.:Tigers of the World:.

The Panzer VI Tiger is arguably the most famous and recognizable tank in the world, becoming the icon of the German tank forces of World War II. It's use was not limited to the German army though, several other countries used or planed to use Tigers during and after the war. Here are a few of them.

For more information and pictures click of the unit names to visit their D-day Wiki pages.



Type 4 Tiger




In April 1943 the Japanese sent 12 army officers led by Colonel Ishide to Germany to inspect and test their latest tank designs. The Japanese where quite impressed and negotiated to buy four of the tanks and their related documents and blueprints, the PzKfw III Ausf.J, PzKfw III Ausf.N, PzKfw V Panther Ausf.D and PzKfw VI Tiger. They hoped that they could be reverse engineered and the technology incorporated into Japanese designs. One of the PzKfw III's was dissembled and along with the documents transported back to Japan via submarine. February 1944 the Tiger tank was moved to Bordeaux in France so it could be prepared for transport. With the worsening war situation and then the Allied Landings in France it became impossible to transport the tank to Japan. In September 1944 the Japanese decided to give the tank back to the Germans where it was soon destroyed fighting in Belgium.

Note: The Germans charged the Japanese twice the normal price for the tiger. So in keeping with historical accuracy in D-day the price of the Type 4 is double that of the German version.


PzKpfw VI Tiger




In May 1944 the Germans gave 10 PzKpfw VI Tiger tanks to the Hungarians and then a further 3 more as a birthday gift to the Hungarian Inspector of Engineers Laszlo Hollósy kuthy. They served in the Hungarian 3rd Tank Regiment, where in July they took part in the battle for Galizien district in Southern Ukraine. By December 1944 only 4 of them where still active, the fate of the final 4 is unknown but they where presumably destroyed during the Soviet invasion of Hungary.



T-VI-100




During the course of World War II Soviet forces where able to capture many German tanks in various states of disrepair, if at all possible they would be put into services against their former owners. These tanks generally had a short life span due to limited spare parts and ammunition. In an effort to help elevate the later problem several projects where started to refit the German tanks with Soviet weapons. One of these was the T-VI-100 which replaced the PzKfw VI Tiger's 88mm KwK36 L/56 with the 100mm D10 which was used on the SU-100 and later the T-54. As the war progressed the Soviets where able to produce an ample amount of tanks so the need to refit the German tanks diminished and the project was cancelled in 1945.



T-41/75N




After the war a single Tiger tank was recovered from the battlefield and repaired by Skoda for use as a test bed for fitting their prototype 75mm A18 cannon. The A18 was originally built for use in the T-25 medium tank, the T-25 however was never put into production and it wasn't till now that the Skoda team could test it in a suitable vehicle. While the 75mm A18 was less powerful then the original 88mm KwK36 it was fitted with an auto-loader and drum magazine witch greatly increased the tanks rate of fire. Currently there are no known photographs of this unusual modification.

Note: To simulate the auto-loader and drum magazine this unit has a limited ammunition supply that can be fired quickly but then takes some time to reload.



Tiger 131




Tiger 131 is the only working PzKfw VI Tiger tank in the world, it currently resides in Bovington Tank Museum and features as the main star in the museum's yearly tank festival. Tiger 131 was constructed in February 1943 at the Henschel factory at Kassel and was then sent to Tunisia in North Africa. On 20th April 1943 it took part in the battle for Djebel Djaffa hill, during witch it received several hits form British Churchill tanks that jammed the turret and gun, as well as injuring the driver and gunner. The crew then bailed out leaving their disabled but still intact tank for British forces to capture. The tank was repaired using parts from other knocked-out tigers and sent back to Britain where it was displayed as a war trophy in various locations around the country for the rest of the war. In 1951 it was then donated to Bovington Tank Museum who put it on static display for the next 40 years. In 1990 it was then removed for restoration which involved a complete disassembly and reassembly of all it's parts. As well as fitting it with a new engine from a Tiger II, as the original had been cut in half for display at the museum. The restoration of Tiger 131 was finally finished in 2003, becoming the only tiger tank in the world to be restored to working condition.

Note: Because of the uniqueness of this tank and in homage of the fact it is the only working Tiger in the world, only one Tiger 131 can be built at a time.

Posted March 13, 2017 by Mig Eater

.:French Defences:.

I'm back with more D-day news and this time the French are getting some love with a completely new set of defences.

My main source of inspiration for these defences is the Maginot Line of bunkers along France's border with Germany and Italy. The Maginot Line was built in the 1930s when tensions in Europe started to rise. It was the largest defensive network ever created and much of it still stands today. In order to represent the Maginot Line and give France a unique gameplay feature, their defences can be placed near each other to create indestructible walls that can only be removed by destroying the defensive structures. This give a French player the ability to create complex and unique base fortifications.



Click to enlarge

 

For animations, photographs and more information click on the images to visit their D-day wiki page.

 

GFM Cloche


The GFM Cloche was a heavily armoured machine gun post used on the French Maginot Line of defences. Over a thousand of them were built and were used on the roofs of the every bunker along the defensive line.


75mm AC Mle.39


The 75mm AC Mle.39 (aka 75mm TAZ 39) was an anti-tank weapon designed during the opening stages of world war 2, it was hoped that it would replace the ageing 75mm Mle.1897 field gun in the AT role but only a few prototypes where finished before the armistice and all development was stopped soon after. Like many AT weapons of that era it was a modification of an anti-aircraft weapon, the 75mm CA Mle.38. It was fitted on a new type of 3 legged carriage with the gun fitted on a rotating mount, giving it the ability to turn 360o without moving the carriage. The 75mm AC Mle.39 was also designed to take advantage of a new type of ammunition that was also being developed at that time by Edgar Brandt. This new round used a discarding sabot to fire a shell at increased speeds. As France began to fall Brandt evacuated to England where he continued his work, helping to develop an armour piercing discarding sabot round for the British 6pdr and 17pdr guns. Today the APDS round is used as the standard anti-tank round in all modern tanks.


SS.11


The SS.11 was a French wire guided anti-tank missile designed in the early 1950s. It was a further development of the SS.10 which was a smaller missile primarily designed for use by infantry, the larger SS.11 was instead designed for use on tanks, aircraft and ships. It saw widespread use by NATO forces, as well as numerous other countries around the world and on many different vehicles. The most notable though is the Alouette II which with the SS.11 became the first ever anti-tank helicopter.


25mm CA Mle.40J


During the early 1930's Hotchkiss developed a new 25mm light anti-aircraft weapon, their attempts to sell the design to the French Army and Navy failed though, they instead preferred a 37mm design being developed by Schneider. They managed to find some interest on the export market from Romanian and Spain, Japan also bought a licence to produced it as the Type 96 25mm. With Hotchkiss's success on the export market and the delay of Schneider's 37mm weapon the French Army and Navy decided to also order the 25mm CA. By the time of the German invasion of France in 1940 only a limited amount of the 25mm CA where available, most were taken from the production batch originally meant for Romania. After the armistice limited production continued under the Vichy French and Romania finally received its weapons in 1943.


75mm CA Mle.38


The 75mm CA Mle.38 was a medium anti-aircraft weapon designed by Schneider. Work started in 1928 by modifying their famous 75mm Mle.1897 field gun on to an anti-aircraft mount, by the design was finished in 1932 and testing started. Schneider continued working on the design though and finish a new improved model in 1936, it entered service in 1938 and was used during the German invasion. The Swiss also bought several of them before the war, designated 75mm Flab Kan 38.


Bofors 40mm L/70


I covered the history of the Bofors 40mm L/70 in the last news post with the Japanese version. I wont repeat myself so if you didn't read that post you can click on the link above to go to D-day wiki page.


135mm Mle.32


The 135mm Mle.32 was the main heavy artillery weapon used in the French Maginot Line of fortifications. A pair of them were normally placed within an armoured retractable turret on top of an ouvrage, some where also used in fixed mounts within the forts. The German plan for the invasion of France bypassed the majority of the Maginot Line, some small battles did take place though. During which the 135mm Mle.32 proved to be an effective weapon at defending against the German's advance. Several ouvrages and their 135mm Mle.32 weapons have been restored and are open as museums.


155mm Mle.50


155mm Mle.50 was a French artillery gun design in 1950, it served as the main artillery weapon of the French army for over 30 years. Originally designed as a towed weapon it was also mounted on various tanks to create self propelled guns. Several other nations bought the 155mm Mle.50, the main ones being Switzerland and Israel, Sweden also bought a licence to produce the gun as the 15.5cm haubits F. Most countries have replaced it newer weapons but a few are still being use in Syrian today.


Gate


The Gate is used to allow allied units access to fortified areas while providing defence against enemies. The design is based on rolling anti-tank barriers used in the Maginot Line.

Posted May 11, 2016 by Mig Eater