Eastern Front (1 Viewer)

[Combat]

Just to throw my tricorn into the ring with Wellington, a wish list for future Eastern Front/Berlin sets:

1) General von Pannwitz and Cossack Cavalry
2) General Vlasov and russian units fighting on behalf of Germany
3) Bunker set
4) Marshal Konev
5) Soviet Tanks
6) SS Charlemagne Division
7) Berlin Flak Tower
8) General Henrici
9) Hiter Youth
10) Spanish Blue Division

 

[jazzeum]

That's some very interesting ideas, especially the last one. As a former resident of Spain and an avid reader of the Spanish Civil War, I would love Andy to do a Spanish Civil War Fields of Battle. He has done some Spanish Civil War with Del Prado.

 

[Louis Badolato]

I recently read an excellent historical novel about the Battle of Kursk called the Last Citadel, by the author who wrote War of the Rats about the duel of the snipers in Stalingrad. The main bad guy in the book was a Tiger Tank commander from the Spanish SS Blue Division. The book was very well written and a good read. It was also well researched and hsitorically accurate except for the (obviously fictional) actions of the main characters swaying the course of the battle.

 

[Joey]

Combat,

These are all great ideas. I like the ideas of the soviet tanks and the flak tower. Also, some Hitlerjugend and Volkssturm fighting together would be great.

What I like to see is a Flag raiser set: two or three Russian privates raising the flag on the Reichstag. Some extra scenery would be excellent too...

This series has some great potential, and I think we could go on for hours thinking about possibilities for the Eastern Front. Let's hope the September releases will be good enough to satisfy our wishes and desires.

 

[Gideon]

I don't know about the commercial validity of these sets - I have no idea how many could be sold but these sound really fascinating.

 

[jazzeum]

I think anything Andy does anything in Europe is gold. Also, I think a FOB Spanish Civil War would be of great interest in Europe as you had Russians, German, French, English, Italians fighting in the Spanish Civil War as run up to World War II,

 

[gk5717]

At OTSN, 2002, Andy was talking of doing the Battle of Kursk, but obviously it fell thru.
I too would like some Eastern Front sets.
Gary

 

[Louis Badolato]

Wow! Battle of Kursk, now that would present some unbelievable possibilities for just about all areas of K&C production: The armored vehicles are obvious, but how about an Ilusian IL6 Sturmovic "Flying Tank" from the (hopefully) upcoming Warbird releases? Russian engineers building strongpoints, and the strongpoints themselves would be fun figures and diorama materials from this battle. How about a personality figure of Marshal Zhuchov (my spelling of Russian names is highly suspect, correct me somebody!)? When and if Andy gets around to addressing the greatest tank battle of all time, I will be all in!

 

[vandilay]

kursk would be a great idea,i recently saw an interview with a german tank commander talking about the panther tank ,and he said this was their first major outing but no one was too impressed as half of them broke down on the way their,so maybe you could have a tank recovery crew or mechanics working on a panther [dreams are free as they say]

 

[Louis Badolato]

Andy and I have repeatedly discussed his producing a tank recovery vehicle, like one of those Tigers with a crane instead of a gun. I think he shelved the idea and instead decided to make an allied Tank Transporter. But one of those with a crew of mechanics would look great next to one of K&C's Panthers, as you recommended.

 

[h.hammer]

while everyone is salivating about the battlr of kursk,i strongly recommend what many historians are considering the defitive work on the subject.it has several unknown facts about the battle and even describes the role and effectiveness of british and american tanks used by the russians.anyone venture aguess about the commentary on the Stuart,otherwise known as the Honey?
the book:The Battle of Kursk,david m. glantz and jonathan m. house
harvey

 

[Combat]

A Spanish civil war set would be a great idea for Fields of Battle. Kursk would also make for a great idea, but a general "Eastern Front" set might give more flexibility to produce a wider range of figures. These could include troops from Romania, Hungary, Finland, Italy and/or Spain. Some Russian KV and SU's would be great too. Just to go all out, I saw a German armored vehicle on the military channel last night similar to the Stug but completely flat on top and very low to the ground. Very cool.

 

[Combat]

while everyone is salivating about the battlr of kursk,i strongly recommend what many historians are considering the defitive work on the subject.it has several unknown facts about the battle and even describes the role and effectiveness of british and american tanks used by the russians.anyone venture aguess about the commentary on the Stuart,otherwise known as the Honey?
the book:The Battle of Kursk,david m. glantz and jonathan m. house
harvey

HH-
Thanks for the recommendation. I am about halfway through it and the descriptions of the battle and pics of the various armored vehicles are great. We really do need some Russian KU and SV's from Andy. I was surprised that the German "Elephant" played such an important role. I recall someone requested that KC consider one of these but I think Andy said no. The only criticism of the book is that the maps are difficult to read and many of the locations described are hard to follow.

 

[Eazy]

Yep the Elefants were supposed to be a great surprise weapon for the Germans. Fortunately the Soviets soon worked out that once the infantry screen was removed these vehicles were completely defenceless.

I think Panthers first turned up in numbers at Kursk as well but i'm not entirely sure on that.

 

[nmrocks]

Speaking of the eastern front, the first K&C series of winter german troops all had red arm bands, I never really understood, is this typical of all german troops on the eastern front? is this a unit thing?
Ray

 

[gk5717]

I also asked this question about the red arm bands, it was to show they were Germans, not Russkies, just that simple.
Gary

 

[panda1gen]

Dear Easy

The panther D did turn up at Kursk, in fact the offensive was delayed due to them - another few miles of AT defence to get through as a result! Many broke down on the way from the railhaead or during the battle.

Tank and SPG against mile upon mile of fixed AT positions - 76.2mm atgs very effective against the majority pz3 and 4- also with heavy artillery support - then massed T34s. The germans greatly admired the russian engineers skill in building fixed defences. Good idea from Hitler eh!

I think that Guderian had been sacked at the time for arguing with Hitler but brought back soon after Kursk?

All this just a few months after arguably the best armoured campaign ever fought after von Manstein crushed the Soviet advance after Stalingrad, recaptured Kharkov and regained the strategic initiative. Classic principles trading space for time and exhausting the enemies of supplies before counter attacking.

Kevin

 

[nmrocks]

I also asked this question about the red arm bands, it was to show they were Germans, not Russkies, just that simple.
Gary

So was this done by the germans every winter on the eastern front?

 

[gk5717]

I had posted the red arm band question on another board, and that was the response I got. It made sense to me as both the Russians & Germans wore the white camo, also no one else offered another explanation.
Gary

 

[ucla1967]

Dear Easy

The panther D did turn up at Kursk, in fact the offensive was delayed due to them - another few miles of AT defence to get through as a result! Many broke down on the way from the railhaead or during the battle.

Tank and SPG against mile upon mile of fixed AT positions - 76.2mm atgs very effective against the majority pz3 and 4- also with heavy artillery support - then massed T34s. The germans greatly admired the russian engineers skill in building fixed defences. Good idea from Hitler eh!

I think that Guderian had been sacked at the time for arguing with Hitler but brought back soon after Kursk?

All this just a few months after arguably the best armoured campaign ever fought after von Manstein crushed the Soviet advance after Stalingrad, recaptured Kharkov and regained the strategic initiative. Classic principles trading space for time and exhausting the enemies of supplies before counter attacking.

Kevin

You are right. Hitler delayed the start of Operation Citadel for one month so he could have more Panthers available. He hoped the Panthers and Elaphants would be the essential factors in winning the battle.

Guderian did not want to use the Panthers at Kursk. He knew they were not ready for combat. Their weight was 8 tons over the original specs. This caused many mechanical breakdowns in the field due to problems with the transmissions and gearboxes. In addition, the engines overheated and caught fire due not only to the extra weight, but because the engine compartments were waterproofed and did not have enough ventilation.

The Panthers deployed at Kursk were mainly in a speciall all Panther unit, the 10th Panzer Brigade comprised of the 51st and 52nd Panzer Battalions. There were some also with the II SS Panzer Corps and the Grossdeutschland Panzer Grenadier Division.