Which military vehicles were the most commonly used during WWII?

I would like to know which weapons (tanks, artillery, tank destroyers, APC, planes, halftracks ...) were the most commonly used in WWII. There is too much to learn so I want to start with the most common and learn which countries have used them.

Thanks for your help!

 

In fact, I am just starting into world war II miniature wargaming. I would like to buy a few military vehicules from Germany and USA but there are too many tanks, halftracks, APC ...

So if you have ten german and american vehicules to choose, which one would you choose as the most representative and/or most common during world war II?

 

Most table top games use some sort of force points system to build your team. So first you need to know roughly how many points you have to spend.

How big a board or room are you using, a smaller space usually mean smaller teams.

What scale minis are you using? Smaller the scale, usually means larger teams & smaller scale is usually cheaper.

 

Well, if I am right, you need to decide first are you attacking or defensive. And that means your decision then depends first on your strategy. Artillery or Stugs/pz IVs? Choose wrongly and your troops are driven into the enemy's pocket where your tanks and men are annihilated like that. So the choices are attacking-defending, defending-attacking and defending-defending and you must choose your troops according to that.not easy but first you must choose strategy, enter with reconnaissance vehicles to see what happens, attack perhaps from the flank with full force or a minor force to trick your opponent and Major attack from the right? Do not forget to leave cover forces to protect the Hq. Reconnaissance then released and true offensives after artillery preparation, air force help? Reserves to counter enemy attack from where you expected nothing.
You see, it is not that easy. Using attacking force towards strong defensive force and you might lose your fighting power and the battle...

I have not played table games for a long time Rather Panzer General and Civilisation series. The Basic idea is the same, I think, though. Attack or defence?

 

Hi. I have bought the Flames of War rulebook 4th edition. I don't know yet how many points I have to spend. I was thinking of buying vehicules before. I am using 6mm miniatures and I have a table that measures 40" x 75".

Thanks for the tips. I will try to remember that.

 

You learn by playing. Don't feel sorry if you lose at first but you soon get into the game secrets. BUT never leave your HQ unprotected and use reconnaissance. And a reserve force to counter any unexpected attcks. Cheers.

 

If you're just doing a generic WWII game not based on a particular campaign, you can do pretty much whatever you want.

Some of the more well known and common tanks include the Panzer IV and Tiger (German) the Churchill (British) the Sherman (US) and T-34 (Russian).

But I think its best to narrow down a campaign or battle, then you can really zero in. Not all of the more well-known pieces of equipment appeared or were used at the same time.

 

FoW is for 15mm scale so you will probably have to do some converting for range, movement & such.

FoW does have a wide range of source books available for various battles, campaigns, units, etc. With each having various force teams within.

 

For German Wehrmacht these are by far the most common vehicles and arty:
Pz 38(t), Mk III, Mk IV, StuG, from 1943/44 also the Panther
SdKfz 251 half-track, Opel Blitz
105mm LeFH 18, 150mm sFH 18, 150mm Nebelwerfer, 20/37/88mm Flak, 50/75mm PaK

All of them saw service nearly throughout the entire war in significant numbers, variants depend on era. Well, in addition to almost everything else that fell into the hands of the Wehrmacht in terms of war equipment :-D

Tiger was spectacular but rare: My Grandfather fought 4 years on the Eastern front at HG Nord in some of the fiercest battles there - and only knew them from the newsreels....

 

Give a time frame and which nationalities and we can give you a fairly good list. Are you familiar with the different TOE structures?

 

Thanks. Yes I need to do lots of converting for range ...

I already got the Flames of War rulebook 4th edition. I thought it was all I needed to start playing. I don't want to buy a new book for every campaign I am gonna play.

Thank you for your informations. I will check those vehicules.

Hi. I don't know what is TOE structures.

For the time frame, I would say 1943-44
For the nationalities, I would say USA, British, Russian and German.

 

TOE stands for Table of Organization and Equipment, and it lays out how a unit is organized, what personnel and weapons it rates. I'd start there. Table of organization and equipment - Wikipedia

You can normally locate historical TOEs for different type/nationality units online.

I find the triangular type TOE to be the most adaptable and flexible. The US switched most of their divisional units from a square to triangular TOE just prior to and at the beginning of the war.

Here is a generic example of a Marine Corps TOE, not meant to depict any particular TOE, they used several at different times during WWII, Series D,E,F and G, but it will be illustrative of the concept. We'll start from the bottom and work up.
Fire Team-4 men (FT Leader, Rifleman, Auto-Rifleman, Assistant Auto-rifleman) they'd be armed with 3 x M1 .30 caliber service rifles and one M-1918 BAR (Browning automatic rifle) M1 Garand - Wikipedia M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle - Wikipedia one man in each team would also have a grenade launcher attachment
Squad-take three fire teams add a squad leader (rank specified in TOE, normally a sergeant armed with either and M1 rifle or M1 carbine) and you have a 13 man rifle squad. The three fire team leaders carry out the orders of the squad leader and control the other three men in their respective teams. M1 carbine - Wikipedia
*Tactical note: Carbines were normally the TOE weapon for personnel whose primary job was not shooting, a squad leader needed to be leading and directing his squad. If he simply engaged the enemy, like any other rifleman, he was not doing his job. Communicators, mortarmen, vehicle drivers etc. would be issued carbines; communicators should be communicating, mortarmen dropping HE (high explosive) on the enemy, vehicle drivers moving personnel, casualties and supplies around.
Platoon-take three squads combine them together, add a platoon leader (2d or 1st Lt.), platoon sergeant, platoon guide, demolition corporal, and three messangers/runners. Note where the triangular descriptor comes in, everything is in threes. Three runners/messangers for the three squads. 46 officers and men to the squad.
Company-Take three platoons, add a company headquarters platoon and weapons platoon and you have a company. The weapons platoon has 3 x 2 gun machine gun squads (total 6 M-1919 or 1917 browning machine guns) and a 60mm mortar section (three tubes) and two officers that additionally serve as fire support coordinators.
M1919 Browning machine gun - Wikipedia M1917 Browning machine gun - Wikipedia M2 mortar - Wikipedia
The headquarters section would also rate a truck, 1/4 ton, 4x4 (better known as a Jeep, MB for Willys manufactured, GPW for Ford manufactured. The type was unimportant and inter-changeable) and 1/4 ton trailer. This was normally commanded by a Captain or senior 1st Lt. with a 1st Lt. as XO (CO-Commanding Officer, XO-Executive Officer)
Willys MB - Wikipedia
Battalion-Take three companies, add a headquarters company and a weapons company and you have a battalion. Each level up added additional support capabilities. Heavier weapons, more support personnel and transport. Each of the companies was designated by letter, more on this when we get to Regiment. The battalion weapons company had an 81mm mortar platoon (4 tubes) and a machine gun platoon of 6 guns, they also had a HQ section, Intelligence section (S-2), Supply section (S-4), Communications platoon (S-6), the medical section (44 Navy medical personnel and 5 Marine ambulance drivers) six jeeps and 2 1/4 ton trailers (2-HQ section, 1-Wire Section, 1-with TCS radio radio, visual, panel section, 2-w/trailers 81mm mortar section). They also had 27 M1A1 Flamethrowers and 27 No. 5 Demo kits, one for each rifle squad in the battalion. The battalion, because it had had a fairly robust support group is normally the lowest level where you see independent, separate units, not an intrinsic part of a higher headquarters. Commanded by a Lt. Col or Major.
Regiment-Three battalions, a regimental HQ&S/HHC (Headquarters and Service company, USMC/Headquarters and Headquarters Company, US Army), regimental weapons company. Had more robust support, communications, personnel and motor transport assets. Back to the company/battalion lettering system: Say the regiment is the 24th Marine Infantry Regiment, the first battalion (of three) would be designated 1st Battalion 24th Marines or 1/24. 1/24 would consist of three companies A, B, C and the weapons company would be either D or WpnsCo 1/24, the designation varied with time frame. The second battalion would be 2d Battalion 24th marines or 2/24. 2/24 would have companies E,F,G and H or WpnsCo 2/24. 3/24 would be I,K,L and M or WpnsCo 3/24 (J was not used to prevent confusion with "I" when written). So if George Company (phonetic G) is referenced it is the third company of the second battalion of the regiment.
The regimental weapons company had 12 M3A1 37mm anti-tank guns (4 ea. by 3 platoons) and a 75mm SP gun platoon with 4 x M3 75mm GMC (GMC stands for Gun, Motor Carriage and was the military designation for self-propelled guns). *Note: I was too lazy to delineate the entire motor transport assets of the regiment, but it is listed in the appropriate, official TOE.

M3 Gun Motor Carriage - Wikipedia
37 mm gun M3 - Wikipedia

.... more to follow

 

Now to apply some of the knowledge we have acquired. Dooh, one more thing RCT=Regimental Combat Team, RLT=Regimental Landing Team; these are regiments that are augmented by additional higher-level assets in order to perform a combat task.
So, let's take an example using the US Third Infantry Division:

Headquarters, 3rd Infantry Division​

7th Infantry Regiment
15th Infantry Regiment
30th Infantry Regiment
Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 3rd Infantry Division Artillery
9th Field Artillery Battalion (155 mm)
10th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
39th Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
41st Field Artillery Battalion (105 mm)
10th Engineer Combat Battalion
3rd Medical Battalion
3rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop, Mechanized
Headquarters, Special Troops, 3rd Infantry Division
Headquarters Company, 3rd Infantry Division
703rd Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
3rd Quartermaster Company
3rd Signal Company
Military Police Platoon
Band
3rd Counterintelligence Corps Detachment

So, your division is tasked with supporting an armored advance. You select the 7th Infantry Regiment as your combat element and attach a reconnaissance platoon from 3d Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (troop is a company sized element and squadron is a battalion in this type unit), 10th FA battalion as support, a company from 10th Engineer Bn, a platoon from 3d Quartermaster, 3d Medical and 3d Signal. Corps, (next higher headquarters) attaches two truck, one halftrack and a tank company to your effort. You designate Btty A, 10th FA to support 1/7, B-10th FA to support 2/7, and C-10th to support 3/7. Because of its range the entire 9th FA will be in general support of the advance. This combined force you designate RCT 7thIR.

A US Army Tank Company had 18 x M4 Sherman tanks, 3 x 5 tank sections (section is synonymous with an infantry platoon); A HQ section with 2 x M4 tanks and an M4 (105mm) support tank, an M-32 tank retriever, 2 x 1/4-ton trucks (Jeeps), 1 x M3A1 half-track and a 2 1/2-ton truck (deuce and a half).

So, you move the 155mm howitzers of 9th FA BN to a position to fire in general support. 1/7 IR is mounted on M3 halftracks, they are now considered mechanized, the other two battalions are mounted in deuce and a half's and are now considered motorized. (to illustrate what mechanized and motorized units are).
You move off down your main axis of advance with your reconnaissance platoon in advance one section travelling down the main axis and a section to the left front and right front, a 5 tank section comes next, this is supported by the mech'ed up 1/7 IR (never employ your tanks without supporting infantry), followed by HQ and 2d section tank bn, E 2/7 IR, regimental HQ, regimental weapons co., Btty A, 10th FA, F,G, Wpns. 2/7 IR, B/10 FA, 3d tank section, various support personnel, I 3/7 IR, C/10FA, K,L, WpnsCo 3/7 IR.
Recon reports a platoon sized roadblock at a road junction to the west (left) of the MSR, no armor observed. They call in a fire mission from the 155mm general support battery on target designated Road Junction Baker. This will either pin or cause the enemy units to pull back. You move to the point where your HQ is at road/trail cutting off to the west (this position will now be assigned a name Road Junction Able), order the lead elements to halt. Emplace Btty A to be in position to support the main advance, call up Btty B and emplace to support an advance west, both batterys can shift to support either direction. E 2/7 IR will emplace to support the two batterys, F 2/7 will form in an area where they can move to rapidly support either effort, Bn HQ will emplace to manage defense of the artillery position, handle the assault on the road junction to the west (RJ Baker) and manage the reserve company. G 2/7 IR will move with 1/3 of WpnsCo. 2/7 IR, one section of 37mm guns and the assault gun section of regimental weapons co, to seize and hold the roadblock to the west.
Forward movement on the main axis is resumed HQ section Tank Battalion moves through RJAble and follows the lead elements on the MSR. When I/3/7 comes up 2d tank section moves north with I in support, when 3d tank section arrives at RJ Able they and K.L and WpnsCo 3/7IR pull off and are kept in general reserve.
G 2/7 moves west and links up with the reconnaissance element. The CO emplaces his 60mm mortars sends out a FO (Forward Observer) team to spot, dismounts his troops and pushes a squad forward to reconnoiter the junction. The squad takes automatic weapons fire from a couple of locations. He has his squad take cover and return fire then calls in observed mortar fire from the 60's on the enemy auto weapons. The captain pushes up four of his MG gun teams, and emplaces them in pairs on either flank of the advanced squad to duel with enemy counter-fire. 2d and 3d squads from the first platoon move up and extend either flank. 2d platoon, with the other two gun teams from weapons platoon, moves to the right because it had the most cover in an attempt to flank the enemy position. 3d platoon is held in reserve. When in position mortars are called in on the enemy positions, the 105 battery in support at RJ Able fires a smoke mission and 2d platoon moves forward alternating between base of fire or rushing. They achieve a foothold in the position, then move the guns forward to fire down the axis of advance, the 75mm GMC's come up and provide direct fire support on hard points. The area is secured. Two platoons are arrayed facing the probable direction of enemy advance (to the north in our example) in a semi-circle around the junction using best available cover and concealment. The attached 37mm anti-tank guns are emplaced where they can best cover the advance of armored units. The 75mm GMC's are positioned to counter an enemy armored response the HQ and mortars are positioned in the center of the position with the reserve platoon covering the back half-of the perimeter. Machine guns are emplaced in pairs covering the main avenues of approach. Pre-sited artillery concentrations for 155, 105 and 81mm are observed and recorded. Casualties are evacuated back to the battalion aid station at RJ Able, and a head/ammo count is taken and reported. Ammo is redistributed from within the company, and additional supply, if required is requested from battalion. The recon section now moves north continuing to provide information on the left flank of the general advance.
Now, 2/7 has a company (rein) holding RJ Baker and a company protecting HQ 2/7, Battalion Aid Station, supply, comms, the battalion 81mm mortar section and Batterys A & B. A company at RJ Able acting as a reserve/QRF (Quick Reaction Force) and the battalion commander can coordinate fight his battalion covering/holding the left flank and controlling the MSR. The regimental commander can concentrate on moving and fighting his other two battalions as the move on the main direction of advance.

I know this is long winded but should give you an idea of how the different components interact and why the triangular organization gives great flexibility for mixing and matching assets to meet mission requirements.

 

Wow man, thank you very much for all that info Are you a military?

I am new here but I really love this forum.

 

I used to be, served in the US Marine Corps for quite some time, then served as a Special Operations Medic in the US Army for a while longer. I taught for a short time at the Marine Corps Infantry School (West), when they were trying to get me to re-enlist. I also love to read, always have, and military history is fascinating. I used to wargame, still computer wargame sometimes but it comes in spurts.

I'm glad you found the forum, this is IMHO, the best WWII discussion forum on the net. I hope you're around for years to come. I've been a member since 2009, have read hundreds of books on the war and still learn something new all the time.

Now back to the subject at hand.
The gentleman that runs the site we are on, OTTO, has reached out and saved or taken over curation of a number of WWII discussion and informational sites. One of these is HyperWar (here): HyperWar: World War II on the World Wide Web (ibiblio.org)

Hyper war is a collection of primary source histories, official documents and official monographs, it is a huge library of WWII knowledge. Hyperwar was initially started by Patrick Clancey in 2001 and he ran it until his passing in 2012. Patrick William Clancey - WWII Open Resource Group (ww2.org) We owe him a great debt for assembling this treasure trove of information.
The Pearl Harbor Archives were started in 1997 by Larry W. Jewell, he took over as curator of Hyperwar on Mr. Clancey's passing in 2021. Larry W. Jewell - WWII Open Resource Group (ww2.org) You'll see him hanging out on this site under the username OpanaPointer.

Now that I've given attribution to the source of this information. Here is an actual WWII, Marine Corps Regimental TOE from 1944. (Series F)
HyperWar: Marine Regiment TO&E (1944) (ibiblio.org)

 

The replies seem a bit strange. The first thing that came to my mind is the Willys MB / Ford GPW. And it seems I'm right. No military vehicle comes close to the 650,000 total production volume. My question (to myself) is whether the 277,000 Fords produced can offset the Nazi hunters' claims that Henry made trucks for the Nazis.

 

In (although more superficial) addition to USMCPrice's informative comments:

The organization of the Wehrmacht was also divided on paper into platoons - companies - battalions - regiments, and so on.
But from 1943 at the latest, this could hardly be maintained in the front-line units because of the growing effects of attrition.
Therefore, "Kampfgruppen" became the de facto norm: One grabs whatever is available, turns it into a mixed ad hoc unit and immediately engages the enemy forces.

A proper German battle group has its equivalent in the U.S. Army RCT, but of a far more improvisational nature. In direct comparison there are no reserves, scarce logistics and the tasks of the Arty had to be taken over usually by tanks and assault guns.
(A prominent example is the infamous "Kampfgruppe Peiper" during the Battle of the Bulge, a lesser known the advance units of 196.ID in Norway 1940)

Background
According to the old Prussian military doctrine, the tactical level in fluid situations is about seizing the initiative as quickly as possible to take the offensive.
Thoroughness was secondary, since Moltke coined the maxim: no plan survives enemy contact.

The underlying spirit is perhaps best described by an old military joke:
A British officer is asked for the result of 2 + 2. He calculates very thoroughly, makes notes on a piece of paper, and after careful consideration concludes that the result has to be 4.
Then a German officer is confronted with the same task. He immediately jumps up, bangs his fist on the table and shouts: FIVE!!!

In rapidly changing tactical situations, any score from 3 to 5 was usually considered quite sufficient as long as the decision was made quickly and decisively.

 

Returning to subject, I recall Panzermeyer saying during the early Barbarossa that the troops stay in vehicles until they face enemy fire. Not much reconnaissance, there, is there.

 

Yes, there were, and a lot of emphasis was placed on this. But it was often lost in the vastness of the country, because in the beginning the armored spearheads operated up to 60-80 km (with wide open flanks) in front of the bulk of the Heeresgruppen.
To stay with the thread (most commonly used vehicles):
If you take the SdKfz 250/251 halftracks for the job, you do absolutely nothing wrong, they also developed in reality as the workhorses