Lighting and Painting

The Sturmtiger in the background is a conversion from a Roco Tiger I.  The resin Porsche Tiger is I think ArsenalM.  It's a resin kit.  The grey camouflage Tiger II is a Roco Minitank.

Roco Tiger II in urban camouflage.  The base is an interlocking floor mat.  The pattern looked good as some kind of worn paving stones.  The gray color looks good with bombed out buildings.  Often in photos of bombed out cities everything seems gray and covered with dust.

All the figures are 1/72nd scale Caesar Miniatures WII Germans, not sure which set.

I found a model of the Bismark that is about 1/300th scale, maybe, and the turret fits perfectly on a Roco Tiger II.  As the war continued and Allied bombers got larger and flew higher the Germans went from 88mm to 105mm to 128mm ant-aircraft guns.  Those 128mm guns were used as anti-tank and indirect fire weapons also.  They were even used as dual guns on the flak towers in Berlin.  So this is a notional, 128mm twin flak / anti-tank / indirect fire self-propelled armored vehicle.  Often in tank battles that side that fires first wins.  So having the second shot already loaded and near to the target is an advantage.

This and all of these are color photographs.  The gray mat, gray buildings, gray vehicles, and gray troops as well as the late in the day lighting make it look black and white.

You can see the matt colors of this tank show up in this light, but it did make everything look somber.  Sometimes knowing when to take photos can make a different in the result.
 

Tigers in Urban Combat

This is a giant rocket firing mortar the Germans used to destroy whole buildings with one hit.

There were a number of operational Tiger II tanks in Berlin at the end of the war.  This is the ambush scheme of camouflage, modified for urban operations.

This camouflage is notional, that is, it never existed, but the pattern was used, but typically in brown, tank, and green. 

I have two of these tanks that I got used 20 years ago or more.

I think it is a pretty cool color scheme for city combat.

This is the Porsche Tiger.  This is what the Tiger I would have looked like if Porsche got the contract.  As it was the turrets were put on the Tiger II tanks and this hull was used for the Elephant tank destroyers.  I think they did actually complete one or two of these.
 

Preparation for a Counter-Attack

Tanks and infantry prepare for a limited counter attack.

German doctrine was to try and counter attack as soon as possible so the enemy did not have time to establish defenses.

Panzerschreck. 

Note troop in the window.

Twin 128mm guns in a single turret.
 

Tanks in Rubble

Bombed out store fronts.

Enemy in almost any direction requires a 360 defense.

Vehicles that were rarely seen on the battlefield.

Mostly used in the indirect fire mode, or in long distance ambush.  Pulling away before the enemy got within range.

It was too slow to out run the enemy so it would usually retire to a secondary prepared position.

 Super heavy rocket gun, perfect for urban combat.