Part I – Introduction
Part II – Italy, Czechoslovakia
Part III – Hungary
Part IV – Sweden
Part V – Yugoslavia
Part VI – Poland
Part VII – Spain

Hello everyone,

today, we are going to finish the European tech tree vehicle count with an overview of the nations, that could also fit in in one way or another. And then, in part IX, we will conclude the series with some of the most frequently asked questions and arguments against the EU tree.

Switzerland

The Swiss can build – with some efford an entire branch of medium tanks, even though they have some real issues around tier 6 and 7 (tier 6 is a bit worse). In case you are interested in Swiss tank development history, Vollketten wrote a first part of the Swiss series already (about medium tanks), can be found here. To sum it up though, the Swiss line is revolving around the Panzer 58, Panzer 61 and possibly Panzer 68 development.

That’s Panzer 68 prototype above – Panzer 61 looks like this:

Both could be theoretically tier 10 Swiss tanks, they have solid armor, 105mm guns (the L7) an they are no slouches either. Overall quite good tanks and ones that made good impression on many a potential buyer. But, to throw in some even more interesting stuff (courtesy of Vollketten):

Both are new and undocumented post-war projects, most likely early variants of the “Neuer Kampfpanzer Entwicklung” (new tank development) program from the mid-70′s. The earliest Nkpz mockup (Nkpz program was scrapped in favour of the Leopard 2 later on) however has a 120mm smoothbore Rheinmetall gun – the first picture (23a) is obviously not it, so it’s probably something else.

As for the rest, Switzerland can provide some interesting designs on the field of artillery and tank destroyers, for example G13 (“Hetzer”) with a 105mm cannon:

Or a Swiss 150mm gun on AMX-13

And of course, the both Nahkampfkanone prototypes. The tank destroyer branch can also contain the Pirate TD and the Scorpion, but realistically, it goes up to tier 7 or so, the rest would too new for the game.

Pirate:

Scorpion (that’s a high power 57mm gun):

There are some other tank destroyers as well, Vollketten is in process of writing a summary.

What is left then? Not much really. Bulgaria and Romania. Of the two, Romania has some very original vehicles. In case you are interested, you can read about the history of the Romanian armored forces:

Romanian Armor 1 – pre WW2
Romanian Armor 2 – Bucharest to Stalingrad
Romanian Armor 3 – Crimea to the end
Romanian Armor 4 – Bucharest museum photos
Romanian Armor 5 – Addendum

And you can also read about Bulgarian armored forces:

Bulgarian Armor 1
Bulgarian Armor 2
Bulgarian Armor 3

Realistically speaking, neither can build a single branch without stuffing it with copies of German or Soviet tech. Romanians however do have the quite original Maresal tank destroyer, that partially inspired the design of the Jagdpanzer 38t “Hetzer”. There were two types – one with T-60 (Soviet light tank) suspension, one with 38t suspension.

A low, nice tank destroyer with a 75mm gun – not bad. Romanians also had some other original vehicles, such as the TACAM self-propelled gun series. There was one based on the T-60:

And on the LT Vz.35 (exported to Romania under the designation of R-2)

Both are essentially tier 3 Marder type vehicles.There was also a special version of the R35 French light tank, modified into a tank destroyer by mounting a 45mm gun. Of the post-war vehicles, TR-580 would probably be somewhat acceptable, if accurate data on it are found (there are several conflicting sources).

As for Bulgaria, well… there is very little original. The mainstay of their armored forces was Škoda T-11 (improved LT Vz.38) and Praga P-38, with some German tanks such as Panzer IV added later on. Škoda T-11 is actually in the game already (stock Panzer 35t with 3rd gun).

What is interesting is the Panzer IV design with a SU-76 gun. That however was not really a vehicle, it was a bunker.

So, what’s left… Finland. Contrary to popular belief, Finland didn’t really have too many indigenous designs or even proper conversions. The only vehicle really worth noting is the (in)famous BT-42.

It was a conversion of the captured Soviet BT-7 with a British 4,5in QF howitzer. Make no mistake however, in real life, the vehicle was extremely poor. Its performance was abysmal and the shells of the gun had very little explosive power. Don’t expect a BT-speed KV-2, like some suggested. Still, it’s an iconic vehicle of the Finnish/Soviet war and deserves its mention.

And, well… that’s pretty much it. Got any other EU vehicle ideas? Write them in the comments, I will have a look.