Schütze

## Tactical Analysis

* **Tank Guy:** The go-to weapon for any tank problem, the Schütze utilize Wz. 42 anti-tank rifles are to deal with enemy armor.

* **No, Tank You:** These anti-tank rifles can decimate lighter vehicles, while they can momentarily disable the engines of heavier tanks. Note that aiming for their weak spots require accuracy that can't be rushed, and in doing so they would have to wait between shots.

* **Tanks for the Memories:** Their weapons are marginally less effective against infantry than tanks, though. Plus, these bullets are not known to reach aircraft heights.

* **Tank Sniper:** Usually, the Home Army receives 'supply crates' - containing more improved anti-tank rifles from the Continental Freedom Guard with better firepower and range than their Polish counterparts. Given the distance that middlemen need to travel from America to Poland, these improved weaponry are better off given to more experienced fighters.

## Background

When the Allies announced that they would be constructing a wall going through the city of Berlin, reactions from different parts of the Düsseldorf Club differed from simple disapproval to outright denunciation. The idea of dividing Germany into two and conceding the eastern part to the Soviets struck a chord with the countries damaged by Soviet aggression, as such an act would essentially mean betrayal. The silence of Allied officials on this matter has not helped things, leading to dark rumors about how they are in fact now in collusion with the Union.

Whether this is true or not, this move has never been popular with those in East Germany. First and foremost, East Germany has been the primary place of refuge for those who are trying to escape from their occupied countries. Having to sneak through Soviet border guards is already difficult enough, let alone having to cross through a wide wall meant to impede **anyone** from the other side from entering. Also not helping is how Allied officials remain silent about the purpose and the justification for the Berlin Wall, leading to many Eastern Europeans believing that the Allies regard them as mere pawns to be sacrificed in a whim to suit their purposes. An anonymous source in the Parliament has even stated that the wall is apparently being constructed to appease the next-door Soviets, in hopes of preventing further aggression.

While many still attempt to flee to the West to escape both the Allies and the Soviets, there is now a large number of civilians who can take this no longer. Believing that the chances to abscond to safer regions becoming more impossible each day, these insurgents choose to make the occupying Red Army suffer as much as possible so that they will have no choice but to give up control of East Germany. For them, the best way to make them suffer is to inflict as much damage to their trump cards; vehicles. Gathering enough anti-tank rifles from "friendly sources" and naming themselves the **"Schütze"**, the German term for "riflemen", these East German rebels are slowly becoming nightmares for Sickles and Anvils to face like Germany's own *Panzergrenadiers*.

Right now, the Schütze cells complement the urban street fighters perfectly, in personality and tactics. Embittered and cynical due to their ordeals, they typically rein in the more idealistic (and impulsive) youth to keep them from committing mistakes. In battles, they aim their signature Wz. 42 anti-tank rifles at vehicles' vulnerable spots to disable them, as Soviet tank crews dumbfoundedly stare at street fighters zipping through them to plant sticky bombs that will ensure their demise.

This tactic is starting to work, as this has led to Soviet commissars shunning Alkonost walkers in the areas where they know the Schütze are operating at. Red Army commanders have also took note of their inability to pick off aircraft such as helicopters and fixed-wing planes, and as such are considering launching YaK bombing raids against them.
However, Davidova is quick to silence these claims as this would only destroy their own reconstruction efforts in East Germany, and would alienate the entire population against them. This means that to the chagrin of Soviet vehicle crews, they would still have to face Home Army cells, fearing that a Wz. 42 round
would pin them down for the count and leave them vulnerable to bombs.