looks at more open-topped German artillery vehicles.
This week, we make available the vehicles Alessio Cavatore outlined in his exciting night-time operations rules for Bolt Action (see below!). These are the Sd.Kfz 251/20 Uhu and the Panther ausf G with infrared sight.
This modified Hanomag armored halftrack was equipped with night vision and a 600mm searchlight that could illuminate targets much further away than the Panthers' smaller searchlights. Working in tandem, allied armor was a vulnerable target…
Attached to units of night-fighting Panthers, and protected by infantry squads equipped with night-fighting assault rifles, the Uhu was designed to work in conjunction with the Panthers, in order to try to make better use of the long range of their main guns.
As you can see, our Uhu is highly detailed, with its German operator scanning the landscape for possible targets. The searchlight is made so you can rotate it to the angle you so desire. Anyone handy with rare earth magnets could also make it fully rotatable!
In late 1944, the German army had developed night-vision equipment for its Panther tanks, in the form of the Sperber (Sparrow Hawk) system, which consisted of a 30cm FG 1250 infrared searchlight (with a not-inconsiderable range of 600m), coupled with an image converter operated by the commander.
This allowed the tank to illuminate its targets with a searchlight that its crew could see, but the enemy could not – an incredible advantage in night-fight conditions. Thankfully for the Allies, not enough of these devices were produced in time to make a difference, and only a relatively small number of these night-vision-equipped Panthers saw action on the Eastern Front and in the Battle of the Bulge.
Night-Fighting Rules
Alessio Cavatore has created a set of exciting new rules for fighting your Bolt Action games during night-time operations, or any other time where you experience limited visibility.
You can download them for free!
If you and your opponent agree, these rules are used during games that happen at night, and deal with limited visibility and mayhem caused by night operations. As mentioned earlier, the rules can also be used for battles that occur in other situations of limited visibility, such as heavy fog, snow blizzards, sandstorms, and the like.
Players can agree that the game is a true Night Fight, and so the Reduced Visibility rules apply throughout the game. Alternatively, they can decide that they are playing a Dawn Assault game, a Longest Day game, or a Flare! game.
All of this is explained in the PDF download we have prepared for you. Click on the link above to download, and then save to your PC.
It also contain rules for the Panther Ausf G with infrared sights and the Sd.Kfz 251/20 Uhu infrared halftrack shown above.