standing here, is a german sturmtruppen (NR-15), his role is 'bote' , this means he will carry either a C96 , or a gewehr 88 with an extended breach, and 1-2 m1915 stielhandgranate (stick gernade) he has a LOT of ammunition. the rest of the squad contains of grenadiers, machine gunners, and or trench raiding units. all of there uniforms are almost identical, but the role of any given soldier in this battalion will be known by what weapon ordinance they carry, trench raider unit: he carries a feldspaten, trench knife, or improvised club, carrying 1 or no grenades the role is obvious. grenadier: grenadiers are one of the most important members of a strumtroppen battalion or squad, they are responsible for holding the enemy down, or for deposing enemy machine gun positions, they can carry upwards of 5 M1915 steilhandgranate , typically carrying a light weapon or a rifle without a bayonet. there are also many improvised roles in the sturmtruppen squad , all variations of weapons were carried. uniform details: he wears an m1916 painted stahlhelm , and carries a gas mask over his neck , along with his arm band reading 'NR-15', double bags for ammunition or grenades, and blue ammo pouch bandoliers. he is wearing the standard m1915 feldbluse (green) with leather knee and elbow pads, and to keep the mud out he wears puddies with wrapped stockings , this specific soldier bears a pionere shovel on his back and has a bread bag next to his shovel as well. from 1917-1918 the sturmtruppen was becoming more common amongst the battlefields of the western front, and became more standardised, the goal that was given for this new breed of soldiers was to strike hard, and strike fast, to do this sturmtruppen needed to carry lots of ammunition, be highly skilled , and to be able to carry a variety of weapons, the most popular weapons being used by the sturmtruppen was the , p08 luger , c96 , kar98AZ, gewher 98, and mg08. many other weapons were used including the rare mp18. sturmtruppen participated in almost all battles during the late war. though sturmtruppen was effective, it was still regimented into smaller numbers and typically fighting along side standardised infantry like landsturm battalions or schutzen battalions making the sturmtruppen less effective than enlisted men in larger numbers, after all ww1 was truly a slaughterhouse, even the elite sturmtruppen could be cut down by a machine gun just as fast as any standard infantry could, regardless, the sturmtruppen was a force to be feared and reckoned with during the first world war.
i made this illistration (background is a game screenshot)
