Panzer III is a German tank.
Description[]
The Panzer III was Germany's first medium tank. Although originally intended to combat other vehicles, the tank's anti-tank capability became increasingly inadequate against newer tanks as the war progressed, and despite upgrades its main armament soon came to a limit due to its turret ring limitations. As a result the tank was eventually withdrawn from the front line, with Panzer IV succeeding it as the workhorse for the remainder of the war. The vehicle had multiple production models as well as specialised variants, including the Flammpanzer III flame tank that was based on Ausf M. Its chassis also served as the basis for the more successful Sturmgeschütz III and its subvariant Sturmhaubitze 42, which soldiered on until the end of the war.
All Panzer III tanks in BattleGroup42 have two positions: the driver has access to the main gun and a coaxial MG 34, wheras the second crewman controls another MG 34 mounted at the front of the hull. The Ausf E is an early war variant armed with the 37mm KwK 36 L/45 tank gun. Ausf J is armed with the 50mm KwK 38 L/42, and Ausf J1 is a subvariant of J with the longer 50mm KwK 39 L/60 for better anti-tank firepower. Ausf M shares the same armament as Ausf J1, but with additional Schürzen spaced armour for increased protection. And finally Ausf N is a fire support variant armed with the low velocity 75mm KwK 37 L/24 as with the early variants of Panzer IV.
The vehicle appears in multiple maps and across multiple theatres until 1943.
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