This landscaped, hardback book is written in both English and Hungarian, featuring select German armored vehicles throughout all theaters in World War II from 1939 to 1945. This is an incredible book with many previously unpublished photos of armored vehicles in depots, in the field and after combat. The next page reveals more surprises that the previous.

First and foremost, this book is written in Hungarian, and this language is shown first, followed by the English translation (and a great job by the editor, by the way; this is not a case of stereo instructions printed in one language and translated into another that doesn’t have words for stereo equipment). The author sets up the book with the following introductory paragraph, “In the strictest sense of the term, “Panzerwaffe” means tank or armour weapon. For the Wehrmacht (German armed forces), the Panzerwaffe was that part of the Heer (army) that consisted of armoured formations.”

Hungary found itself on the losing side of World War I and the Treaty of Trianon was similar to the Treaty of Versailles imposed on Germany. As a result, Hungary was partitioned (see map on page 5) and reduced from 282,000 square kilometers to 93,000 square kilometers and its population from 18 million to 9.5 million people, absorbed by foreign countries hostile to Hungary; Hungary’s industrial base was reduced by almost 80%, and its military was limited in size and scope. Hungary’s involvement in World War II was seen through the lens of regaining their lost territories from Slovakia, Romania, Austria, and Yugoslavia. When political methods didn’t work, Hungary’s limited military did what it could, but soon found itself allied with Germany to achieve its aims.

About the Creators

Bases by Bill, LLC is one of those rare companies that began from love of the model building hobby, a good idea and true family involvement. They specialize in hand-finished hardwood display bases and cases and other presentation items for scale models.

I had the great pleasure of meeting them at the 2022 IPMS National Convention in Omaha, Nebraska. The company is operated by Bill & his son Weston and receives marketing and website support from his nephew Christian. It truly is a family company.