Pz III vs Sherman advice

[SCG_SchleiferGER]

Hello, I need advice in frontally taking on Shermans with the 5cm Kwk of the Pz III.

In a frontal engagement I get the short end of the stick for sure, but are there ways to still knock out a sherman from the front with standard Panzergranate 39 (AP-HE)?

Lets say I encounter a Sherman at 500m. We notice each other at the same time.

Should I go for the turret, the domes for the driver and assistant driver or just try to halt and blind him it with firing HE at its optics and tracks while disengaging?

[FTC_Riksen]

I have to do some research but I dont think u can face a Sherman headon with a PzIII from 500m. You would probably have to be closer ... from 100m it should penetrate the T34 but, again, I'm not sure.

[Torrens]

Never target the Sherman's turret, it's the strongest part of the tank. 75mm armor thickness along with the round shape of the turret. Only a lucky shot will incapacitate their crew in the turret. Aim at the hull to have a chance. Don't engage frontally from over 500m. Use APCR if under 500m when facing it frontally. APHE needs to be at point blank from the front. From rear and sides you can fire APHE from 1000m an be fine. This is all in game description I haven't tried it yet.

Edited March 19, 2019 by Torrens

[GunnyHighway]

Five hundred meters for a frontal attack seems arduous at best unless you think ricochet. If it bounces and hit the undercarriage which is thin, you will achieve success. However, shooting at its flank and rear is more likely to put a prompt smile on your face. 

Edited March 19, 2019 by Ze-GunnyHighway

[migmadmarine]

1 hour ago, Ze-GunnyHighway said:

Five hundred meters for a frontal attack seems arduous at best unless you think ricochet. If it bounces and hit the undercarriage which is thin, you will achieve success. However, shooting at its flank and rear is more likely to put a prompt smile on your face. 

Anyone been able to pull off a trick shot like this in game? I'm dubious at best about whether that should work.

[GunnyHighway]

7 minutes ago, thenorm said:

Anyone been able to pull off a trick shot like this in game? I'm dubious at best about whether that should work.

Train on quick mission, you'll see. It works every day of the week.
It is not because you never did it that is does not work.

[SCG_SchleiferGER]

Good evening everyone and thank you for replying.

 

Reviewing the information you all provided and my own ideas I came to this conclusion:

turret at 500m: forget it

hull: go for these

these driver and assistand driver domes are relatively flat and lack the addidional armor found on later m4 models.

I just hope these castings there are not  as thick as the turret.

 

 

if the Sherman angles its hull the only option left is to bounce it from the turret into  the hull roof.

 

I will try these ideas in quick missions.

[Torrens]

I've been playing with Panzer III and Sherman and I find both tanks very fun to play.

 

Panzer III suprisingly seems to hold it's own against Shermans and T34's. It is at disadvantage when further than 500m, but it's front armor is tough and I was able to take over 10 rounds from T34's in many occasions before getting knocked out. APCR destroys T34's reliably from under 500m in my experience so far and seems to penetrate them reliably through front plate or turret. But only if you are at 500m distance or under. When over 500m it becomes very unreliable and I found myself pumping round after round into them with only small effect. However due to the good rate of fire, I found that even from long range, sometimes they eat so many rounds that it becomes difficult for them to move or return fire with all the crew damage they take. Concentrated fire from many Panzer 3's will take out Shermans and T34's from greater distance.

 

Sherman destroys Tigers quite reliably from the sides with AP ammo. APHE it has less penetration and Panzer III's have spaced armor. It also has the best vision slits of any tank so far, especially the commander who can turn the vision slit 360 degrees. This gives in my opinion the best situational awareness in the game when crew is buttoned up. Every crew member can turn their vision slits with a wide arch to clearly see everything that is going on outside. It's amazing compared to other tanks.

[Field-Ops]

The sherman's machine gunner position is actually viable. He has a large view port and can use tracers to walk to the target. All other gunner positions are tiny peep sights (unusable) or magnified optics which has low FOV. I'm really happy with the sherman so far.

 

A side note, I do hope they fix scope projections to be picture in picture instead of their current method. Gun sights and such are not accurate as they are as the crosshair floats in space while the terrain stays the same. You MUST go into sight mode to get shots on target. Its not such a big deal for simple viewports but if PIP can be done for those it would be an even more accurate representation. 

[SCG_SchleiferGER]

I really like the Panzer III's hatch for the gunner. It's nice to have the option to stick your head out while driving through towns.

Two pairs of eyes see more then one obviously.

 

While we are at it:

Panzer III:

Does one of you guys know how to use the backup sights for the Panzer III? I mean the ironsights right next to the normal telescopic sight.

Is it possible to look through the binocular drivers optics of the Panzer III's driver position. I want the driver to places its eyes right behind it so that the two views from the optics become one connected view.

 

Sherman:

How do I use the rotatable periscopes on the Sherman?

[LukeFF]

7 hours ago, SchleiferGER said:

Sherman:

How do I use the rotatable periscopes on the Sherman?

 

Look for the commands in the list that describe rotating the "visor." 

Edited March 22, 2019 by LukeFF

[=GW=seaflanker819]

Today I test Pz.III shoot sherman on jg5 server in short range, (didnt test long range )I just shoot the hull front machine gun and kill the commander and machine gunner use APHE for one shoot, but hard to kill turret gunner and driver, however, you can shoot the turret and destroy persicope and aim system, so the gunner cant aim. it apply for all tanks, if you play t34, you can use this technique to brother tigers, blind him and literally disable him.

Edited March 23, 2019 by III./JG5_seaflanker819

[Field-Ops]

On 3/22/2019 at 5:30 AM, SchleiferGER said:

Is it possible to look through the binocular drivers optics of the Panzer III's driver position. I want the driver to places its eyes right behind it so that the two views from the optics become one connected view.

That particular part works great in VR, having both eyes right next to the binocular 

[SCG_SchleiferGER]

This is my lessons learned after some games:

 

- The Panzer III is more stable than the Tiger. Firing at close range is possible without completely missing the target.

- Do NOT shoot at anything that you are not 100% certain you can penetrate. If you are in cover, stop the engine and wait for the enemy to show you his sides.

 If he has already seen you and you have no chance of penning him, try to retreat while damaging his tracks. If retreat is not possible go full tracksniping.

- the Gunner has his own hatch, use it. It's very nice to have an additional pair of eyes out spotting when playing with a crewmember.

- The armor of the Pz III is not bad at all, but you cannot rely on it like the Tiger can.

- The Pz III is very slow cross country (18kph max). Use roads. Let the tigers (24 kph max) do the frontal assaults while you are marching on roads into the enemy's flank.

-  close the driver's visor. At least I think it makes the tank more durable

- the rapid firing gun is great at engaging AT positions. Missed shots do not matter as much as on the Tiger.

 

Target: T-34

Do not engage from the front. The turret penetration feels very unreliable to me.

From the sides shoot low into the suspension part between the roadwheels. I managed to get kills up to 800m with APHE.

Keep angles to a minimum.

 

Target : KV1S:

Engaging from the front is not wise. Go for the sides. The sides are flatter than the sides of a T-34. Had the most success with APCR from 500m and closer. 

Keep angles to a minimum.

 

Target: Sherman M4A2:

The Front is pennable via APCR to the driver and assistant driver domes. Up to 500 I guess. No idea about APHE. Shermans seem to be rather rare on the servers I like to play on.

The sides are very easy to pen as long as they are not angeled. APHE up to 800m.  

Edited March 28, 2019 by SchleiferGER

[SCG_judgedeath3]

But shouldnt Panzer III with the L60 50mm gun be able to penetrate the T-34s armour quite easily at close to medium ranges, especially with APCR rounds? The pen data indicates it should unless the T-34 is at an angle.
From my battles the last couple of days its almost impossible to pen the front and side of the T-34, or rather very hard.

[CanadaOne]

I asked before how to use the .50 on the Sherman, and someone said "T", but that simply gives me/takes away control of the main cannon.

 

Also, is there an updated version of the tank controls?

 

Thanks.

[LukeFF]

2 hours ago, CanadaOne said:

Also, is there an updated version of the tank controls?

 

All of the tank controls listed are under the last tab inside the game. 

 

2 hours ago, CanadaOne said:

I asked before how to use the .50 on the Sherman, and someone said "T", but that simply gives me/takes away control of the main cannon.

 

Open the hatch, and then use the same controls you use for the turret, in the commander's position. 

Edited April 2, 2019 by LukeFF

[CanadaOne]

I'll try it again.

 

And thank you again for the help.