Review: The Assault Group WW2 Germans

Today I would like to have a closer look at some figures by The Assault Group. WW2 Germans with heavy weapons to be specific. So let's dive in and see if these minis are worth their salt!

One of my side-side-side projects is slowly building up with my 28mm German infantry platoon plus a lot of various extra equipment choices and support of course. I'm not a fan of that all-StG44-with-nightfighting-equipment-and-fliegerfausts squad layout you see oh so very often on wargaming tables (I think that it might be called '1944/45 fudge' on TMP). If WW2 German platoons are known for something though it's the central role of the squad LMG(s).

If you have got a nice little infantry platoon you're constantly looking over at the TO&E of those Panzergrenadiers and can't help feeling a bit jealous. In short, they get twice the MG fun. Looking at the excellent German LMGs this makes Panzergrenadiers a pretty terrifying foe to be up against. I should know, having been at the wrong end of German Panzergrenadiers so many times in our Chain of Command campaign! So just in case I'd like to field those some day I had to get me additional LMGs.

Even people who don't like Flames of War have to admit that their TO&Es aren't bad.

Much to my surprise German MG gunners and loaders are not as commonly available as you would think. First I was mainly out for getting MG34 gunners, but those are even harder to get by it seems. So I went with MG42 armed troops. After some consideration I went with The Assault Group's offerings as the sculpts looked rather nice and I was curious what TAG's miniatures were like in the flesh. I had never worked with TAG miniatures before so I ordered one set of "German Panzergrenadiers with MG42" and one set of "German Infantry with MG42 with mixed Headgear". Reason enough for a little review!

I assure you, the full text surely reads "The Assault Group".
The plastic blister just starts at an unfortunate point in the logo.

The Assault Group is a pretty well-known miniatures company who offer various ranges of 28mm historical miniatures. Their models come in regular-sized blisters with a little piece of foam to keep the models from getting damaged too much when rattling in the blister. They seem to go out of fashion a little, but I love those things. Very useful.

Bases are not included, as with most historical miniatures. Everybody like their own ways of basing things anyway.

The Panzergrenadiers blister is four miniatures, two MG42 gunners and two loaders. They are wearing the typical late war Panzergrenadiers over-jackets with hoods. One of the teams is lying prone on the ground in firing position with the loader feeding an ammo belt into the MG, the other team are on the move. The Infantry with mixed Headgear blister is also four miniatures, all armed with MG42, two of them having ammo belts slung around their necks. Two are in advancing poses, one is kneeling and one of them is 'firing from the hip'. The 'mixed headgear' part is 50% of the models wearing steel helmets, the other two are wearing field caps (which were introduced in 1942 and were based off the mountain troops' caps which themselves were based on earlier Austrian designs used in WW1).

The sculpts indeed look very, very nice. Proportions look right (MGs are a little short but I'll have that rather than them bending to all sides), equipment looks right and to scale. The faces look okay too. Details are plentiful and really well done. The metal is high quality white metal, well cast and flash and mould lines are easy to get rid of. There is a problem about the mould lines though - they are running right across the faces, which is a thing I am not fond of in the least. 

Once painted up, the models look perfectly fine and will go with most other ranges (such as Artizan's or Black Tree Design's). 

Contents of the 'German Infantry with MG42 Mixed Headgear' blister painted.

I did not notice any problems in terms of historical accuracy, proportions or anything like that. Perfectly usable miniatures of tip top quality. 

Contents of the 'Panzer Grenadiers with MG42 (Bipod)' blister painted.

 At GBP 6.50 per blister (GBP 1.625 per mini) they are priced pretty okay. Out of the WW2 metal miniatures (between Black Tree Design, Warlord Games, Artizan Designs) I have worked with so far I would consider these my favourites, along with Black Tree Designs'. Highly recommended and even if you like using plastic minis, these are great for filling gaps, getting a few specialist figures and so on.

I hope that you enjoyed this review, found it interesting, enjoyed the painting and so on. If you have any questions, comments or indeed commission inquiries, feel free to let me know via the comments section, the Battle Brush Studios Facebook page or via e-mail.