Combined Arms in WWII

[TacCovert4]

This is for all CM areas. Combined arms, the use of Tanks, Aircraft, soft-skins, infantry, and artillery as a single entity to accomplish a cumulative effect reached a modern art in WWII.

Which nation do you believe utilized combined arms better on the scales supported by CM? Which nations fell away from combined arms in favor of unit specialization? Support your answers!

[KGPanzerschrecK]

The Germans were the masters of Combined arms. They invented it. The Stormtrooper concept was born in the trenches of France on the western front during WWI and Blitzkrieg was born during the Spanish Civil War. Both concepts were perfected during the early part of WWII in the Campaigns in Poland, the Low Countries, France & Norway. Even up to the last days of the war, German troops using these proven combined arms tactics were winning local and the occasional semi-regional counter attacks.

The main reason for their success besides the theory of combined arms, were their weapons. From the footslogger to the Tanker to the Bomber pilot, their weapons were all designed for fast hitting combined arms action.

Airplanes -

HE-111 - A bomber that was at home bombing large targets from altitude or it could drop down it hit them from low level like a large ground attack aircraft.

JU-88 - The workhorse of the Lufwaffe, this plane could do it all. From bomber to Nightfighter to ground attack and many other roles. The most versatile plane of WWII IMHO.

JU-87 - The Stuka Dive Bomber. The fear this plane struck in the early war was undeniable. Later in the war it was fitted with 2 37mm ATG's and became a formitable Tankbuster.

BF,ME-109 & FW-190 - Both were capable fighters. Both were also effective ground attack aircraft with FW-190 being the more effective of the two. The cannons carried on these planes could make them effective Tank busters.


AFV's -

Scout Cars - I dare say no ones military had a love for Scout Cars the way the Germans did. I'd also venture to say that no one put the value on scouting like the Germans did. The PSW series is a great example of great Armored Cars. Kitted out with everything from MG's to ATG's they could handle the scouting job well. The six wheeled versions were an amazing engineering feet. They had the ability to drive forwards and backwards at the same speed. They actually had a seperate drivers seat and steering wheel for the rear facing driver. The ability to get out of trouble just as fast as you got into it is just one more great asset of the six wheeled PSW series.

Halftracks - The 250 & 251 series Halftracks were arguably the most important innovation to the Germans Combined Arms Blitzkrieg style of warfare. The ability to deliver infantry to the battlefield protected from small arms fire and shell splinters was what made Blitzkrieg possible. Without them the armored thrusts would be cut of without infantry. Trucks wouldnt be able to make it through enemy lines and you certainly couldnt walk there. Besides carrying infantry, important supporting weapon platforms were placed on these Halftarcks as most know as well. When a platoon of Tanks arent available, its nice to have a few Stummels around to take out those pesky MG nests or that pocket of resistance in a house that you just cant advance on because of too much open ground. Just think of all the weapons that were put on these Halftracks -

37mm PAK gun
75mm gun
75mm Pak gun
Dual Flame Throwers
20mm Flak
37mm Flak
81mm Mortar
4 HMG's in a quad side by side mount for AAA defense
A 6 Tube Nebelwerfer Launcher

Im sure im missing some, these are all i can think of off the top of my head, but you get the idea. These were hands down the best troop carriers in the world until the first true APC's came out in the 50's.

Stug's - The wonderful Stug. Only the Germans would come up with the idea to put artillery on a Tank chassis and attach them to infantry Divisions for close support as needed. Stugs were part of the artillery and considered as such. In other WWII armies they would of been considered a Tank Destroyer. The idea of the Stug evolved as a necessity during the war. It needed to kill Tanks as well as infantry. In its muti-tasking role it did very well. In fact Stugs in all their models killed more enemy Armor than all other German Tank types combined. One could only imagine what would of happened to many a hapless German soldier if there we no such things as Stugs.

PzIV Series - A great Tank series that ran through the whole war. As the Gun vrs. Armor race evolved during WWII the PzIV evolved with it, setting the standards early on. The PzIV F Model shook up the Western Allies when they first encountered it in the deserts of North Africa. In reality it was an attempt to answer the T-34 while the Panther was in the works. Ending the war with the model J, the PzIV series held its own on the eastern front and was a match for anything the allies had on the western front. The PzIV is a great example of how a weapons platform can be adapted to changing situations and still be able to function without a major overhaul to its design.

Panther - The Tank to replace all Tanks. Designed as the ultimate answer to the T-34. It combined Firepower, Armor and speed into a great fighting machine and is what some call the best Tank of the War.



Guns -

20mm & 37mm Flak guns - Their main role being low level AAA defense, these guns also excelled at shelling enemy positions in buildings, woods, fixed fortifications and other locations. The explosive power and shrapnel from the bursts from these weapons could be devestating. The ease at which these weapons could be installed on just about anything boosted their already immense worth as a weapons platform. And as a side note, the German 20mm Flak gun from WWII so impressed the American military that it, after some more developement, went on to become the 20mm cannon that has been used on all American fighters since the 50's.

88mm Flak/PAK Gun - I think we all know what this gun was capable of. It was also used as a regular piece of artillery besides its other two more famous roles as a Tank buster and Flak gun. This was by far the most effective piece of artillery in WWII.




Infantry Weapons -

MG-34 & MG-42 - Starting with the MG-34 and continuing with the MG-42, the Germans disposed of the idea of having several MG's for different roles. The idea of having one gun for Light, Medium and Heavy roles was a revolutionary idea and was a large factor in their success in combined arms warfare. The use of stamped parts made manufacturing cheap and easy. The ability to change barrels in seconds made these guns weapons to be feared. Not to mention their high cyclic rates. They didnt call the MG-42 "The Bone Saw" for nothing. A modernized version of the MG-42 is still used today by several armies around the world.

MP-44 - The worlds first Assault Rifle. Early prototypes were first tested in '42 on the russian front. By the time full production gets underway in '44 the war is basicly over, and thats a good thing. If these guns would of got into the hands of German troops in enough numbers a few years earlier i dare say more than a few battles may of been tipped in the Germans favor. A truely modern and innovative design that set the standard for years to come.

Panzerfaust - The abillity for a single soldier to knock a Tank out cannot be overstated. The Panzerfaust was an unbeliveably simple weapon that could be learned how to be used in a few minutes. The abillity of the Germans to produce mass quantities of these weapons and hand them out as needed gave the allied Tankers reason for pause. Not only did they need to worry about the superior German Tanks and guns, they also had to fear that lurking behind every bush, every tree, inside every house a soldier could be crouched ready to launch his shaped charge warhead at his Tank and turn him and his crew into molten jelly in the blink of an eye. The Panzerfaust is still around to this day. The Panzerfaust 250, in the works in the German design shops was captured by the Russians. The RPG-7 is its decendant today.



Using the aboved mentioned weapons and others not mentioned, the Germans IMHO were best able to hit the enemy with multiple types of weapons platforms and hit them hard. They could effectively move their troops on the battlefield in ways their opponents couldnt, at least in certain parts of the war and on certain fronts. When the weapons and vehicles were available, they were capable of the highest form of tactical warfare capable at the time, Combined Arms Blitzkrieg.

[Redwolf]

Mastinging combined arms is basically a matter of efficiency. The better you do it, the more damage you do to your enemy without fewer damage to yourself, ideally having exposed only units that cannot be harmed in a particular context.

The Germans were clearly master of this on a tactical level, and absolutely lousy on an operational and strategic level.

%%

Also, it makes a difference of what you consider "cost". The Americans for example are certainly not efficient (but effective). They blow amounts of artillery ammunition and airplane fuel that nobody else can afford. That is not combined arms. It is shooting the enemy up until he's much weaker than he would be in a normal combined arms attack. The reason is, of course, that for the U.S. forces ammunition and fuel are much cheaper than for the Germans, and men are more expensive for them, much more. So screw combined arms (which includes exposing infantrymen) and use whatever you have enough of, even if it's not efficient.

[Lurker]

Nice write up schreck. One more note on the Stuka - I watched this history channel special on the Warthog and it said the US designer got the idea for it from the Stuka with it's great effectiveness.

[Lurker]

The Germans were clearly master of this on a tactical level, and absolutely lousy on an operational and strategic level.

How so?

jljl;j;lj;lkj;ljkl;k (needed to add some text because my message was "too short" :rolleyes: )

[KGPanzerschrecK]

Nice write up schreck. One more note on the Stuka - I watched this history channel special on the Warthog and it said the US designer got the idea for it from the Stuka with it's great effectiveness.

Thanks my friend. I also saw a similar documentary on the A-10. The one i saw mentioned that the designer actually interviewed Hans Rudel and he is the one who is supposedly the guy who told them to design the plane around the gun, not the gun around the plane. Weather or not thats true or not is another matter. It could be another myth perpetuated by retelling the same story over and over again like the story of the German Sniper Maj. Koenig vrs. the Russian Sniper Vasily Zietsev.