World War Two
Reference Guide for Gamers and Modelers

Resources with emphasis on gaming, modeling, painting, (though general histories, other links here to assist these). This is for non-biased study and simulation of the military aspects of the war. Links added as resources are located and examined. (see note on what this page it is not about).

General History & Trivia
Illustrations, Posters, Photographs
Theaters & Campaigns
Tactics
 
 
 
Modeling
Suppliers
Gaming
 
Other Stuff
  FOW  

General History & Ephemera

Illustrations, Posters, Visual Reference Materials

  • World War II in Color. Color photos of the war from different nations. Includes a large number of lesser-seen national forces.
  • Pictures of World War II (U.S. National Archives (NARA)). Photographs, posters, and other illustrations from some of the best war photographers and artists.
  • Second World War Gallery (World War Photos). Great collection; organized by country and type (e.g., aircraft, tanks). Many unique photos (some color).
  • World War 2 Photos. Contains over 16,566 pictures from 6 countries. Good black and white photos.
  • Battlefields of World War II (Paul Reed). Photographs of battlefields, histories, research, wargaming resources, and more.
  • World War II blog. Heavy on photos, many originals, and original equipment.
  • World War Poster Collection (Univ. of North Texas Libraries). Hundreds of great images of original posters from both World Wars. Mostly US but French, British, and other nations represented as well.
  • German Propaganda Collection (Calvin College, Mich.). Posters, art work, advertisements, leaflets, all sorts of visuals. Also on site are articles, speeches, and other Nazi documents relating to propaganda. [Note: this is an educational site and does not support or praise Nazi activities then or now--neither do I.] A few of the groups are:
  • Psychological Operations Leaflet Archive. Examples of originals dropped by all countries at various times in the war. Also some posters. This site includes descriptions and history of drops.
  • Additional Links to Nazi posters and art.
  • Big Book of Warfare. Covers all aspects of warfare, but for WW2 resources by country, this is quite comprehensive. Search the table of contents.

War in Europe animated mapMaps

  • Maps (RKKA in World War II). Maps involving Soviet forces and covering various theaters and specific actions. Arranged by year and front. Also see this page for additional maps & images.
  • Military Maps of World War II. From official and commercial publications. Wide variety and topics. Uses a special file format that requires reader (available free by links).

Theaters & Campaigns

Europe

War in Africa

  • Afrika Korps.org. Covers all aspects with lots of photos (including color images from participants), images, detailed descriptions, books, articles, biographies, bibliographies, glossaries, abbreviations, uniforms, etc. On leaders, troops, vehicles and weapons, air power, more. Good source for modeling and gaming as well. Includes materials on all Axis and Allied forces in the desert.
  • Desert War. On the North Africa war. Photos, anecdotes and eyewitness memoires, histories, etc.

Italy Campaign, 1944

Normandy Campaign 1944 (D-Day & Breakout/Pursuit)

Ardennes Campaign 1944-1945

Tactics

Armed Forces

General

Tanks, Guns and Vehicles

Aircraft

US FlagAmerican

Colors, Markings, and Camouflage

8th USAAF patchAir Service

Artillery

U.S. Artillery. Very detailed data, photos, etc. Guns listed by type/use.

Tanks

Tank Destroyers

  • TankDestroyer.net. All aspects; histories, personal narratives, etc. (New site; still developing).

British flagBritish (includes Commonwealth/Empire (Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders, Indians, etc.))

German flag until 1935German

Small Unit Organization, See: Battalion Organisation during the Second World War.

Weapons

Uniforms

Unit Insignia

Panzers & Vehicles

Painting tac symbolsTactical Symbols

Colors, Markings, and Camouflage

Heer Vehicle Colors (1922-1945)

The Vehicles

Achtung Panzer! All sorts of details. (if any links don't work below, try the Site Map.)

Captured Vehicles & Equipment

The following are from the Axis History Forum and other sites. Each has photos, text, other, and cites provenance when available.

Fallschirmjäger

  • Abwurfbehälter für Nachschub (Dropping container for supplies). Drop cannisters for weapons and supplies. Everything you wanted to know; photos and diagrams.
  • Fallschirmjäger.net. For reenactors, but has great resources, including uniform and equipment photos, specs, histories, and other materials.

Foreign Units in German Service

armbandScandiavian

5. SS-Panzer-Division "Wiking"

5. SS Division Wiking

Introduction to Foreign Volunteer Insignia. During the early 1930s the Fascist and Nazi movements spread all over Europe and the Middle East. Page opens with a map showing countries with participants..

History of the 5.SS Wiking Division & Other Foreign Volunteers of the German Armed Forces. Histories, photos, uniform information.

Norwegian Volunteers of Waffen SS. Photos, histories, descriptions of various units. Has a good links page for more.

Captured Soviet self-propelled gun SU-76 in service with 5th SS-Panzer-Division "Wiking" (WWII in Color site). Contains other images.

USSR flagRussian (Soviet)

Standing Fast: German Defensive Doctrine on the Russian Front During World War II: Prewar to March 1943. by Major Timothy A. Wray (U.S. Army. Command and General Staff College).

Small Unit Organization, See: Battalion Organisation during the Second World War.

Other Nations

Finland flagFinnish

Finnish Artillery Officer ponders the situation - FOW miniatureFinland fought three separate wars during this period:

  • Winter War (Talvisota) Nov. 30, 1939-Mar. 13, 1940 (vs. USSR)
  • Continuation War (Jatkosota) June 25, 1941-Sept. 4, 1944 (vs USSR with German support)
  • Lapland War (Lapin sota) Sept. 27, 1944-Apr. 27, 1945 (vs Germany).

Finnish Hooked Cross The Finnish "Hakaristi" is not a Nazi Swastika. Read this explanation. Swastika

Military Equipment and Photograph Sites

Tanks

Vehicles (Produced, Purchased, Captured)

Air Forces

Lotta Svärd

The Lotta Svärd was a paramilitary organization composed of women and girls who supported the military effort, by playing many roles, including sometimes, combatant activities.

Romanian flagRomanian

World War 2.ro. Romanian Forces in the Second World War. Covers all aspects.


Models, Modeling, & Color Matching

Stowage Photos

Coming... for now, stowage shows up in many of the links above.


Suppliers

I am mostly listing 15mm models and figures, though many of these companies also produce/supply other scales. Most of the suppliers below I have done business with and find many of these to be my favorites. More miniatures dealers can be found on the Miniature Figures page.

  • Battlefront Miniatures. Flames of War rules and miniatures system (kind of what got me immersed).
  • Grandiosity (WarWeb). The best store online. Really great service and lots of stuff.
  • War Store. Flames of War, many other lines. Great service. Say hi to Neal...
  • K & J Magnetics. Want a great way to keep your turrets on during a battle? This is the best source for small, powerful magnets with great prices and good service.
  • Litko Aerosystems. Bases and tokens for models and miniatures. Very good quality, all sizes, custom work too.
  • Battle Foam. Good product; storage and travel system for miniatures of all sorts. Has dedicated foam inserts for FOW and other game systems. Also does custom cutting.
  • Gaming Models 15mm Miniatures. Resin-cast WWII vehicles for all powers. Gaming quality 15mm compatible with FOW. These are a low-budget way to build a force.
  • MIG Productions. Want to make realistic mud? Or some other plaster-tint? Look at their pigments sets.
  • Peter Pig. All periods but WW2 included. Photos of figures and vehicles.
  • Plastic Soldier Company. Growing line of 15mm plastic tanks, vehicles, and figures that are very well done. Kits require assembly but allow for vehicle variations (e.g., Panzer IV F1, F2, G, or H). American suppliers, such as the WarStore carry these (make sure to select the "black box 15mm" kits).
  • Resistant Roosters. 15mm WW2 figures and equipment (with photos). Also has painting tip sheets.
  • Two Tin Soldiers & Legions East.
  • I-94 Enterprises and Beacon Publications. Decals for armor and AFVs from 285-20 mm. Also the producers of Panzer-Keeper, Mothball and Footlocker miniature storage boxes.
  • Archer Transfers. Mostly large-scale (though more 1/72 are added and perhaps 15mm is not far behind), dry-transfers, but good for reference and models in smaller-scales. Also has flags and uniform insignia.
  • Legions East Miniatures. 15mm WW2 figures "will concentrate on armies in the Eastern Campaigns and the Pacific. They make: Finns, Early Russians, Romanians, Hungarians, Slovaks, Calvary of all Nations, Chinese, German, Waffen SS, and more."
  • Zvezda Miniatures. Russian company making 1/100-scale WW2 miniatures. Link goes to the home site (in Russian); American suppliers (selection):

Gaming Rules

Flames of War Rules System

Flames of War Rules Related Pages

  • Flames of War Command. Blog with a variety of data and items; too much duplication from official site.
  • Army Builder (Lone Wolf Development). Another army builder (along with many other rules).
  • imageFOW Lists. Calculate forces using the book values. Adds/subtracts as you go so you can prepare a finished sheet to use. Also can provide random forces for specific values.
  • Flames of War Blogspot. Terrain, painting, other stuff.
  • Rules Lawyer. Army building, kill tables, deviant-FOW and more.
  • Flames of War Army Builder (wiki).
  • Operation SeaLion campaign game. Operation Sea Lion is a Global Flames of War campaign administered by WWPD.net. The actions of your gaming group dictate whether German jackboots make footfall before Westminster Abbey, or if the Empire and her allies can hold on to their island nation in defiance of the Third Reich. This campaign takes place in an alternate history where the Battle of Britain was narrowly lost, and Stalingrad was bypassed, allowing the German army to capture the oil rich caucasus. Now the war has come to the Island. God Save the King!
  • imageWhat Would Patton Do? weblog. For World War II modeling and gaming. Models compared, all kinds of resources, including videos & podcasts, and more. Use the Post Index to find everything imaginable.
  • Flames of War Missions. Download missions to use with FOW.

Other Rules (Selected List)


Other Stuff

  • WW2 Hobby and Modeling Links.
  • WWII Fonts. Creative computer fonts for: German tactical symbols, "Cheap" German typewriter. This page is for fonts but also has WW2-related links.
  • Forces of Valor. Is 15mm too small for you? Maybe you want something "bigger" with R/C included.
  • WW2 Reenacting. Links for all other periods too.
  • 4GROUND. Laser-cut buildings, in several scales (15mm & 28mm, but other sizes made on demand). All are built so that troops may be placed inside. All floors are accessible.

 

 

David J. Bertuca. Comments welcome.
image
Last modified: 18 December 2018
URL:
http://www.DavidBertuca.net/miniatures/ref-ww2.html
Return to Miniature Figures
Return to David Bertuca's page

David J. Bertuca cypher
 
What this page is not: This page is only for the un-biased study of the military aspects of World War II, with emphasis on modeling and wargaming. It does not seek to honor any cause or symbolism from this period. It is not a forum for political or propaganda-based materials of the nations involved, nor does it condone violent or derogatory activities against any sentient beings.