Bolt Action German Grenadiers

Among the plastic kits for Bolt Action, the German army has the most kits to choose from. Maybe that is to reconcile for the very first plastic kit of the German Infantry (we have come a long way since that), or just because they are the bad guys and due to that higher in demand. Following up on the Blitzkrieg Infantry (sorry, that article is only available in German, as it was published prior to this blog being bilingual in 2014/15) that covered the early war troops, this German Grenadier kit covered the late war.

More were about to follow, mostly mid to late war, like the Waffen-SS Grenadiers, Afrika Korps Grenadiers and Winter Gear German Infantry in means of regular infantry.

So, what do we have here. We have the backbone of the German infantry, the Grenadiers. They started out as regular infantry men and were renamed as grenadiers in 1942, and further renamed as part of the propaganda as Volksgrenadiers (more or less riflemen of the people), but that had nothing to do with the Volkssturm.

The regular german soldier of the Heer / Wehrmacht was organised in Infantry Divisions. The first recruitment wave covered 40 divisions, there was a total of 35 of these waves during the war, creating new divisions by regrouping existing divisions or reorganising reserves and volunteers. Among these volunteers were foreign forces as well, maybe one of the most famous was the Blue Division, the spanish volunteers formed as the 250th Infantry Division, sent by Franco to fight the communists on the eastern front. You can use these miniatures to play them as these volunteers as well.

This box covers 30 plastic soldiers in 28mm scale, spread over 5 sprues, along with an instruction leaflet, that lists all the parts, matching 25mm round bases and a decal sheet. The price is set at 29,50 GBP for the plastic infantry kits.

The casting is really well done and was one of the first kits, that moved from the open hands with individual weaponry towards the complete weapon arm pairs. There is quite some equipment fitted in each sprue, assault rifles, SMG, regular rifles / karabiners, MG42 light machine gun, stick grenades, Panzerfaust, as well as gear for the NCO, like field glasses or medals.

You get 11 heads, with helmets, bare or field cap. Of course you can mix these with the heads of other plastic kits or go for the individual sprues of helmets that Warlord Games offers as bits.

With one base put on the sprue, Warlord Games switched the design of the bases along these kits. They went from the regular Renedra bases (that had if I am not mistaken some rounded edges in mid-production) to small lip designs, that Warlord Games themself introduced. These lips were supposed to keep the base material on the base and make for a cleaner edge.

The Grenadiers have 6 different poses per sprue, with one kneeling pose. They have regular late war uniforms, with two soldiers wearing the Zeltbahn 31. Not to be confused with the Smocks of the Waffen-SS. The zeltbahn (tent square) was intended to be used for tents and multipurpose rain jacket, along with the camouflage feature. As such it was often seen with splittertarn.

We're going to make use of the dynamic poses and proper handling of the weaponry and give them a round assortment of what's covered in each sprue, beginning with a regular Kar 98K rifle and two assault rifles.

To break out for a bit more dynamic poses, you can give them panzerfaust or have them throwing grenades. In have of the open hand, I had the choice from different rifles, and went for a russian SMG.

Of course, a LMG team wouldn't be missed. In this case it is the MG42, which is included two times per sprue. Once shoulder mounted and as a individual bit, including tripod. The ammunition belt over the shoulders is a very popular bit, that we have seen in multiple sprues so far.

And as we need someone to command this squad, let's have one soldier kneeling, with a SMG, a map and field glasses, to give him the proper officer look.

As mentioned above, you have quite the options to choose from. Very characteristic faces, with different hats and helmets. Proper details and very nice to see, that they recreated some expressions from the Osprey colour tables.

But a soldier is not only armed with a rifle, but carries a lot more of equipment into battle, as bread bags, tools, ammunition bags and such, that really add to the liveliness of these miniatures.

These kits go a long way, especially for Bolt Action. 30 Miniatures is enough for a small army, two full squads, an additional weapon team and small squad for the platoon leader. As I already covered those special position with metal miniatures, I went on to build 3 full squads. I am really happy about the ressources you have to toy around with.

How do these compare to others? Well, within the range they work quite well, yet are a bit bigger than the first / original Bolt Action range metal miniatures. Warlord Games produces Bolt Action as an heroic 28mm scale, as such they are noticeably heftier than for example Perry Miniatures, but will blend quite well with Empress or Artizan Design for example, especially at arms length.

A couple of shots from different angles, to show the core squad.

Conclusion
I am actually a bit surprised, that I forgot to publish this review, as the models were build, the pictures taken and so on, it was only missing the text. It's most likely it just got under the wheels, when I moved back then. So that's the reason why this review was released just now. Anyhow;

Of course, in the meantime Warlord Games released new and further improved plastic kits for Bolt Action, yet this kit was quite the clear message when it was released. A well done plastic kit, with lots of options at a very competitive price of around 25 GBP, now 29,50 GBP. This one is probably one of the best kits you can buy for the German army in plastic, if you get your hands on inidividual sprues of the other boxes, it gives you incredible freedom in building and converting. Most interesting the Waffen-SS and Winter Germans for weapons and heads.

I think 30 miniatures is a very good size for these. Bolt Action is platoon sized, by that you could recruite a small army already from a single kit. Or go for one of the Beginner bundles / starter armies that Warlord Games offers, and you're rapidly good to go. Casting is well done, mould lines can be an issue on some of the finer pieces, but yet you get something of proper quality.

Bolt Action is a brand of Warlord Games.

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.