Does anyone know the exact total number of all the different types (including varients) of AFV's the German's used in the war? The reason I ask is I am thinking about setting this as a goal for a collection featuring everything they used. What do you all think?

Absolutely impossible to quantify... The reason is documentation and the number of captured vehicles which were in service.

Frankly, unless you're planning on researching a 10 Volume book on the subject, I would forget it now. Concentrate on a particular vehicle is my advice..Jim

hellbent11, i think that's a fantastic idea, though trying to find EVERY type will be near impossible.

....perhaps you could concentrate on the main AFV types i.e: Panzer I to Panzer VI (tiger), then go for 2 or 3 sub-types for each of them... or you could concentrate on a specific period of the war (france 1940, kursk 1943 or berlin 1945 etc.) .

Think of a tank that was produced in Europe (except Spain, Sweden and Switzerland) and the US between about 1917 and 1944 and it's likely the Germans used it at some point.

Definitely a good starting point! :-)

Well not necessarily, because they also used captured Shermans, & supplied Sweden, Spain & Switzerland (Hetzers remember?)! They really were tarts in that respect they'd use anything! If you really want to make an example of everything on tracks ever built up to 1945 go ahead! That's why I limited myself to one unit, to narrow the field sufficiently to make it possible!

I was going to say that it was unlikely they got any Swedish-built tanks, but Landsverk sold the L-60 to the Hungarians as the Toldi, so the Germans might, just might, have got their hands on some.

No Spanish-built Trubias or Verdejas though...

What I find incredible is that the Germans would use such a diversity of vehicles - even to issuing "one-offs", prototypes & development vehicles (like the Porsche Tigers). They even used the mild-steel prototypes of the original PzV & VI in Norway. Their logistics must have been a nightmare! I remember reading about one battalion in France which had dozens of different models of truck in one unit. I can't even begin to imagine what their spares situation must have been.

Don't do it man. Build models and enjoy them that way. Having a few hundred or thousand expensive shelf queens is IMHO just wasted resources. Take the money and have a special vacation with your loved ones. Build,collect a few kits and references.

Did you see the person in Virginia who had 10000+ kits that needed to be disposed of when he passed away? It was a nightmare. And they were selling kits for $2-5 each. Fine for the nearby modelling buddies but the time I invest w/the family yields many benefits beyond my own enjoyment.

Frankly, if you'd seen my pile about 2 yrs ago, one would imagine that I WAS planning on accumulating every German variant. I had covered the Panthers, Tigers, TIger IIs, Various Jagdpanzers, most of the Sturgeschutzen. Plastic and resin.

Then I thought, "why is this just sitting here?" I got rid of most of the stuff that only marginally interested me and concentrated on the really good stuff. Do I bemoan the fact that I don't have a StuG III C or a Jdpzr 38t Hetzer in my stash? Not in the slightest.

Nobody will know until you define what you mean by "different type"

David

And I thought some people were ambitious just trying to build very Sherman or every Tiger....

Magnificent idea, but a bit far fetched. How about starting out with a more modest goal, say concentrate on the PZIV and its variants (flack, etc).
If you have not moved into my nursing home by the time you have completed that project, go for another tank and do all its variants.

Also, will it not get boring doing 100 + identical chasis?

Charles

Good point guys! I guess I never really thought of it like that! It would get monotonus cranking out 100+ Panzer IV's! I do like the idea of a particular unit or timeframe. How about Battle of the Bulge? or Africa?