Forgotten German Tank types?

[tin shed gamer]

I found this on the Landships 2 forum,where it seems to have sunk without a trace,So I thought it interesting enough to breath life into it here on LAF.
I'm more inclined to take the view that the fast tank is likely to be a whippet or a German copy of one ( I know they were impressed with the whippet but that's where most information seems to stop .They did capture a fair few and it's not unreasonable (from a gaming point of view) to assume they were turned around and sent back like the mk4's given they were building something similar.
As for the flame thrower on a tank not unreasonable more likely to be a crew led change rather than a factory design( simply drop out a machine gun or two and stick the business end of a man portable model out the 'window' as it were. More than enough room on an A7V to try this)
For me this is enough information ( thin and tenuous as it is) to play a couple of what if games .
Love to hear your thoughts but not your convictions ( these types of thread can get messy if you take them too seriously  )
Mark.

[Iron Haiden]

Go for it.

There is always room for some creativity in war gaming.  We play warhammer historical Great War rules with our own tweaks/ artistic license.

[monk2002uk]

German A7Vs carried Flammenwerfer teams. The A7V operated like an armoured fighting vehicle rather than a tank. Specialist stormtroopers were also carried in addition to Flammenwerfer. The description of the gun calibre is over-exaggerated but that would not be surprising in a press report. I will have to check on when/if the Germans fielded captured Whippets but April 1918 is too soon.

Robert

[monk2002uk]

Two Whippets were captured, both in late April/May of 1918. They were taken back to Charleroi and then put through a testing programme. The decision was taken not to use the Whippets and none made it into the Beutepanzer tank detachments.

Robert

[armchairgeneral]

The dimensions given for the "swift" tank are 26ft long x 10ft which is almost the exact dimensions of the A7V (24ft x 10 ft) so maybe this is the tank being referred to?

The Mark IV is 26ft x 13ft so maybe if the A7V looked smaller there was an assumption is was faster?

The Leichte Kampfwagen would make a good what if German light tank project 

http://www.landships.info/landships/tank_articles.html#

[monk2002uk]

The A7V was a fast tank by the standards of the time. It was significantly faster than the British MkIVs, so much so that the specialist stormtrooper training team decided not to go with the MkIVs to support their assaults.

Robert

[Metternich]

Robert is quite right that at least on one occasion at least one A7V fielded a flammenwerfer team that mounted a flame attack from outside the tank.  Given the close quarters and what was no doubt foul air, I shudder to think of the results of trying to fire one from inside the tank.  Prior to the Kaiserschlacht, a detachment of tanks was seconded to Hauptmann Rohr's famous Stormtrooper Abteilung for training in stormtrooper tactics, basically what to do if the tank was disabled.  Th crew were to dismount their machineguns and, hurling hand grenades, were to fight on.  Given that the crew numbered 15 - 18 men led by an officer, and sometimes carried additional supernumeraries, they could give a reasonable account of themselves.