New subfaction proposal: Bulgaria

Valkay · July 11, 2025, 1:14pm

Hello Bajtársak and fellow forumdwellers,

Bulgaria officially joined the war on the side of the Axis in 1941 and participated in the invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece to liberate their former territories but avoided direct conflict with USSR and did not participate in Operation Barbarossa.

The Bulgarian military occupied parts of Greece and Yugoslavia under Axis agreements, primarily to reclaim lost territories (e.g., Macedonia and Thrace) thus Bulgaria’s army saw limited combat, focusing on occupation duties and suppressing local uprisings rather than major frontline battles.

That however had changed in September 1944, after Romania had switched sides in August thus Soviet forces reached the borders of Bulgaria. After a swift coup d’etat in the Bulgarian fatherland, the country switched sides, joining the Allies and mobilising the Bulgarian army against its former allies, liberating Belgrade and fighting the Axis in the Balkans, Hungary and Austria.

Considering Bulgaria´s involvement in the war, their weapons and vehicles used in the conflict as well as the operations they participated in, it would be logical to make Bulgaria a subfaction of the Soviet faction, but Axis get one Bulgarian premium squad as well.

Axis:
Pre-order squad:
bulgarian-waffen-ss
unit: Legion Broneiztrebitelna or Panzer-Zerstörer-Regiment (bulgarisches), Also known as: Waffen Grenadier Regiment der SS (Bulgarisches 1)
primary: Spasov M1939, assaulter squad
sidearms: Bulgarian M1911 Luger pistols (fixed)

Suggested squad composition

assaulter: Spasov M1939, M1911 Luger
assaulter: Spasov M1939, M1911 Luger
assaulter: Spasov M1939, M1911 Luger
assaulter: Spasov M1939, M1911 Luger
engineer: Spasov M1939, M1911 Luger
AT gunner: Mannlicher M1895 (changable), Panzerfaust 60 (changable), M1911 Luger

Allies:
Pre-order squad:
Bulgarian_soldier_zk383
unit: 3rd “Balkan” Infantry Division - 10th infantry regiment
primary: ZK-383 (30 or 40 rounds), assaulter squad
sidearms: Bulgarian M1911 Luger pistols (fixed)

Suggested squad composition

assaulter: ZK-383, M1911 Luger
assaulter: ZK-383, M1911 Luger
assaulter: ZK-383, M1911 Luger
assaulter: ZK-383, M1911 Luger
engineer: ZK-383, M1911 Luger
AT gunner: Pushka M95 S (changable), Panzerfaust 60 (changable), M1911 Luger

Premium squad:

unit: Armoured Brigade - 1. Armored Battalion
primary: Bulgarian Panzer IV G (late), tank squad
sidearms: Bulgarian M1911 Luger pistols (fixed)
note: the Panzer IV G model in game is the early one so this one would be unique-ish.

Event squad:

unit: 8th “Tundzha” Infantry Division - 31th infantry regiment
They have changeable primary weapons.
their sidearms however are fixed, Bulgarian M1911 Luger pistols.

Suggested squad composition

assaulter: Pps-43 (changable), M1911 Luger
assaulter: Pps-43 (changable), M1911 Luger
assaulter: Pps-43 (changable), M1911 Luger
assaulter: Pps-43 (changable), M1911 Luger
engineer: Pushka M95 S (changable), M1911 Luger
AT gunner: Pushka M95 S (changable), Panzerfaust 60 (changable), M1911 Luger
machine gunner: ZB-39 (changable), M1911 Luger

None of the squads should have fixed melee weapons since those are unpopular and Bulgaria had no fighting knives, they used bayonets instead (with some exceptions ofcourse since Bulgarian paratroopers used German Fallschirmjäger knives).

Uniforms

Uniforms of the Axis squad:
bulgarian-waffen-ss
bulgarian-waffen-s-soldier

These uniforms are almost identical to German ones, but they had a shield on their arm sleeve in Bulgarian national colours. These men should have the same voice lines as the Allied Bulgarian squads, maybe with a little variation.

Uniforms of the Bulgarian army (Allies)
infantry

field caps
cap1
cap2
cap3
cap4

officer´s cap
officers cap

tank crew

tank crew2
tank crew3

paratroopers

men of the “Parachute Druzhina” Druzhina (дружина) was the traditional word used for an infantry battalion in the Kingdom of Bulgaria.
Bulgarian paratroopers were trained by the Germans at Fallschirmschule 3 in 1943 and ironically first saw combat against German SS in 1944 in the Stracin–Kumanovo operation.

Bulgarian weapons

Common weapons

Luger M1911 (Bulgarian contract)

The Luger M1911 (Bulgarian contract) refers to a specific variation of the Luger pistol produced by DWM for Bulgaria in 1911. These pistols are notable for their unique features, including Bulgarian crests and Cyrillic markings, and were adopted as the standard sidearm for the Bulgarian army.

ZK-383
ZK-383
Suggested BR and role: BR3 premium SMG of Allied pre-order squad.

The most common and standard issue submachine gun of the Bulgarian army during WW2.
Its already in the game in the Axis tech tree, but considering the quantity in which Bulgaria had used the gun, they deserve at least a premium squad armed with it.

Mannlicher M1890 carbine

Suggested BR and role: BR1 tech tree straight pull bolt-action rifle

Austro-Hungarian straight pull bolt-action rifle made for their cavalry units, 10218 rifles were made for Bulgaria.

Mannlicher-M1888-90 (long)

Suggested BR and role: BR1 tech tree straight pull bolt-action rifle

predecessor to the M1890 carbine produced by the Austro-Hungarian Empire for itself as well as Bulgaria.

Pushka M95 S (Steyr-Mannlicher M1895)
Bulgarian Pushka M95 S
Suggested BR and role: BR2 tech tree straight pull bolt-action rifle

Standard issue rifle of the Bulgarian army during WW2 chambered in 8x56mmR, though K98K and Carcano rifles were also in use.

Bulgarian Mannlicher 1888/90 self-loading rifle

Suggested BR and role: BR2 event/BP semi-auto rifle

The base rifle used in this conversion is a Bulgarian service Mannlicher, and it is claimed that, toward the end of World War I, Bulgaria converted 1,200 such rifles into self-loaders, but that most were destroyed by the Inter-Allied Commission of Control after 1920.

ZB-39

Suggested BR and role: BR2 tech tree LMG

Bulgarian contract light machine gun ordered from Czechoslovakia, the gun is chambered in 8x56mmR and has a curved magazine holding 25 rounds.

Prototype weapons
picture of Spassov in news

All of these were designed by Hristo Nikolov Spassov, Bulgarian infantry weapon designer.
Before discussing any of these guns, it’s important to understand the historical background: Equipping and supplying the massive armies of the 20th century took impressive industrial might, something Bulgaria simply did not possess at the time of the second world war thus Spassov’s designs are usually based on successful designs already in use with the Bulgarian military, these were simplified and adjusted so Bulgaria with its modest industry could mass produce them, but even with Spassov’s limited resources he did design some truly unique firearms, sadly despite his best efforts none of these saw mass production.

Spasov M1939
M1939
Suggested BR and role: BR2 premium SMG of Axis pre-order squad.

This submachine gun was most likely based on the ZK-383 which had already been adopted and used by the Bulgarian army. The M1939 was chambered for 9x19 and was fed by either a 30 or 32 round magazine.
Sources conflict on the magazine size, some claim 30 while others claim 32 rounds, however considering that the Bulgarian military had thousands of 30 round ZK-383 magazines available, it seems logical to me that these weapons were designed to accept the same magazines.
Submachine guns that used Schmeisser magazines (such as Mp28) were also in use by Bulgaria but by the police at the time, but not the army although the army had adopted them later as well with German supplied Mp40s.
This gun actually saw limited production and allegedly had more than just one variant though information on it is scarce.

Spasov M1944
M1944
Suggested BR and role: BR2 tech tree SMG

Its most likely based on the Mp40
Magazine: 30 9x19mm rounds and a fire rate of 500-600 rpm.

Spasov Bojinov CB M1944

Suggested BR and role: BR1 tech tree SMG

It’s just another variant of the M1944
This is the only picture I could find of it, personally I would suggest giving it a fire rate of 450 rpm and making it a BR1 SMG since the Soviet faction has only 1 tech tree SMG at the moment.

Spasov M1944 Tri-gun
Trigun
Suggested BR and role: BR? BP/event weapon

By far the most unique design, the Tri-gun is made up of three submachine guns combined from M1939 and M1944 models.
It has a monstrous fire rate of around 1500 rpm, each barrel has a fire rate of ~500 rpm which is combined for maximum effect. The weapon is fed by 3x 30 round magazines holding 9x19mm giving the weapon a total of 90 rounds.
It’s hard to compare this weapon to anything, the closest in game weapon is the Type 100 LMG so this weapon will be probably around BR4 or 5.

MUD pistol
MUD
This may be one of Spasov´s works.
7 round magazine, 7.65x21 Parabellum

Spasov pistol carbine
Spasov MUD carbine
Suggested BR and role: no BR, BP/event sidearm

A pistol carbine similar to the Luger artillery carbine, based on the MUD pistol.
7/30/32 ?? round magazine, 7.65x21 Parabellum
The magazine is fed through the pistol grip and the weapon has a fire selector.
Estimated fire rate: 700-1000 rpm

Spasov M1936/1938 LMG
M1936 1938
Suggested BR and role: BR2/3 tech tree LMG

Designed from 1927 to 1938, the design likely went through multiple changes.
It may have been influenced by the Madsen LMG which saw extensive use by Bulgaria during WW1 but it also shares some similarities with the Swiss Furrer LMG 25.
It was designed to fire 8x50mmR which was then changed to the more modern 8x56mmR.
The weapon was fed by a side mounted magazine that could hold either 20 or 40 rounds of ammunition and had a fire rate of 450-900 rpm, fire rate may have depended on the variant since it was revised multiple times.
Spassov was a WW1 veteran and an officer of the Bulgarian army, he had believed that the key to winning modern battles were light machineguns so he worked really hard and spent his last coin on creating the best LMG for Bulgaria.
It was an excellent design for its time, earning the attention on international scale, the British army even offered a very high price for the patent, but Spassov rejected their offer out of patriotism, however his design was rejected by the Bulgarian army out of jealousy. One gun was sent to the USSR in 1938 “I give it to your fatherland because mine does not want to take advantage of it”.
There are two surviving guns to this day, one in the Artillery Museum in the city of Saint Petersburg and the other in Bulgaria.