MG08/15 (NOOL-ahkt-fuhnf-zehn)

MG08/15

"The MG 08/15 had been designed around the concept of portability, such as the French Chauchat, which meant that the firepower of a machine gun could be taken forward conveniently by assaulting troops, and moved between positions for tactical fire support; as such, the MG 08/15 was to be manned by two trained infantrymen, a shooter and an ammo bearer. In the attack the weapon would be fired on the move (marching fire) while on the defense the team would make use of the bipod from the prone position. To accomplish that, the MG 08/15 had a short bipod rather than a heavy four-legged sled mount, plus a wooden gunstock and a pistol grip. At 18 kg (40 lb) the MG 08/15 had minimal weight savings over the MG 08, being "a cumbersome beast to use in the assault." Intended to provide increased mobility of infantry automatic fire, it nevertheless remained a bulky water-cooled weapon that was quite demanding on the crews and never on par with its rivals, the Chauchat and the Lewis Gun. Accurate fire was difficult to achieve and usually in short bursts only. The fabric ammunition belts were prone to stretching and there were cartridge extraction problems when they were wet." extracted from Wikipedia
In the time of the Soldatenreich, hundreds of years after the end of WWI, the once-populous MG08/15 is now one of the rarer antique weapons that can be found in the Kriegsgebiet. The rare example is usually found in an armory, only to be used in the direst of circumstances. The MG08/15, unreliable as it once was, serves as a useful tertiary-line weapon of offense.

History

It was first introduced in battle during the French Second Battle of the Aisne (Chemin des Dames offensive) in April 1917. Deployment in increasingly large numbers with all front line infantry regiments continued in 1917 and during the German offensives of the spring and summer of 1918.

Significance

The Maxim MG08/15 was one of the first attempts at an all-purpose machine gun, and it is one of a few "grandfather guns" of the famed MG42 of Nazi Germany. The MG08/15, while regarded at the time as being one of the worst light machine guns of the war, is heavily sought after and revered in the Soldatenreich for being a physical embodiment of pride in German weapons.

The MG08/15 is a lightweight version of the earlier MG08 heavy machine gun. In the age of the Soldatenreich, it is a very rare weapon that is relegated to tertiary line forces situated in bunkers and fortresses.

Item type

Weapon, Ranged

Creation Date

1917

Used by

• SMG 08/18

Rarity

The MG08/15 is one of the rarest antique weapons on the "market".

Weight

18 kg.

Dimensions

46.3 in by 10 in

Base Price

None. Scavenged from the wasteland.