Michael Emrys Posted May 5, 2002 Share Posted May 5, 2002 ...found here. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattias Posted May 5, 2002 Share Posted May 5, 2002 You learn something new every day they say. And that thing I have never seen before... Looks like a completely idiotic design, prone to all sorts of problems even if no enemy is encountered M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted May 5, 2002 Author Share Posted May 5, 2002 I had heard the name somewhere in passing once upon a time, but never seen the beast. I think it may belong in the same category as that critter the Brits came up with to clear mined beaches. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcm1947 Posted May 5, 2002 Share Posted May 5, 2002 Now that's a tank in the true sense. I guess you could put water in it. Are we going to get this tank in CMBB? Cool site however. Those Russian tanks look so cool. I can hardly wait to get CMBB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warphead Posted May 5, 2002 Share Posted May 5, 2002 Thanks that you like the site. And the Kugelpanzer is a mystery indeed. Not much info available about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agua Posted May 5, 2002 Share Posted May 5, 2002 Gamey Germans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auggy Posted May 5, 2002 Share Posted May 5, 2002 :confused: Who was the smart one that designed that thing. Looks like something from twenty thousand leauges under the sea. What does it "roll" across the battlefield? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew H. Posted May 5, 2002 Share Posted May 5, 2002 Are we sure it's really an AFV? It looks more like something you'd use to punish POWs. "Ho-gan! Tell me vat is happenink or I'll zend you to ze Kugelpanzer!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMplayer Posted May 5, 2002 Share Posted May 5, 2002 Any ideas what you actually do with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warphead Posted May 5, 2002 Share Posted May 5, 2002 Recce or FO vehicle is the best guess. There was a motorbike engine (BMW???) including saddle in it. It is just an empty shell today (I peeked through the vision slit). A lot of engineers and grogs have visited the Kubinka museum since the cold war ended and they were all dumbfounded when confronted with the Kugelpanzer apparently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMplayer Posted May 5, 2002 Share Posted May 5, 2002 So you're supposed to just drive up to where the enemy is and have a good luck at them while bullets bounce off the thing? No wonder it flopped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wodasini88 Posted May 5, 2002 Share Posted May 5, 2002 damn what a coincidence. My home town is know for antiques and me and my friend were down there looking around and found a popular science magazine from 1936 with a artist's rendering of that same thing except it had 4 machine guns on it....I'll go buy it and scan the pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCHRD Posted May 6, 2002 Share Posted May 6, 2002 I bet it's a mine roller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfish Posted May 6, 2002 Share Posted May 6, 2002 It was designed for covert insertion of espionage teams via the St. Lawrence seaway and over Niagara Falls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herr Oberst Posted May 6, 2002 Share Posted May 6, 2002 Kugel was the commander of one of Germany's first penal battalions. Always searching for a good use for his prisoners, he helped design the KugelPanzer. Inside it looks like a small hamster wheel, with little foot and hand holds around the inside surface. On flat or very gently sloped terrain, the soldier inside provided locomotion much like a hamster on a wheel. While expensive on a per-man basis, the SS were said to look very favorably on the possible uses of the KugelPanzer, both for observation and for exercise. The small wheel arrangements visible in the photos are shipping casters for movement without the occupant inside. Unfortunately, the KugelPanzer was found to be at the mercy of the battlefield terrain. On the eastern front, a first operational platoon of KugelPanzers were acting as forward observers for an artillery battalion emplaced on a reverse slope. The night before the large scale Russian attack, some gamey Russina sappers infiltrated the German lines and caught the KugelPanzers unawares. Some hasty shovel work soon had the KugelPanzers rolling backwards down the hill towards their own troops. Three KugelPanzers steamrolled the very guns they were meant to observe for, one flattened the battalions field kitchen, and a fifth plowed into the ammunition supply dump for the artillery. The resulting explosion decimated the troops of the German artillery, and launched the ill-fated KugelPanzer high into the air, heading towards the Russian lines. Still glowing red from its explosive encounter, the incoming projectile created awe on the part of the opposing Russian regiments. Fearing that one of the massive German guns like Dora had been brought into action against them, the soviets fell to the ground. A sickening thud was both heard and felt by all within 200 yards of the impact, and when the gigantic "shell" failed to explode, the Russian troops nearby began to count their blessings. Were they saved? Had the terrible German weapon failed to detonate? All of the sudden, cries and howls of pain and suffering began to issue from all the nearby Russian troops. Troops began fleeing the area, retching and coughing. Was it a chemical attack? Had the Germans resorted to those awful weapons of the Great War? Over the next two hours, as some semblence of order was restored in the Russian positions, it became apparent that the impact point had been the regimental Cesspool... [ May 06, 2002, 10:39 AM: Message edited by: Herr Oberst ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Havermeyer- Posted May 7, 2002 Share Posted May 7, 2002 Originally posted by Kingfish: It was designed for covert insertion of espionage teams via the St. Lawrence seaway and over Niagara Falls.Excellent. Best explanation I've heard so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louie the Toad Posted May 7, 2002 Share Posted May 7, 2002 Shhh, Its the smuggled pictures of the Foo Fighter which is in hangar 13 at Area 51. Toad in Black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyrene Posted May 7, 2002 Share Posted May 7, 2002 Godzilla's Yo Yo Gyrene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Affentitten Posted May 7, 2002 Share Posted May 7, 2002 Originally posted by Michael emrys: I had heard the name somewhere in passing once upon a time, but never seen the beast. I think it may belong in the same category as that critter the Brits came up with to clear mined beaches. MichaelThe Panjandrum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebastian Posted May 7, 2002 Share Posted May 7, 2002 Originally posted by Warphead-: And the Kugelpanzer is a mystery indeed. Not much info available about it.yeah. that's what google came up with for "kugelpanzer": Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted May 7, 2002 Share Posted May 7, 2002 Originally posted by Affentitten: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Michael emrys: I had heard the name somewhere in passing once upon a time, but never seen the beast. I think it may belong in the same category as that critter the Brits came up with to clear mined beaches. MichaelThe Panjandrum.</font> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trooper Posted May 9, 2002 Share Posted May 9, 2002 The first thing that came to mind for me was 'Rotatrailer', but of course, there was no place for a crewman in a rotatrailer. (British thingie, drag a huge fuel drum behind your tank sort of yoke) NTM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirill S. Posted May 10, 2002 Share Posted May 10, 2002 the translation of the words "kugel panzer" gives me "balloon tank" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALthered Posted May 10, 2002 Share Posted May 10, 2002 Is this definately WW2? I know the French experimented with armoured shields with which to approach German trenches during WW1.These were very heavy and were pushed towards the enemy by the (brave!) operator for recon reasons.They would be pulled back by attached ropes or chains.Unforunately,whilst bullet proof they were not grenade proof and the Germans had no trouble in repulsing them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warphead Posted May 10, 2002 Share Posted May 10, 2002 Kugelpanzer is more something like "ball tank" as it is (almost) totally round. And as it was captured on the Krimea it is definitely WWII. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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