For a while now I have been eyeballing the dismounted German and Soviet tank crew from Black Tree Design. I finally added a bag of each to my cart after the release of Tank War. In Tank War there are rules for crew to be used when a Tank gets knocked out. If you are running a Tank War campaign this is important because surviving crew retain their experiences and upgrade, while dead crew, uh well, they do not. Additionally my creative left brain can think of a few hundred ways to incorporate dismounted tank crew into regular games or homemade scenarios. Maybe they are the objective in Top Secret, or they are mixed into your partisans or defenders of Berlin. Whatever you use them for dismounted tank crew give you options and flavor.
Black Tree Design is know for great deals and good quality figures. The same can be said for these tank crew. While the German crew are fairly similar, the Soviet crew has a good variety of poses.
I like the there is one rifleman in the Soviet pack and that half the crewmen come with leather jackets instead of just tankers jump suits. The German set is also decent, but all the SMG guys look the same to me. Also some of the men have that infamous black tree ape face.
German tank crew had fairly standard uniforms. You could deviate and paint some as assault gun crew, which had field grey uniforms, or SS which often wore camouflage as well. The Soviet tank's standard issued uniform was charcoal blue but I have seen blue, khaki and black examples as well.
Whatever you chose to dress your tankers in it will only make your collection of toy soldiers that much cooler. Even if all you do is put them on the table for looks after a tank gets knocked out. I am glad I picked these up and can't wait to get them on the board.
Do you have tank crew? If so from which manufacture and how do you use them? Share with us on the forum.
