Back in the Seventies, I bought a ‘pocket boardgame’ called Ogre from Steve Jackson Games (the price label is still on the pack - £2.30). It is an excellent solitaire science fiction game - One mighty but slow, heavily armed and armoured vehicle (the Ogre), ploughing relentlessly onwards against a vast array of lesser weapons and infantry groups. The game has recently been re-issued in a deluxe (i.e. pricey) edition with some metal miniatures. I was pondering upon whether this game could be applied to other periods and then I remembered the Maus. One of Hitler's beloved wonder weapons - The Maus was the biggest, heaviest, most heavily armed and armoured tank in the world - Also slow, petrol-guzzling, too heavy for any bridge in Germany to support, and a sitting duck for any passing Sturmovich or Typhoon. So in reality, more a white elephant than a panzer-grey mouse. Still why should history get in the way of a good wargame? I'm sure Hitler dreamed of the mighty Maus battling through hordes of Russian T34's and infantry - so why not give it a try. Background The German development of a super heavy tank started as early as 1941, when Krupp started the studies of super heavy Soviet tanks. In March 1942, Porsche received the contract for a new 100-ton Panzer - it was to be developed by Professor Ferdinand Porsche and Dr. Muller of Krupp at the personal demand of Adolf Hitler. In May, he demanded a 120-ton "indestructible" super-heavy tank armed with high performance L/60 or L/72 gun. Originally called Mammut (Mammoth) then Maeuschen (Mousy), it became known as Maus (Mouse) in February of 1943. In January of 1943, Hitler decided that it was to be fitted with a turret mounted with 128mm and 75mm guns. From the designs emerged a 188 tonnes heavy monster. On May 1st of 1943, a wooden mock-up of the Maus was presented to Adolf Hitler, who agreed on production and ordered a series of 150 to be produced. Only two prototypes were ever built: In December 43, Maus I (with a dummy turret) could hardly move due to its enormous weight and power/weight ratio. It was powered by a modified Daimler-Benz aircraft engine, which could not provide the planned speed of 20km/h but only 13km/h in ideal conditions. Another problem that emerged from its weight, was that there were no bridges able to take its weight. To overcome this problem Maus had to be provided with a "snorkel" arrangement, which allowed it to submerse to the maximum depth of 8 meters. According to B.T. White: “for crossing water obstacles, tanks operated in pairs, one remaining on land to power the electric motors of the second vehicle via a cable during the crossing and then in turn to receive power from the first tank when it reached the far side.” I suspect that had they have tried this for real, the poor Maus would have ended up stuck on the muddy river bed - never the less it would make for an interesting scenario For the second prototype: Maus II (September '44), Krupp produced a turret mounted with 128mm KwK 44 L/55 gun with coaxial 75mm KwK 44 L/36.5 gun and 7.92mm MG34, providing the Maus with an enormous firepower. The Maus' main gun could penetrate front, side and rear armour (at 30 degrees from vertical) of Sherman, Cromwell, Churchill, T-34/85 and JS-2 tanks at ranges of 3500+ meters. An advanced electric steering system was used to steer the vehicle. Its running gear designed by Skoda, consisted of double-wheeled trucks supported by twelve return rollers with 1100 mm wide tracks. The crew had to be provided with oxygen supplied by built-on fans/ventilators when all the hatches were closed. We can only speculate as to how these beasties would have been deployed. Had the tank been deployed in open ground, then it would have suffered badly against air attack – if used in close quarter or built up terrain it would lose the advantages of its heavy guns. An assault ‘Kompanie’ might have consisted of 4 Mausen and 12 panthers supported by an infantry company in Hanomags. Some form of armoured mobile AA unit (Ostwind/Wirblewind) would have been essential too. Some sources state that according to Porsche, Hitler's aim for the Maus was to plug holes in the Atlantic coastal defences on the Western Front, where it's limited range and mobility wouldn't have been too much of a hindrance. The Maus would probably have been painted in the late war schemes of overall green with some pattern painting in yellow and brown. Some vehicles would probably have used the basic red primer with camouflage patterns as well. Both these schemes were common with Tiger II's in 1945. When undergoing trials, the Maus had a red star painted on it to mislead aerial reconnaissance into thinking it was a captured Russian AFV undergoing evaluation! Legend has it that Maus II saw combat while defending the factory facility at Kummersdorf proving grounds whilst another version states that it was blown up by the personnel at Kummersdorf to prevent capture. One fully assembled example (Maus II turret mounted on Maus I hull) can be seen today in the Museum of Armoured Forces in Kubinka (near Moscow) in Russia. Specifications Weight: 188,000 kg Crew: 6 men Engine: Daimler-Benz MB 509 / 12-cylinder / 1080hp (V1) Daimler-Benz MB 517 Diesel / 12-cylinder / 1200hp (V2) Fuel Capacity: 2650-2700 litres + 1500 litres in reserve tank Speed: 13-20 km/h Range: Road: 160-190 km; Cross-country: 62 km Length: 10.09 m Width: 3.67 m Height: 3.63 m Armament: 128 mm KwK 44 L/55 & 75mm KwK 44 L/36.51 & 7.92mm MG34 Ammo: 128 mm - 55-68 rounds; 75mm - 200 rounds Armour (mm/angle): Turret Roof: 60/90 Gun Mantelet: 250/round Front Turret: 220-240/round Superstructure Roof: 50-100/9 Front Glacis Plate: 200/55 Hull Front: 200/35 Belly Plate Fore: 100/90 Side Turret: 200/30 Hull Side Upper:180/0 Hull Side Lower: 100+80/0 Rear Turret: 200/15 Hull Rear Upper: 150/37 Hull Rear Lower: 150/30 Belly Plate Aft: 50/90 Wargaming Possibilities Here is a solitaire scenario idea for the breakout from Kummersdorf using Rapid Fire rules and 20mm figures: The Maus that roared (or Vorsprung Durch Technik) As chief test engineer you have finally got this giant beast to perform effectively and now the Ivan’s are closing in on the factory and proving grounds - you cannot let this tank fall into enemy hands - You haven't the heart to destroy it and so you and a select crew volunteer to take her into action - hopefully to break through the encircling Reds and find an allied unit to join-up with. There is enough space inside to take your old gramophone so grab your copies of Gotterdamerung and Die Valkure and crank her up. Rapid Fire stats for Maus: A class armour 128mm gun – class 1 H/E 12/05 75mm gun – class 1 H/E 10/04 MG34 mmg speed – slow No morale tests required. For each successful hit on the Maus: A kill or heavy damage result removes one damage point from a given location. Light damage has no effect. Some record keeping will be required to keep track of the damage incurred by the Maus. Roll D6 to determine hit location: 1 - 2 Tracks and propulsion (6) 3 - 4 Main armament (4) 5 - 6 Secondary Armament (2) Hull & crew (6) Once all hits are taken on a given location, mark off a hit against Hull & Crew. Mines only effect tracks & propulsion (i.e. have no effect on a roll of 3 – 6) Effect of hits: Tracks & propulsion: Once six hits have been received, then the tank grinds to a halt. Normally this would be the end of the game – however, to add to the invincibility factor you may wish to include the following rule: After receiving six propulsion hits, the Maus can only move at half rate but must additionally roll a 5 or 6 on a D6 each turn it wishes to move. Main armament: Once four hits received, the main gun ceases to function. Secondary armament: once two hits received, the secondary gun ceases to function. Hull & crew: After six hits the crew bails out. Objective The Germans must exit the Maus from the Russian table edge. The Russians must stop the Maus at minimum loss to themselves. Order of Battle Germans 1 x Maus 2 x 88mm Flak 36, dug-in within 6” of German base edge. 1 x Company of 8 infantry armed with Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck 8 x minefields (four of which are dummies) deployed anywhere. Russians Initial assault HQ 1x T34 command tank 1x PT34 (T34 with mine rollers) Hvy Assault Coy (1x JSU 152 1x SU 122) 1 x Hvy Coy (2 x JSII) 2 x Tank Coy (3 x T34/85 each) Follow up waves: 2 coys of two or three tanks T34/85 or JS II Give Russians tank riding infantry (3 per tank). 4 x mine fields (two of which are dummies) deployed within 8” of Russian base edge. The Russian force is really dependent upon what you have at your own disposal. Terrain. Road leading from the centre of German table edge to Russian table edge. The centre of the table is mostly ground open ground with a few trees and the odd ruin. Russian reaction The Russian orders are to capture Kummersdorf (the German table edge). They are unaware of the existence of a working Maus and will have received no special orders for dealing with it. So, once a Russian tank has passed the Maus on its advance to Kummersdorf, it is unlikely to perform a U-turn and go after the Maus (could be seen as retreating). To get a tank to turn back on the Maus, roll D6 +1 if Maus fired on tank during previous turn +1 if other tanks from same company have turned or are turning. +1 if within 6” of the Maus. A score of 6 will allow the Russian tank to turn and hunt the Maus. Tanks failing the reaction test will continue onto Kummersdorf, on reaching the table edge, they can be recycled into the next assault wave. This is an Ogre style scenario, with the single enemy worth about 8 to 18 ordinary tanks. It is not intended as a realistic ‘what if’ scenario. If you are unhappy with the play balance, you could: Halve the number of Maus hits required on each location. Ignore heavy damage and only count kills as Maus hits. Bring on Russian air support (roll D6 each turn: a Sturmovich arrives for 3 turns on a score of 6). Add a couple of JagdPanthers or more infantry as backup for the Maus. Give the Russians JS IIIs (at last, a job for those old Airfix kits!!) Allow the Russians to turn back on the Maus without needing to take a test. I’ll kill that Maus in one …. As Russian commander you will need to allocate the number of waves to use in your attack. Try to take out the Maus with the least number of waves. Can you succeed with just the initial wave? One more River to cross. To add to the fun, you could have a river running the length of the Russian table edge 6” from the edge, crossed by a road bridge and a pontoon bridge (both impassable for the Maus). The width of the river should be about one and a half Maus lengths. The first Russian wave can be placed anywhere touching the German side of the river. Later waves will need to cross by the bridges. On reaching the river, the Germans roll to test the depth (1 or 2 Deep; 3 to 6 shallow). Wading rules: For each turn the Maus is in contact with the river, its movement rate is halved. In addition roll D6 – a score of 1 results in the Maus getting stuck, requiring a roll of 4,5 or 6 to get moving again. If the river is deep, the Maus will be completely submersed and unable to fire until half of its length is out of the water. Whilst submerged, it cannot be fired upon. Further ideas If you intend using more than 1 Maus then 6mm/micro armour would be the sensible (cheaper) choice. Kampfgrupe 'Mickey' 2 Maus 6 Panther 2 x 8 infantry in Hanomags HQ 1 Wirblewind 1 Tiger II No need for record keeping of hits this time. Use same Rapid Fire stats as above but this time, ignore light damage, count heavy damage as being light and kills as heavy damage. Frontline produces a resin Maus in 20mm Navwar / Heroics produce 6mm versions. Sources For the majority of historical information I have shamelessly plundered the following websites: Observations on the Sdkfz 205 Maus tank Mark Hayward http://freespace.virgin.net/shermanic.firefly/Maus.htm (29/01/02) Achtung Panzer George Parada http://www.achtungpanzer.com/panzer.htm (29/01/02) Supplementary information was found in the following books: Christopher Foss (Ed.), The illustrated encyclopaedia of the world’s tanks & fighting vehicles, Salamander, 1977 B.T.White, German tanks & armoured vehicles 1914 – 1945, Ian Allan Books,1966. Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior # 141 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by Solo Wargamers Association. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com