Sd. Kfz. 251

See also the Allied half-track.

Sd. Kfz. 251

Equipment:

MG-42 Gunner; 4 random troops.

Average stats:

Health	Rifle	Exp
1000	1-10	0
Morale	Speed	Priority
N/A	9px/sec	N/A

Specialties:

Carrier, Turret Gunner, Fire and Movement, Hit and Run, Suppressive Fire, Motorized, Soft Skinned

Description:

A half-track that, despite carrying less troops than an average Opel, packs much more punch. The gunner is capable of target-switching cover fire, while the vehicle itself boasts much greater armor - so much so that, in fact, the driver cannot be shot out.

"This is a SdKfz, it's an armored halftrack who drops soldiers close to your defenses."

— Official game quote

The SdKfz's actual name is the Sonderkraftfahrzeug .251. It packs a large punch with its MG-42, and is pretty annoying when everybody except the driver is shot out. Think of the SdKfz as a pimped-out Opel Blitzwagen, with similar purpose and troop transport capabilities. They can drop up to 4 men very far down the field, sometimes completely bypassing your advance defenses. The SdKfz's main drawback is its low unit capacity compared to the Opel Blitzwagen.

How do I kill it?

1. Don't bother aiming for the driver. The vehicle is sufficiently armored to prevent his death, but the machine gunner can be shot out along with it's passengers. You can destroy it outright with an AT unit or bazooka. You can eventually destroy it with regular bullets but it takes a very long time. Beware, when the gunner and passengers have been killed, it will keep on advancing until eventually stopping to retreat. That can cause your AT guns to friendly fire if it gets close to your units. If you do manage to destroy it with regular bullets the remains of a wrecked PAK 38 will appear.
2. If you have some very skilled spec ops with BARs, or NCO gunners, they will probably kill the gunners, and the rest of the crew members before the SdKfz can even drop any soldiers off. The halftrack will retreat and regroup if all the crew except the driver are dead, and it WILL be back.
3. You can put their drivers on the highway to hell if you have the Halftrack, preferably with the Gun Boat upgrade. It will do a good job when it comes to wrecking these vehicles into scrap metal.
4. An engineer could deploy a mine in it's way and destroy it in one blast. Drawback is the high chance of losing your engineer without destroying the half-track.

Real Life

The Sd.Kfz. 251 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251) half-track was an armored fighting vehicle designed and first built by Nazi Germany's Hanomag company during World War II. The largest, most common, and best armored of the wartime half-tracks, the Sd.Kfz. 251 was designed to transport the Panzergrenadiers of the German mechanized infantry corps into battle. Widely known simply as "Hanomags" by both German and Allied forces, they were widely produced throughout the war, with over 15,252 vehicles and variants produced in total by various manufacturers. Different models of the Sdkfz were also used as recon vehicles, sending communications to the Germans about enemy vehicles and infantry. Sadly, the largest, most common, and best armored of the wartime half-tracks, had one problem: they were roofless; meaning that a grenade could be thrown in through the top, leaving the men inside trapped with a live grenade. If they tried to get out, they would be shot and almost certainly die.