So the Germans had motorised infantry at first, when did they make the transition to mechanised infantry as support infantry for their Panzer divisions ?
Did the ration between motorised/mechanised infantry vary too much during the war or was is almost 50/50 ?
Despite the change in title mid war from Schutzen (Rifle) to Panzer Grenadier, most of the infantry in German armoured divisions remained unarmoured throughout the war.
In Sep 1939 the most common infantry structure was 2 motorised and 1 motorcycle infantry battalions, plus 1 motorcycle company in the recon battalion.
In May 1940 almost all had 4 motorised/motorcycle infantry battalions plus 1 motorcycle company in the recon battalion.
In Jun 1941 the standard infantry structure was 4 motorised and 1 motorcycle infantry battalions plus 1 motorcycle company in the recon battalion. 1st Panzer Division had 2 mechanised battalions in place of 2 motorised battalions, but most other divisions only had a single mechanised company in one of the motorised battalions and some had no mechanised infantry.
By late 1943 the theoretical structure was 1 mechanised and 3 motorised infantry battalions plus 2 mechanised infantry companies in the recon battalion.
The 1945 theoretical structure was 1 small (under 500 men) mechanised battalion, 4 motorised/bicycle battalions and 2 motorised companies in the recon battalion.
At any point in time there could be significant variations between divisions, for example the Panzer-Lehr Division had its infantry fully mechanised, but was the only division so equipped. Even the SS Panzer Divisions tended to have only 1-2 of their 6 infantry battalions mechanised. The battalions of the Panzer Grenadier Divisions were all motorised, with the only mechanised infantry being the 2 companies in the later war recon battalion.
The wide variety of structures in use at any point in time is of some concern to me in that I'd like to use fairly historical templates. I can see myself wanting the following panzer division templates:
1. standard panzer division
2. lesser equipped panzer division
3. Panzer Lehr Division
4. SS Panzer Divisions & GD Division
The lesser equipped panzer divisions could have a motorised battalion in place of a mechanised, a towed artillery bn in place of a SP bn and a towed AT bn in place of a SP bn. Then as more new equipment is produced divisions could be switched over 1 at a time. It would also be nice to have a second SS template to do the same thing as there could be big variations between the equipment of say 1st & 2nd SS Panzer Divisions vs that of say 9th & 10th SS Panzer Divisions.
It would be nice if there was a function whereby if there are shortages of mechanised or SP equipment, but surpluses of motorised, then motorised equipment is used to make up the shortfall. Similarly if there were shortages of heavy tanks, mediums could be substituted and for shortages of mediums, lights could be substituted. That would be historical and allow for more variations between divisions with fewer templates required.
