1 review for Waffen-SS Grenadier Platoon 1944-45

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Tiffy – 9th June 2021

   Before the release of these figures, I had long wished for a good Waffen-SS set which would work with the 1/76 scale Matchbox soldiers, for whilst the Italeri set is nice, some of the poses are somewhat lame — especially when compared to these — and the figures are very noticeably large (they are 1/72, after all) beside the Matchbox sets. Therefore, I consider this set one which has been long overdue for wargamers, and it is very exciting to have the gap filled at long last!
   The first thing that strikes one upon taking the figures from their very nicely produced box, is how great a sense of dynamism is conveyed by the figures — I found it so even before cutting them from their sprues and trying different group poses!
   This first impression aside, a closer look reveals a set of most excellently sculpted figures, each one of which has all the authentic details which one could wish for — indeed, in my set, I could find no mistakes or inaccuracies, and only had to perform fairly minimal mould line removal &c.!
   The men are wearing the M44 Pea-dot camo uniform, peculiar to the Waffen-SS, making them suitable for any late war campaigns, especially on the Western Front from D-Day to the fighting in Germany after the Rhine crossing; but they are, of course, perfectly useful for fighting on the Eastern Front too, should one wish, though not so much for the winter battles, as they have no cold weather equipment.
   All the men have the short boots with ankle gaiters common during the latter years of WWII, and each also has a good selection of the usual German field equipment, with all the weapon-related pouches &c. for the main arms carried — K98k rifle; MP40; and MG42. The machine-gunners have their proper tool pouches and pistol holsters (some not visible, for the men are lying on top of them), and one gets a nice trio of panzerknackers with the Panzerfaust — one kneeling about to fire, and one standing likewise, and another carrying the weapon over his shoulder. One notable absence is the StG-44, which was on issue to German troops by 1944, almost exclusively to Waffen-SS units; but it was a fairly uncommon weapon overall, and is often somewhat overstated in late war sets because of its cool image, whereas, whilst one or two men carrying one here would have been good, what one actually gets with this set is a very typical Waffen-SS platoon as they generally appeared in uniform and armaments. Also, though no-one is throwing a grenade, and none have the Potato Masher stick grenades anywhere about their person, I noted with pleasure how several carry M39 Egg grenades attached to their pouches, ready to hand should they need one, just as one sees in so many old photographs.
   Throughout the set most of the men have the camouflage cloth helmet covers, of which the Waffen-SS had several varied patterns, whilst a couple have plain helmets, and one of the MG42 gunners even has a scrim net contrived of chicken wire, just like one so often sees in period photos — an excellent detail touch! Also, one of the H.Q. communications men is wearing the M43 Einheitsfeldmütze, and has his helmet strapped to his belt, to facilitate the use of his radio headphones. He is a wonderful figure indeed, and has a facial expression which puts me in mind of the extremely dynamic illustrations from the old War Picture Library comics. He seems to be yelling; “The British are all around us! Attack, you fools!” — jolly exciting!
   I am sure I would have bought this first of the 20mm Ultracast sets, because of it filling so perfectly the gap in the Waffen-SS sets available; but it was the three communications men who quite sold the set to me, for they are each a splendid figure on their own, and I have a great weakness for radio and field telephone men in sets of toy soldiers, and believe this trio to be quite the best in their scale from any set — and some of the best in any scale, for that matter!
   I have tried these men alongside other figures I have, and was delighted to find that, because of their slightly chunky sculpting style, they have a wonderfully chameleon-like effect thus deployed: alongside the old 1/76 scale Matchbox figures they did not appear too overlarge, whilst at the same time, their touch of chunkiness helped them to appear quite at home with the slightly taller Revell and Italeri figures, making this set truly universal to all but the most pedantic of wargamers. Certainly I would not be without the set, and consider it one of the most valuable additions I have made to my miniature armies.