Pardon my ignorance, but what kind of armor and equipment did the US have to face on the west front. From what I've read seems like a lot of halftracks, Panthers, Stugs and mk 4s.
Putting together a US and German force and there is just so much cool German stuff to buy, but I want to try be as accurate as possible. And if it's not to much trouble, could you give me an idea as to the numbers of each, percentages are fine. Thanks in advance K
German Equipment on the western front
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kennerator
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m.a.kochman
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Panzer Division
For accuracy, you probably want to have vehicles used by a specific Division.
Since you are interested in German armor, you'll probably want to have elements of a Panzer Division. (I'll try to use German terms where possible to avoid confusion.)
From August 1944 onwards, a model Panzer Division would contain the staff, a Panzer Regiment, two Panzer Grenadier Regiment's, one Artillerie Regiment, a Panzerjager Abteilung (tank destroyer unit), a Panzer Aufklarungs Abteilung (recon unit), a Flak Abteilung, a Panzer Feldersatz Batallion ('spare' tank unit), Panzer Nachrichten Batallion (cooperation unit), a Panzer Pionier Batallion (sappers) and some supporting units.
Since it's tanks you're interested in, we'll look at the Panzer Regiment. The Panzer Regiment contained a Regiment Stabs Kompanie (a regimental staff company. This had 8 tanks (Panthers or Panzer IV's), 8 Flakpanzer's (anti-aircraft tanks), 5 Sd Kfz 251 Halftracks. Subordinated to the staff was the Werkstatt Kompanie, which dealt with maintenance and repairs. The Werkstatt Kompanie had 4 Bergepanther armoured recovery vehicles.
The Panzer Regiment was composed of 2 Panzer Abteilung's. The first would normally be equipped with Panthers and the second with Panzer IV's. Each Panzer Abteilung had an Abteilung Stabs Kompanie with 8 tanks, 5 halftracks and 3 Sd Kfz 7/1 self propelled anti aircraft guns.
The Panzer Abteilung consisted of 4 Kompanie's. Each had 22 tanks.
From November 1944 Panzer IV's and Panthers (of which there was a chronic shortage) could be replaced with Jagdpanzer IV/70 tank destroyers.
I don't want to start describing the other components of the Panzer Division because I've probably made quite enough factual errors already. Later on (March? 1945) the number of vehicles per Division was substantially reduced. Because of production shortages smaller independent tank units were created. Anyway, rest assured that fielding elements of a Panzer Division gives you an excuse to use the following vehicles:
Sf Kfz 251 Ausf. D , pretty much any variant
Sd Kfz 234
Grille
Wespe
Hummel
Motorised artillery - in the Panzerjager Abteilung
Stug III (Stug 40) - 31 vehicles in the Panzerjager Abteilung
This gives you a lot of vehicles to choose from.
All the best
Michael
Since you are interested in German armor, you'll probably want to have elements of a Panzer Division. (I'll try to use German terms where possible to avoid confusion.)
From August 1944 onwards, a model Panzer Division would contain the staff, a Panzer Regiment, two Panzer Grenadier Regiment's, one Artillerie Regiment, a Panzerjager Abteilung (tank destroyer unit), a Panzer Aufklarungs Abteilung (recon unit), a Flak Abteilung, a Panzer Feldersatz Batallion ('spare' tank unit), Panzer Nachrichten Batallion (cooperation unit), a Panzer Pionier Batallion (sappers) and some supporting units.
Since it's tanks you're interested in, we'll look at the Panzer Regiment. The Panzer Regiment contained a Regiment Stabs Kompanie (a regimental staff company. This had 8 tanks (Panthers or Panzer IV's), 8 Flakpanzer's (anti-aircraft tanks), 5 Sd Kfz 251 Halftracks. Subordinated to the staff was the Werkstatt Kompanie, which dealt with maintenance and repairs. The Werkstatt Kompanie had 4 Bergepanther armoured recovery vehicles.
The Panzer Regiment was composed of 2 Panzer Abteilung's. The first would normally be equipped with Panthers and the second with Panzer IV's. Each Panzer Abteilung had an Abteilung Stabs Kompanie with 8 tanks, 5 halftracks and 3 Sd Kfz 7/1 self propelled anti aircraft guns.
The Panzer Abteilung consisted of 4 Kompanie's. Each had 22 tanks.
From November 1944 Panzer IV's and Panthers (of which there was a chronic shortage) could be replaced with Jagdpanzer IV/70 tank destroyers.
I don't want to start describing the other components of the Panzer Division because I've probably made quite enough factual errors already. Later on (March? 1945) the number of vehicles per Division was substantially reduced. Because of production shortages smaller independent tank units were created. Anyway, rest assured that fielding elements of a Panzer Division gives you an excuse to use the following vehicles:
Sf Kfz 251 Ausf. D , pretty much any variant
Sd Kfz 234
Grille
Wespe
Hummel
Motorised artillery - in the Panzerjager Abteilung
Stug III (Stug 40) - 31 vehicles in the Panzerjager Abteilung
This gives you a lot of vehicles to choose from.
All the best
Michael