Sometimes the historians get it wrong. An oft-forgotten vehicle, especially in the west, the Kugelpanzer was an important vehicle in the opening stages of WW2.
The goal of this vehicle was to easily cross trenches and quickly storm enemy lines, to avoid the sort of stalemates that plagued the first world war. Inspiration was drawn from the Russian "Tsar tank", which used a "tricycle" design with three wheels, two giant ones and a smaller back one.
Instead of normal wheels like the "Tsar Tank", the Kugelpanzer's wheels were almost like treads, making it a sort of hybrid that was efficient for both roads and rough terrain. The first prototype was thrown together at the Kummersdorf testing ground in 1935. It was slower than expected, so subsequent prototypes had reduced armor until they settled on only 5mm thick.
The completed version had a small viewing slot and a port for an MG-34.
By the time of the invasion of Poland, German engineering even further. The Kugelpanzer was deemed too lightly armored and so did not take part in the Blitzkrieg.
Instead, Germany's ally Japan became interested and purchased a few examples, deploying them in Manchuria in the battle of Khalkhin Gol. Most of them were captured by the Russians, who sought to reverse engineer them.
Here's a side view of one captured in Manchuria, stripped of it's original paint:
The Japanese Kugelpanzer was equipped with a Type 97 light machine gun. When the Soviets captured them, they repainted some, equipping them with DTMs instead. The Soviets planned to deploy them in the Winter War, but the harsh snow conditions made many vehicles ineffective, and the Kugelpanzer was no exception.
Flash forward to the end of the war, Germany was struggling to equip it's troops, including the Volkssturm who used last-ditch weaponry as well as leftover outdated equipment. The remaining stockpile of Kugelpanzers was pulled out to give them some armored anti-infantry capabilities.
A few of them, especially the more armored prototypes, were dug in to be used as pillboxes in defensive lines. By this time though, their armor was woefully underwhelming against late war Soviet equipment.
The heroic last stand of these strange rolling beasts was soon ended, as was World War 2.
Here's a picture of one that was captured by the Soviets(It's MG port is blocked off):
These lightly armored vehicles will be a great fit for CtB, and it will bn\e nice for them to finally see some representation in game!
(Kugelpanzer in game on Khalkhin Gol):
