Introducing the German Paratroops

Latest update: Mars German Winter Paratroops w 10.5 cm gun

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The German Fallschirmjäger were an elite formation in the German armed forces. They took part in several important airborne operations in the early years of the war, such as the invasion of Denmark (apparently the first time airborne troops were ever used), the invasion of Norway, the glider landings on the roof of the Belgian fortress of Eben Emael, the invasion of the Netherlands, and the invasion of Greece. Their main role was to drop ahead of the main attack to capture key objectives such as airfields or bridges. They fought with such tenacity that the allies gave them the nickname of 'green devils'. Perhaps their most dramatic airborne mission took place during the invasion of Crete which was a division-size operation combining glider landings and parachute drops. Together with a division of mountain troops, they achieved victory, but at such a high price that from that point onwards, they were only used as ground infantry in places like Monte Cassino, France, and actions in the East, including the final battle for Berlin. Ironically, it was after the 'success' of the Crete campaign, that the allies began to take more seriously airborne assaults and increased the size and role of their own units. In terms of available figures, until recently only Airfix and 21st Century had produced them. In September of 2013, Pegasus Hobbies released 10 very welcome new poses, Action Casting followed that a couple of years later with 4 more poses, and most recently in 2019 Warhansa and Plastic Platoon have added to the range.

Airfix German Paratroops - Part I

As usual, Airfix did a nice job with the sculpting and the poses. In contrast with most of their WWII sets, they actually made 14 poses for this set, which is great considering the lack of additional vendors. The size of these figures is slightly smaller than the rest of the Airfix 1/32 figures, but it's still acceptable.

Airfix German Paratroops - Part II

The set includes a good number of automatic weapons, which was a good way to give airborne units a bit more firepower. The prone guy firing the machine gun seems taken directly out of the rubble of Monte Cassino as shown in this picture. The only guy that I would have done differently is the guy wielding his rifle. He is holding it too close to his body, not like you would if you were swinging, but I can see how they had to keep his left arm this way due to the restrictions imposed by the mold making. 

21st Century Toys German Paratroops

21st Century Toys released several series of German troops around 10 and 8 years ago. Most of the figures in each set were German infantry, but each set had 1 or 2 German Paratroops and after a while I ended up with 7 different poses. As you can see, the uniform is not consistent, but since they are already pre-painted I am not going to worry about painting them over. Also, for some reason, several of them seem to be off-balance. Having said that, they still represent a good addition to the Airfix figures.

Pegasus Hobbies German Paratroops - Part I

A nice complement to the existing paras. An officer with a cap to lead them, a man with a heavy MG firing off the hip, and a very much needed panzerschreck. In terms of scale, they are a very good match with the existing Airfix figures. Perhaps the head/helmet is a bit smaller, but it's not going to be very noticeable. Once they are painted they will mix well with the others.

Pegasus Hobbies German Paratroops - Part II

In terms of sculpting, they are just the way I like them. Lots of action in these poses. All of them engaging the enemy and their bodies leaning the way they are supposed to and plenty of detail on them. In terms of new weapons, the panzerfaust is also a welcome addition to the unit and will be put to good use in close quarter combat against Allied armor.

Action Casting German Paratroops

These are some nice and interesting figures. In particular, I like the man throwing the grenade. It is nice how he is leaning back while his lower legs lean slightly forward. The level of detail on these figures is also quite good, with quite a bit of gear on the figures accurately represented. If you pay attention you can see some of the casting imperfections, but I hope that once they are primed, painted and they get their protective coating, those will be less obvious.

Plastic Platoon German Paratroops Set 1

Plastic Platoon brings sculpting and action poses to a new level. Their German Paras are supposed to represent the early war troops which were dropped on Crete, and are for sure my favorite German Paras. You can tell that they were just dropped on the island because most of them are still wearing their knee pads, and at least one of them is still wearing his harness. Can't say enough about the level of realism of these figures. I just wish my budget would allow me to get more of them. Which BTW, apparently are limited to runs of 300 sets. 

Plastic Platoon German Paratroops Set 2

Here are another six poses released as part of a second set, also representing the Paras involved in Operation Mercury, the invasion of Crete. What's most interesting for me is that several of them are wearing same life jacket worn by the Luftwaffe pilots. It took me a bit of research to figure out what I was looking at, but you can actually find photographs depicting men in this outfit. It makes sense when you think about the fact that they were flown to jump into an island, so if the plane was shot down or, if they were blown out to see during the landing, a Schwimmweste would have come in handy. 

Plastic Platoon German Paratroops Set 3

This third set was a bit unusual. We got two more Paratroopers, three drop containers, and one Greek Partisan. I suppose this is useful and original, but if you ask me, I would have preferred if it had come with more German figures and the containers were extras or could be purchased separately. Also, I am not a big fan of figures that are so coupled together that you can't deploy one of them in a separate situation. What's interesting about this set is that one of the figures can grasp the handle of one of the containers so that it looks like he is pulling it. Also the level of detail, even on the containers is very nice. Each container is labeled with a different letter or symbol, and the contents are rich and diverse.

Warhansa German Paratroops

This set is OK, but in the context of Plastic Platoon's releases, it has a high bar to match. The poses are a bit static, the figures feel slightly chubby, maybe because the oversized weapons required bigger and thicker hands. And the material is a bit too shiny for my taste, although that's something that will be taken care of once they are painted. Anyhow, I am glad that Warhansa has added some more figures to the range. And on a positive note, I do like the expression of the officer quite a bit. 

Unknown German Paratroops

These are some figures which came with a building I purchased. They were already painted, although I suspect that might have been done by the previous owner. The scale and the sculpting is fairly decent. Unfortunately, there are no identifying markers in terms of who made them. So if you happen to know, please leave a comment.

Plastic Platoon German Paratroops - Battle for Leningrad, Winter 1941

These guys not only get points for being well done, but they also deserve extra credit for uniqueness. I don't think anybody had made German Paras in a winter setting. I am glad that we got some poses in this set that are better suited for close quarter combat, as the other Leningrad Soviets needed some opponents to fight in the rubble of those buildings. The desperation and urgency displayed by the guy who is using his helmet to balance the fight is palpable. 

Mars German Paratroops Tropical Uniform

Another good set from Mars. This one is aimed at depicting the German Paratroops that might have fought in theaters like the battle of Monte Cassino. On the box they show them painted in cammo smocks and beige pants. As you can see the poses are all useful in combat scenarios, and with the customary 8 poses from Mars, that also makes the set more interesting. For instance, we also get a prone figure, which is often missing in smaller sets. The variety in the uniforms and equipment is also good. Some of them have their smocks buttoned up, and some lose. Some have helmets with webbing, some without, and there's even one guy with a field cap. Good mix of weapons as well, including the multi-potato masher being thrown by the guy on the left. My only negative criticism about this set is the size  of the hands in some of the figures. Some of them still seem a bit undersized in my opinion. But all in all a very nice set.

Mars German Winter Paratroops
 And yet another nice set from Mars. This set gets extra points for depicting the German Paras in winter gear, which is something that had not been done to date. Six of them are wearing padded/quilted suits, another one is wearing a white cammo suit, and the last one is still wearing the regular para smock with some other layers underneath. In addition to the unique outfits, the sculpting in this set is probably the best I've seen from Mars. The detail and dynamism in the poses is excellent. And the choice of poses is great as well. All of them useful in combat situations with a nice range of diverse weapons. The radio man is also a nice touch. My only criticism of this set is that all of them are standing poses. A couple crouching or prone poses would have been useful. But hey, maybe that means that eventually we get another set of winter paras with such poses, right? 

Mars German Paratroops w 10.5 cm LG 42 Tropical Uniform

This is a nice and original addition to the existing German Para units produced by other manufacturers which so far have lacked any heavy weapons support. The set includes two guns, each with its respective crew. They are meant to be painted in the tropical uniform. I actually purchased two sets, and plan to paint one crew in the early war (Crete) colors and the other one in the cammo scheme. The recoilless gun is interesting. The wheels are meant to be off the ground when it's deployed, but the plastic is a bit hard to straighten so that it looks even. I may actually use these crews with 21C Pak 40s. As far as the figures go, the poses are all good, but I do feel that the sculpting detail could be sharper. 

Mars German Paratroops Mortar Team Tropical Uniform

Here's another useful addition to the German Para units. Again, the set comes with two mortars and two crews. When it comes to toy soldiers, I don't feel that you need a 5-man crew for a mortar. I know that in real life you might require such man power to carry the ammo plus the different pieces when it is disassembled, but I would have preferred to get maybe 3 mortars each with a 3-man crew or simply some other additional supporting poses with other unique weapons. In terms of the detail, these guys seem crisper than the gun crew. One interesting pose that took me a bit of time to figure out its purpose is the man at the front of the mortar holding the bipod. Looks like he is trying stabilize it. 

WW23D German Paratroops

I like this set a bit more than the others in terms of the sculpting and the level of action in the poses. Even the guys who are standing -except for the one on the middle- are all leaning in some direction. The pose I like the most in this set is the one on the left, who is advancing while firing his sub MG. These guys will blend well with the Airfix, Mars, and Pegasus German paras. The only thing to criticize is that the 3D printing sometimes crates a few defects, like the edge on one of the helmets is a bit uneven. I suppose we will attribute that to battle damage. 

Mars German Winter Paratroops with 10.5 cm Gun

This is a really nice set to complement the Mars German winter paras. Each crew consists of 5 men and you actually get 2 crews per box. I bought two boxes, so I now have 4 guns/crews, so I will likely assign 2 to the paras and 2 to the regular winter infantry. Those who are into conversions could replace the helmets to make them fit better as regular infantry. The best part about this set are the figures. The gun itself is made of softer plastic which bends quite a bit and needs to be straightened so that the gun stands evenly. A minor criticism is that the shells look wider than the gun's barrel. Looking at some pictures of the real equipment online, I think the shells are the ones which are too large. But let's not get too picky and instead be glad that we have this unique set to give our winter units some well needed firepower!

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Click here to see a post about the Italian Paratroops
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Click here to see a post about the British Paratroops