WI: 1944 Ardennes Offensive With 1940 Light Tanks?

What if 1944 Ardennes Offensive With 1940 Light Tanks?

This is an idiotic scenario but it seemed fun.:D

I'm curious how the 1944 Ardennes Offensive would have went if the Germans were equipped with the same tanks used in 1940 namely Panzer I, Panzer II, Panzer III. The lighter tanks would have the benefit of less fuel consumption and would be well suited for a quick advance in the Ardennes. They will however be going up in flames alot easier.:p
 
Given how many German tanks broke down or had to be abandoned OTL because of fuel shortages, Germany probably does noticeably better.
 

nbcman

Donor
What if 1944 Ardennes Offensive With 1940 Light Tanks?

This is an idiotic scenario but it seemed fun.:D

I'm curious how the 1944 Ardennes Offensive would have went if the Germans were equipped with the same tanks used in 1940 namely Panzer I, Panzer II, Panzer III. The lighter tanks would have the benefit of less fuel consumption and would be well suited for a quick advance in the Ardennes. They will however be going up in flames alot easier.:p

It would have been a Panzer bloodbath. The bazookas, M3 tanks and tank destroyers of the front line units like the 106th Infantry and 14th Cavalry group could easily destroy Pz Is & IIs tanks. If the Panzers broke through, Shermans of the 7th and 9th Armored would stop them at St. Vith.

EDIT: According to Wiki, M24's were just being fielded in Nov / Dec 1944. Most light tanks were still M3 or M5 Stuarts. According to this 14th Cavalry group page, the light tank company (F Troop) had 17 M3s with 37 mm cannons.
 
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What if 1944 Ardennes Offensive With 1940 Light Tanks?

This is an idiotic scenario but it seemed fun.:D

I'm curious how the 1944 Ardennes Offensive would have went if the Germans were equipped with the same tanks used in 1940 namely Panzer I, Panzer II, Panzer III. The lighter tanks would have the benefit of less fuel consumption and would be well suited for a quick advance in the Ardennes. They will however be going up in flames alot easier.:p

An awful lot of combat power is more in the combination of supporting arms with tanks. That said the first American troops encountered often fought pretty well against tanks which were resistant to their main anti-tank weapons. By resistant I mean there only limited arcs of attack. Now a 57mm M1 cannot expect to take a Tiger or Panther over the frontal arc. Against a Panzer III the round is large enough a reasonably flat strike will simply drive the armour ahead of it into the tank as a solid (ish) plug of metal. The bazooka likewise can easily make a bonfire out of any of the 1940 tanks over any arc. Not to mention every time they met a Sherman it would be the Germans that were forced to wait until an antitank gun could be brought up to take it out.

I do not expect the early part of the Ardennes offensive to make zero penetrations but I would expect it to do even less well than OTL.
 
Whatever benefits the Germans get from less fuel consumption and greater reliability (and these would be marginal) is massively offset by the fact their grossly easier to kill. No question that the German advance is much worse.
 
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