German Infanterie Machine-gun Platoon (GGE704)
Includes:
- One Command Pistol team
- Four Machine-gun Sections
- One Small three-hole base
- Four Medium four-hole bases
- One plastic hole plug sprue.
The MG08 (or Maschinengewehr 08) was the standard machine-gun of the German Army during the First World War. Adapted from Hiram Maxim’s 1884 design, the MG08 (designating the year of it’s adopted i.e. 1908) fired the 7.92×57mm round at the rate of up to 400 rounds per minute.
Feed by 250-round ammunition belts, any prolonged periods of sustained fire meant the gun would rapidly overheat. To prevent this, the barrel was surrounded by a water jacket which contained one gallon (3.78 litres) of water.
When deployed, the gun was fired from a sled mount that could be transported around the battlefield either on a man’s shoulders or via a cart. However, the total weight of the weapon system (gun, sled mount and water) was a whopping 69kg (152lbs) without taking ammunition into account severely limited its mobility.