Introduction

The Australians and the New Zealanders may be a long way from Europe but their armies were always appreciated when they were part of the now long gone British Empire. The ANZACs, a term that dates back to World War One, were a very powerful force that the British utilised in many conflicts. Move to the current day and ties formed in the past are still very strong between the Australians and the New Zealanders. This title from Tankograd Publishing looks at the current structure of their forces and the role they play today.

The following is the introduction from the Tankograd Publishing website.
This publication seeks to reflect the close bonds of the New Zealand and Australian Armies forged in war. The NZ Army ranks as one of the smallest armies in the world. Yet in the past decade the army’s capabilities have been significantly enhanced by the addition of new vehicles. The most important of these is the 8x8 Light Armoured Vehicle, the NZLAV.
Australia, across the Tasman Strait, possesses a military far more capable. The army revolves around two divisions that encompass seven regular infantry battalions, one armoured regiment, two cavalry regiments, an independent cavalry squadron, and a surveillance and target acquisition regiment. Among the primary tactical vehicles are the M1A1 AIM SA Abrams main battle tank, the M113AS4 armoured personnel carrier, the ASLAV wheeled armoured fighting vehicle and the Bushmaster protected mobility vehicle.

Contents

Quantity Photos and Illustrations:
Illustrated throughout with 134 colour photographs
Text – Language:
English text
Number of Pages:
64

Review

This title from Tankograd Publishing is a treat for the eyes of anyone who is interested in what the Australians and the New Zealanders can put into the field currently. The book is printed in the standard duel language format of most titles from Tankograd Publishing with German and English text. The paper is of a good quality and has a glossy finish; the card cover is also up to the task before and has a glossy finish that also takes images and text well. The text in this book only covers 5 pages but manages to provide a short history on the ANZAC name. The majority of the text lays out the current status of the two countries manpower and hardware.

The book then looks at all aspects of hardware via the included photographs which are all in colour. All manner of trucks, diggers, armoured fighting vehicles, and in the case of the Australians Tanks are well represented and in a logical progression. The layout used does make it easy to find what you are looking for. Each of the photographs is accompanied by a reasonable amount of text in both German and English which clearly explains what you are looking at. I have to admit that while most of the fighting armour is known to me some of the logistics vehicles were not.

There are quite a number of photographs that caught my eye as I worked my way through this, vehicles such as a 16 tonne JCB that can keep up with a NZLAV thanks to a top end of 90kmh, and that also comes with an armoured cab. Another aspect of the pictures I enjoyed is that a number of them show some great applied camouflage as opposed to painted camouflage, and which would I believe really make a model stand out from the crowd. One thing that did catch me out is the DPM worn by the soldiers of New Zealand being so far as I can tell identical to the DPM worn by British troops up until the recent change. While on the subject of camouflage it is interesting to see some of the soft skinned vehicles exhibiting variations of digital camouflage, which again will make a model stand out from the crowd. It would also appear that some ANZACs have great skill when it comes to horticulture, as there is a photograph of a bush moving along the road with 8 wheels and a gun.

Conclusion

If you like to model armour and you want to present something a little different from America, Canada and Europe, then taking a look at this book from Tankograd Publishing could be a good place to start. The pictures are of a very good quality and the finishes exhibited could be just what you need for a change of scenery. The heavy use of vegetation shown on some of the vehicles and the way it has been applied should make for some very eye catching models if done right make this book well worth looking into.