Today we're showing three pieces of artwork from our October 2026 series books! Let us know in the comments which books you'd like to see featured in our November 2026 Artwork Reveal!

 

CBT 87 Soviet Rifleman vs German Infantryman: Operation Bagration 1944

By Jacek Zabielski

Illustrated by Raffaele Ruggeri

 Vitebsk street fighting, 25 June 1944 artwork. There are buildings in the background of the street and rubble everywhere. There are soldiers running across the street.

Vitebsk street fighting, 25 June 1944 

A squad of Soviet infantrymen, armed with Mosin–Nagant rifles and PPSh-41 and PPS-43 submachine guns, is advancing under the cover of a comrade firing from his Degtyarev light machine gun. German forces used fortified buildings, rubble barricades and narrow streets to slow down the Soviet advance. Before the end of 25 June, Soviet  tank elements reached the west of Vitebsk, and as the 43rd Army advanced from the north, the LIII. Armeekorps became isolated from the rest of the front. By 1610hrs, the  ‘fortress’ of Vitebsk was finally encircled by Soviet forces. After two days of encirclement and dwindling supplies, the Soviet forces launched a final assault on 27 June. Fighting in Vitebsk’s streets was brutal, with Soviet infantry advancing under covering fire from artillery and tanks. Despite their efforts the German defenders were finally overrun. The entire German defensive force in Vitebsk was either killed or captured.

 

CAM 436 Murmansk 1941: The Failure of Germany's Operation Platinum Fox

By David Greentree

Illustrated by 

Johnny Shumate

Artwork showing soldiers crossing THE LITZA river. There are four of them and two are pulling their boat onto shore

GEBIRGSJÄGER CROSSING THE LITZA, 6 JULY 1941

On 6 July elements of I./GJR 138 assaulted over the Litza on to the eastern bank in fine, sunny weather. The men had to use small boats, Kleiner Flossacke  34, each with four men crammed in as the larger boats had yet to reach the forward units. A boat has reached the eastern bank and Gebirgsjäger storm out. In the distance other boats approach, unseen by Russian positions further north, closer to the bridge.

The soldier with the MG34 has a 50-round Gurttrommel 34 drum fitted on his weapon. He has an MG kit box attachedto his belt plus a pistol holster. Holding the boat, a rifleman has his Karabiner 98k bolt action rifle strapped on his back. The equipment on his Y straps and belt comprises an entrenching tool, bread bag, gas mask container, water bottle, mess kit and Zeltbahn camouflage quarter shelter. Another soldier is unloading some MG34 ammunition containers. All wear the distinctive edelweiss Gebirgsjäger badge on the upper right sleeve. In front, a Feldwebel (senior sergeant) has an MP 38 SMG and is wearing a Bergmutz cap. 

 

ELI 271 American Civil War Siege Tactics

By Ron Field

Illustrated by Steve Noon

Artwork showing soldiers crouched down behind a barricade they have made out of woodSAP ROLLER AT VICKSBURG, 1863 
The first parallel of a siege trench was typically established about 2,000yd from the enemy. Just out of range of most defenders’ artillery, it served as a secure location for the construction of artillery batteries and staging areas for further advances. The second and third parallels came within artillery and then musket range, and were occupied by sharpshooters or troops massing for an attack. These had to be established via protected saps of approach excavated by large bodies of trained sappers, or instructed troops of the line. 

Dug in a zigzag pattern to prevent the enemy from firing directly down their length, and limiting the impact of artillery and grenades, saps were advanced under cover of a sap roller which was an oversized bulletproof gabion, or wicker basket, filled with soil and rolled on its side by sappers, who were accompanied by several armed men to guard against sudden attack. Other men dug the trench behind the sap roller, placed gabions along the parapet which they filled with soil, and laid fascines across its top, forming blindage, or cover, for troops advancing behind.