HISTORY:
** From their introduction in 1940, the Sturmgeschütz assault guns played an essential role in the campaigns of the Blitzkrieg era, the titanic struggles in Russia and the final defensive battles of the war. Evolving from a mobile bunker-buster, armed with a short-barrelled howitzer, the Sturmgeschütz was up-armoured and up-gunned and by 1943 it was increasingly employed as a tank killer. In 1944, largely as an emergency quick-fix, the Sturmgeschütz IV entered service and over 1,000 examples had been built by the end of the war. As the Wehrmacht’s resources continued to decline, the assault guns were thrown into every operation and increasingly substituted for gun tanks in official unit establishments. In the third volume in the TankCraft series to examine the Sturmgeschütz, Dennis Oliver employs official documentation and unit histories to investigate the formations that operated the Sturmgeschütz IV and uses archive photos and extensively researched colour illustrations to examine the markings, camouflage and technical aspects of the vehicles that served on the Eastern Front during the last months of the campaign. A key section of his book displays available model kits and aftermarket products, complemented by a gallery of beautifully constructed and painted models in various scales. Technical details as well as modifications introduced during production and in the field are also examined, providing everything the modeller needs to recreate an accurate representation of these historic vehicles. **
** Quoted from the back cover of the book.
THE BOOK:
Pen and Sword Books has released StuG IV Assault Gun German Army and Waffen-SS Units Eastern Front, 1944-1945 as Number 47 in their TankCraft series. It is a 64-page soft cover book, 11.7 x 8.25 inches in size. Included with the text are black and white and color photographs, black and white and color illustrations, information charts and more. It has a 2026 copyright, a publication date of February 19, 2026, and the ISBN is 978-1-0361-4062-5.
CONTENTS:
- Introduction
- The Eastern Front, 1944-1945
- The StuG IV Units
- Camouflage & Markings
- Model Showcase
- Modelling Products
- Technical Details and Modifications
- The Kreigsstärkenweissungen
- Product Contact Details
THE TEXT:
Author Dennis Oliver provides a well written and informative text detailing the history of the German Sturmgeschütz IV (StuG IV) Sd.Kfz. 167 assault gun used on the Eastern Front during World War II as well as detailed text for the scale modeling section of the book. The text goes into great detail in all areas of the book as outlined on the contents page, please refer to the contents listing for the areas that are covered through the book. There is a section at the beginning of the book laid out in a chart format that provides information for a total of 92 military units. There are three separate sections of information for each StuG IV Unit, Parent Formation and Remarks. The remarks portion provides information such as dates, locations, total number and types of tanks including those that were available and operational as well as those under repair and not operational. Some of the units the information is provided of are Panzerjäger-Abteilung 1, Panzerjäger-Abteilung 18, Panzerjäger-Abteilung 31, Panzerjäger-Abteilung 92, Panzer Ausbildungs-Verband Ostsee, Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 184, Sturm-Regiment Pz-AOK 4 and SS-Panzer-Regiment 5. Additional text provided by the author covers the time frames of November 1943 through April 1945. A great deal of the information provided during those times frames discusses the manufacturing of the StuG IV at various locations, what changes were being made, official orders ordering the specific type of paint scheme and colors to be used before the tanks left the factory, bolt on armor to be added, changes of machinegun types to go along with different commander’s cupolas being added, and a wealth of the same type of information is provided on several other specific items. The author has done an excellent job of providing the information on the StuG IV in a well written and easy to follow and understand manner. For the scale modeling section, the text goes into very specific detail as to the manufacturer and scale of the model, the name of the modeler that built and finished the model, build options available, the addition of after-market detail sets, what they were and the name of the company that produced them, brands of paint used and other such specific information. There are individually titled sections provided for specific manufacture’s scale models shown such as Dragon, Academy, Italeri, Zvezda, Zvezda, Ryefield Model, Tamiya Incorporated, Trumpeter/Hobby Boss, and others. There is also information provided on after-market accessories by companies such as Eduard Model Accessories, Griffon Model, Aber, Voyager Model and others. The text in the book is nicely written and well detailed. As I read through the text, I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors. Grammar and spelling might not be an important factor to everyone however it is something that I take notice of and pass on my findings. Anyone wanting to add an excellent reference, history and modeling book on the German Sturmgeschütz IV (StuG IV) Sd.Kfz. 167 assault guns used on the Eastern Front during World War II to their personal library will be pleased with this informative and interesting book.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS:
A total of 49 black and white photographs and 100 color photographs are included in this volume. The photographs range from wide angle photographs of various StuG IV as a whole to close-up detailed photographs of specific parts on the StuG IV such as the various exhaust types, driver’s hatch, commander’s cupola, Schürzen and Schürzen hangers, external storage attachment points as well as things such as various camouflage and Zimmerit patterns and the scale model photographs show things such as photo-etched brass detailing items. The photographs are a combination of in-action photographs, photographs removed from motion pictures to photographs that have been staged for the photographer. The majority of the photographs are clear and easily viewable; however, a few of the historical photographs have an out-of-focus look to them and some appear to be too dark, and others appear too light. This is typical for the period of history being discussed and the quality of the photographs is of no fault of the author and do not take anything away from the book. The photographs of the modeling related subjects are nice and clear and provide close-up detailed images of several different modeling companies StuG IV models in varying stages of completion. Author Dennis Oliver stuck to the title of the book and chose subject specific photographs and did not include photographs that strayed from the main subject of the book. The majority, if not all, of the photographs will prove to be a wealth of information to the scale modeler as well as anyone interested in the German Sturmgeschütz IV (StuG IV) Sd.Kfz. 167 assault gun used on the Eastern Front during World War II due to the details they contain.
THE ILLUSTRATIONS:
There are 7 black and white illustrations and 32 color illustrations included in the volume. The illustrations are very well done and nicely detailed. The illustrations are mostly side view illustrations of the StuG IV showing various colors and camouflage techniques used as well as vehicle numbers, and unit markings. All of the illustrations will prove to be a valuable reference for the scale modeler as well as the German tank and military historian and enthusiast. Each of the illustrations are accompanied by a detailed caption describing the vehicle shown, the military unit to which it was assigned, details of the unit markings, modifications that were made dates, locations and other such information.
THE CAPTIONS:
The captions are well written and explain the accompanying photographs and illustrations in great detail. For the period photographs the captions go into very specific detail as to specific parts shown on the StuG IV, field modifications made, items used for additional armor such as steel plates, spare track links and concrete, camouflage and unit markings, the military units to which the tank is assigned, dates, locations and other such pertinent information. For the scale modeling photographs, the captions go into very specific detail as to the manufacturer and scale of the model shown, manufacturer of after-market detailing sets used, brand of paint used and other such specific information. As I read through the captions, I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors. I was impressed by Dennis Oliver’s captions as they are very helpful to the reader due to their detailed content as opposed to other captions that I have seen that are very brief and lacking in detail.
INFORMATIONAL CHARTS:
There are 3 informational charts included in this volume and they provide data on the following:
- Panzerjäger-Abteilung, Volksgrenadier-Division, 1944 (One page of information)
- Panzer-Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung, Panzergrenadier-Division, 1944 (One page of information)
- I. Abteilung, SS-Panzer-Regiment 5, 1944 (One page of information)
The charts are extremely detailed and take a full 3 pages to list all of the information that they contain including flow-charts and silhouette images of various armored vehicles.
CONCLUSION:
As with the other volumes in the Tank Craft series, from Pen & Sword Books, I was impressed with this book. This is a very nice reference book that contains well written informative text, many subject specific photographs, several photographs of scale models with detailed captions and more, all detailing the German StuG IV Assault Gun in use on the Eastern Front in 1944 and 1945. As with the other Pen & Sword Books titles, I would have no hesitation in recommending this book to others as it will be a welcome addition to one’s personal military history, and scale modeling reference, library.
Pen and Sword Books, StuG IV Assault Gun German Army and Waffen-SS Units Eastern Front, 1944-1945 is also available digitally from:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
PRICE:
UK £19.99 / US $29.95
https://www.casematepublishers.com/
This book, from Pen & Sword Books, was provided to me by Casemate Publishers. Please mention that you saw the book reviewed here on the KitMaker Network when making your purchase. Thank you.
