Germany

7.7cm Feldkanone 96 n.A.

The by far most numerous gun in the arsenal of the German Imperial Army in 1914 was the 7.7cm Feldkanone 96 n.A.. Germany entered the war with 5.086 of these Field Gun. Throughout the whole Great War, it stayed the workhorse of the German Artillery, and though as such not as well-known as many other, large-calibre pieces, it was of course very important, being used on all fronts and in all battles.  The design of the Feldkanone 96 n.A. must be seen against the background of German tactical doctrine prior to 1914. The German Army was wholly and fully dedicated to a swift, fast war of maneuver: home before the leaves fall and all that. Therefore mobility and speed of emplacement was given first priority when designing the gun. Which meant that the weight of the gun was kept as low as possible, leading, among other things, that the barrel was comparatively short, giving the gun a pretty low muzzle velocity, compared to other contemporary field guns. Initially the gun worked as thought, and did excellent service. But then the War of maneuver ended in the West, and the Trench War came in it's place. And then the short-comings of the piece became obvious. It was superior to the field guns of the enemy armies only in one respect: the mobility, but that was of course not such a big benefit during the stalemate. The field guns of it's opponents could all shoot longer - the French "75", the Russian Putilov 02 and the British 18-pounder. In addition to this, the "75" had a higher rate of fire and used better shells, and the 18-pounder bigger ones.  My model is based on EMHAR:s excellent kit - excellent in many respect except the material: that soft plastic is obnoxious. I have basically only added a lot of detail, and refined some the others. I have added dial sight, cranking wheels for elevation and traverse, handle bars and cushions for the seats on the front shields and a new front barrel (the only way to get it hollow...). I really should have replaced the shield, as it is too thick, but.... nobodys perfect! Click on the thumbnails to see more views of this model: If you want to find out more on the real FK 96 n.A., click here!

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