft 24) - Dennis Oliver 

Initially when I read these books, I'll actually be surfing through the images, and only actually reading some of the picture captions. The text itself, being so densely packed with info', is something I generally get into later. But I feel it's worth noting that Dennis Oliver's contributions to this highly useful and ever-growing series are of a uniformly high, nay, superb quality, in all areas. 

The level of detail is on the cusp of mind-numbing. But, if you're anything like me, you'll find yourself strangely excited by all the minutiae. And as its mercifully well-written, as hard work as it might be to digest (never mind retain) such a great deal of info', it is at least pleasingly clear and concise.

That Overloon Panther again!

In this instance Oliver gives over the bulk of his text to brief histories of the numerous Panzer 'Brigades' equipped with Panthers, noting that in the latter half of WWII Germany excelled at this kind of near ad hoc firefighting type m.o. Then there's all the usual stuff: colour profiles, model showcase and products, etc. In conjunction with the other Panther titles in the series this all adds up to some seriously useful stuff.

The colour profiles are terrific, as ever. And the quality of the showcase models is jaw-dropping. But there are only three, all 1/35. I'm docking half a star on account of this, as it'd have been nice to have had one or two more showcase examples, preferably in other scales.

In conclusion, all of these books are excellent, and well worth having. And I look forward to more useful titles as the series continues to grow.

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NOTES:

[1] I won't mention names, but I have struggled with some P&S modeller's titles where the writing itself has left rather a lot to be desired.

[2] As good as the illustrations are. And I love them. I do have one quibble: the dunkelgelb and rotbraun seem fine to me. But the Olivgrun seems a little odd, perhaps a bit too lime-ish? Kind of too zingy, for my tastes. But the images are so good overall this isn't a deal-breaker at all.

[3] Hardly an appropriate term, I know.

[4] Dealing out death, see above note!

Book Review: Stug III & IV, Western Front, '44-'45, Dennis Oliver

Another excellent addition to the very useful Tank Craft series, from the ever-reliable Dennis Oliver.

Oliver has his own preferred format for these that differs somewhat from that usually adopted by other authors contributing to this series, deploying unit histories and schematic diagrams. In this 19th instalment of the Tank Craft series Oliver covers the Stug III & IV, and even then only really looks in detail at their deployment and use on the Western-Front in the last two years of the war, 1944-45. I hope there'll be more titles covering their service elsewhere forthcoming? As Stugs were the most produced German AFV of the war, and served in all theatres throughout the whole shebang, '39-'45.*

Production of the Sturmgeschütz III and Sturmhaubitze 42 at Alkett. [1]

One of the chief attractions of these books are the colour profiles, presented here under the heading 'Camouflage and Markings'. And in this instance we have 11 pages of these, depicting 19 Stug III, and three Stug IV, all illustrating vehicles serving in the aforementioned theatre/period. The 'Model Showcase' section features one Stug IV, and two Stug III, all in 1/35 scale. One minor gripe with the whole Tank Craft series, especially so for me as someone who builds almost exclusively in 1/72, is the rarity with which this scale is represented in the Showcase segments. This said, 1/72 kits are featured, alongside other scales (1/76, 1/48, 1/16, etc) in the usefully informative 'Modelling Products' section.

Camouflaged Stug III, France, '44. [2]

As already alluded to, their remains much of the Stug's WWII story to be told, so I hope more Stug volumes appear in due course. They'd be even better if they were to include some 1/72 kits in the Showcase section. I have four or five Stug models, and intend to paint them for theatres such as Italy and Russia, as well as the Western Front. But even with this tight focus on one theatre and a limited time period, this remains an excellent and, I think, essential reference for modellers and wargamers, etc.

* Oliver says there were none deployed in the initial invasion of Poland, but I've read or heard of other sources claiming there were a few deployed in that theatre.

This wonderful photograph does not appear in the book. [3]

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NOTES:

[1] This picture appears in the book. My version, and the caption below, are both sourced from Wikipedia's entry on the Alkett factory.

[2] This image appears on the cover, albeit in a small/cropped form.

[3] That said, many of the images of the late war Stugs covered by this book are, like this one, either destroyed, abandoned and/or captured.

Book Reviews: Panther Tanks, Normandy '44, & Defence of the West '45, Dennis Oliver

Taken together these two titles, numbers 3 and 18 in the Tank Craft series, give a very decent account of the Panther tank, as deployed on the Western Front circa '44-45. One might immediately think 'what then of the Panther's history and development before this, and it's service on the Southern and Eastern Fronts?' I'll return to these thoughts in due course.

As ever with Dennis Oliver, he deploys his own particular approach, utilising maps, timelines, organisational schematics, unit histories, and so on. Where he follows the standard Tank Craft template is in the central three segments: Camouflage and Markings, Model Showcase, and Modelling Products.

A Panther pauses on a French road, Normandy, '44. [1]

U.S. troops gathered around a disabled Panther.

The Normandy title features five models, all in1/35, and all very impressive. The Defence of the West  book, on the other hand, has just two 1/35 models and a single 1/48 example, the latter getting more pages than are normally given over to any one model in the Showcase section. Between the two books that's eight models, all bar one in 1/35. I'd have liked to have seen at least one bigger kit, in 1/16, perhaps, and one or two smaller models, in 1/72 or 1/76.

The colour profiles in the Camouflage and Markings chapter are nicely done, and are both fascinating and exciting. The range of styles and approaches the Germans employed, despite a palette of just three basic colours (which admittedly varied in themselves) was very diverse and, I find, endlessly intriguing. My only gripe on this front is that either the work of the illustrator, or perhaps the printing process, has rendered the core trio of colours less than 100% satisfactorily.

Panther in 'ambush' camo' scheme with infra-red sight.

Fabulous Panther Ausf G, by Lim Kian Guan, aka ChefLim. [2]

This is particularly noticeable with the green. The Dunkelgelb and Rotbrün, whilst only approximate, are near enough. But the green is way too light and bright. This is exaggerated even more in the bottom of the two cover images, shown at the top of this post (the Defence of the West one, sourced from Pen & Sword's own website listing for the book), where the green is almost fluorescent marker-pen bright! The actual books are closer colour-wise to the very top Normandy Campaign cover image.

Panzer graveyard with Panthers in the foreground.

A grimmer graveyard scene. Is this 'Ursula' again? [3]

It's this colour issue that leads me to dock half a balkenkreuz. Whether Oliver's obsessively detailed coverage is a blessing or a curse - what of Panthers in Italy and Russia, and prior to '44? - depends on how much hardcore info you can take, and whether you can stretch to buying so many titles on the one vehicle.

At an RRP of £15 a time (£14.99 to be exact), they aren't exactly cheap! NB: at the time of posting this review both titles are available at reduced prices, at Pen & Sword's website. I'm lucky in that the publishers have been generous enough to send me copies gratis, for review. Otherwise I'd be lusting after these whilst lamenting the lack of brass in my pockets! Anyway, as regards useful info and inspiration, etc, these books are fab. And I'd highly recommend them.

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NOTES:

Note on photos/pictures: in this post I've tried to use images that do appear in the books under review.  The two exceptions are the final black and white image above, and the colour picture of ChefLim's model, which is from his website.

[1] This picture appears in a smaller/cropped format.

[2] This superb model appears in the Showcase section of the Defence of the West title.

[3] The more eagle-eyed might notice that a charred corpse lies atop the rear deck of this knocked out tank. In fact more than one German soldier died on the back of this particular Panther - which may be 'Ursula', a Panther featured in Oliver's book on several different occasions - as other pictures I found online show clearly. A grisly reminder of the true nature and costs of war.

Book Review: JagdPanther Tank Destroyer, Dennis Oliver

Another highly detailed and very specific Tank Craft title from the prolific Dennis Oliver, utilising his signature approach, with maps, timelines, unit histories, organisational schematics and so on. This particular publication covers one of my favourite German tanks, the Jagdpanther tank destroyer.

I remember buying some of these in 1/300, from Heroics & Ros, as a kid, and painting the tiny little blighters in the tri-colour ambush camouflage scheme. The 6mm scale is not one I've ever seen featured in these Tank Craft titles. There are three 1/35, one 1/48 and one 1/72 example in the Model Showcase section here. 

A fabulous 1/72 winter whitewashed Dragon Jagdpanther, by Jaroslaw Witkowksi, aka Gulumik.

This tank is featured in the Model Showcase chapter.

Another of Gulumik's 1/72 meisterwerks, above, appears in the Modelling Products chapter.

This is the old Esci kit, plus scratch-built detailing.

In keeping with both the stated aims of this series and the standards set so far, this book is a treasure trove of info and imagery. I have one relatively minor gripe on the latter front, however (and this is why I dock half a balkenkreuz); regarding the archival pictures, the vast majority show captured or destroyed Jagdpanthers. They're all very interesting photos. But it would have been great to see more either being built - there are a couple of great pictures of the MNH factory production line - or in active German service.

As usual with Oliver's contributions to this ever-expanding and very useful series, he's very time/theatre specific. On this occasion addressing the late-war Western Front, of 1944-45. Perhaps another volume will appear on the Eestern and Southern fronts? And perhaps that'll have more 'in action' photos and less wrecks?

Unfinished Jagdpanthers at the MNH factory, Hanover,  1945.*

I love this pic of Panthers in the rain. Note the brollys deployed by the crew!*

This abondoned Jagdpanther, Reichswald, March '45, appears a couple of times

The colour profiles, or Camouflage And Markings illustrations are, as usual, excellent. My only gripe regarding this last feature being that the green used in the three-colour schemes appears rather too bright. Anyway, all told, another great instalment in this excellent series.

* Neither of these specific photos are in this book.

Book Review: Tiger I, Southern Front, 1942-45, Dennis Oliver (Tank Craft)

It's interesting that whereas there's currently just the one book in the current Tank Craft series on the T-34 or Sherman, covering these vehicles over the entire war, some German armour is getting much more detailed treatment, as exemplified by the title under review in this post.

Dennis Oliver seems to have his own slightly different m.o. when it comes to his contributions to this very useful series from Pen & Sword. Most of the Tank Craft titles I've read by other authors follow a fairly standard format, whereas Oliver instead uses a series of his own devices, such as timelines, unit histories, and organisational schematics, etc.

A Tiger I in Tunisia.

If you are, as I am, a Panzer nut, then this is both a blessing and a curse: it's a blessing because more detail is great. It's a curse because it entails greater expenditure. There's also the matter of what kind of info you're after, and which approaches most chime with ones own tastes. Oliver's idiosyncratic approach is fine with me. Indeed, by and large I really like it. This said, the degree or depth of detail is pretty hardcore. And, whilst they're useful references, the timelines he frequently employs are, for me, quite hard going.

Certain key parts - the colour profiles, under the heading Camouflage & Markings - and the Model Showcase and Modelling Products segments are pretty much as per all the Tank Craft titles. Most of the models showcased in these titles, are 1/35, with just the occasional 1/48, 1/16 or - my preferred scale - 1/72. On this occasion, whilst the Products section mentions numerous 1/72 and 1/76 kits from several manufacturers, none are featured in the Showcase chapter.

A Tiger crew engaged in repairs in the field, Italy.

Of the theatres covered here, which are North Africa, Sicily and Italy, it's the last two that interest me most, and Italy in particular. The terrain which was being fought over, and the camouflage and markings of the materiel are all, for my money, more interesting than the dusty/sandy monochromes of the North African desert war.

All in all another solid chunk of highly useful/enjoyable stuff for us Panzer freaks. Love it!

Book Review: M36/M36B1 Tank Destroyer, Dennis Oliver (Images of War)

NB: Sometines I illustrate these reviews with pics from the book under review, and sometimes from imagery found elsewhere. In this instance all the images used here can also be found in the book.

This came rather serendipitously right after I'd finished reading/reviewing the Tank Craft title on the M10. Basically an up-gunning from the M10 which, due to the larger armament (up from 75mm to 90mm) also entailed a new turret design, albeit designed along very similar lines to the M10.

Dennis Oliver's above mentioned book looks at the M10 in British service, which has come to be known as the Achilles, as it served in the latter stages of the war in Western Europe. This Images of War title differs in several ways: a smaller format (closer to A5 than A4), more pages, and slightly broader coverage (inc. post-WWII usage, in Korea and elsewhere).

Cpl. Herbert winter whitewashing his M36, Luxembourg, Jan '45.

In a manner somewhat similar to another recent Images of War title I've just read and reviewed, on the M29 Weasel, this makes much heavier use of images of contemporary surviving examples of these vehicles than I'm used to. But whereas the Weasel book was overly weighted to the latter, on this occasion the balance is much better.

There are some fabulous series of archival images here, such as the Massey Harris production-line photos, and a series showing the aftermath of a towed M36 tank that's overturned on an icy road. The first 100 or so pages cover the M36, with just a short section at the end looking at the M36B1.

Lt. Boutillier inspects recently arrived M36, France, 1944.

I won't go into great detail about the vehicle, that's what these books do so well. Personally I love these books, and find them both very inspiring and very useful in relation to my modelmaking and wargaming hobbies. Definitely recommended.

Crew rest beside their disabled M36B1, Germany, '45.