Introducing the German Waffen SS

 The latest addition is the Plastic Platoon Waffen SS (Berlin) at the bottom of the post.

_______________________

The Waffen-SS was the armed branch of the National Socialist Party. A large number of its members were volunteers. Many of them were hard core believers in the party ideology; many others saw themselves engaged in a crusade against Bolshevism. In any case, this made them a highly motivated fighting force to deal with. The Waffen-SS also raised multiple divisions with conscripts from the occupied territories, many of them ethnic Germans. The 38 SS Divisions fought alongside the regular German Army and were under control of the German Army High Command. It is estimated that over a million men served in its ranks throughout the war, peaking in strength in 1944 at 900k to 950k men. 

The legacy of the Waffen SS troops has been tainted because several of its units committed crimes against POWs and civilians, and because they were part of the overall SS organization which was responsible for many of the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime. Nonetheless, as a military fighting force, they earned themselves a reputation as elite troops which were used in critical offensive and defensive operations. This elite role, along with their strong ideological commitment led to high casualty numbers. The exact figure is a bit elusive, but some estimates put it at about 500k men.  

The Waffen-SS was often outfitted with cammo clothing. In the pictures below you can see two platoons. One of them is wearing the spring/summer cammo pattern in green and the other one is wearing the fall pattern with orange/brown tones. Towards the end of the war, the uniform code was fairly relaxed, if for no other reason that they were suffering substantial supply problems. I've tried to reflect that in the painting scheme of these figures, who are wearing different types of clothing across the unit. You may notice that some figures appear in both sets, while some others appear only in one of them. Unfortunately, this means that if you want to see all the figures produced by a given manufacturer you will need to look at both sets and identify the unique poses. In terms of sets manufactured, this is a service branch that was not covered broadly in the past likely due to the controversy of being closely associated with its political regime, but it has received better coverage recently. Let's take a look. 

_______________________

Conte released two sets of Waffen SS figures, each with 16 figures in 8 poses. They are commonly referred to as Sets 3 and 4. Sometimes you'll find them labeled as 'Germans in Action' Set 3/Set 4. Something you should know about them is that 5 figures are repeated across both sets which makes things a bit confusing. Set 4 only introduced 3 new poses. Brochures prior to their release had pictures of additional poses, but for some reason they were canceled and Set 4 repeated 5 poses from Set 3. This means that we really only have 11 unique poses across both sets. I will do my best to point them out in the pictures I have, but here is a summary:

5 shared poses: Officer, grenade man, kneeling rifleman, kneeling subMG, leaning forward w/ subMG

3 unique to Set 3: Prone MG team, squad leader looking around corner.

3 unique to Set 4: Panzerfaust, rifleman firing while standing, man firing SubMG looking back.

Conte Collectibles German Waffen SS Set 3 - Part I

This is one half of Set 3. The 3 men on the left are unique to Set 3. The kneeling rifleman is a shared pose (repeated across sets 3 and 4). Since these guys aren't wearing commo smocks or helmet covers and can pass as German infantry, I painted them as such. The prone machine gun team is certainly something that every squad can use. The guy cautiously holding back his men while he checks out what's around the corner is certainly an interesting and unusual pose. He could be deployed in the urban combat of Stalingrad. The kneeling rifle man is simply a solid member of the unit.

So if you are keeping score, this is the number of poses so far:

Set 3-3, Set 4-0, Shared-1 

Conte Waffen SS Set 3 - Part II

Here you can see the MG team (unique to Set 3) painted in cammo pattern. The man on the left is one of the regular German infantry guys who has been conscripted into my Waffen SS unit simply because he's a great pose.

Set 3-3, Set 4-0, Shared-1 

Conte Waffen SS - Set 3 and Set 4 Part I

Here you can see 2 more shared poses. First, the officer. His leather coat and medals make him a pretty cool pose. The other shared pose is the guy leaning forward with his subMG. Also a nice pose. The guy in the right, looking back is the first unique pose from Set 4. He is also one of my favorite Conte poses. I really like that it is a very dynamic pose conveying lots of action. These guys are painted in the fall cammo pattern. The commanding officer, can actually be used to command the troops in spring cammo also.

Set 3-3, Set 4-1, Shared-3 

Conte Waffen SS Set 3 and Set 4 - Part II

This picture has 3 shared poses. Two of them are also the last 2 poses from Set 3. We are talking about the grenade man and the man firing his sub MG while kneeling on both knees. I like this pose quite a bit as well. The third shared pose in this picture is the kneeling rifleman who was featured in the first picture. Lastly, we can see the second unique pose in Set 4, the rifleman firing from the standing position.

Set 3-3, Set 4-2, Shared-5

Shared poses + Set 3 Complete!

Conte Waffen SS Set 3 and Set 4 - Part III

Here you can see 3 more shared poses (all of them already featured in pictures above), as well as 2 of the unique poses in Set 4. The shared poses are the kneeling man, the grenade man, and the man on the right with the sub MG who is leaning slightly forward. The last unique pose from Set 4 is man with the panzerfaust. The guy firing his sub MG while looking back is also unique to Set 4, but we had already seen him two pictures before. Notice also how most of these guys have helmet covers.

Set 3-3, Set 4-3, Shared-5

Both Sets Complete!

Conte German Infantry painted as fall Waffen SS

As with the spring cammo guys, I recruited a couple of regular infantry guys to round up the fall cammo unit, and also because your squad can always use an extra MG-42. The guy who is leaning/running as he fires is one of my favorite Conte German infantry figures, so he was easy to include.

Italeri German 'Elite' Troops - Part I

Notice how Italeri shied away from calling them Waffen-SS. I wonder if it really makes a difference in terms of sales. Anyhow, some of their figures are wearing extra layers to keep warm which suggests that these men were fighting in the very early spring, or maybe they could be painted as winter troops. In terms of the poses, I have mixed feelings about the MG guy with the wall. I feel that it makes it tricky to place him in a scene because even in an urban setting, the brick wall is not easy to blend, particularly because he is shooting along its length.

Italeri German Elite Troops - Part II

Here is the rest of the squad painted in fall cammo pattern. I've assigned the same officer to the fall unit. Nice inclusion of a panzerschreck figure. This was the German equivalent of a bazooka, but with a more powerful 88mm round, which earned it its nickname 'panzer terror'. We also get a couple guys with long coats, which again, would allow us to use some of these guys as winter troops. BTW, these figures were made in 1/35 scale, but they are big enough to mix in with 1/32 guys.

TSSD German Elite Troops - Part I

Toy Soldiers of San Diego also called them elite troops. Nonetheless, they came out with a very good set. First manufacturer that I am aware of to produce mounted WW II troops. The machine gun team is also very well done. I really like how the loader is also helping to direct the fire. The fact that the MG gunner is firing at shoulder level and the guy is relatively tall gives you enough clearance to place them behind many different types of protective terrain.

TSSD German Elite Troops - Part II

This picture is showing the second mounted figure, including a different horse. The rider is wearing a field cap and is firing his pistol while riding. Makes you wonder how accurate his shots would be. Although I did mount him on the horse who seems to be trotting rather than running. The MG team is the same, just painted differently.

TSSD German Elite Troops - Part III

The rest of the set includes 4 more nicely sculpted poses. The guy on the left pays homage to the Conte pose and offers a bit of drama to any scene he participates in. The  man with the sniper rifle is wearing one of those tent quarters (Zeltbahn) which could be joined with another 3 parts to make a tent in the form of a pyramid to get some protection from the elements.

TSSD German Elite Troops - Part IV

Showing 3 of the same figures from the spring unit above from a different angle. The man in the middle with the StG 44 is a good pose but in my opinion his body is leaning backwards in a way that seems off-balance. The man with the panzerfaust is a nice, solid pose. Certainly better than Conte's panzerfaust guy.

TSSD Germans in Long Coats

Well, these guys are not really Waffen SS, but I threw them in to get a few more poses and also to further relax the uniform code in the unit. Since we are assuming they are fighting in the early spring, a coat might have come in handy.

TSSD Germans in Long Coats

Containing two new guys that were not painted for the spring unit. I am referring to the guy on the left with the sniper rifle and the man on the right firing while standing. Note also how underneath the coat you can see a bit of the cammo pattern in the guy who is running. That's the only clue as to which unit they belong to. The good thing is that I can easily redeploy them to a winter kampfgruppe.

Classic Toy Soldiers German Assault Troops - Part I

CTS released a new set of German 'Assault Troops'. Considering that most of them are wearing cammo smocks I am going to paint them as Waffen SS, to go along with the other figures depicted on this post. I like that some of the poses are a bit different from what has typically been done in the past for such weapons. For instance, the panzerschreck is held by a prone guy and the man operating the MG 42 is not actually firing it, but urging on his comrades.

Classic Toy Soldiers German Assault Troops - Part II

These other poses are also nice and interesting. Note the guy with the flamethrower on the right, and the guy pulling the cord off the hand grenade. The guy surrendering is not my favorite as I prefer fighting poses, but even that is original.

TSSD German Infantry expansion set

These are some recently released German guys that complement the TSSD German 'Elite Troops'. They will paint well as SS guys in cammo gear or as regular Landser wearing winter gear, as they go well the Germans with long coats, with the nice added touch that they come with a different head gear. You can't see well in the picture, but the man on the right is holding/throwing a grenade also. The only two things to complain about is that they only released four poses and that the standing guys are not much taller than the kneeling guys.

Mars German Elite Division (Waffen SS)

I love that Mars has thrown its hat into the WWII 1/32 ring, and are coming up with sets that had not received as much attention in the past. As far as this 'Elite Infantry' set, I have to say that it is just OK. For some reason the way the clothes look on the legs of these figures seems a bit artificial. Either too baggy, or the men's legs are too skinny to fill them... not sure what's going on. I also found it amusing that they preferred to avoid calling the set Waffen SS and went with 'Elite Division'. Anyhow, the poses are dynamic enough for my taste, and they could easily be used as regular infantry if you also wanted to avoid depicting Waffen SS troops.

Plastic Platoon Waffen SS / Elite Troops

By now it should be clear to anyone reading this blog that I love Plastic Platoon's figures. They've set a new standard in the Plastic Toy Soldier world with their amazing level of detail and the energy and high level of action in their poses. That's mostly true with this set as well, except that in this set the faces have gone off the rails. They definitely over did them. I don't know if the intention was to depict these men as evil, but their expressions resemble that of possessed zombies or something along those lines. Other than that, this set is just as exciting as any of their prior ones. Just look at the man firing the machine gun a-la-Rambo. Or the man on the right with the Stg 44. Really well posed and detailed. The sniper is also very nicely done, although with that big rock underneath him, it limits the places where he could be posed. Still a great set and looking forward to set 2 of PP's Waffen SS figures.  

Hanomak Waffen SS - Das Reich Division

This is an interesting set for a couple of reasons. Originally, when the pre-release pictures came out, they were published by company called Vympel, but later it seems that Hanomak purchased the rights and began distributing it. This caused a bit of confusion. Also, the original pictures had 6 figures in it, however one of them was of a slightly larger scale, so Hanomak decided to not release it as part of this set. Probably a good decision. These five poses are true 1/32 scale, meaning, smaller than the 'Big 1/32' scale that Hanomak uses for their other figures. In terms of the figures themselves, they are all nicely sculpted, and good action poses. My only criticism is that they also require you to glue some of the hands/weapons to the figures. The molds have pins and holes in them to help with this but the rubbery material makes them useless because the pins bend when you try to put them into the holes. So the only solution is to slice off the pins and glue them as best as you can line up the arms with the hands. The other criticism is that the hands that come wit the weapons are smaller than the hands that come attached to the arms. Not very noticeable, but not great either. What I really like is the cammo foliage on the helmet of the second guy from the left, in addition to his overall stance. A great pose. And the machine gunner is also very nicely done. A unique variation on the pose. The sandbags are a separate piece so you can place your machine gunner behind a wall or any other protection you want. Lastly, the fact that most of them are wearing cammo smocks -even the commander- means that when these guys are painted they will look even more interesting. 

Plastic Platoon Waffen SS Heavy Weapons

PP's second set of Waffen SS Troops has not disappointed. It's only five figures, but they are all very well done. The faces are not as extreme as in the previous set, although still a bit in that sharp style, particularly the machine gunner. The machine gun is probably the crown piece in this set, and I am pretty sure that's why there are only five figures in this set. The machine gun by itself with its elaborate base was probably more work to make than a figure. That's how detailed it is. The man firing the gun, is actually cast separately and placed on the base by hooking up his hands to the machine gun's handle. The ammo holder is a separate figure, and the base of the gun has a notch that fits perfectly with the ammo box so that you don't have to guess where to place him. The panzerschreck team is also very well posed and detailed and it's definitely good to have a loader with it. The fifth man is interesting because he seems to be firing a captured Bren gun. In terms of gear you can tell that these guys were late war guys. They are wearing a mix of cammo smocks and regular uniforms, helmets with and without covers, most of them wear puttees and shoes, although the panzerschreck loader is wearing leather boots. And the ammo loaded on the MG team is carrying an StG 44 assault rifle, which as the model name suggests, came out in the last phase of the war. This set is now very hard to get, so I was very happy to be able to get my hands on one.

Plastic Platoon Elite German Winter Infantry Kharkov - Set 1

And speaking of German winter troops, Plastic Platoon has recently come up with this really nice set! The level of detail on these figures is exquisite. You can even see the fleece lining on the hood of the coats, and you can make out the helmets' insignia. The uniforms are all very authentic, the thickness of the figures is consistent with all the layers of clothing they are wearing, and the captured subMG is a nice touch. The most interesting pieces in this set are the two guys making up the MG team. The reason for that is that the MG itself, along with the hands of the man firing have been sculpted attached to the man where the MG is resting. This means that when you assemble them together, you really need to make sure they line up perfectly. Luckily they do. The other implication is that you can never deploy them separately, unless you took the time to perform some delicate conversions. Another great set from Plastic Platoon!

Plastic Platoon Elite German Winter Infantry Kharkov - Set 2

These guys are a good follow up complement to the previous set. The winter gear is just right. I really like the details like the sheepskin on the inside of some of the coats, or the cloth wrapped around their heads. Another interesting detail is the guy wearing the cap with the ear flaps. Initially I couldn't tell if that was a German or a Soviet cap, but upon closer inspection I realized that it has a German eagle insignia on the front. In terms of poses, I usually prefer fighting poses over wounded guys, but in this case, since these are part of the second set, I am OK with this wounded pose, particularly because it goes well with the medic moving towards him with the bag. Interestingly enough, the medic is holding a pistol just in case. The pose I like the most is the man exchanging the magazine. We don't get many of these, so it is a nice touch. The two other guys, are just good, solid firing poses. Overall a nice set.

Plastic Platoon German SS Infantry, Battle of Berlin

These guys will go well with the Volkssturm as they make a last effort to prevent the inevitable fall of Berlin. The first interesting bit is the presence of an Indian soldier, likely from the Indian Legion recruited from British POWs. This guy had to fight to the end or face tough consequences if captured. Another thing that they did well is the bases. I know that some folks find them too bulky or constraining in terms of the scene where the men can be used, but in this case, I find them quite appropriate. One of them is standing next to a grandfather clock, and another one is standing next to a broken gramophone, not to mention the several sections of brick wall. The weapons are all good choices for urban fighting, with a panzerfaust and a panzerschreck, plus other automatic weapons. And similarly to the Soviet guy in the Kursk set, we have a guy handing over his ammo pouches with sub machinegun magazines to a Kamerad. Overall, a good, intense set. 

Click here to take a look at WWII Toy Soldiers by Country

Click here to take a look at WWII Vehicles by Country

Click here to check out other German Troops

Here's a post of the Waffen SS in action defending the Siegfried line.

Here are some pictures of the Waffen SS fighting the British in Normandy.

Introducing the German SA

Latest edit: Hanomak German Allgemeine SS Troops

______________

The Sturmabteilung (SA), also known as Brown Shirts, was the original muscle of the National Socialist Party when it was being formed up in the 1920s and 30s. Made up primarily by unemployed Germans and former soldiers, they took care of beating up and ejecting any hecklers or dissenters at their meetings in the Munich beer halls. As the party grew in power, they took a more offensive paramilitary role, disrupting the meetings of other parties and engaging them in street fights. Their low income background made them more radical in their ideology, favoring full socialism over more centrist economic policies. This eventually became a problem for Hitler who was trying to appeal to the bulk of the country. At its peak in 1934, the SA had about 3 million men, and had become a threat to the German Army as well as other wings of the Party such as the Schutzstaffel (SS) headed by Himmler. All this persuaded Hitler to have its leader Ernst Röhm and about 200 of his associates eliminated in what became know as 'The Night of the Long Knives'. After that, the SA was significantly downsized, with the SS rising in prominence. The SA nonetheless, continued to exist under new leadership. Among its subsequent activities, it harassed and engaged in violence against the Jewish community within Germany, with Kritsallnacht being a prime example of this. On the night of November 9, 1938, the SA destroyed over 7500 Jewish storefronts and 200 synagogues, damaged multiple cemeteries, arrested over 30,000 Jewish men, and killed several more. During the war, many of the SA men were drafted into the Army or were formed into SA-only units such as the 'Feldherrnhalle' Standarte Regiment, featured in Nazi propaganda films. These units began at the Regiment level, but grew to Division-size and even Corps-size. In the course of the war they were destroyed and reformed with new SA recruits several times over.

Atlantic German Brown Shirts - Part I

This is a harder set to find. The complete set includes Hitler as well as a jeep with a driver. If you get enough of these guys you could put together a nice parade scene. I am contemplating combining them with the Marx marching men, perhaps painted all in black. The only problem is that these guys are marching with the right foot forward, as opposed to the Marx men who are one step ahead... BTW, this set could be a bit controversial in some places because of the standard bearers, particularly in Germany, where the Nazi symbols are outlawed. 

Atlantic German Brown Shirts - Part II

Here is the rest of the set with the much harder to find Jeep and the Hitler figure. I must admit that this was one purchase that made me think twice. Not only because it was a bit pricey, but also because Hitler is definitely a character that I do not wish to glorify. In the end I made the purchase as he is certainly a key character in WWII, and also, with every other set I make an effort to find the missing figures so that I can show the complete set, so I decided I should treat this set the same way. 

Hanomak German Allgemeine SS Troops

These figures are meant to represent the non-combat branch of the SS. These guys in particular seem to be the ones that might be found guarding the Nazi headquarters or standing at attention during the military parades. In the early years of the regime, they would have likely worn black uniforms for ceremonial purposes. One thing I wish had been done with this set is to provide two or three guards with the same pose. That way they could be placed guarding a door or lined up next to a parade observing the same stance. I would have gladly traded one or two of the officers for more guards. And the female guard, that one seems like she could be working at a concentration camp for women. Not a scene I care to recreate, so I really don't have much use for her. Overall a decent set that will give me a few more good poses for a parade scene. These will be the guys around the podium. In terms of scale, these guys are closer to true 1:32.

Click here to take a look at WWII Toy Soldiers by Country

Click here to take a look at WWII Vehicles by Country

Click here to check out other German Troops

Click here to see a post about the Atlantic Figures

Click here to see a post about the German Waffen SS

Click here to see a post about the German Waffen SS in action

Click here to see another post with German Waffen SS in action

Introducing the German Panzer Crews

Latest edit: Added Plastic Platoon German Tankers

______________

The German Panzerwaffe or Panzertruppe were the men responsible for operating the armored vehicles such as tanks and self-propelled anti-tank guns within the German armed forces. They were known for their black uniforms, and tight fitting, double-breasted jackets, inspired by the uniforms of former Hussars. This makes sense, considering that they were the armored evolution of the cavalry. Their piping color was pink and their insignia in caps and collars included skulls / Totenkopf which is something that they earlier Brunswick Hussars also wore, but which became problematic for the Panzertruppen particularly towards the end of the war when many of them would get shot on the spot upon capture after being mistaken for death camp guards. Within the command of the Panzerwaffe, and attached to the armored units, there were also Panzergrenadier which could be transported in half-tracked armored vehicles, or in trucks. Panzer crews would typically remain within their vehicles, as that's the way in which they could be the most lethal. It was the Panzergrenadiers, who were much better trained in infantry tactics, which were responsible for complementing the tanks offensively or defensively. The ratio of half-tracks to trucks available to transport the Panzergrenadiers would depend on the elite status of the division. Divisions such as the Panzer Lehr, raised from skilled, decorated veterans who had been transferred to the two main training schools for motorized troops, received many more armored vehicles. It was also within some of these divisions such as the Panzer Lehr, that also the Panzergrenadier wore the double-breasted jacket as their uniform, albeit in grey fabric. In terms of toy soldiers, Panzer crews have been released along with their vehicles by firms such as Forces of Valor or 21st Century Toys, however the poses are usually that of a commander standing at the turret or a driver/machine gunner taking a peek out of the front hatches. Up to now, nobody had manufactured dismounted Panzertruppen. But that changed recently. Let's take a look.  

Mars German Panzer Crew

This is an original set. Typically when you see tank crew men, they are mounted in their vehicles, but when you think about it, they must have had to abandon their tanks at times due to battle damage or mechanical failure, and when doing so, it seems reasonable to expect that they had to engage in small arms combat. The set provides a nice variety of action poses depicting the urgency of the situation. What's also good about this set is that if you are into painting your figures, this uniform with a short, double-breasted jacket can be painted in a variety of color schemes, including cammo pattern and various tones of grey, as it was worn not only by panzer crews -in black-, but also self-propelled gun crews, and panzer grenadiers. What's not so great about this set is that one figure in particular -standing in the middle of the picture- has a serious manufacturing issue, with a lot of extra plastic down the middle of his face. This is not just my set, as it has been reported by other collectors. I may try to shave it off a bit or simply replace the head.

Dragon CanDo Tiger Aces

This is a special set from Dragon. They represent famous Tiger commanders such as Michael Wittman (in black standing on the turret). There's also Hans sitting up front, Georg stand off to the side wearing an officer's cap. Kurt (Knispel) - the most prolific Panzer ace-  standing opposite him with a regular cap (that's the only difference between him and Georg), Woll to the right of Wittman, and Karlheinz resting his arm around the tank's gun. These guys are now not so easy to find and they can be a bit pricey of you do run into them. That's particularly true of Kurt who was only manufactured 4 times out of every 100 figures in the set. If you can find them they are a great complement to the FOV and 21C panzers.

Hanomak German Tank Crewmen

This set represents dismounted tank crews in intense close quarters combat. Well, except for the officer who seems to be taking in the action. I am not sure why they depicted him like that. This set will be a good complement to a similar set from Mars, although I am not sure that I need that much volume of dismounted tank crews. What is interesting about this set is that it was produced using digital sculpting. That's why the lines are so smooth. You notice this specially on the clothes. I have to say that I prefer the hand-sculpted figures better, but I expect that this technique will continue to improve. In fact, the 3D printing is already quite impressive. As far as the figures, they are well posed and I do like that their bodies reflect the urgency of the situation.

Hanomak German and Soviet Tank Crewmen fighting

Here is a picture of how the German guy is supposed to be combined with its Soviet counterpart. The German guy has his pistol drawn, while the Soviet guy is about to stab him. Who do you think will prevail? BTW, notice that the Soviet guy is also a tank guy, which suggests that these two crews disabled each other's tanks, which would have had to happen at very close range for them to end up fighting hand-to-hand or were part of a larger tank battle and ended up running into each other while evacuating from the battlefield. Neither scenario seems very likely to me, but hey, everything is possible in the world of plastic toy soldiers...

Plastic Platoon German Tankers, Battle of Kursk

This set came with 3 tank crew members from each side. But that's not where the symmetry ends. Each side has what looks like an officer firing a pistol, a crew man firing a sub machine gun, and another crew man firing a light machine gun from the waist - a la Rambo. The poses are all in Plastic Platoon's usual high action style. One detail that I like from this set is how they made the man firing the machine gun step over a piece of tank track. You can tell that this panzer crew is definitely having a challenging time evacuating its disabled tank! These guys will go well with the Mars and Hanomak tanker sets.

Click here to take a look at WWII Toy Soldiers by Country

Click here to take a look at WWII Vehicles by Country

Click here to check out other German Troops

Click here to see a post of the German company in action.

Here are some pictures of German Paratroops in action.

Here you can see German Waffen SS in action.

Introducing the Soviet Tank Crews

Latest edit: Added Plastic Platoon Soviet Tankers

______________

The Soviet Union started expanding and modernizing its tank forces during the late 1930s in preparation for the potential conflicts ahead.  As the war began and intensified in 1941, the demand for tank crews increased significantly. Tank crews were often formed through a combination of new recruits -factory workers, peasants, students- and individuals with prior military and combat experience who were reassigned or transferred to tank units. Soviet tank crews are also commonly referred to as tankists or tankmen. Soviet Armored units were organized into Companies, Battalions, Brigades, Divisions, Corps, and Armies. Sometimes they also operated as detached Regiments. Units which distinguished themselves in battle could earn the distinction of being designated a 'Guards' unit, as was the case of the 1st Guards Tank Army. Several hundred thousand men passed through the ranks of these units over the course of the war. The Soviet armored units played a critical role in the defeat of the German armies on the eastern front, applying similar tactics of fast and deep encircling attacks as the Germans had used against them. The encirclement of the German 6th army at Stalingrad was a good example of what was to come for the remainder of the war and it marked the high-water mark of the German advance. The Soviet armored units also distinguished themselves during the battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943, which was the largest tank battle in the history of warfare and the last major offensive of the German Army on the eastern front. During this engagement, which lasted about 7 weeks, the Soviet forces lost about 7500 tanks and assault guns and the Germans lost about a third of that. Even though the German losses were numerically smaller, they were much harder to replace and the German Army never regained the initiative. For the rest of the war, the Soviets pushed back the German Army and their armored units were an integral part of their offensive capabilities, all the way to the Battle of Berlin. Soviet tankists wore a distinctive uniform which included a padded helmet made of leather or canvas. The helmet often had ear flaps and a neck curtain for added warmth and protection. They typically wore one-piece coveralls made of thick, flame-resistant fabric and a padded jacket made of quilted fabric or leather for additional insulation and protection. Their specialized leather gloves had reinforced palms and fingers for durability and not only protected their hands but also provided a better grip on the tank controls. Their sturdy leather boots which often featured steel toe caps provided ankle support and protection, and their thick soles provided good traction. Tank crews were also issued gas masks and protective goggles to safeguard against chemical attacks and debris. In terms of plastic toy soldiers, there have been a couple of manufacturers exploring this topic. Among them Engineer Bassevich and Hanomak. Let's take a look at their sets.

Hanomak Soviet Tank Crewmen

This is the counterpart to the German dismounted tank crew. Similarly to that set, these guys are engaged in intense close quarters fighting, except for the guy who is holding his binoculars while his comrades struggle for survival. The poses are fairly decent, depicting the intensity of the moment. The only guy that I don't quite like is the man firing the subMG. His body is too stiff. You would expect him to be crouching slightly, even if only to brace himself from the recoil of his weapon. The detail on these guys is also fairly smooth -few creases on their uniforms, hardly any wrinkles on their faces-, due to the digital sculpting. These guys will join forces with some other dismounted tank men from Engineer Bassevich. 

Hanomak German and Soviet Tank Crewmen fighting

Here is a picture of how the Soviet tankist is supposed to be combined with its German counterpart. The German guy has his pistol drawn, while the Soviet guy is about to stab him. Who do you think will prevail? BTW, notice that both men are tankmen, which suggests that these two crews disabled each other's tanks, which would have had to happen at very close range for them to end up fighting hand-to-hand or were part of a larger tank battle and ended up running into each other while evacuating from the battlefield. Neither scenario seems very likely to me, but hey, everything is possible in the world of plastic toy soldiers...

Engineer Bassevich Soviet Tank Crewmen

These two guys came as part of a set which was mostly infantry figures. Their poses are not the most versatile. They'll mainly have to be used for non-combat situations, but then again, they complement the other action poses from Hanomak which are at the other end of the spectrum. The level of detail on these guys is nice and they will look pretty good when painted.

Engineer Bassevich Soviet Tank Crewmen - Battle of Berlin

These two guys came with the Battle of Berlin set which had a range of figures from different service branches in fighting poses. I like these two guys quite a bit more and they will be a good addition to the guys from Hanomak. The only tricky thing is that the sculpting of Engineer Bassevich is a bit chunkier compared to Hanomak's slim style. But I actually like the detail on these figures a good deal better. Of all the Soviet tank crew figures, these two are my favorite ones.

Plastic Platoon Soviet Tankers, Battle of Kursk

This set came with 3 tank crew members from each side. But that's not where the symmetry ends. Each side has what looks like an officer firing a pistol, a crew man firing a sub machine gun, and another crew man firing a light machine gun from the waist - a la Rambo. The poses are all in Plastic Platoon's usual high action style. One detail that I like from this set is how they made the Soviet commander bald. The Soviet tank helmets and the reinforced knees on the uniforms are also a nice touch. These will go well with the Bassevich and Hanomak tanker guys.

Click here to take a look at WWII Toy Soldiers by Country

Click here to take a look at WWII Vehicles by Country

Click here to check out more Soviet Troops

Click here to see the Soviet Infantry in action