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Concord 7008,
Assault, Volume 8
by Walter Bohm, Yves Debay &
Ralph Zwilling
Concord Publications, ISBN 962-361-074-2. Price: unavailable.
Following the series’ usual format, this booklet contains four
separate articles, each of which covers a current AFV or armored/mechanized
unit, either in combat or on maneuvers. The articles are presented using
full-color photographs of uniformly excellent quality, accompanied by
charts giving technical specifications for a profiled vehicle, or organizational
information for a profiled unit. There is also a center-spread color profile
(in this case a US Army M1A1 in Iraq), which although useful, usually
does not coincide with the articles in the booklet.
The first article is entitled “Leopard 2A6, the Future Spearhead
of the German Panzertruppe”, by Walter Bohm. He uses 44 photos to
show the newest German tank undergoing troop trials. The photos depict
road march, field exercises, gunnery range practice and vehicle maintenance.
Aside from the ‘2A6, there are also photos of Buffel ARVs and fuel
trucks. Other photos depict crewmen in the tank, loading ammo and swabbing
the main gun; all of which will be of help to modelers. There are also
a couple of photos detailing unit crests.
The second article is by Ralph Zwilling and is entitled “Dagger
Battalion, the 54th Engineer Battalion (C) (M)”. The article consists
of 58 photos and three organization charts. Coverage is heavily slanted
towards specialized armored engineer vehicles such as the M9 ACE, M48A5
or M60A1 AVLB, Mercedes Benz SEE truck, various MICLIC configurations,
Volcano mine dispensers, and M1 Panther II mine clearing tank. Other organic
vehicles such as 5-ton dump trucks, HEMTTs and M113s are covered as well
as M1A1 MBTs and Bradley ICVs from a unit which the Battalion is supporting
during a training evolution. Engineer personnel and their specialized
equipment are covered as is unit insignia. The organization charts detail
the structure of the Battalion, its various companies and their constituent
platoons.
The third article (also by Mr. Zwilling) can be considered a continuation
of the previous article since it covers in more detail the “M1 Panther
II Mine Detection and Clearing Vehicle”. Using a further 24 photos,
the vehicle is covered inside and out. Overall photos show it on exercises,
while the detail photos show the various fittings as well as interior
views. The accompanying HUMMER, which carries the remote operation equipment,
is also depicted, while the text details the vehicle’s development
and method of operation.
The final piece in this booklet is by Mr. Debay and is entitled “Urban
Camouflage of the French Army”. It is quite brief and describes
an experimental camouflage, which closely resembles the type used by the
UK’s “Berlin Brigade” during the Cold War. It consists
of 11 photos depicting a French AMX-10RC and a VBL in this interesting
scheme.
Thus, the reader can see that there’s a great deal of variety and
lots to interest the modeler of modern AFVs, be they conventional things
such as MBTs or the more esoteric, such as engineer vehicles.
Highly Recommended.
Frank V. De Sisto
Concord Publications are available from retail and mail order shops,
or from the publisher at: www.concord-publications.com.
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