Stützpunkt Nests (including 88 nest) Review

FROM THE BATTLEFRONT MINIATURES WEBSITE

Battlefront Miniatures' spotlight of the Stutzpunkt Nests
Battlefront Miniatures' spotlight of the 8.8 Nest
German strongpoints were formed along the Egyptian-Libyan frontier to slow British counter-offensives launched from Egypt. At Halfaya Pass their Luftwaffe 8.8cm Flak36 guns made light work of the then undefeated British Matilda tanks. Each Stützpunkt was based around a key fortified position held by entrenched infantry supported by machine-guns, anti-tank guns and the devastating Luftwaffe 88s. Lurking behind the strongpoints are artillery and mobile reserves of panzers and motorised infantry.

THE 8.8 NEST REVIEW

This is an impressive and intimidating piece to have on the battlefield! I must admit that I thought it looked so cool and was so iconic of the desert warfare that I immediately tore open the package and had it finished in the next few hours. The model itself is pretty good. The large nest-base is a bit sparse, but of course it should be for the desert! It is very well textured, making drybrushing it a piece of cake and the end result looks great. One big plus here is that it would not be hard at all to use this nest in other eras- I'm particularly thinking about Hell's Highway.


The base of the gun is modeled on the nest with the gunshield and cannon being separate pieces. The molds were fairly crisp and didn't require any unnecessary clean up. The crew are all new sculpts with pros and cons. The big pro is that they are not on the standard "pedestals". I wasn't sure if they would come with them or not. The other pro is that the sculpts are new! Cool to see. The only real con is that a few of the guys look pretty rough. Some slightly screwed up proportions on one or two of the crew. Nothing noticeable at 15mm though of course. Once this was all assembled I was quite happy with it. Well worth the price in my opinion.
23/29 8.8cm shells

THE NESTS REVIEW

These nests both come in 1 box and have largely the same pros and cons of the 8.8 box. The gun sculpts were quite good and easy to assemble. Pay no attention to the fact that I left the magazines off the 5cm cannon. I just noticed it- somehow slipped my mind!


On a whim I decided to see if a medium base would fit and it fits- perfectly! I quickly decided to model the gun and crew on medium bases so I could stretch the usefulness of these nests a bit further. They can now stand in as 47 nests for Australians/Italians, or HMGs in a pinch. Their versatility thus puts them a hair above the 8.8.
27/29 8.8cm shells

IN FLAMES OF WAR

weapon	range	ROF	anti-tank	Firepower	Notes
Stutzpunkt 8.8cm Nest	40"	3	13	3+	Flak Nest.
Stutzpunkt 5cm Nest	24"	3	9	4+
Stutzpunkt 2cm Nest	16"	4	5	5+	Flak Nest, Anti-Aircraft

THE STUTZPUNKT

The Stutzpunkt platoon is a massive defensive platoon. Comprised of the equivalent of a schutzen platoon, 4 nests, and a number of linear fortifications. The Stutzpunkt company has loads of mobile reserves- making it the ultimate counterpunch list.


The price of the basic Stutzpunkt platoon can inflate based on what you take. At its most basic it has 7 MG teams, a light mortar team, 2 HMG nests, a 5cm pak 38 nest, a 2cm nest, and 2 trench lines. This clocks in at a whopping 385. You may then add an additional AT Rifle team for +20 points, up to 2 minefields at +50 ea, and up to 4 barbed wire entanglements at +10 each. At full strength this unit is 505 points! But wait, it gets better! You can attach the compulsory 88 nest which costs 235 points. All said and done this entire unit can cost 740 points!

Image taken from EasyArmy.com - the #1 source for online Flames of War listmaking!

I am excited about trying the Stutzpunkt out. I think they could be an incredibly fun list to play!