Roughly translated as the ‘mace-thrower’, the 44M Buzogányvető was a prototype rocket weapon designed towards the end of the war. The dual unguided rockets were mounted on either captured and converted Soviet Maxim MG wheeled carriages, or a custom tripod. Of the 600–700 rocket launchers produced by the VM factory, the majority were used for the defence of Budapest in late December 1944. The small gun carriage and short range anti-armour capabilities made it particularly suited to the urban warfare of the siege. A large blast shield protected the operator from the weapon’s own back blast. Tests on captured IS2 ‘Stalin’ tanks showed its HEAT anti-armour warhead was able to penetrate up to 300mm of armour at 1200m. An antipersonnel HE warhead was also designed, named Zápor or ‘rainfall’.
In Bolt Action, the 44M Buzogányvető rocket launcher counts as an artillery unit for the purpose of the generic Reinforced Platoon Selector from the Bolt Action rulebook, and may also be taken as an artillery unit in any of the late war Hungarian Theatre Selectors in the Armies of Italy and the Axis supplement. Capable of unleashing both Buzogány and Zápor ammunition in game, you can find the full rules on page 120 of Bolt Action Campaign: Fortress Budapest.
Contains one gun and four crew, in metal.
Models supplied unassembled and unpainted
