MP 40

Maschinenpistole 40 MP40 Schmeisser
General Historical Information
Place of origin	Germany
Designer	Heinrich Vollmer
Manufacturer	Erma Werke
Produced In	1940–1945
Type	Submachine gun
Effective range	70 - 100 metres
Rate of Fire	500 rounds/min
Magazine	MP40/I: 32-round MP40/II: 64-round
Ammunition	9x19mm Parabellum
General Ingame Information
Debut in FHSW	Debut in Battlefield 1942
Used by	Germany Hungary Italy
Used in vehicles	Panzertriebwagen 16 Tiger Ausf. E "Mid Version" Ferdinand/Elefant Panther D Flakpanzer V "Coelian" Panzerkampfwagen Maus Sturmpanzer IV "Brummbär" Sturmtiger War Horse

The MP 40 was the standard German submachine gun for most of WWII. Built from metal and plastic, lightweight at 4 kg and shoots 9 mm at 500 rounds/min. This is the famous and legendary MP40 often called the Schmeisser. It is one of the first examples of a modern submachine gun, made more cost effective, light and compact with a folding stock. Designs like the Sten and PPS-43 would follow. The MP 40 was a small step from the MP 38, several parts that had been in machined steel were replaced in the MP40 with those made from stamped steel. This made it easier to build. Approximately 1 million were produced between 1940 and 1945 by the factories of Erma, Haenel and Steyr. Used by all of the German Wehrmacht, the MP40 was reserved as part of the equipment of paratroopers, platoon and squad leaders, meanwhile most troops used the Kar 98k. The gun was capable, but its relatively low rate of fire and common 32 round magazine made some soldiers prefer other submachine guns like the Russian PPSh submachine gun over the MP40. In response to this the MP 40/I was developed which was a novel design to hold and switch between two magazines. Even with a design suited for mass production there were never enough submachine guns and MP40's in particular to go around, because of issues like raw material and labor costs still made it expensive to produce. Starting in 1943, the German army moved to replace both the Kar98k rifle and MP40 with the new MP43/44 assault rifle, later known as the StG 44.

There are two different versions of the MP 40 in FHSW that changes one aspect of the gun, adding a suppressor or doubling the magazine capacity.

The MP 40 is the best suited weapon when on the offensive until the Stg 44 is available. It can be fired on the move and even on horseback. Kits with the War Horse are mobile even without using vehicles on the map. Since they always have access to a horse. The MP 40 is also used by Hungarian and Italian troops. It is the primary submachine gun used by the Hungarians in Transcarpathia. The MP 40 was also captured and is used by the Polish "Armia Krajowa" in the Warsaw Uprising.

Certain armoured vehicles have pistol ports where the MP 40 is used. A single submachine gun can usually move between two pistol ports. In the Elefant self propelled gun two guns are controlled at once. On later variants of these vehicles it is often replaced with Nahverteidigungswaffe grenade launcher for close range defence against infantry. Although some vehicles have both, such as the Maus tank. A unique example is the earliest model of the Panther tank, the Ausf. D which lacks a hull mounted MG34 that all later variants of the vehicle would had so a submachine gun like the MP 40 is used instead. Pistol ports for the MP 40 are generally found on the back and sides of the turret or in the superstructure if the vehicle has no turret.

MP 40 with silencer

Maschinenpistole 40 with silencer
General Historical Information
Place of origin	Germany
Designer	Heinrich Vollmer
Manufacturer	Erma Werke
Produced In	1944-1945
Type	Submachine gun
Effective range	70 - 100 metres
Rate of Fire	500 rounds/min
Magazine	32-round
Ammunition	subsonic 9x19mm Parabellum
General Ingame Information
Debut in FHSW	Unknown
Used by	Germany USA

Most suppressors or silencers that are made as an accessory to a gun are screwed on the end of the barrel which is threaded, and while it might have made it easier that the barrel of the MP 40 was threaded since the start of production, as this was done to mount a blank firing adapter, the problem was that it didn't require as much threading to be fitted and the quality control on the threading was not strict. Nevertheless. requests were sent to the firms Arado and Schneider AG to develop suppressors for the MP 40. In 1943 the first samples were presented and in 1944 testing ensued at Kummersdorf. The HUB-L41 was made by Arado and the HUB-L42 & L-43 by Schneider AG, the "4" denoting them as an suppressor for submachine guns. With the suppressor the magazine ought to be loaded with heavier cartridges with a lower a muzzle velocity to avoid the sound of a supersonic crack.

It is uncommon to see the MP 40 with a silencer, it can only be picked up in German bases and paratrooper kits around transport aircraft and helicopters. It is often with found with a silenced Walther P38 and specialist equipment like the Expack or the Hafthohlladung magnetic mine.

MP40/I

MP40/I
General Historical Information
Manufacturer	Erma Steyr
Produced In	1943-??
General Ingame Information
Debut in FHSW	0.15 MP40-II v0.61 MP 40_II
Retired in FHSW	MP 40_II 0.7

Formerly called MP 40-II. It has a doubled magazine capacity of 64 rounds. The historical MP40/I had a mechanism to hold two magazines and slide them sideways to quickly change to the other magazine. In this mod as in some other games the magazines are fixed together and both feed into the gun without having to press a button and slide the magazines to the other side, both are also reloaded at the same time. Ingame it has otherwise identical performance as standard version. The MP40/I was developed in late 1942 and saw service in 1943, besides the change in the magwell the ejector was widened and the buttplate was different. It is used on maps such as Westminster, Zveroboy, Sand Storm and Ural Mountains.

There was another version of the MP 40 called MP 40_II in the game code that was added in v0.61 and then removed in v0.7. It had a higher rate of fire but the accuracy decreased rapidly as it fired. Rate of fire was about 1000 rounds per minute which was even higher than the PPSh-41. It was identical in appearance to the standard MP 40 so it could only be differentiated from the regular MP 40 from the different inventory icon and by firing.

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