For those who can't open a box without investing in good reference material, Terry Ashley over at P.M.M.S. has posted a series of reviews on reference material specific to the Char B1 Bis:

CHARS B AU COMBAT

Les CHARS B
B1-B1 bis-B1 ter

The first, is pretty much the 'Hunnicutt' of the Char B, with INCREDIBLE coverage (including French AFV Uniforms)

The second is not as extensive but contains a HUGE amount of REALLY valuable material.

Once again, IMHO, money spent on research material is money well-spent

'Chars B au combat' is a little more TIC than Hunnicutt as most of the coverage is of the use of the B1bis by 15BCC with a bit about its parent RCC. There is some coverage of the development of the B1 series at the start, but the rest is an in-depth study that charts the progress of the 15BCC and gives the fate of each individual tank. March-orders, support vehicles, it's all in there. The uniform plates are really handy and you would be missing out if you didn't get this book.

Going a little H&C also have a series on the Maginot Line which is well worth adding to your library. I'm waiting for Part 4 to appear.

H&C

I talked about the second one last time : https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/78744&page=1

BTW for all guys who could be interested, we'll do a special Group Built here on September : http://maquette-garden.forumactif.com/viewforum.forum?f=27

so join us...

All French Text right?

http://livres.histoireetcollections.com/en/publication-1306-chars-b-au-combat-hommes-et-materiels-du-15e-bcc.html

While that might be as good as it gets, since this company has been known to translate their books into English, I am inclined to re-read Pallud's Blitzkrieg in the West and pour over Trackstory's title while I hold my breath.

http://www.rzm.com/books/atb/blitzkrieg.cfm

I understand exactly where you're coming from on this. I'm lucky, I can read French and I know that for many people it can be a real pain having to wade thru texts in another language. However, the truth is, there are a shortage of reference materials in many languages. I've got a particular interest in Polish Armored Formations, there is little which is completely written in English so I have to go with what is available (at least they've got the photo-captions in English). The problem is that, in this case H & C, would be well-advised to re-publish their Char book in English (as they have done with a considerable number of their other titles) - with the arrival of the Tamiya kit, they would sell them by the cartload.

It is though, in the final analysis, worth it to buy a book which isn't in your native language, there are some REAL gems out there...Jim

A little word to say that Trackstory is in french and english ( and not only for the captations )

"It is though, in the final analysis, worth it to buy a book which isn't in your native language, there are some REAL gems out there...Jim [/quote]"

I understand. In addition to a Ground Power collection, I have some HORS-SERIE "Raids" books (the quarterly specials are really good). Trouble is I know these are not going to be translated, whereas, this title might.

Not to mention, I think we will see more B1 references being released as companies respond to Tamiya's release.