Mars Men

The Germans did not permit women in combat until the middle of April, 1945.  Very few likely were able to bear arms prior to the end of the war.

All physically fit men up to about age 60 were required to be in the VS.

They trained at least monthly and those on the Eastern Front were often pretty motivated.

They concept was they would work their essential civilian factory jobs and be called up when their neighborhood was threatened.

Most on the Western Front did not hold up well unless supported by regular forces.

The weapons they had were whatever could be found with ammunition.

This is a pretty good set and I anticipate buying more.
 

VS Soldiers

Mars Volksstrum figures.  This officer has a great greatcoat and he leans into the submachine gun as he fires.

Grenades were great for close in work, particularly in cities.

The VS were given whatever weapons were available and sometimes that meant guns captured from other countries.  This soldier has a Lewis gun, an excellent light machine gun.

Other times their weapons were quite modern like this German assault rifle.

Note the armband.  VS members were to wear an official armband as their uniform and that provided them legal protection under the Geneva Convention.  This soldier has a panzerfaust rocket launcher.  At close range lethal to any tank.
 

German Volkssturm

 Mars German Volkssturm Defenders World War Two.

1/72nd scale soft plastic figures.

It's a pretty good set with female soldiers and even a kid.

Reasonable late war weapons with panzerfaust and Lewis gun.

I like the Mars box with the figure poses shown on the back and painted for a bit of a reference.