Hungarian Rifle Platoon
The Hungarian Rifle platoon is a unit available for Hungary in Flames of War. It represents the Hungarian troops who served on the Eastern front during Operation Barbarossa.
IRL[edit | edit source]
The Platoon as an organizational unit can trace its roots back to the early era of gunpowder and derives from the French word "peloton" which meant a small detachment of soldiers. Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden organized his firing unit Platoon in the early 1600s, and by the latter part of the century, the French had adopted the system as well.
When people think of World War II, they usually think of the big five players: The United States, The British Empire, Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and Imperial Japan. However, fewer people are aware of or remember that Hungary, Romania, and Finland(Sorta. It's complicated) were also Axis allies in addition to Italy.
Hungarians were somewhat looked down upon by the Germans serving in the eastern front, who considered them somewhat cowardly and ineffective. It was in part due to Hungarians operating the flanks of the German Army at Stalingrad that led to the defeat of Von Paulus' 5th army.
Hungarian Infantry platoons typically had 33 men in them, with each squad armed with an SMG, an MG34 that they renamed, and what was probably a mixture of Mannlicher M1895s or FÉG 35M rifles. While the Hungarians were functionally armed with whatever the Germans or Italians felt like throwing at them, they did have a few unique weapons. As for the inevitable breakdown:
- The Solothorn was the best MG of the whole damn war. See the MG34 Platoon page for more info.
- The M1895 and 35M rifles were wholy inadequate for combat against Soviet troops, as they were chambered for older 8mm ammo. While the 35m was rechambered to accept 7.92x57mm, this lead to logistics problems of having to send several different types of Rifle ammo to the front. Even then the 35M was only 730m/s to the 98K's 760m/s. (For comparison, the Mosin shot at ~800m/s)
- The Danuvia M39/M43 family of SMGs were popular weapons that were at least comparable, if not outright superior to the MP40 due to using a slightly larger version of the 9mm cartridge from the previous war.
| Hungarian Forces in Flames of War | |
|---|---|
| Tanks: | Toldi II - Panzer 38(t) - Turan - Panther |
| Infantry: | Hungarian Rifle Platoon - Hungarian Mortar Platoon - 7/M31 MG Platoon |
| Artillery: | Nebelwerfer - Hungarian 105mm - Hungarian 100mm |
| Tank Destroyer: | Zrinyi Assault Gun - Stug III - Hetzer |
| Recon: | Csaba Armored Car |
| Aircraft: | |
| Anti-Aircraft: | Nimrod SPAA |