Introduction

This introduction is as supplied by Tankograd:
The main tasks of the Bergepanzer 3 Büffel armoured recovery vehicles are the recovery of tracked vehicles up to MLC 60 in heavy terrain or in water, towing heavy tracked vehicles on and off roads, securing tracked vehicles during river-crossing operations, support during maintenance operations, transport of power packs as well as the fuelling and defuelling of tracked vehicles.

This publication describes, comprehensively and fully illustrated, both with active service photos and in technical close-up, the newest member of the Büffel family, the Bergepanzer 3A1 in its configurations with light protection suite as well as with heavy protection suite.

Review

This offering from Tankograd is a soft backed book of 64 pages. The authors of this offering is Tankograd Publishing regular ‘Ralph Zwilling’. This offering is one of the dual language titles from Tankograd Publishing; there is German on the left of the pages and English on the right side. The book has been printed in a portrait style and I know from experience that the cover is up to the task of protecting the contents with reasonable handling. The contents are laid out as follows:

Bergepanzer Büffel Development
Combat Capability Enhancement for ISAF Operations
Büffel 3A1 Vehicle Base
Büffel 3A1 Light Protection Suite
Büffel 3A1 Heavy Protection Suite
Büffel 3A1 Chassis
Büffel 3A1 Type 2350 Weapon Station
Büffel 3A1 Smoke Grenade Discharger System
Büffel 3A1 Power Pack
Büffel 3A1 Recovery Equipment
Büffel 3A1 Support and Dozer Blade
Büffel 3A1 Crane System
Büffel 3A1 Main Winch System
Büffel 3A1 Auxiliary Winch
Büffel 3A1 Battlefield Recovery System
Büffel 3A1 Cutting and Welding System
Büffel 3A1 NBC Overpressure Protection System
Büffel 3A1 Crew Compartment
Büffel 3A1 Radio and Command System

The text in this offering is spread throughout the title to varying degrees depending on the purpose of the text. The text at the start of the title provides a broad level of information on the vehicle and then provides details on the different armour packages as you progress through the title. As you get towards the end of the book we are presented with very specific aspects of the Büffel 3A1 that will prove of great reference for the modeller looking for details on very specific details of the vehicle. I will say for me the text is not what sells these books to me, but they it is a very helpful aspect of the title for giving the modeller a decent level of grounding in what this vehicle is all about when it comes to its role in the field and very specific parts of the vehicle.

I suspect that anyone looking to purchase this book as a modeller will be doing so for the visual reference, but let me say right here and now that the text is well worth taking the time to read as I feel you will be glad you did. So the photographs that you came to see are top notch and I have not found any that I was unhappy with, but while they say a picture is worth a thousand words a well written caption increases that value and that is something Tankograd does well in addition to everything else. For those whose interest still lays with the photographs then you are in for a special treat where the walk around content is concerned. At the start of this title there are some drawings that help the modeller work out what the various parts of the Büffel 3A1 are and located.

Conclusion

I am still a firm fan of the books from Tankograd Publishing that cover all aspects of the military from the soft skinned transports to the tank. In addition Tankograd cover military exercises from years gone by that provides those of us whose memories are fuzzy and the young not old enough to remember what a Cold War would have been like if it had turned hot. This particular offering does meet the goal that Tankograd sets itself and provides a great mix of written and visual reference for the modeller in search of reference while on a budget.