The M-29 was designed to operate in deep snow, when it was anticipated that commando raids might be required against heavy water facilities in Norway. By 1942, the need for the vehicle was much less, but the design (initially the M-28) had very low ground pressure and could navigate all sorts of soft terrain. A decision was made to adapt the vehicle for amphibious use; the primary changes being the addition of small flotation chambers and a pair of rudders that could be lowered into the water. The new vehicle was known as the M-29C (the original M-29 was named the “Weasel” and the M-29C the “Ark”, but in service troops called both the “Weasel”).
Although amphibious, the M-29C did not handle well in rough water, so was restricted to inland waterways like rivers and lakes. However, it was able to travel with relative ease over sand through rice paddies. Aside from carrying three passengers or an equivalent weight of cargo, the Weasel could tow loads up to 3,800 lbs. Despite the M-29C being virtually unarmored, it was frequently used to deliver men and equipment to positions under fire. Some 15,000 Weasels (amphibious or not) were produced; after the war, many ended up in civilian hands, especially in the Scandinavian countries.
The M-29C has a crew of one. It uses 2.2 gallons per hour at routine usage.
Subassemblies: Very Small Tank chassis +2, tracks +2.
Powertrain: 48-kW gas engine w/48-kW tracked drive train
and 35 gallons fuel in standard fuel tank [body]; 4,000-kWs batteries.
Occupancy: 1 XCS Body, 3 XPS Cargo: 0.5
Body.
| Armor | F | RL | B | T | U |
| Body | 2/3 | 2/3 | 2/3 | 2/3 | 2/3 |
| Tracks | 4/15 | 4/15 | 4/15 | 4/15 | 4/15 |
Equipment
Body: Small radio transmitter and receiver, waterproofed.
Statistics
| Size: 16’¥6’¥6’ | Payload: 0.61 tons | Lwt: 3.01 tons |
| Volume: 32 | Maint.: 198 hours | Price: $4,100 |
HT: 12.
HP: 400 Body, 135 each Track
| gSpeed: 36 | gAccel: 3 | gDecel: 20 | gMR: 0.25 | gSR: 4 | GP: Very Low (4/5) |
| wSpeed: 4 | wAccel: 0.3 | wDecel: 10 | wMR: 0.25 | wSR: 1 |
Design Notes
To keep weight close to the historical value, the chassis weight (and
cost and HP) were divided by two. The final design weight was increased
by 3.5%. Design gSpeed was 40 mph and wSpeed 2.6 mph; historical values
were used instead.
Four VSP of empty space is assumed to represent the flotation chambers added to the M-29C; these are not available for cargo and should be ignored for the M-29.
Although the M-29C was normally unarmed, a simple pintle mounted MG (up to a .50-cal M-2HB) could be fitted to the wall between the driver’s compartment and the passenger/cargo compartment.
Variants
The M-29 was virtually identical in game terms, except it wasn’t amphibious.
The empty weight of the M-29 was a bit less than the M-29C, so it had about
2,000 lbs of free weight for passengers and cargo.