Customer Reviews

Ardennes 1944 Peiper & Skorzeny (Elite)

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This book is great for wargamers and others interested in two of the key German forces in WW II's Battle of the Bulge. Kampfgruppe Peiper is shown with great detail as to what types and quantities of tanks and troops were at specific places at specific times. The battles at Stoumont and La Gleize are well documented and the writing style will put you in the heat of battle. You will want to supplement this fine book with another Osprey title, The Ardennes Offensive,VI Panzer Armee.

To me his is one of the best Osprey books I have seen the color plates alone are almost worth the price of the book. You get 16 armored vehicles, 4 of the vehicles are German armor disguised as American Armor. The German armor yellow seems too light in the plates but other than that they are very well rendered. You also get 9 very well done German soldiers by Ron Volstad. There is also a nice selection of photos for such a short book (64 pages).

When I was ten and began building models of tanks from WW2, I wished I could afford an Osprey book based on the vehicle or the battles it fought. The illustrated publisher's quick histories, full-color artwork plates, maps and photographs are unique and entertaining. They, more often than not, provide a great entry point to a particular piece of history (though sometimes the authors have more passion than expertise).

This particular work unveiled an aspect of the Battle of the Bulge that I was not entirely clear on. Hitler commissioned SS Commando Otto Skorzeny to create a special unit to disrupt and gain key points behind Allied lines. What made this unique is that they would pass themselves off as Americans wearing US uniforms and using US weapons and vehicles. What I did not know was that this largely failed and the unit was reconstituted into the overall attacking force which then supported Joachim Peiper's Kampfgruppe. I actually confused the massacre at Malmedy thinking that disguised Germans had carried it off but it was actually forward elements of the regular German force.

The work is interesting as it covers the attempt to hobble together English-speaking combatants from the German ranks while scrounging up captured equipment, how they reshaped the hulls of Panther tanks to resemble M10 tank destroyers, used specific markings so they were not engaged by their own troops, and it debates the cause of the Malmedy massacre. The author also disputes the now famous photography of Peiper supposedly checking his progress against a road sign as not being him (I have seen it referenced in so many works as him that this is very curious). Overall, there is decent detail and great photos.

I do worry about Osprey's format overall. They are pricey publications for their length and they need to rethink their offer in this digital world or may lose relevance.

A good abridged account of Peiper and Skorzeny during the Battle of the Bulge. If you want more detail, you need to look elsewhere. However, this is a fantastic reference if you're a modeler and will definitely be the book you want to get for references, particularly visual. Beautiful renderings of uniforms by Volstadt - some of the other artist renderings are a bit corny, but the Volstadt renderings alone are worth the purchase price.