AAT-52
Notes: The
AAT-52 (Arme Automatique Transformable
Mle. 52) was designed to replace the then-standard French light machinegun
(the Mle 1924/29) with a GPMG. It
was designed just after World War 2, and was a considerable improvement over
previous designs. The AAT-52 (and
its descendant, the AAT-F1) tend to operate on the edge of safety due to the
design, yet it has served for over half a century, and is still France’s
standard GPMG and is also used on French vehicles of all types.
The AAT-52 is
sort of a “Frankenweapon;” the operation is a modification of the Spanish CETME
rifle, and the belt feed is a modified version of the German MG-42.
Other ideas from various other weapons were also adopted to the AAT-52.
The AAT-52 has two lengths of barrel available: a 23.5-inch heavy barrel,
normally used when the AAT-52 is mounted on a tripod or a vehicle mount, and a
19.3-inch light barrel, normally used when the AAT-52 is being used as a
man-portable bipod-fired GPMG.
However, there is nothing that prevents the heavy barrel from being used when
man-ported, or the light barrel being used from a pintle mount or tripod; it is
more French military policy than anything else.
The AAT-52 is fed by 50 and 200-round disintegrating link belts.
Unfortunately, extraction and case ejection is quick and violent; this
tends to cause the AAT-52 to rip a spent cartridge in half in the process of
ejection, causing a stoppage which usually cannot be cleared until the gun cools
and the ring of brass left in the chamber can be removed.
In addition, the ejected brass is generally severely damaged and can’t be
reloaded. French AAT-52 gunners
learned the best way to avoid this problem was to grease the rounds lightly
before loading them into the links of the belt, but this causes a whole new
problem of attracting dirt and pulling it into the gun (and stopping the weapon
that way). The AAT-52 has another
defect: the gun must be carried cocked and locked if a belt is in the weapon,
making it inherently unsafe if dropped or bumped.
The AAT-52 is built primarily of steel, and the stock is a folding strut
with a rudimentary butt plate.
(This is more for storage purposes than anything else, but the AAT-52 can be
fired with the stock folded, and this makes it easier to be fired from the
firing ports of an armored vehicle.)
The tripod used with the AAT-52 (and AAT-F1) is the NATO Medium Tripod.
The AAT F-1 (or
more accurately, the AAT N-F-1) was designed in 1964, during the period when
France was a part of NATO. The
biggest modification done to the AAT F-1 was it’s conversion to 7.62mm NATO
chambering, but the French also took the opportunity to do a number of other
improvements, such as building the weapon out of lighter, stamped steel, and
using a different, lighter bipod adjustable for height and cant.
In addition, the sights were recalibrated for the new ammunition.
However, the most important modification was to the extraction and
ejection system, which no longer has the danger of ripping the spent brass in
half. However, case ejection is
still violent and often causes deformed brass.
The AAT-52 still
equips some reserve French forces as well as being the primary GPMG of several
former African colonies of the French, though many countries which were using
the AAT-52 replaced of modified them into what were effectively AAT-F1
equivalents in the 1990s.
Twilight 2000
Notes: A considerable number of AAT-52s are still in use by French forces.
Merc 2000 Notes: Most AAT-52s
were converted to the AAT F-1 configuration, since no one wanted the AAT-52s.
Weapon |
Ammunition |
Weight |
Magazines |
Price |
AAT-52 (Light Barrel) |
7.5mm MAS |
9.87 kg |
100 Belt |
$2393 |
AAT-52 (Heavy Barrel) |
7.5mm MAS |
11.37 kg |
100 Belt |
$2515 |
AAT F-1 (Light Barrel) |
7.62mm NATO |
9.87 kg |
100 Belt |
$2313 |
AAT F-1 (Heavy Barrel) |
7.62mm NATO |
11.37 kg |
100 Belt |
$2437 |
Weapon |
ROF |
Damage |
Pen |
Bulk |
SS |
Burst |
Range |
AAT-52 (Light) |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
6/7 |
3 |
6 |
61 |
AAT-52 (Light, Bipod) |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
6/7 |
1 |
3 |
79 |
AAT-52 (Heavy) |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
7/8 |
3 |
6 |
80 |
AAT-52 (Heavy, Bipod) |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
7/8 |
1 |
3 |
104 |
AAT-52 (Heavy, Tripod) |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
7/8 |
1 |
2 |
159 |
AAT F-1 (Light) |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
6/7 |
3 |
6 |
61 |
AAT F-1 (Light, Bipod) |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
6/7 |
1 |
3 |
79 |
AAT F-1 (Heavy) |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
7/8 |
3 |
6 |
80 |
AAT F-1 (Heavy, Bipod) |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
7/8 |
1 |
3 |
103 |
AAT F-1 (Heavy, Tripod) |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
7/8 |
1 |
2 |
159 |
Darne
Notes:
This is a machinegun design from a company that was normally known for
breech-loading double-barreled sporting shotguns.
In World War 1, they were contracted to produce Lewis Guns for the French
Army, and then used that experience to produce their own design.
They did not feel the need to apply the same fine standard of finish to
their military weapons as their civilian weapons; the result is that while the
Darne is a rather crude and cheap-looking weapon, it is nonetheless an efficient
design. Having designed them, Darne
found that they could get them built in Spain for less money than they could in
France, and thus Spain is where most Darne machineguns were actually built.
Strangely enough, French ground forces did not like the Darne; they did
not like the looks, and did not like the high rate of fire.
Most of them were therefore mounted in aircraft or kept in fixed
positions. Originally chambered for
8mm Lebel, the caliber was later changed to the new 7.5mm MAS cartridge.
Some of them were also produced in Czechoslovakia; these were chambered
for 8mm Mauser. After World War 2,
the Darne machineguns were sold off rapidly and they can now be found almost
anywhere in the world, still functioning quite well despite their age.
Weapon |
Ammunition |
Weight |
Magazines |
Price |
Darne |
8mm
Lebel |
9.7
kg |
100
Belt, 250 Belt |
$2516 |
Darne |
8mm
Mauser |
10.99 kg |
100
Belt, 250 Belt |
$2744 |
Darne |
7.5mm MAS |
9.3
kg |
100
Belt, 250 Belt |
$2462 |
Weapon |
ROF |
Damage |
Pen |
Bulk |
SS |
Burst |
Range |
Darne (8mm
Lebel) |
10 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
8 |
3 |
13 |
79 |
Darne (8mm
Lebel, Bipod) |
10 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
8 |
1 |
7 |
103 |
Darne (8mm
Lebel, Tripod) |
10 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
8 |
1 |
3 |
159 |
Darne (8mm
Mauser) |
10 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
8 |
3 |
13 |
80 |
Darne (8mm
Mauser, Bipod) |
10 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
8 |
1 |
6 |
104 |
Darne (8mm
Mauser, Tripod) |
10 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
8 |
1 |
3 |
160 |
Darne (7.5mm) |
10 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
8 |
3 |
13 |
80 |
Darne (7.5mm,
Bipod) |
10 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
8 |
1 |
7 |
104 |
Darne (7.5mm,
Tripod) |
10 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
8 |
1 |
3 |
159 |
Hotchkiss M-1897
Notes:
Not only was the Hotchkiss M-1897 one of the first self-operating
machineguns, it was one of the first air-cooled machineguns.
The M-1897 is gas-operated and fires from an open bolt.
The gas block is rather complicated and large, with a full twenty
positions at which it may be set; in addition, the M-1897 could be set for slow
fire, with a cyclic rate of 100 rpm, or rapid fire, with a cyclic rate of 600
rpm. (For game purposes, the 100
rpm ROF is 2, even though it does not actually have a burst mechanism.)
Perhaps the greatest weakness of the M-1897 is the feed method -- rather
small-capacity rigid metal strips.
The feed mechanism was quite reliable with rimmed cartridges such as the 8mm
Lebel, but less so with rimless rounds.
The long 32.5-inch barrel usually had a short length of brass cooling
fins at the base, though a barrel with no cooling fins was also available.
The M-1900 is almost identical except for a few minor modifications and
steel fins on the barrel instead of brass fins.
The M-1907
Portative was a greatly lightened version of the M-1900, with numerous changes
to the feed mechanism (it was literally turned upside down in relation to the
M-1900) and a shorter 22.25-inch barrel without cooling fins.
The M-1907 was designed for the “advancing fire” concept of the time, and
is equipped with a wooden shoulder stock and a light, folding bipod, along with
a folding monopod at the rear of the stock.
The cyclic rate of fire was fixed at 500 rpm.
The US used a version of this weapon, the M-1909 Benet-Mercie Machine
Rifle, during World War 1; though at first it was manufactured by Hotchkiss in
France, it was later license-produced in the US by both Springfield and Colt.
The British also used a version, the Hotchkiss Mk 1.
The M-1914 is an
updated version of earlier Hotchkiss machineguns of the same type, most notably
the M-1900. It became the standard
medium machinegun of the French Army and remained in service until 1945.
It was fed from the metallic strip which was so much in vogue at the
time, though it could also be fed by a series of 3-round metal strips joined
together to form up to a 251-round faux belt of sorts.
The capacity for “slow fire” was removed, with the gas regulator varying
the rate of fire from 500-600 rpm (not important in game terms).
It was used by France, Greece, and the Balkan States, as well as the US
in 1917, in 8mm Lebel caliber. It
was also exported to Mexico, Spain, and Brazil in 7mm Mauser caliber in the
1920s. Though rumors are heard
every so often about one still being used somewhere, these may be just “war
stories.”
Weapon |
Ammunition |
Weight |
Magazines |
Price |
M-1897 |
8mm
Lebel |
23
kg |
30
Strip |
$3546 |
M-1907 Portative |
8mm
Lebel |
12.5 kg |
30
Strip |
$2454 |
M-1909 |
.30-06 Springfield |
13.18 kg |
30
Strip |
$2698 |
Hotchkiss Mk 1 |
.303 British |
12.68 kg |
30
Strip |
$2515 |
M-1914 |
8mm
Lebel |
23.58 kg |
30
Strip, 251 “Belt” |
$2730 |
M-1914 |
7mm
Mauser |
22.52 kg |
30
Strip, 251 “Belt” |
$2517 |
Weapon |
ROF |
Damage |
Pen |
Bulk |
SS |
Burst |
Range |
M-1897 |
2/5 |
5 |
2-3-Nil |
8 |
1 |
1/1 |
226 |
M-1907 Portative |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
6 |
3 |
6 |
73 |
With Bipod |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
6 |
1 |
3 |
95 |
With Tripod |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
6 |
1 |
1 |
146 |
M-1909 |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
6 |
3 |
6 |
63 |
With Bipod |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
6 |
1 |
3 |
82 |
With Tripod |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
6 |
1 |
1 |
127 |
Hotchkiss Mk 1 |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
6 |
3 |
6 |
72 |
With Bipod |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
6 |
1 |
3 |
94 |
With Tripod |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
6 |
1 |
3 |
144 |
M-1914 (8mm) |
5 |
5 |
2-3-Nil |
8 |
1 |
1 |
211 |
M-1914 (7mm) |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
8 |
1 |
1 |
199 |
St. Etienne M-1907
Notes:
This weapon has been described as the “second-worst machinegun ever
made,” and “an object lesson in how not to design weapons.”
The St. Etienne M-1907 was an attempt to improve an earlier St. Etienne
design, which was itself an attempt to improve upon the Hotchkiss machineguns.
It is one of the only weapons ever designed to use a “blow forward”
operation; unfortunately, this meant that the gun required a rack and pinion
system so that the bolt actually went back while the rest of the action went
forward. The spring that moved the
bolt backwards was coiled around the 26-inch barrel, so that the heat from the
barrel weakened it and the spring often broke.
Just to add another unnecessary amount of complication, the gun had an
adjustable rate of fire from 8-600 rpm, and fed from 24 or 30-round metallic
strips that proved time-consuming to load in the field.
It could only be fired from a tripod; no provision was made for bipod or
hand-held fire. The tripod for the M-1907 weighed 25.85 kilograms.
In 1906, the
M-1907 was heavily-modified, hoping to cure the problems with the M-1907.
The changes included a large ring gas regulator, a front sight heat
compensator, changing the rear sight to an adjustable drum sight
and modification to the feed sprocket to make loading and ejection more
reliable. This modification also allowed the M-1907 to use a long cloth belt
instead of feeding from the metallic strips.
(The belt-fed models were also extremely rare, and most of the modified
M-1907s still fed from metallic strips.) Modifications were to be accomplished
as the M-1907s as they came in for depot-level maintenance, but in reality few
M-1907s were so modified. A steel
rod, not as affected by the barrel heat, was added under the barrel jacket to
eliminate barrel bending during long uses of the weapon. The barrel jacket had
several cooling slits cut into it, which did aid barrel cooling, but also let in
dirt. The receiver also received
some cooling slots, which again let in dirt, into the receiver and feed
mechanism. The front sight is built on an automatic compensator to automatically
cope with barrel bending due to heat. A slightly lighter tripod, the M-1907
Omnibus, was also devised. These modified guns were designated the M-1907T, and
though there will still reliability problems, it was now a much better
machinegun. Unfortunately, they
were also very scarce.
The M-1907
jammed with distressing regularity in the trenches of France, and it was decided
to ship the entire lot off to Africa.
The dry climate of the French colonies helped, but not much; the M-1907
was discarded so often that it became scattered far and wide across Africa.
In the French Army, the St Etienne M-1907 was replaced by the far more
reliable, though heavier, Hotchkiss M-1914.
The Romanians were the only other country to use the M-1907 during World
War 1; they bought 500 of them, and in the less dirty environment, they
performed reasonably well, though they were discarded after the War.
Weapon |
Ammunition |
Weight |
Magazines |
Price |
St
Etienne M-1907 |
8mm
Lebel |
25.73 kg |
24
Strip, 30 Strip |
$2652 |
St
Etienne M-1907T |
8mm
Lebel |
23.8 kg |
25
Strip, 30 Strip (150 Belt) |
$2598 |
Weapon |
ROF |
Damage |
Pen |
Bulk |
SS |
Burst |
Range |
St Etienne
M-1907 |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
6 |
2 |
5 |
179 |
St Etienne
M-1907T |
5 |
4 |
2-3-Nil |
6 |
2 |
6 |
179 |