Romfell V2.0 Armoured Car Update: (
@Petike)
The finished product at last with some details from Petike's TL:
The Zemplín Federation's military (1918 - mid-to-late 1940s) - Part 3: Military inventories
A deep dive into the military inventories and related inventory terminology of the Zemplín Federation's military.
Armoured cars: Since the ATL version of the Austro-Hungarian
Romfell armoured car had been produced in plentiful numbers (approaching 120 units), the governments of the Šariš Free State, Zemplín Federation and Kingdom of Galizia commandeered as many leftover units as possible after the collapse of the eastern front late in WWI.
Modifications and add-ons
The governments soon realized that the vanilla version of the vehicle wouldn't be all that suitable for the needs of their interwar militaries. Furthermore, while a good basic design, the model had several inherent flaws that were in dire need of being addressed by technical tweaking and updating. Maintaining and reproducing some of the more intricate parts and portions of the vehicles would prove too pricy, especially for the strapped-for-cash Šariš and Zemplín militaries. Hence why all of the three countries decided to resort to extensive modifications of all surviving Romfell hulls.
Upgrades of the Romfell common in all three states included:
- Replacement of the original engines for more powerful ones.
- The hull plating was, where possible, slightly thickened.
- The once overly narrow wheels were replaced with far broader, thicker, buffer ones.
- The roof of the turret, originally equipped with a simple and rather unergonomic hatch, was replaced by a static roof that could be raised and lowered by a handcrank-operated mechanism from inside the turret.
- Several variants of the car were created in each country. Every variant was distinctive either by its extended number of wheels, modified hull or by new armaments.
Resulting variants
The three
Romfell that were in use among the armoured units of the ZF's armed forces since the 1920s, up until the 1940s were the following:
1.) Hače ("Foal") armoured scout car - This variant is the closest to the original Romfell. It is a simple armoured scout car with a single machine gun and a crew consisting of only a driver and gunner. The hind parts of the vehicle were slightly enlarged to allow for a smaller, inexpensive on-board radio. (
Claymore's note: Not reproduced as a model)
2.) Hačur ("Stallion") anti-tank armoured car - The most ambitious and creative of the variants, but also the one that was produced the least. It was derived from an experimental prototype, a six-wheeled expansion of the original Romfell. Since the Romfell - vanilla as well as modified - is overall a fairly light armoured car and has a rather small turret, the ZF armed forces made a decision to equip it with heavy anti-tank rifles instead of actual light cannons. While the caliber of these improvised "rifle-cannons" is rather low and they can't pack as much of a punch as a real cannon, they are still adequate for supporting infantry and armoured cars with machine guns against more lightly armoured vehicles (e.g. tankettes, light tanks). The space offered by the expanded hind quarters of the variant are used primarily for housing the on-board radio, a small storage of additional ammo for the AT rifle and the bench of the ammo loader (who also doubles as a radio operator when he's not handing AT bullets to the gunner). The ammo can be loaded into the car through a small single door in the back. This door is also used as an emergency escape hatch for the gunner, in case he doesn't make it to the front doors of the car.
3. Kobula ("Mare") light APC / assault armoured car - This variant came into being as a simpler offshoot of the Stallion six-wheeler. There are only two real differences between the duo: The turret sports a machine gun instead of an anti-tank rifle. Instead of a small storage for AT rifle ammo, the reinforced hind quarters of the car have small benches, able to accommodate up to 4 infantrymen. Said infantrymen can enter through two doors at the back of the car. The relative spaciousness of the hind quarters also permits the car to carry a bigger and more powerful on-board radio. This means that the car can also be used as an improvised command vehicle, with one or two of the soldiers replaced by a platoon commander and his aide, both sitting near the radio.
Reasons behind the turret hatch modification
I'll just note that there is no longer a top hatch on the turret. The entire roof is a solid single piece but can be lifted a bit on small rack rails inside the turret, powered by a hand crank. The main reason why they redesigned the original roof was to avoid someone sneaking up on the car, climbing on the turret, opening the hatch and chucking in a hand grenade. The crew of the modified car is in about the same amount of potential danger as the tankette and light tank crews, so having a top hatch wouldn't add much to the survivability. Of course, losing a top hatch makes an escape a bit more involved, but the modified car was never meant to fight tanks head on.
Tactical use of the modified Romfell
The Romfell is not intended to directly battle armour larger than light tanks, and certainly not against whole groups of enemy armour. With the improved wheels and more powerful engine, the car is intended for hit-and-run tactics, rather than direct confrontations with a larger armoured force or infantry force. Most of the preferred tactics focus on ambushes, especially in rural areas with dirt roads among fields, meadows and the edges of forests. Hiding behind foliage or hedgerows is part of commencing ambushes. The cars coordinate with jaegers and with other light armoured vehicles (sometimes even with mounted troops) to harass the enemy in ambush-advantageous locations. The AT variant (and AT rifle infantry) attempt to harass enemy light armoured vehicles and motor vehicles, while the MG variants (and machine gunners and riflemen) try to attack enemy infantry and mounted troops. The goal isn't an orderly thinning-down of the ranks, but an effort to cause as much confusion, chaos and panic in the invaders as possible, possibly even induce a rout.
The
Stallion model depicts vehicle number III of the Heavy AT Company of the Zemplín Federation's Armoured Car Battalion whilst the
Mare represents vehicle number III of the battalion's Headquarters Company. The model is adapted from a couple of excellent CSM Romfell Panzerwagen models and the ubiquitous plastic card.
Stallion
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Mare
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