War Front strategy guide - unit analysis

While no one questions the bravery, courage or effort of other infantry in World War II, it%26rsquo;s almost universally agreed that the Wehrmacht%26rsquo;s foot soldiers were, man for man, the best-trained and most effective in either theater of war.

These German infantry wield Panzerfausts, which in real life were cheap, disposable, and preloaded anti-tank weapons not to be confused with Panzerschrecks, a reusable bazooka-style weapon.

Although jetpacks are now considered more a novelty item than anything else, the Germans %26mdash; ever seeking a technological edge in a war where they were outnumbered and outgunned %26mdash; actually created a prototype jetpack called the Himmelst%26uuml;rmer. The Himmelst%26uuml;rmer was designed to provide short jumps (up to 60m), mainly to bypass obstacles like minefields, waterways, or defensive fortifications.

Like jetpacks, walking war machines were originally the purview of science fiction; unlike jetpacks, they%26rsquo;ve never emerged from that domain %26mdash; at least not in real life.

German engineers loved to produce specialized variants on existing vehicles, and perhaps no vehicle saw so many iterations as the Sdkfz 251: there were 23 official types, and an unknown number of iterations that weren%26rsquo;t officially classified. The Sdkfz 251/16, or %26ldquo;Flammpanzerwagen,%26rdquo; was a half-track that could carry up 12 soldiers (including the crew) and flamethrowers as well as an MG 34 machine gun.

The Panther, or Panzer V, was the German response to the Russian T-34, a tank that outgunned and outmaneuvered earlier incarnations of the Panzer line. In the real World War II, it would easily have outclassed the Matilda and T-70, its two enemy equivalents in War Front.

In the first year it saw action, the Tiger was more noted for mechanical failures than its battlefield prowess. As the war shifted and the Germans went over to the defensive, however, this heavy tank struck fear in the hearts of America, British, and Russian tank crews.

Although most sonic weapons are aimed at inducing aural pain to incapacitate individual soldiers, a huge sonic blast could %26mdash; in theory %26mdash; cause vibrations that would shatter buildings and vehicles.

The heaviest tank to be developed into a working prototype during World War II, the Maus wielded a mighty 128mm cannon and a 75mm coaxial gun and sported steel armor that was 240mm thick in some places. If it had been used in the war, its weight would have been too great for many bridges. The Germans planned for it to ford rivers or, if they were too deep, to submerge and cross on the bottom, using snorkels for air and cables attached to another Maus for electrical power.

A major component of WWII tank-warfare doctrine was that certain vehicles were designated as %26ldquo;tank killers%26rdquo; %26mdash; essentially self-propelled anti-tank gun platforms. This was the role of the Elephant (%26ldquo;Elefant%26rdquo; in German). It was initially called the %26ldquo;Ferdinand%26rdquo; after its designer, Ferdinand Porsche, but after some design changes it was officially called the Elephant on Hitler%26rsquo;s orders. (Note: A strict vegetarian, Hitler often remarked to acquaintances that the elephant was the strongest of all land animals, yet ate no meat.)

The chassis of the Sdkfz 251 is again put to good use, this time as a mobile rocket launcher. The Wurfrahmen 40 featured side-mounted rocket launchers, while the Wurfrahmen auf Infanterieschlepper sported a rear-mounted frame for launching rockets and resembles the unit seen in War Front..

The fast pace of blitzkrieg combat necessitated the need for self-propelled artillery, and thus was born the Hummel. It offered the firepower of traditional artillery, but could also move fast enough to keep up with Panzer forces that were spearheading breakthroughs in enemy lines.

Built using the Panzer IV chassis, the Wirbelwind was equipped with four rapid-firing AA guns. Although relatively few Wirbelwinds were produced during the war, they were known to be used against Allied infantry %26mdash; an ability that is not reproduced in War Front.

German arms designers and manufacturers were known for ideas ahead of their time, and the Rheintochter is one of them. Although it never was deployed during the war, the Rheintochter was a much more simple version (it relied on human control for flight and detonation) of the surface-to-air missiles developed in the 1950s and 1960s.