Sample file Ostfront – Wehrmacht Table of Contents Germany in World War II....................................................................4 About This Book..................................................................................5 Branches of the Wehrmacht - Guidelines for Army Composition........ The Heer.......................................................................................... The Pan#er Di%ision.................................................................... The Pan#ergrenadier Di%ision..................................................... The Luft(affe...................................................................................) *allschirmjager Di%ision..............................................................) Infantry................................................................................................, -egular Infantry..............................................................................., Assault Infantry................................................................................ Conscript Infantry........................................................................../0 Mortar Team..................................................................................// Artillery Cre(s.............................................................................../2 75mm PaK 40 .........................................................................../2 50mm PaK 38 .........................................................................../4 *lak 88.......................................................................................14 88mm PaK 43............................................................................15 !o(it#er Battery......................................................................./ *lak AA (20mm-40mm)............................................................./) 7uad Flak................................................................................../, 8ehicles ..............................................................................................Sample file /. Light Vehicles................................................................................./. Transport Truck........................................................................./. 9d.3f#.251 Hanomag ................................................................20 9d.3f#.222..................................................................................2/ 9d.3f#.234/2 Puma....................................................................22 9d.3f#.234/4 Pak(agen.............................................................24 3ubel(agen................................................................................24 Mobile AA.................................................................................25 Light Tanks....................................................................................2 "#3pf( I Ausf. B.......................................................................2 "#3pf( II Ausf. A.....................................................................2) "#3pf( 38 (t6............................................................................2, Medium Tanks...............................................................................2. "#3pf( III Ausf. F....................................................................2. "#3pf( III Ausf. J....................................................................40 2 Ostfront – Wehrmacht "#3pf( III Ausf. N....................................................................4/ *lammpan#er III........................................................................42 "#3pf( I8 Ausf. E....................................................................44 "#3pf( I8 Ausf. G....................................................................34 "#3pf( I8 Ausf. H....................................................................35 "#3pf( I8 Ausf. J.....................................................................4 "#3pf( V Panther.....................................................................4) Hea%y Tanks...................................................................................4, "#3pf( VI Tiger.......................................................................4, "#3pf( Tiger II.........................................................................4. Tank Destroyers / Self-Propelled Guns.........................................40 ;agdpan#er I8............................................................................40 Marder III..................................................................................41 Nashorn......................................................................................42 ;agdpanther...............................................................................43 *erdinand:=lefant......................................................................44 ;agdtiger....................................................................................45 9tuG III Ausf. A........................................................................46 9tuG III Ausf. G........................................................................47 ;agdpan#er 38 'Het#er>..............................................................48 9turmpan#er I8.........................................................................49 Wespe.........................................................................................50 -eference sheets.................................................................................Sample file 51 $amage & Range...............................................................................51 Weapons@ Uni%ersal Units & Support............................................52 8ehicles Reference..........................................................................53 =arly War..................................................................................53 Mid War.....................................................................................54 Late War....................................................................................55 3 Ostfront – Wehrmacht Germany in World War II The Great War left such an impression on the Allies that they decided to pre%ent such a thin& from e%er happenin& again. They decided to hit the Central "o(ers (ith sanctions and reparations hard in the Treaty of Versailles. It didnBt eCactly work as planned. Instead@ it left Germany in bad shape and led to gro(in& resentment. As a result@ the Weimar -epublic (as e%entually taken o%er by the National 9ocialist "arty@ the Nazis@ led by Adolf Hitler. Hitler (orked hard to indoctrinate and start a totalitarian state. His party (ould e%en ha%e its o(n paramilitary arm. While Germany had already been in%estigatin& rearmin& secretly@ the Nazis (ere re-armin& openly. Germany soon interfered in the 9panish Ci%il War and anneCed Austria. They allied themsel%es (ith Italy@ led by Benito 1ussolini@ and struck a deal (ith 9o%iet -ussia to partition "oland. They also took a large part of C#echoslo%akia and allo(ed Slo%akia to break off. The guarantees and the ne( alliances (ith *rance and Britain initially dissuaded Germany from in%adin& "oland@ but only for a short time. Dn the first of 9eptember /.4.@ Germany in%aded and ad%anced against stiff resistance. The 9o%iets +oined in and together they crushed "oland. The Western Allies ne%erSample took any file serious action in the openin& month of (ar and soon paid for it dearly@ as Germany refined their tactics and strategy and soon in%aded *rance %ia the Lo( Countries@ (innin& almost as Euickly F the only reason it took them longer (as that they had more ground to co%er and no-one to strike at the other side. Germany then attacked multiple neighborin& states@ takin& o%er $enmark and Norway. They also assisted Italy in North Africa and Greece@ landing a foothold in the Balkans. But their greed (ould become their undoing. They attacked the 9o%iet Anion in Dperation Barbarossa in 1941, pre-emptin& 9talinBs plan to strike at Germany by a fe( years. =%en though 9o%iet tanks pro%ed a nasty shock to the Germans@ they had much success and pushed deeply into -ussia but o%erstretched themsel%es and fell %ictim to -ussian (inter and un(illingness of their totalitarian state to surrender. 4 Ostfront – Wehrmacht Mean(hile@ Germany>s ;apanese allies had been issued hea%y sanctions due to their in%asion of China, and in $ecember 1941, they attacked the United 9tates@ at "earl Harbor, belie%in& that destroyin& the pacific fleet (ould break the American morale. Instead@ they brought the American industrial and military capacity into the (ar openly instead of their pre%ious some(hat limited material support to the Allies. 9oon@ instead of +ust tanks and (eapons from the Anited 9tates@ troops started arri%in& in North Africa as (ell. $ue to internal Axis struggles@ the Afrika 3orps (as permanently under supplied and by the time the supplies actually started arri%in& in North Africa the (hole front (as lost. It did not take lon& before the Allies in%aded 9icily and mainland Italy. Germany tried to keep hold of as much Italian territory as they could. At about the same time@ the Eastern FrontBs stalemate started breaking in fa%or of the So%iets. With the ne( front opened@ Germany (as hard pressed and the situation for them (as grim. They also eCpected an in%asion around Calais@ but the Allies decided to strike Normandy in Operation O%erlord. With three European fronts@ GermanyBs fate was sealed. $ue to Hitler’s micro-management