Gebirgsjäger / Fallschirmjäger

[Ulfar]

Hello everyone!

I’m quite new to BA and, to be honest, I have a couple of questions regarding the matching between boces and theatre of operation.

I have always had a passion for Fallschirmjäger and Gebirgsjäger.Two branches of the German army, considered as “elite”, intended to complete, in general, missions with minimal equipment and support. What I have always found impressive.

So, of course, you understand among my favorites “campaigns” are the Balkans, and of course Crete, as well as the Italian front. But I’m note sure about which boxes are the most suitable… so, I’m kindly asking your help.

A. Regarding the Italian front, is the collection “Fallschirmjäger late war (1943-45)” is also suitable for for this front or it’s mainly for Normandy / Market Garden?

B. Regarding the Balkans / Crete era, the only “early war” Fallschirmjäger box available is the tropical uniform. But it looks this one seems to be more about the Ramcke Brigade than Operation merkurk uniform wise.

C. There is only one available box of Gebirgsjäger so far but, from the pictures of its content I could find, the uniforms look much more suitable for scenarios “northern” than Crete or Italy.

Thank you

 

[Jacob Carter]

At times you’ll have to sacrifice 100% accuracy if you’re trying to get a specific unit or do some major kitbashing.  I did some quick research into those units though I’m much more familiar with late war stuff and know virtually nothing about Gebirgsjager, hope I can help you get started!

The standard plastic Fallschirmjager should handle your Fallshirmjager units from around 1942 to 1945 though if you’re theming battles in 42 I’d recommend fewer FG42s and kitbash more Mg34s instead of 42s.  You can do this by cutting the 42 off right at the hand, matching the cut on a 34 and then gluing that to the hand.

For your Gebirgsjager I think you have 2 main options of either Blitzkrieg Germans or Afrika Korps.  Since Gebirgsjager look like they’re issued pretty standard equipment, Blitzkrieg Germans would have the correct uniforms for really early war though the differences between the M40 and M43 uniforms are small enough that DAK could be a perfect supplement.  You’ll also get a ton of 34s so you’ll have plenty left over for your Fallschirmjager.

The major upside for DAK in your case is the higher number of field caps per sprue where you could make 4 out of 6 in caps.

This is all based off some really quick research but I think you could make them more than passable for all but the hardcore historian with the above kits

[Kar98k]

No worries about using the “Fallschirmjäger late war (1943-45)” plastic boxed set for the Italian Campaign. The package should really say “Fallschirmjäger (1942-45)”. One note to make about the plastic box set is that even though they were better equipped than most other units, there is plenty of evidence of them using MG34s – especially for 42 and 43. If you have other German plastic boxed sets, it is easy to kit-bash a Fallschirmjäger with an MG34. If not, not really a big deal, but it does look somewhat interesting.

[Author]

Posts