Another little tid-bit for the Housemartin

You should love this: Fascist Tank Olympics!

https://youtu.be/v2k1ufmDNO4

I might have to re-write the stats for the later FT-17 mods, those little antiques seem to get along just fine in the video.

The Low Countries

    The final installment of nations are Belgium and The Netherlands; both had tiny military establishments compared to their neighbors; trusting instead to their proclaimed neutrality and The League of Nations until far too late. Between the two nations they only produced a few vehicles, purchasing most of their equipment from other nations. A few imported vehicles are presented here as they were not employed by other combatants in WW2.

Finnish AFVs

     The tiny nation of Finland was invaded by the Soviets in 1939. Through that winter the Finnish army managed to hold off the invading Russians, capturing vast amounts of war material. At the prodding, and hoping to recapture land lost at the end of the Winter War, the Finns joined in as a Co-Belligerent when the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa. Through all of this they had only the smallest of forces. As far as armor goes they had no local production, only some modifications to vehicles purchased or captured. As all of the other vehicles come from other nations I will concentrate exclusively on the home-grown products.

Hungarian AFVs

     The Kingdom of Hungary was a member of the Axis alignment in a less-than-enthusiastic manner. They had more reasons to go to war with their neighbors than to fight against the Soviet  Union. However the Nationalist government wanted to regain territories lost to the adjoining countries  of Romania and Yugoslavia and they decided to ride on Hitler's coattails in an effort to achieve that objective. In the end they were dragged into a war with Russia (and by proxy the rest of the Western Allies) and were rewarded with a half-century under the Soviet boot.

Japanese AFVs

     Most people don't consider Japan as a Land Power in the Second World War but they fielded massive armies on the Asian continent from 1931 until the end of hostilities. Although not a blitzkrieg type of force they had a large number of tanks and other AFVs.

Polish AFVs

      Poland was abandoned by her allies when the Nazis and the Russian colossus decided to dismember the young nation. Her armed forces put up a valiant fight but were doomed from the beginning. Poland had some indigenous designs and was beginning to manufacture tanks on a significant basis just before the war broke out.

French Tanks

    The French army had dozens of different projects underway for the the years preceding the Second World War, most of which rarely made it past the drawing board much less into a prototype. I have tried to concentrate my efforts on vehicles that were made in some numbers and actually saw combat. If you see a glaring omission please post a note in the comments section I will do my best to rectify the issue.

Romanian AFVs

         Although the West has little knowledge of it Romania was the third largest Axis power fielding large armies into southern Russian throughout the war. The Romanian army bought tanks from several sources and was given material support by the Germans in the shape of tanks, armored cars and half-tracks.

Command Card Deck, Eastern Front JUN44-JAN45

     I have been working on a Command Card Deck for the next game that I'm presenting at Flintcon on 9FEB19. Rather than take hard-to-read photos of the deck I am presenting it here in a neatly typed format (you can thank me later).  As always comments, suggestions and criticism are all welcome.

UK, US, Italian and USSR anti-tank guns

Below the break you will find the Anti-tank guns of Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia

German Antitank Guns

German

3.7 cm KwK 36 L/45         Size   2         Armor   7
 

Range      up to 6”       up to 24”           up to 48"       up to 72"

Dice            4d6             4d6-1                3d6+1             3D6-1

to hit           +2                  0                      -1                    -2

Just to keep the Housemartin happy; the dreaded Soviet floating (and flying) tanks

     My long-standing friend (and my Nemesis in my quest to find the most obscure and outlandish subject to wargame; he currently holds the title with the Russians vs the Aleuts in Alaska @1750) kindly pointed out that I had missed a couple of significant Soviet tanks so he I am correcting that oversight.

 

Soviet tank crews looking for a good fishing spot