User blog comment:Deathblade 100/Season 3 Opener: Volkssturm vs Home Guard/@comment-4661256-20160114025728

El Alamein's *heavy breathing* WORLD WAR II Edges:

 Long Range: M1917 Enfield & SMLE vs. Volkssturmgewehr & K98k:  All right, well, when it comes to the bolt-action rifles, all three of them have a range of right around 500 meters (the semi-auto Volkssturmgewehr has a range of 300 meters, but this seems to be a tradeoff for its semi-automatic fire rate and much larger magazine size, making it a battle rifle rather than a marksman's tool). When it comes to the ammo capacity, the K98k comes in last with 5 rounds (although the 1917 Lee-Enfield isn't far behind with a 6-round capacity) -- the SMLE has 10, but the semi-auto Volkssturmgewehr has triple that at 30 rounds. To be frank, if it just came down to the bolt-action rifles it'd be more or less a wash, but the Volkssturm has the option of more concentrated firepower thanks to their semi-automatic rifle. When you add the fact that it has a magazine capacity that is able to sustain such a fire rate, the Germans will be able to lay down more fire at longer range, enabling them to better suppress their opponents.

Edge: Volkssturm

 Mid Range: M1928 Thompson vs. MP 3008:  So, even though the Thompson has only half the range of the MP 3008, it's by far the better weapon. For starters, the Thompson isn't a piece of crap that was manufactured shoddily in the waning days of the war like the German gun, and it also has a faster rate of fire and a higher-caliber round. This will enable the British to fight more successfully as the fight gets closer.

Edge: Home Guard

 Close Range: Webley vs. Walther:  Usually the semi-automatic pistol beats the revolver, and I see no reason for this comparison to be an exception. Yeah, the Webley has the more powerful round than the Walther, but its magazine is smaller by two rounds and the reload time is going to be a much more lengthy process -- something that could spell doom in an active firefight. Also, the Walther is a little bit lighter (by about 1 pound), making it easier to carry around over prolonged periods of time.

Edge: Volkssturm

 Special Weapons: Molotov Cocktail vs. Einstossflammenwerfer:  Personally, I'd have given the Volkssturm the Panzerfaust for their special weapon (and the Home Guard an equivalent weapon, if they had one) just because they used it so heavily in the defense of Berlin and it became iconic, but I digress. When it comes to flamethrowers (weapons that are already fairly dangerous to the operator to begin with), mass-producing something cheaply and in a rushed fashion does little to increase its battlefield performance. That Einstossflammenwerfer does not look like a weapon I'd want to be carrying around, and even assuming it doesn't malfunction and kill the operator, it's carrying far too little fuel to make an effective weapon. That one shot translates to about a half-second burst of flame and then... that's it. The Molotov cocktails are hardly effective antipersonnel weapons, and I don't think they'll do much in this fight, but at least they're not utter pieces of trash like the Einstossflammenwerfer seems to be.

Edge: Home Guard

WINNER: VOLKSSTURM

This might be a bit of a shock (or not, if you read my prediction on Deathblade's Season 3 announcement blog), but I do think the Volkssturm takes a narrow victory here. Yes, their weapons are generally of an inferior quality and their training does leave much to be desired (not to say that the Home Guard is very well trained either), but they faced a much larger volume of actual combat in the Second World War than did the Home Guard. The Home Guard might have had a little experience with anti-aircraft defenses during the Blitz and the Battle of Britain, but that doesn't translate well to infantry-based squad combat. The Volkssturm fought tooth and nail to the bitter end against the Red Army during the Battle of Berlin. Ultimately, we're comparing two groups of old men and young kids who aren't really fit for frontline military service but who were created to increase defensive manpower--the difference is that the Germans were forced to call them to action while the British were fortunate enough to never have the need. What this means for the purposes of this battle, though, is that the Volkssturm will stay much calmer under pressure than their substantially greener opponents, and be able to operate more effectively thanks to their prior familiarity with the heat of battle.