Pz.III E

Pz.III E

Pz.III B

Pz.III E

Pz.III B

Germany

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.0	1.0	1.0

Class:

Medium tank

Research:Free

Purchase:Free

Description

The Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. E is a rank I German medium tank with a battle rating of 1.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41. The successor of the Panzer III B and the predecessor of the Panzer III F on the German tree line, the Panzer III Ausf. E has an improved armour layout with 30 mm thick front and side armour while retaining the 37 mm gun.

General info

Survivability and armour

The crew of the Pz. III E is well-spaced out, enabling survival of a frontal penetration or two by typical low-rank cannons. Compared to the Pz.III B, the frontal armour protection is roughly doubled, with 30-35 mm on the turret face and 30 mm on the upper & lower front plates. The turret has some overlapping plates for up to 65 mm of protection on some areas, sometimes saving you from otherwise guaranteed knockout. The sides are also 30 mm thick while the rear is 20 mm sloped, making it totally immune to tank-mounted .50 cal machine guns.

Mobility

Top speed improves significantly over the Pz. III B, at 71 kph forward and 12 kph reverse. Power/weight ratio is similar, 29.3 hp/ton in AB and 15.38 hp/ton for RB/SB. Maneuverability is similar to its predecessor.

Armaments

Main armament

The Pz. III E has the same main gun as its predecessor, the 37 mm KwK 36. Ammunition is the same - PzGr. APHE with 46 mm penetration and 13 g explosive mass as the stock option, with 91 mm penetrating PzGr.40 APCR as an unlock.

Machine guns

Like its predecessor, the Pz. III E has two coaxial 7.92mm MG34 machine guns that easily shred lightly armoured flak trucks seen commonly at low ranks. Slow turret traverse makes it generally useless vs aircraft, however.

Usage in battles

The Pz. III E still has the "average" flavor of its predecessor, but is able to rely on its armour a little more than before. However, the higher BR of 1.7 means it runs into much nastier opposition. The B1 ter at 2.3 is just about unpennable from any side even with the APCR shell, the Matilda Mk II at 2.7 is slightly easier to pen but has a gun strong enough to annihilate you at a mere glance. The M5A1 at 2.3 runs circles around you with a better gun than you.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Gun is average for the rank
• APHE post-penetration effect helps destroy targets quickly considering its other downsides
• High-pen APCR for rank helps immensely during uptiers
• Significantly improved mobility over Pz. III B
• Totally immune against .50 cal machine gun fire from other tanks

Cons:

• Slow turret traverse of only 5.1 degrees/s makes it not well-suited to close-range combat
• Stock shell not suited to destroying many opponents
• APCR post-penetration is generally inadequate yet you are forced to use it more often than not
• Easily crippled or knocked out from above by aircraft-mounted .50 cals

History

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Media

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See also

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• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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• encyclopedia page on the tank;
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