Pz III or PzIV

[grenadier98]

What type of tanks do you buy from 1940 on? I don't want to cross upgrade between those two. The Pz III will get their first cross upgrade if Tiger or Panthers will appear. For the French campaign in 1940 the Pz IV D will be better than the Pz III F, but afterwards until mid 1942 the Pz III will be much better against hard targets and has a better initiative, the Pz IV on the contrary will be better fighting any soft targets and from mid 1942 on it will be superior in every way.
So which on to buy?

[timek28]

My experience is that you have to mix. Basically in every aspect of the game. There is no "do all tactics". Almost every weapon has it's use. So do the tanks. For example PzIIIF is OK against tanks, but it's bad soft attack will be very visible against infantry. To the point that infantry will attack it first! On the other PZIV D has very bad defense stats, and is very vulnerable. So you have to keep it out from the reach of enemy tanks, artillery and bombers. And use it only once breach has been made, to flank artillery and destroy it, as well as infantry in open terrain.

As the game progresses both PzIII anz PzIV will get much better. And when Panther and Tiger appear, I would convert all PzIIIs into Panthers and all PzIVs into Tigers (Tiger 2s later on). This way you mix steel wall of Tigers with speed and movement of Panthers.

This is basically the game's way of telling you that you cannot sit down idle, but you have to plan your tactics very carefully. I think the same mixture applies to self propelled artillery (used for breaching), and towed used for static shelling albeit with much more ammo. Or for SPAA units that are used for front cover, and 8.8 that is used in static defense.

[Longasc]

You definitely want to mix, I always did poorly with a Panzer IV only approach, your Panzer III will funnily turn into close combat Panzer IIIN at Stalingrad times, and they are really good at that role. While the former PzIV infantry tanks become the tank combat focused ones. So no worries, your Panzer III will have more experience than the Russian T-34 and will not become obsolete that quickly.

[endur]

I don't normally convert IIIs to IVs. The exception is when starting the west 1942 DLC, you lose your existing prestige savings, so I converted my IIIs to IVs then.

Because of the prestige tax, I'm following an approach of having SE tanks be Tigers/King Tigers, and regular core tanks will be Pz III/IV/V.

Having said all that, I usually don't buy Pz IIIs. Instead, I buy PzIVs and pre-1942, I'm using the PzIVs as infantry killers and relying on Stukas to kill enemy tanks. While I'll have a few PzIIIs out there, they never seem to be in the right position to do much against enemy armor.

[GSlapshot]

The PZ III is a great tank for the soviet battles since it has the higher initiative and tank attack values. The PZ IV is a great infantry tank early but struggles against T-34's and heavier tanks until 1942. Depending on which campaign you are playing I have a mix but favor PZ IV's for later battles. I usually disband PZ III's for Panthers ir Tigers in 1943.

[ksasaki]

Anyone use those self propelled anti tanks like the panzerjager 1B or later on the Marder or the Stug III? They have a better hard attack but their SA is kind of woeful.

[timek28]

Panzerjager 1B is useless IMO. It has 10 HA but, it's armor is the same as Pz IVD meaning very thin, and it's SA is only 3. In beginning the point is to take out enemy armor by Stukas anyways. Not head on. Marder I think has high HA (14 or so) but very bad ground defense also (maybe 10 or something similar).

Stug III is a real deal on the other hand. It comes in the right time when German tanks aren't that good in HA, and Soviet or Allied tanks are pretty good. so it can be a pretty effective tank destroyer. I think it has HA of 14 and GD of 15. Something like that, depending on the variant. The great thing is you can upgrade easily between versions, and some can also be used like artillery. Of course don't count on Stug III for SA. But I would say if your core is large enough have several TD units, starting off from Stug III or Stug III/F and later on upgrade them to Elefants, or JagdPanthers if you like the speed more.

[ksasaki]

Stukas are fantastic in Poland but they always need escort from France onwards. Sometimes I forget or go to engage enemy air power then they get chewed up badly. Also those certain soviet tanks with small aa are annoying too.

[Anfield]

LIke has been said they both are effect and I have about an equal mix of them early on. PzIII being better agaisnt tanks, while the early PzIVs are great taking out sort targets. As for the Panzerjager IB, thats a unit i really like. I normally have it follow up the III's and IV's getting easy kiles getting exp. Cause once it gets a star or more, it can then take on tanks its self. And by the time the StuGIII comes out you get a great 3 star unit ready to upgrade.

[ksasaki]

Yeah Anfield, that's why I was thinking of recruiting a Panzerjager 1B or two early to get some stars and heroes so the StugIII is ready to roll out with stars and be a real killing machine.

[panzerdude]

It's funny this came up. I'm playing the 1942 Grand Campaign and I've reached the point where I'm looking at what do do with my PZIIIJ's. I have PZIVF2s and the III's are starting to seem quite weak against the KV's and T34s. I've worked hard at minimizing unit destruction in my core but I am at the point where it seems like the only sane course is to go to IVs for the whole core. Its tempting to save the prestige and wait until the Tiger becomes available, but I'm finding it surprisingly hard to deal with the masses of Russian tanks.

Interesting game. I like games that push you to make choices.

[captainjack]

I usually convert the 3.7 PaK into a Panzerjager at the first opportunity - it hits harder and is always ready to fire back, unlike the truck. ANd at 2* it packs a reasonable punch for its era. You can attack tanks with it if you have strat bombers and a lot of arty. Once at 100% suppression, away you go - eexperience gain appears quick too. If you struggle to keep them alive for a period, retire them until the upgrade is available. If you are lucky enough to get a decent A hero - I had +5A on a Stug 3 in AK recently - they can damage almost anything. The other benefit is that at cost than a real tank you can afford elite in game repalcements when you need to. But I am pretty sure that without the defensive arty you will end up with scrap metal. I am just about to upgrade my curent Stug 3 G into Elefant.With add the 4* attack bonus and it starts causing eventhe KV5s to go and hide.

Other than that, I usually rely exclusively on SE, captured and gifted special units for tanks. By teh time teh Char B and Somau are getting obsolete, usually the PzIV appears to be the best option for upgrade.

[wargovichr]

Utilize PzIII line early as better tank vs. tank, PzIV early as tank vs. infantry, until PzIV F2 or G available.
Don't forget your few left over PzIIIs are excellent tank vs. infantry as PzIIIN model useful even in rough/forest/city.
I keep the one Panzerjäger IB and eventually upgrade to the fun Elefant or Nashorn but because of the problem of bad upgrade costs instead I use 88AA as dual anti-tank and very useful anti-air.

[captainjack]

Apologies for the shocking typing above!

I agree 88s make excellent AT up to some time in 1942 but now I am into 43 East they are becoming a bit too vulnerable.
I rather wish I'd developed a second Panzerjager to 2 or 3* earlier on so I could have upgraded it to a second Stug3G a while ago or added a second Elefant now that the ability to hit the enemy armour very hard is becoming more valuable.