THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE HAMMER’S SLAMMERS
THE CRUCIBLE RULES SYSTEM HANDBOOK
Artillery
The Thunderbolts have taken most of their older artillery systems off of their
itinerary and replaced them with high-tech towed MLRS units and infantry
mortars for close support, although they do retain some Maniple 8x8 18cm
artillery pieces. The Towed MLRS uses 160mm rounds, the infantry mortars
are 100mm, and - along with the legacy Maniples - they all utilise the latest
targeted ‘seeking’ warheads and include enhanced blast HE rounds and anti-
armour warheads increasing their ballistic effectiveness greatly. See "Seeker
War-heads" (supplement 4) and "Area Effect" (supplement 4).
Organisation: Command and the Panzers
In 348TW the commander of the Thunderbolt Division was Oberst (Colonel) Ernest Chirho and under him he had a
troop of loyal officers with the rank of major but led by his second in command, the talented Obertsleutnant
(Lieutenant Colonel) Erwin Chirho. All indigenous infantry was mechanized 'panzer grenadiers', as they referred to
themselves, and had little or no independent front-line transport other than the ubiquitous Dragoons which generated
a unique closeness between the armour and 'footsloggers'. Artillery support was generally provided by light mortars
and the limited number of MLRS towed units in use with the Division. Long range artillery was sometimes bought in.
By 348TW, the Division had restructured as five battalions:
Command with usually just one company (1) with a high proportion of Br56s, plus Vikings. The usually have support
from the infantry company.
The Panzer Battalion comprised two companies (2 and 4) each with four squads of six vehicles, mostly Br59s
supported by BR66 tank destroyers. Each company had several command Br56, usually distributing them one to a
squad, where supply permitted.
The Panzer Grenadier Battalion had four companies (3, 5, and 6), each with four squads. Each of these squads had
five vehicles, mostly Br54's. Almost all had air-defence Br57s embedded within them on a 'one per squad' basis, and
most had a Viking MLRS or sometimes a Br59 in support but in all of them the sixth half-track in each squad was a
command variant with a Sniper Pod. The Grenadier Battalion numbered around 600 fighting men men.
The Thunderbolt Division - post 348TW