Flames of War - Blitzkrieg - Panzer II Platoon
The Panzer II was designed as a training tank, but war overtook Germany's plans and they used it as a light tank.
Because its 2cm gun is effective against armoured cars and light tanks, but has no effect on heavy tanks, it is used to scout out routes of advance and to chase off enemy reconnaissance. *
Although the Panzer II had originally been designed as a stopgap while larger, more advanced tanks were developed, it nonetheless went on to play an important role in the early years of World War II, during the Polish and French campaigns. It was the most numerous tank in the German Panzer divisions beginning with the invasion of France. It was used in both North Africa against the Western Allies and on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union.
The Panzer II was armed with a 2 cm KwK 30 L/55 autocannon. This autocannon was based on the 2 cm FlaK 30 anti-aircraft gun, and was capable of firing at a rate of 600 rounds per minute (280 rounds per minute sustained) from 10-round magazines. A total of 180 shells were carried.
The Panzer II also had a 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 machine gun mounted coaxially with the main gun.
The Panzer II had a crew of three men. The driver sat in the forward left hull with the gearbox on the right. The commander sat in a seat in the turret, and was responsible for aiming and firing the cannon and co-axial machine gun, while a loader/radio operator sat on the floor of the tank behind the driver. He had a radio on the left and several 20mm ammunition storage bins.
Production of the tank itself ceased by 1943, but its chassis remained in use as the basis of several other armored vehicles, chiefly self-propelled artillery and tank destroyers such as the Wespe and Marder II.
This box contains:
- 5x plastic Panzer II or Panzer II B Tanks
