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SdKfz 240 KriegRad (war wheel) “Mjöllnir”

The Germans paid little attention to wheelform vehicles until 1942, when a Russian M1942 was captured. The Germans decided they wanted something similar but, of course, more powerful. The initial design is roughly a copy of the basic m1942 body, both with the armament in two sponsons, located on the left and right sides of the body. All the weapons in the sponsons are in casemate mounts, capable of firing in an arc from straight ahead to directly to the side they were mounted on. However, firing directly to the sides was found to make the vehicle somewhat unstable and, more importantly, if both cannons were fired straight to the sides, the breeches would recoil into each other. Production models restrict the arc to 60 degrees instead of he original 90. In other respects, the Mjöllnir (as the project and later the vehicle were named, after Thor's Hammer), is similar to the Tiger tank.

The driver is offset to the left and the commander to the right. Each has a small hatch to enter and exit vehicle on their sides. Each sponson has a hatch on the top and to the rear. No AA machine guns are carried, though each sponson has an MP 40 for local defense against infantry.

Enough Mjöllnirs to equip five companies (230 vehicles) have been built and it is hoped to used them to spearhead the 1943 spring offensive in Russia.

The SdKfz 240/1 has a crew of six: a driver, commander, two gunners and two loaders. It burns 2e.5 gallons of fuel per hour at routine usage.

Subassemblies: Huge Wheelform chassis +4, two Small TD superstructures [Body:R,L] with mild slope +3
P&P: 522-kW gasoline engine with 522-kW wheelform drivetrain, 8,000 kWs lead-acid battery and 141 gallon self-sealing fuel tank
Occ: 2 CS, 2 CS Superstructure #1, 2 CS Superstructure #2 Cargo: 9 Body, 1.5 each Superstructure

Armor

Body: F 4/400, RLB 4/250, TU 4/100

Superstructure#1: F 5/405, RB 4/250, U 4/100

Superstructure#2: F 5/405, LB 4/250, U 4/100

Armament
88mm Medium TG/KwK 36 [Sup#1:F] (74).
88mm Medium TG/KwK 36 [Sup#2:F] (74).
Ground LMG/MG 34 [Sup#1:F] (1,950).
Ground LMG/MG 34 [Sup#2:F] (1,950).

* The KwK 36 and MG 34 in each superstructure are linked

Equipment
Body: Fire extinguisher, medium radio and transmitter, 6x some dischargers (3 R, 3 L). Superstructures: Casemate mount for cannon and LMG, fire extinguisher.

Statistics

HT: 7.
HP: 2,300 [body], 285 [each superstructure]. 460 [wheel]

Ground Pressure Low. 2/3 Off-Road Speed.

Design Notes

Design HT was 9. This has been lowered to represent the somewhat rushed design and production. GMs should return It to 11 for “mature” technology.

Variants

One vehicle, the SdKfz 240/2 in each platoon (14 tanks) replaces the starboard 88mm gun with a 15cm Skoda sIG 33/I (150mm Very Short infantry Gun). An additional loader was added for it, his cramped space split between the sponson and body. Twenty shells were carried for the infantry gun and 88mm ammo was reduced to 92 shells. Three vehicles (SdKfz 240/3) in each company (47 SdKfz 240's) have this infantry gun modification performed on both sponsons, with 48 shells carried and two extra loaders added.