"28mm WWII Early War Fallschirmjaeger from Crusader Minis" Topic

All,

Greetings, still rolling! Continuing with the forces I bought from Nick at Northstar, I present my Early War Fallschirmjaeger by Crusader Miniatures. Once again Nick did me a solid by hooking me up with a platoon deal, allowing me to get the discount while also allowing me to hand select some specific figures in the deal, which he has now done four times!

This post is titled "Early War" because yes, of course, I also have mid-war FJ for North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, and mid/late war FJ for for Eastern Front and NWE (all coming in future posts). Just need to get some winter figures! In any case, these guys are great, looking exactly as I would expect them to for Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Holland, Greece, and Crete in 1940 and 1941. The weapons are appropriate and look good, the uniforms look great, and the poses are many and proportioned well. The last piece is that they painted up in a jiffy (no camo yet), all using Contrast paints.

The whole mess, about a platoon's worth of infantry with an ATR, 50mm mortar, MG-34 on tripod, 80mm mortar, PaK-36, and even a team of engineers led by a couple officers.

A couple riflemen, nice and nonchalant but still alert, like right after a firefight, making sure it's over.

Another rifleman, stalking his prey.

Advancing the gun, looking for a new spot suitable to support the final assault on the objective.

Standing fast, scoping things out.

The Lieutenant is lost in thought; "now where did I leave my map and compass? No matter, I wasn't sure what to do with those anyway…"

To see a whole bunch more photos, please check the blog at:
link

So, there it is, another great force from Nick at Northstar, ready to rock'n roll, ready to cause some mayhem on the gaming table. I hope you like them, and stand by for more German paratroopers.

V/R,
Jack

They are nice mate, and the contrast paints have worked well.
If you don't mind me asking, why do engineers have different colour helmets?

The MG34s have no bipod, was this an airborne modification?

Great job with the contrast paints, your FJs look great.
Regarding these miniatures being early war I would not expect them to have the tin gas mask canisters but rather the fabric ones, also that type of KAR 98 bandolier was introduced in 1941 (from memory need to double check) so they wouldn't have featured in early actions like Scandinavia or France and the Low Countries, personally I'm not a fan of the helmet shapes on these figures and am also puzzled as the MG34s do not have bipods even in the folded position, like the minis proportions though…

Your painting is great! Thanks for sharing.

Korsun – Thanks! The engineers' helmets are mostly different (one of them is not) because two of them have helmet covers on their helmets while the other two have netting on (if I wasn't so lazy would have painted the netted helmets the same color as the standard helmets, then dry brushed them a different color to pick out the netting).

Billy – Negative, I suppose the manufacturer simply didn't attempt to mold them on, and I didn't do anything to scratch build some (or pull from other sets). From my perspective it's a minor aggravation but I don't really even notice on the tabletop, only in closeups like this.

Captain – Thanks, I appreciate the compliments and the info, turns out I'm not particularly familiar with the early war German kit then! ;) I'm not sure I understand your comment about the shaped the helmet though. Overall I suppose these guys are specifically built for Greece/Crete in 1941 then?

Red Jacket – Thanks a bunch!

V/R,
Jack