| Sd. Kfz. 251 |
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| Light & Early Medium Tanks & TD’s |
| Vehicle | Weight | Gun caliber | Speed | Crew |
| Sd. Kfz. 251 | 7.810 t | 2x7.92 mm | 50 km/h | 2+10 Infantrymen |
Sd. Kfz. 251 Halftrack Personnel Carrier
ID: Plastic halftrack gaming piece: Sd. Kfz. 251 Halftrack personnel carrier piece from the game Axis & Allies Europe 40-2nd Ed.
The Story of the 251 Halftrack: The German blitzkrieg or “lightning war†has become a well-known phrase to represent the new mobile warfare techniques that allowed German forces to storm across Europe, seemingly unstoppable for the first half of the war. Much attention is usually given to the importance of tanks in the blitzkrieg but what is less well-known is that it required cooperation between the various types of forces of the German Wehrmacht, including the infantry, artillery and air forces as well. Cooperation with fast-moving tanks, however, requires infantry (or artillery) to be mechanized in some way. It was generally thought in the inter-war period that fully-tracked vehicles, with their additional complexity and weight, were something of an extravagance for the rather “mundane†task of “schlepping†infantry, though. Fully wheeled trucks, on the other hand, lacked the cross-country performance that was desired. The logical solution seemed to be the half-track, and throughout the war many of the combatant nations made extensive use of half-tracks as armored personnel carriers, as well as for a host of other tasks, such as artillery tractors, ambulances, and even being converted into all sorts of self-propelled guns and AA vehicles, especially the Germans and the Americans. (For the American equivalent, see the M5 Half Track.) The Sd.Kfz. 251 (or Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251 “Special Purpose Vehicle #251â€) was the most widely-produced German halftrack during the war, with over 15,252 made (including variants.) Along with its smaller “baby brother,†the Sd.Kfz. 250 and a cheaper cargo-oriented half-track, the Sd. Kfz.4 Maultier, it could be found in every theatre of the war, performing every imaginable task in support of the German Wehrmacht’s mission.
Usage Notes: Use this piece for “Global 1939†and “Invasion of Italy†Variants as a mechanized infantry unit. Other German Pieces of interest may be: the 88 mm Artillery piece & the Panther tank. Other half-tracks of interest may be the US M5 Half Track & the Soviet ZIS-42.
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