Guidelines Publications

Panzer Vor!

German Armor 1939-1945 In Profile

New from Guideline Publications, the publisher of Military Modelcraft International is this volume, an interesting compilation of previously published (in MMI magazine) reference articles paired with build articles and pages of color profiles. The articles have been reworked for inclusion in this volume. The focus of this book is on selected vehicles of Germany’s armored forces of World War II, and the book’s German title translates to “tanks forward”.

The backbone of this book are the reference articles written by noted author and historian Thomas Anderson, whose many reference works on WWII German subjects are highly regarded.

Vital Statistics

Format - softcover, portrait format

Page Count - 82 pages

Size - 8.25” x 11.75”

Photos - Black and White period images, color photos of model making. Full color vehicle camouflage and markings renderings

Tables / drawings / diagrams - several data tables

All text and photograph captions are in English.

What's between the Covers?

Above - the book’s table of contents tells us exactly what is covered by this volume, a select number of specific vehicles.

The volume opens with a detailed look at armored reconnaissance vehicles and their employment by the Germans. Excellent text work here, with interesting images to accompany the text. The German Panzerwaffe valued good reconnaissance work very highly, the author describes how this was achieved and the equipment used in an informative manner. 

In particular, this chapter focuses largely on the use of the versatile Sd.Kfz. 250 series of halftracks in recon use, this is reflected in the many good images of the 250’s in this chapter. 

Thomas Anderson follows up with in-depth examinations of the Sd. Kfz. 251/9 Kanonenwagen, and then the eight wheeled armored cars used for reconnaissance duties. Both of these articles are full of interesting information, and are copiously illustrated with fascinating period photographs.

The first of the volume’s two build articles is a seven page treatment on the construction, modification and paint/finish of the 1/72 scale DML Sd. Kfz. 263 8 wheeled radio vehicle. The author of this article does a wonderful job with this diminutive kit, making several well shown and described improvements to it. The outstanding paint and finish that is applied to the model are well described and illustrated with crystal clear photographs.

Next up is a detailed look at the efforts made by Germany’s arms industry to improve performance of their tank forces main guns by moving to long barreled 7.5 cm guns in the Panzer IV series.This article includes several informative tables illustrating the relative effectiveness of these new longer tubed 7.5 cm guns. As with the other articles authored by Thomas Anderson, this is a very informative and interesting article, with plenty of terrific period photographs as seen below.

Above - every article in this book is well illustrated with interesting photos.

The second of two build articles in this book is a build of Germany’s workhorse Panzer IV Ausf. G, using the Tamiya kit in 1/35th scale. This is a nine page article showing this build in terrific detail, with good descriptions of techniques used and well illustrated with well composed, clear photographs. 

This article focuses largely on the painting and finishing techniques and materials used by the author, who does an outstanding job with the Dunkelgrau gray color as used on German armor into 1943. 

The next article is another Thomas Anderson authored in-depth look at a specific vehicle, this time the famed Panther tank. The author examines some commonly held beliefs on this tank, its liabilities and advantages. He also examines other aspects which affected Panther tank effectiveness, such as production numbers. Interesting reading, again illustrated by great period photos.

Last but not least, we are treated to a look at the Sturmgeschutz III, a true Swiss Army knife of an armored vehicle. The StuG was nominally an infantry support vehicle, that found itself increasingly pressed into roles more suited to tanks, the difference being that StuGs had no rotating turret as proper tanks did. StuGs found themselves in tank to tank combat often, being employed as tank destroyers in defensive roles as the war ground on. The author covers some of the improvements made to the StuG III which made it effective until the end of WWII. As with the articles throughout this book, very interesting images accompany the text.

Above - the book closes with nine pages of single aspect full color renderings of the vehicle types that are covered by this volume. Captions provide information on the vehicle units, and where/when the vehicle was employed.

Conclusions

This volume is an interesting hybrid of reference work and a “how-to” book. The choice of subject matter in this book is well thought out, it’s a nice mix of subject matter.

The reference articles by Thomas Anderson are all very well written and packed with interesting information. Mr. Anderson is a prolific and talented author. His text and photo captioning are informative, clear and concise. The tables that are included provide good information.

The two build articles are well presented, with good explanation of techniques used, and well illustrated.

The images that accompany the text work are generally of high quality, with only a very few being a bit dark or grainy. The images are of uniformly high interest, with some previously unpublished. 

Highly Recommended

Thanks to David Doyle Books for the review copy

Reviewed by Chuck Aleshire, AMPS Chicagoland

AMPS 2nd Vice President Midwest Region

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