Barcode: 0 89195 86783 4

Case Pack: 48 Pieces per Master Carton

Box Size: 6.4" x 10.2" x 1.5"

On April 6,1941, Germany invaded the nation of Greece. It was forced to do so by the failure of the earlier Italian invasion to conquer Greece in October 1940. The Germans codenamed this invasion Operation Marita. When the German assault kicked off, most Greek troops were on the Albanian border fighting the Italians. Therefore, the German second front striking from Bulgaria immediately put Greek forces, as well as a small contingent of British Commonwealth troops, on the back foot. Greek forces on the Albanian border were quickly outflanked, forcing their surrender, while Commonwealth troops performed a tactical retreat with an eye to evacuation. Athens fell on April 27 within three weeks of the campaign beginning. Operation Marita ended three days later with the complete conquest of the Greek mainland.

Dragon has released a new 1/35 scale figure set depicting German soldiers during Operation Marita in 1941. The four newly tooled figures are beautifully sculpted in lifelike poses. To illustrate their practicality for a range of settings, their uniforms show interesting variety such as NCO breeches and a tank commander’s jacket. Even the badges on their jackets are sharply molded. These four German soldiers will fit admirably in a figure or vehicle diorama depicting the Greek campaign, and in fact they’re versatile enough to fit any theater of that period of WWII. The Greek campaign is little covered by model figures, so this set is an invaluable addition for the modeler’s repertoire.

Kit Review: Dragon Models Limited 1/35 scale ‘39-‘45 Series Kit. No. 6783; Operation Marita Greece 1941; 137 parts in grey styrene; pre-order price US$16.95

Advantages: four new single figures with the usual high standard of DML molding
Disadvantages: figures ill suited for grouping together
Rating: Highly Recommended
Recommendation: for German modelers wanting a single figure or able to get others for grouping

When the Italian Army dropped the ball in their campaigns in the Balkans and Greece, it was up to the German army to solve things. As a result, on 6 April 1941 they invaded Greece and as many of the units had fought in Poland and France they were experienced, and the British forces were no match for them - the war was basically over by 30 April 1941.

This new set of four figures from DML provides four single soldiers, which are not well suited for grouping together. They include an SS general officer, a Wehrmacht first lieutenant, a private with rifle at the ready, and a Panzer NCO with Luger and helmet.

As DML has actually been replicating actual people of late, a bit of checking shows that the SS figure is actually that of SS-Obergruppenf�hrer Josef “Sepp” Dietrich, the famous (or more likely infamous) commander of SS Liebstandard Adolf Hitler. He is show smoking a cigarette and holding his gloves in his left hand.

The first lieutenant is wearing a pair of goggles pushed up onto his hat, and has a map case and field glasses; he is pointing to someone while apparently reporting.

The infantryman is at the read with his rifle at a loose port arms.

The panzer NCI is shown with the mixed uniform of black blouse and field grey trousers, also pointing to something.

All of the figures are standard six-part DML figures (head, torso, arms and legs) with their basic kit (hats and other items) on the same sprue. As is the norm, all other weapons and kit are on the now usual DML German Generic G and W sprues.

Artwork is by Zgonnik but as is still the case the directions are the “point and stick” and “follow the box art” variety.

Overall, while the box says Greece the four figures are suitable for most periods of the war and make great stand-alone figures or additions for dioramas with other figures.

Thanks to Freddie Leung for the review sample.
Cookie Sewell
Sprue Layout:

6783 42 Four figures, basic kit
G 64 German Generic Equipment: helmets, bread bags, canteens, etc.
W 31 German Generic Weapons: Kar 98K, MP40, MP44, MG34, MG42, etc.