Sd.Kfz.251/10

Description

The Sd.Kfz.251 was a German light half-track armoured personnel carrier. The Sd.Kfz.251 family of armoured personnel carriers was produced by Hanomag from 1938 to 1945, with over 15,000 vehicles of various modifications manufactured during this period. Initially, the Sd.Kfz.251 was intended for transporting infantry on the battlefield, but subsequently, many specialised vehicles were built on its chassis: from a standard armoured personnel carrier and command vehicle to rocket artillery systems and self-propelled artillery mounts.

One of many modifications of this APC was the Sd.Kfz.251/10, a self-propelled artillery mount armed with the 37 mm Pak 35/36 anti-tank gun. The self-propelled gun was used as a command vehicle and was intended to enhance the firepower of infantry units. Serial production ran from 1942 to 1943, during which period 311 were built. In 1944, due to the already insufficient firepower of the gun, all vehicles of the type were withdrawn from combat units and used in the rear areas.

Introduced in Update "Raining Fire" as a reward for the 2020 Wargame "Strategist" event, the Sd.Kfz.251 has the mobility and manoeuvrability of a medium tank, but lags behind most tracked vehicles in cross-country ability. The gun itself is located above the hull of the armoured personnel carrier, which allows it to fire while completely concealing the vehicle behind cover. The gun's power is sufficient for effective combat with enemy armour, and the fast reload rate allows for a fairly intensive rate of fire. However, the open fighting compartment and the crew, peering out from the hull up to their waist, make the vehicle very vulnerable even to machine gun fire.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (hull, gun shield)
• Structural steel (mudguards, undercarriage)
• Wheel (front tires)

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and tracks are 15 mm thick while torsion bars are 10 mm thick.
• Wheels are 10 mm thick and mudguards are 5 mm thick.
• The belly armour is 5.5 mm thick.

Mobility

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Main armament

Ammunition

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Sd.Kfz.251/10

Notes:

• As they are modeled by sets of 4, shells disappear from the rack only after you fire all 4 shells in the set.
• Each rack contains 3 sets of 4 shells.

Usage in battles

The Sd.Kfz.251/10 is a light armored half track with decent mobility, with a quick firing high velocity, but low spalling 37 mm main gun. For these reasons, the Sd.Kfz.251/10 should not be used in the frontlines due to being so lightly armored even against 7.62 mm machine gun fire can and will harm you.

As a sniper:

Due to its gun's high muzzle velocity, the Sd.Kfz.251/10 is more than capable of having a sniper combat role in long range maps. It should be noted that the main gun sights have really low zoom (though normal for the BR it sits at), meaning it is not capable of achieving shots at extreme ranges but will dominate the long range engagements like many German high velocity guns.

As a support vehicle:

This is the most reliable role the Sd.Kfz.251/10 can play as, especially since not every map the player will have the sniping distances needed (Sweden or Berlin for example). It should be performing support fire from behind the most armored vehicles at the BR (Pz.III for example) and utilize its quick firing gun to disable or destroy enemy tanks. It should be noted that machine gun fire is your worst enemy as:

a) the crew is exposed

b) it is an open top vehicle

c) has little to no armor which can barely stop 7.62 mm at point blank ranges, 12.7 mm (.50 cal) will completely destroy it if strafed with

Due to being a halftrack, the Sd.Kfz.251/10 has superb traction and decent speed compared to fully wheeled vehicles. It is able to move through rough terrain easier than fully wheeled vehicles (snow, sand, mud, etc.) but still somewhat maintain its speed as a wheeled vehicle in urban terrain such as roads, although it will be definitely slower compared to fully wheeled vehicles.

As a half track, the Sd.Kfz.251/10 shares tank track traction but does not share tank steering. The front wheels have to turn like a normal car.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Thin armour does not trigger most APHE rounds fired at it
• Relatively punchy APCR round and high-velocity
• Very fast reload
• High survivability due to a crew of five

Cons:

• Relatively bad mobility, especially in mud and snow
• Very thin armour, cannot block heavy machine gunfire
• Open top, weak against planes and machine guns
• Best shell is APCR, which is underwhelming at medium/long ranges
• Gun shield does not do a good job at protecting the gunner
• Gun is centrally located so peeking without exposing the engine is difficult
• Vulnerable to artillery

History

Developed on the basis of the unarmored Sd.Kfz.11 halftrack, the Sd.Kfz.251 entered service with the Wehrmacht in 1939 and was intended as the primary transportation vehicle for the Panzergrenadier units of the German army. As such, the vehicle was intended to taxi troops into battle and protect them from small arms fire and shrapnel. By the end of the war, over 15,000 units of the Sd.Kfz.251 were built.

However, platoon leader vehicles received a special upgrade to their firepower in order to increase the effectiveness of fire support provided for advancing infantry. Namely, the standard machine gun mount was replaced by a turret housing a 3.7cm PaK anti-tank cannon. These versions, designated Sd.Kfz. 251/10, served with the Wehrmacht until 1944, by which time over 300 units were built.

- From Devblog

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Sd.Kfz.251/10 from live.warthunder.com.

Images

• Sd.Kfz. 251/10 Devblog Images
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Videos

See also

Other German half-tracks

• Sd.Kfz. 6/2
• 15 cm Pz.W.42

External links

• [Devblog] Crafting event "Strategist": Sd.Kfz.251/10
• [Wikipedia] Sd.Kfz. 251
• [Tanks Encyclopedia] Sd.Kfz.251