This series of paperbound booklets consists, so far, of 10 titles, each covering a different vehicle or series of vehicles of WWII. They are intended to provide the buff, historian and modeler with photographic coverage of the subject. There is no text to speak of, but the photos are mostly from private collections, and most have not been published before. They are primarily of operational vehicles, not manufacturers' publicity shots, or the like. Many reveal details and interiors not shown or overlooked by other publications. Each book is 8" high by 11" wide printed on slick, high quality paper. The first 5 have 48 pages, plus covers, the last 5 have 50. All photos are black and white but each volume has full color paintings of the subject on the front and back covers, and some volumes also have others on the inside. The first title in the series is PANZER III IN ACTION, and was .. created" by Uwe Feist. There is absolutely no text, and the captions are short, not very informative, and sometimes confusing. However the photographs are excellent and profuse. Fully one half of the booklet is devoted to the "Sturmgeschutz III" assault gun, built on the Pz III chassis. The second title is SCHUTZENPANZERWAGEN IN ACTION, covering the German armored halftracks of the 250 and 251 series. This volume was "created" by Uwe Feist with captions by Kurt Rieger. The captions are longer and more informative than the first volume's and there are two pages of text concerning the development of the 251 series, a page of technical data on both series, a page listing all the variants of both series, and their uses and a nale of scale drawinqs for each of the 2 APCs. Again the photos are excellent, and this volume shows that the publishers quickly caught on to the shortcomings of the first volume. The third title is GERMAN HALFTRACKS IN ACTION, again "created" by Uwe Feist with captions by Kurt Rieger. It covers the unarmored German halftracks of WW II, and so is somewhat inconaruous in an "Armor in Action" series, but interesting never-the- less. Specifically, it covers the Sd. Kfz 2 "Kettenkrad", the "Maultier" series, the "Raupenschlepper Ost RSO," and the 1.5,8,12 and 18 ton prime movers. For quality of text, captions and photos this volumn is comparable to its immediate predecessor. Number 4 is PANZERSPAHWAGEN IN ACTION, and covers German armored cars of WW 11, with 33-, pages devoted to pre-war models and 1k to a modern West German model. This volume was "created" by Uwe Feist, with captions by Mike Dario, and while the captions are of the same quality as before the text mostly concerns peripheral subjects and there is a real lack of hard data. I was also disappointed that while the pre-war stuff got all that space, and a section on German use of foreign built armored cars received 5 pages, the famous "Puma" so effectively illustrated on the cover received only a single page of coverage inside. Number 5 is NASHORN, HUMMEL, BRUMBAR IN ACTION and covers those three self-propelled guns that used the Pz IV chassis. It is by the same team that did number 4, but done better. The text is more informative. the coverage is even and photos excellent, and technical data and scale drawings (front view only) are provided for all three subjects. Number 6 is a radical departure in many ways. It is SOVIET PANZERS IN ACTION and the first volume of this series to cover a non-German subject. The odd title is appropriate in that while the subjects of the photos are Russian tanks, the sources of the photos are almost all German. They are therefore seen from the German viewpoint. This volume is by Uwe Feist alone, and is the best all-around volume of the series to this point. Photos and captions are excellent, the coverage is well balanced and the two-page spread of full color scale sideviews is a very welcome addition. This volume not only covers (as might be expected) the T-34, KV and JS series of medium and heavy tanks, but also lesser-known models, such as the STZ "Komsomolets," T-60, T-70, T-26 and BT-7 light tanks, and oddities like the T-28, T-38 and T-35, and the SU-7, SU-85, and SU-100 assault guns. Number 7, PANZERJAGER IN ACTION, returns to the team of Feist and Dario and to the German side of the lines. Vehicles covered are: Panzerjage I, Marder II, Panzerjager I, Marder III, Marder 38, Nashorn, VK 3601, Hetzer, Sturmgeschutz III, Jagdpanzer IV, Jagdpanther, Elefant and Jagdtiger. The photos and captions are as good as ever, and there is much more text than previous volumes had, but very little hard data. The full color center spread is continued and very well done. The STuG III and Nashorn were covered previously, however, and a lot of shots of Aberdeen Proving Ground museum pieces have crept in among those of operational vehicles. Number 8, TIGER I IN ACTION, is unique, in that the entire booklet is devoted to just one tank model (PANZER III devoted half its space to the StuG III an allied, but distinct vehicle). This one is by Uwe Feist and Norm E. Harms. They start out by saying that the story of the development of the Tiger I is well documented elsewhere and so they'll skip that and just concentrate on lots of good pictures. Then they turn around and devote about 1 and 1/2 pages of text doing just that, in the most general, nonspecific terms, telling you nothing you wouldn't have learned from any one volume history of WW II. However, the photos and captions are excellent, including several shots of the interior, and since the whole book is devoted to a single subject it is very thoroughly covered. The full-color center spread features two side views, in different paint jobs, and several uniforms worn by Tiger crews. Number 9, BRITISH ARMOUR IN ACTION, is also unusual, not only because it covers nonGerman equipment, but also because, while it says it was "created" by Uwe Feist, it was written by Norm E. Harms and Steve Clayton. In my opinion it is the best of the whole series, so far as the format, layout and presentation. The subject is actually much less general than the title, would lead you to believe, since it only covers the France - 1940, and North African campaigns, through El Alamein. Most space is devoted to the Matilda II, but also the Scout & Universal Carriers, Mk VIB light tank, Matilda I, Cruiser Mk I CS, Cruiser Mk II, Cruiser Mk IV (A13), Crusader II & III, Valentine, Stuart/Honey, Grant and (very briefly) Sherman. The latest volume, Number 10, is LEICHTE PANZERS IN ACTION, by FeistDario team, and covers (in case you can't decipher the German part of the title) German light tanks of UW II. To be exact, these are the Panzer IA, Panzer IB, Kleiner Panzer Befehlswagen I (command tank), Panzer II ausf. A, B & C, Panzer II F, Panzer 35(t) and Panzer 38(t). They seem to have strayed away from the original conception of the series by including far more text, hard data and scale drawings than previous volumes, and while this may cut into the number of pictures that can be presented to my mind it is worth the small sacrifice, as it makes the work more self-contained and relieves the reader from having to have two different works on the same subject - one for data and one for pictures, I hope this trend will continue in the future titles of this series. In conclusion I would say that if you are looking for all kinds of hard data on a particular vehicle or series all but number 10 are of marginal value. However, if you are interested in a wide variety of action shots of the subject vehicles, perhaps to add realism to your models or to aid you in converting or scratch-building models, they are well worth the $3.95 (ea) price tag. Back to Table of Contents -- Panzerfaust #64 To Panzerfaust/Campaign List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1974 by Donald S. Lowry This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com