Axis and Allies Part 2....The Best of the Rest

Rather than show you the same castings but in a different colour plastic I figured it would make more sense just to show you those types unique to each nation. The allies seemed to be the main victim in this as the Fletcher class destroyer appears in the US, USSR and the Royal Navy, likewise the 105mm Howitzer. The Russians also benefit from the Royal Sovereign and an Illustrious class carrier. So without further ado.

The great American arsenal of democracy - a Wasp class carrier (methinks it is an Essex class, not the original Wasp), an Iowa class battleship, a B17 and a P38 fighter. The destroyer, submarine, Liberty ship, Sherman and 105mm howitzer appeared in the previous post.

From the USSR we have a T34/76, a PE 8 bomber and a YAK fighter - again, the destroyer, submarine, transport and artillery piece are courtesy of the USA.

The first of the Germans. A Graf Zeppelin class carrier, Bismarck, a type 34a (Z5) destroyer, a type 7 U Boat and a Danzig transport type.

A Ju 88 and Ju 87 Stuka together with a Panther tank and an 88m deployed in this AA configuration. Fortunately there is a 105mm howitzer and a Me 109G in the next set I am getting (Spring 1942). The 1941 set features a Tiger 1 (as well as a JS2) and earlier Panzers are available - as well as shielded 88mm - from the suppliers mentioned in my previous post.

For Japan we have the carrier Shinano, the mighty Yamato, a Fubuki class destroyer, an I class submarine and a Hakusan Maru class transport. You can get a Kongo class battle cruiser and an Akagi class carrier separately to expand the selection somewhat.

A Betty bomber, a Zero fighter, a type 95 Kyugo light tank and a 70mm howitzer. The tank is quite a nice model and I reckon it could double as a Panzer 38t with a German paint job.

The generic AA gun and an industrial complex aka a target.

There are a lot of holes with the choice of models but many of these can be addressed. The later sets include a greater variety of pieces and include other nations. It is possible to get Italian and French models and even the ANZACs get a look in. The set I am getting next will give me a lot of extra pieces to bulk out the set I have as well as some new models - cruisers being the main item, not to mention some more nation specific stuff for the British and Germans. Finally, and by way of a little experiment I messed about with some basing ideas during the course of which I compared the land models with the Tumbling Dice 1/600th scale infantry.

The base size is 40 x 30mm, the infantry are 1/600th with the Panther for comparison.

I must confess that the above has given me a lot to think about as the land models look fine alongside the metal infantry. The base size works well with a strip of the figures or a single vehicle/artillery piece. I may use a dice frame to hold a strength point dice or possibly a small magnet - rather like the system Bob Cordery and others use for Megablitz. The base also fits on a Heroscape tile quite tidily.

So once again it is very much a tale that grew in the telling but I am confident I will get a lot of mileage out of this idea.