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SdKfz 251

Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2017 9:41 am
by MaXXOltt
Hi!
I got a question about a total numbers of SdKfz 251 in German Panzer Division

Now, we have 4 SdKfz251/1, plus 2 SdKfz251/2 mortar carriers and only one SdKfz251/1 in every panzer division with ToE #34 "41 Panzer Division"

But, in some sources I've read that:

a) Panzer Division.1 had two battalions (1./1 IR and 1./113 IR) equipeed with half-tracks. Each battalion had 53 half-tracks.
b)14th, 16th and 19th Panzer Divisions had none of them at all
c)All of the other panzer divisions - 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th etc, had only one company with 251's.

German motorised platoon had 3 SdKfz.251 (one per squad) and one 251/2 or 251/10 from mortar squad.
Therefore motorised company which consists of three platoons, had 9 SdKfz.251/1, 3 SdKfz.251/10 (or SdKfz.251/2) and 1 SdKfz.251/1 from heavy MG-Section (under direct command of company HQ).

So, german motorized company had 13 SdKfz.251 totally...

Any ideas?

RE: SdKfz 251

Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2017 12:19 pm
by Oberst_Klink
ORIGINAL: MaXXOltt

Hi!
I got a question about a total numbers of SdKfz 251 in German Panzer Division

Now, we have 4 SdKfz251/1, plus 2 SdKfz251/2 mortar carriers and only one SdKfz251/1 in every panzer division with ToE #34 "41 Panzer Division"

But, in some sources I've read that:

a) Panzer Division.1 had two battalions (1./1 IR and 1./113 IR) equipeed with half-tracks. Each battalion had 53 half-tracks.
b)14th, 16th and 19th Panzer Divisions had none of them at all
c)All of the other panzer divisions - 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th etc, had only one company with 251's.

German motorised platoon had 3 SdKfz.251 (one per squad) and one 251/2 or 251/10 from mortar squad.
Therefore motorised company which consists of three platoons, had 9 SdKfz.251/1, 3 SdKfz.251/10 (or SdKfz.251/2) and 1 SdKfz.251/1 from heavy MG-Section (under direct command of company HQ).

So, german motorized company had 13 SdKfz.251 totally...

Any ideas?
I attached a comprehensive .XLS (zipped) with some ideas; a mate made it for my Kharkov '43 scenario.

Klink, Oberst

RE: SdKfz 251

Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2017 3:01 pm
by morvael
Accuracy of TOE(OB) is limited, there are only 2-3 main variants of Panzer and infantry divisions.
Also, there is not enough slots (only 32) to represent large units with a lot of different elements.

RE: SdKfz 251

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 9:48 am
by MaXXOltt
Also, there is not enough slots (only 32) to represent large units with a lot of different elements.
Not enough slots?
Do you mean that all of the empty slots in TOE(OB)Section of Generic Data are reserved for the future updates/changes?


Image

RE: SdKfz 251

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 9:53 am
by morvael
Look on the left, each TOE has only 32 slots, of which 1-2 should always be empty for upgrade/swap purposes. Then look at late war Panzer and SS Panzer divisions. They reach the limit.

RE: SdKfz 251

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 9:55 am
by morvael
The way it works you would need individual TOE for every custom division setup. Otherwise division would quickly adjust to generic TOE setup.

RE: SdKfz 251

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 9:58 am
by morvael
Data from Askey's Barbarossa is nice, but there is no book with comparable data for 1942-45. I think we have already improved quality/accuracy of TOEs over early versions, but there will never be custom path for every single division to maintain 100% accuracy.