Panzer 730M(f) is a German Tank unit. Exclusively available to the 16. Luftwaffe, the Panzer 730M(f) is a captured French Renault FT tank pressed into service. The Renault FT tank was a revolutionary light tank design in the First World War, but had already fallen into obsolence by the 1920s. Suffice to say, the Panzer 730M(f) is a crawling anachronism on the battlefield, fieldable in large numbers but moving at an excruciatingly slow 10 – 15 km/h speed.
The Panzer 730M(f) is the Renault FT armed with a 600m machine gun, while the Panzer 730C(f) is a Renault FT variant armed with the Puteaux SA 1918 37 mm gun. They are respectively the cheapest and the second cheapest tank fielded in Steel Division.
Overview[ | ]
The French Renault RT was developed during the First World War as a light tank. Production started in 1917 with thousands manufactured, and it was widely used on the Western Front in 1918. It was exported to various nations after the war, amongst others Finland, Belgium, Turkey and Spain and saw service in many wars in the Interbellum, such as the Russian civil war, the Spanish civil war and the Chinese civil war. Despite the tank being completely obsolete by 1940, France still had several battalions equipped with Renault FTs at the outbreak of the war, mostly as reserve units.
After the Fall of France, around 1700 Renaults were captured by the Wehrmacht and used as reconnaissance, patrolling and policing vehicles. They seldom saw service on the frontline for obvious reasons, though a few tanks were used by Vichy troops in operation Torch (1942) and participated in the street fighting in Paris (1944). On these occasions, they were horrendously outmatched.
Strategy[ | ]
- The tank is slow. Horribly, horribly slow. To press home just how slow this 10–15 km/h unit is, infantry units walk at 18 km/h speed. A towed 25-pdr without transport units moves at 10 km/h. Field it well in advance before you "need" it because it will only arrive on the battlefield many minutes later.
- Armed only with a 600m machine gun, the tank is only potent at close range against soft targets. Armed with a reasonable MG, it can act as a respectable fire support in this regards.
- Its biggest advantage is obviously its low 10 point price and the fact that you can field ten of them in one card, but Steel Division often puts emphasis on quality over quantity. Nevertheless, the Panzer 730M(f) does have some use as an expendable close-range fire support unit.
- the Panzer 730M(f) and the 730C(f) are the only phase A tanks available to the 16. Luftwaffe, providing some light "armour" & fire support. It's better than nothing.
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