The new German Veteran Infantry is one of the most versatile Bolt Action kits to date, with a plethora of options for early, middle, and late war troops, as well as being suitable to make some of the more niche units from the Armies of Germany. In this article, we will go over how you can make some of those units, such as Cossacks, Panzergrenadiers and engineers for all your German armies.
Cossacks
The Cossacks are an interesting unit for any German Commander on the tabletop, with excellent mobility over rough ground and for outflanking maneuvers. Depending upon the Cossack formation you make, it can offer you a very interesting uniform to paint – more than your standard 50 shades of field grey.
To build them, start with any of the German Veteran bodies, then add and shape green stuff to the sides of the trousers to build them out, giving them an appearance more akin to a cavalryman’s trousers. For the heads, you can use the fur hats from the Winter Infantry frame – these already have the German markings. If you wanted to take it further you could use green stuff to fashion extra fur around the edge. For equipment and weaponry, the German veteran frame is ideal – any of the standard equipment will work well, and the variety of rifles and captured Soviet SMGs can lend a lot of character to individual models, or even give the impression that they had recently swapped sides.
Panzergrenadiers
The (not always) mechanised troops that supported German tanks in operations across Europe, have their own entry in Armies of Germany as a mid/late war option. They are an all-around great unit to include in any list.
The German Veteran kit is great for building Panzergrenadiers. On the frame, you have enough submachine guns to equip a squad up to its max allocation plus the two LMGs that you can take per squad. For the equipment, if you want to push them towards late war, you can mix in some of the camouflaged helmets from the Grenadiers frame, and borrow some assault rifles and Panzerfausts too. This is a really simple way to make a unique Panzergrenadier and have them stand out from the rank-and-file soldiers in your collection.
Kradschützen
Kradschützen are the reconnaissance arm of any German army, ideal for driving ahead and capturing objectives in the centre of the board. While they start the game mounted, they can also dismount and act as normal infantry. They can be used in early, mid, or late lists, so the German Veterans kit is ideal for representing them.
You can easily represent them by way of a really simple addition from another kit – the helmets with bandanas and goggles from the Afrika Korps plastic frame. This gives the Kradschützen a rather unique look and helps to differentiate them on the tabletop from your other German infantry.
Engineers
We have talked about using elements from other kits using the German Veterans as a base, let’s flip that on its head for the next one – engineers! The arm, head, weapons, and accessories with the body of your choice can make an Engineer fit perfectly within the branch of the German army of your choice.
To make this example, I took a winter German body and added the flamethrower and fuel canister alongside the head with goggles from the Veterans sprue. The German Veterans boxed set nets you six flamethrowers in plastic (a Bolt Action first!) allowing you to equip a full engineer platoon with this deadly, feared weapon.
Early War Waffen SS
The Waffen SS, the fanatical arm of the German military, was very similarly equipped to the regular German Heer in terms of early war equipment, at least in terms of representing them on a Bolt Action stat card. What separates them is their access to camouflage uniforms – something completely uncommon for that period of the war.
The German Veterans are a great base for this conversion. To represent the camouflage uniform, take the arms and helmet from the plastic Waffen SS sprue – just make sure to use the weapons from the Veteran kit which will firmly place them as in the early war period. For any accessories, the ones on the German Veterans kit are ideal.
Hungarian Infantry!
This final conversion is a bit of a curveball, not a German unit at all, but a Hungarian one! The Hungarian army fought alongside the Germans in the Stalingrad region. The early war Hungarian Uniform is broadly similar to that of the late war, but with one major difference: the trousers, which were low cut and tapered. Representing this in miniature proved an interesting challenge, but the German Veterans boxed set came to the rescue.
To make the uniform, take a German Veteran body and add a layer of green stuff to the base of the boots, disguising them from being jackboots. Then, add a second thin layer up the outside edge of each leg and blend it into the top of the trousers. This (rather fiddly) conversion gives the German Veteran a completely different look and makes the model stand out. It can be used as the base for a whole army of Hungarians for the early or mid-periods of the war. The weapons and equipment on the Veterans sprue are otherwise fine to use as is.
Pick up the German Veteran infantry kit today and try out your own conversions. Use the huge amount of options on the sprue to represent a huge number of troops types, including Heer, Sturmpionere Feldgendarmerie to name but a few, or combine it with other Bolt Action kits like Kieran has done for near endless combinations!
