This tank really should become a premium for Germany in Moscow. Russia already has the M3 Lee, a German captured B1 would definitely not break anything and actually give Germany some deserved armor.
As it would be the German captured B1, it would have the commander hatch installed so you can poke out.
While I have made a post about this before, but it’s a good idea nevertheless, also a good predecessor for future France campaign wink wink.
The Pz.Kpfw.B2 (f) fit very poorly into the German army’s weapons system. With a crew of 4 people, the commander was both a turret gunner and a loader, and the 75-mm SA35 cannon in the frontal sheet of the hull did not cause much enthusiasm. Against this background, it is not surprising that in the spring of 1941, work on flamethrower tanks was launched. In total, about 80 Pz.Kpfw.B2 (f) were converted into them, that is, about half.
The low opinion of the German military about the French “combat” tank is very noticeable by the intensity of its use. In the advanced German units, they rarely formed the basis, and the results of the application looked extremely controversial. The clearest example was the use of Pz.Kpfw.B2 (f) in the summer of 1941. The only unit that received them was the 102nd Flamethrower Battalion. Of the 30 tanks received by the beginning of the war with the USSR, there were only 6 “pure” Pz.Kpfw.B2 (f), the rest belonged to the flamethrower version of Pz.Kpfw. B2 (Flamm). By mid-July 1941, the battalion’s materiel had broken down, which led to its recall from the front. For the second time, tanks hit the Soviet-German front only towards the end of 1942.
instead of a B1 Bis, a Somua 35 could really fit in the campaign very well, even if I don’t think there were really used after the beginning of Barbarossa
A S35 would also work, though at that point I’d just want both (I kinda just wanna use French armor at this point)