I have an Idea for a dio of a Bridge assault, it is going to be kinda based off the assut that Paul Grabner did in arnhem. I have a Stug IV a Panther and an SdKfz 234/1. I want to have the SdKfz 234/1 leading the way with the Stug IV and Panther following with infantry on the Panther. Is this plausible, and did this ever happen at arnhem or anywhere else.
P.S. Does anyone know of any other Bridge assaults like this that were attempted by the Germans?
Considering the number of bridges the Germans had to cross, I’d be surprised if there were not other contested crossings, though I don’t have a list of them off the top of my head.
However, one BIG question - Just how BIG do you intend to make this dio? Three vehicles, infantry, plus a bridge? Pretty hefty footprint, it would seem to me. Don’t get me wrong - it sounds like a pretty interesting concept, I’m just trying to envision its size…
I was thinking it wouldn’t be on a bridge it would be the ramp part if you know what I meen. It would be coming onto a city street. I haven’t got the exact details down just the basics.
If you are gonna try to depict Grabner’s assault, there should not be any tanks or assault guns. He was leading a reconnaissance battalion which was mainly equipped with light armor such as Kfz 250 s and 234 series vehicles. If you look at this shot of the aftermath on the ramp at Arnhem, there are no tanks to be seen in the wreckage.
Are there anymore famous bridge crossing or any crossings that youve read of? Also what would be good figures kits for this as I dont think infantry would want to hump it across a partially held bridge?
Well few bridges have achieved that fame of the bridges of Market Garden (Son, Best, Grave, Nijmegen, and Arnhem), in WWII save perhaps Pegasus and Remagen. Remagen and Nijmegen were taken by combined tank/infantry teams under fire, while Pegasus was seized by glider troops in the opening minutes of D-Day. But if you want to depict something with German armor, there were numerous crossings taking by them during the Ardennes offensive before US resistance stiffened. Most were smaller stone bridges when compared to the large ones I mentioned. Some were opposed, and some were not.
Was there anything in Russia that the Germans had assaulted. I believe I read something that said Grabner assaulted Arnhem bridge the way he did because he did the same thing in russia. Am I correct?
Tankluver
Do you really need a ‘famous’ bridge or would you be happy depicting a bridge ‘somewhere on the eastern front’ and depict the assault you have in mind? I mean, like I said I know there were plenty of bridges to be crossed in the east. I doubt anyone could find fault if you did something a little hypothetical…
Yeah your right, I was just trying to get some sort of inspiration from the anhem bridge to tryn to get an idea. But does anyone know of good infantry kits for a dio like this. Would infantry have humped it across the bridge or riddin on the armor provided?
That all depends. If they are taking fire, they’d probably dismount to confront the threat. If they are taking no fire (or just light fire) they might ride the tanks to exploit their speed and mobility…
Alright. So are there any good dragon and tamiya sets that would work for infantry taking fire? I have Dragons artillery crew and I actually put them into some ok poses, So I was thinking theyd be on the back of the panther ready to dismount and some of them would kinda be looking down the bridge from the back deck of the panther.
a good tamiya kit for that situation might be
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Well first off it depends on what time period and location you want to depict. That Tamiya set along with perhaps the Arnhem Panzer Grenadiers from Dragon are good for a late spring thru early fall action in 1944. But if you want to do Ardennes or or late fall thru early spring you will need troops in the cold weather uniforms.
i wanted to make it around late summer early fall time. I found the wiking set Kovel 1944 and I mite pick that kit up.
Did everybody in the same unit wear the same camouflage when in the field, or were different color camouflages common to see out in the field later in the war ?
That depends upon the type of unit. Army (Heer) units used pretty much two patterns thru the war, splinter and water. SS units had a larger variety of camo patterns used not to mention items of clothing. Conceivably a SS unit could have more different camo items at one time between veteran and replacement troops.
Sorry I was speaking about SS units.
I really suggest you nail down your idea first, then see what fits, rather than will this work or will that work for a general concept. Picking an area ,time, and unit for your diorama will greatly help. Ya gotta think of what the war situation is. On the Eastern front it was defense, counterattacks, and retreats, from the Baltic to the Balkans in the time period you are thinking of. In the West, it was similar, although the breadth of the front itself was smaller for much of the time period. Your talking mixing two different types of units, Panther (mainly used in higher rated Panzer divisions and Brigades), and Sturmgeschutz (used in lower rated Panzer divisions in place of tanks and in independant StG Brigades), and throwing in some infantry and placing them in some sort of bridge assault. Do some reading to find an event that captures your idea, research it to find out what was involved and then pick kits accordngly. At least if you want some historical accuracy. Otherwise just do as you please, and put some kits and figures in a setting of your own fancy. And explain it as such when you post the pics here.
Ok thanks for the advice and will do.
Ok did some rethinking and have decided to drop the panther, but I am still going to keep StugIV and 234/1. The figure kits that I have found fitting for my dio are these
ML6519 German Wiking Division Kovel 1944 (4 Figures Set)
DML6159 Panzergrenadiers, LAH Division (Kursk 1943)
DML6407 Panzermeyer, LAH Division Mariupol 1941 w/ Maxim Machine Gun
DML6146 SS Sturmpionier (done)
I was thinking the Kurt Meyer figure was going to be the leed officer and that he would be commanding his infantry while the 2 SS Machinge gunners set up a base of fire while the 234/1 an StugIV charge the bridge, the Mg,s I was thinking would maybe be on the begining of the bridge or on the other side if you know what I meen. I was going to have the sturmpioner attempting to use the mg fire as cover to follow the armor as it crosses the bridge.
