The Soviet Assault Engineers were the analogous of combat engineers in other armies. They were specialized in demolition and attack of heavily fortified positions, which means that they often faced very tough opposition. These units were officially introduced into the Red Army in early 1943, and by summer of that year, they were already in action. They were raised from battle tested battalions with a proven record of success and were grouped into brigade-size units. About 20 of these brigades were created. Prior to these brigades, the Soviet Army did have units of engineers and sappers, and many of them played an important role in theaters like Stalingrad. Something that made the Soviet Assault Troops special is that they wore steel plates as body armor. I am not sure how effective they were against different bullet calibers, and different ranges, but some photographs do show Soviet men with dents on their body armor, which suggests that they did work sometimes. But then, they must have been quite heavy. What is also interesting about these steel plates is that they curve away from the right arm more than they do on the left, to allow for the trigger arm to hold and aim the weapon better. I have yet to see if there is also a left-handed version of these armor plates. Their uniforms also seem to have been different from the regular troops, and they are often seen wearing a loose cammo smock/pants or a cammo overall. In terms of toy soldiers, until recently this service branch had not really been represented. First Publius released a single figure a few years back, and more recently, Mars and Plastic Platoon have covered the subject. Let's take a look.
