Pz.IV (Sweden)
.jpg)
Contents
Description
The ▄Pz.IV is a rank III Swedish medium tank with a battle rating of 4.0 (AB) and 3.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Fire and Ice".
General info
Survivability and armour
Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat? If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.
Armour type:
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 80 mm | 30mm Top 30mm Bottom |
20mm | ___ - ___ mm |
| Turret | 50 mm Turret front ___ mm Gun mantlet |
30mm | 30mm | ___ - ___ mm |
| Cupola | ___ mm | ___ mm | ___ mm | ___ mm |
Notes:
Mobility
Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forwards and backwards.
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 43 | 9 | 25 | _,___ | 572 | __.__ | 22.88 |
| Realistic | 39 | 8 | _,___ | 300 | __.__ | 12 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armaments
Main armament
While its powerful LwL40 L48 main gun is quite powerful at its BR compared to some of the tanks it will undoubtedly face, it has the same weakness in its armor and should not be used as a main line tank. Doing so will be a exercise in futility as you are quickly shown the hangar screen, so staying with allies to assist in finishing a tank off or staying behind to act as a sniper is this tank preferred job description.
| 75 mm KwK40 L48 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 87 | -10°/+20° | ±180° | N/A | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ | _.__ |
| Realistic | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | ||||||||
- PzGr 39 - APCBC shell - This is the main ammo type, and can confidently penetrate enemy armor due to the explosive filler. This should be the main ammo that your crew carries even as you unlock the other two shell types.
- Hl.Gr 38B - HEAT shell - it is recommended to completely avoid this kind of shell as its performance is vastly inferior in all aspects compared to APCBC or APCR ammo used by this tank.
- PzGr 40 - APCR shell - This type of ammo should be used only if there is trouble penetrating the opponent, or trying to hit a fast moving tank at some distance. However, its damaging potential is much lower because it has no explosive filler to further enhance damage after the penetration.
- Sprgr. 34 - HE shell - Carry only very few of these. They are useless against anything other than unarmoured AA vehicles, to which it is lethal.
- K.Gr.Rot Nb. - Smoke shells are useful to blind enemy vehicles that block your advance while being being too remote for you to disable.
Ammunition
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| PzGr 39 | APCBC | 145mm | 143mm | 130mm | 116mm | 104mm | 93mm |
| Hl.Gr 38B | HEAT | 80mm | 80mm | 80mm | 80mm | 80mm | 80mm |
| PzGr 40 | APCR | 182mm | 177mm | 159mm | 140mm | 122mm | 107mm |
| Sprgr. 34 | HE | 10mm | 10mm | 10mm | 10mm | 10mm | 10mm |
| Shell details | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | |||||||
| PzGr 39 | APCBC | 770 | 6.8 | 1.2 | 14 | 17 | 48° | 63° | 71° |
| Hl.Gr 38B | HEAT | 450 | 4.4 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 872.1 | 62° | 69° | 73° |
| PzGr 40 | APCR | 990 | 4.1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 66° | 70° | 72° |
| Sprgr. 34 | HE | 550 | 5.74 | 0 | 0.1 | 686 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
| Smoke shell characteristics | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Screen radius (m) |
Screen deploy time (s) |
Screen hold time (s) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
| K.Gr.Rot Nb. | 540 | 6.23 | 13 | 5 | 20 | 50 |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 87 | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | __ (+__) | NO |
Machine guns
The MG34 is bog standard in line with its German counterpart. While it can deal with lightly armored SPAA's like the Wirbelwind or SPG's like the Breda 501, it can also be used to assist in marking targets for friendly forces. As there is no external MG it has a very limited use when dealing with hostile air, so unless both the terrain allows, and you believe you have a good chance of hitting what you're aiming at its best not to open up.
| 7.92 mm MG34 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Pintle/Coax | 2100-3150 (150) | 900 | -10/+20° | ±180° |
Usage in battles
The Tank largely plays similar to its German Counterpart the Pz. IV J and should thus be played and treated the same, given ammo stowage it is "generally" recommended to carry no more than 30 shells. This editor normally carries 20 PzGR 39's and 10-12 PzGR 40's this will keep all rounds "deep" inside the tank and outside the sides which are easily penetrated. The Panzer IV suffers compared to its other variants due to its slow, manual turret traverse rate. This causes the Panzer IV J to lose flexibility in reacting to close encounters without turning the entire hull around. As such, it is recommended not to use the Panzer IV as a front-line assaulter in combat.
Tactics-wise, the Panzer IV is perfect for sniping and ambushes, where the slower turret traverse rate affects its combat performance less. Attack from a distance, especially while that enemy is focused on other allies in the team. Ambushes can also work in close-range events when watching corners, street intersections, and choke points, but be wary of any enemies trying to outmaneuver the Panzer IV as it would require drastic action with the slow turret rate. Try not to engage the enemy in a straight-up front confrontation as most enemies would be able to easily cleave through the front armor and end the vehicle.
Although any tank of Rank III can destroy the Panzer IV pretty quickly, the tanks that mostly need to avoided in open combat are IS-2, KV-2, SU-152, Tiger and Panther tanks.
Most of the heavy tanks that it will face include Tigers, the last of KV series, IS-1s, and even some IS-2s. Particularly IS-2s will be the toughest opponent, and can take out the Panzer IV with one hit. Avoid frontal confrontation at all cost. Instead try to be sneaky and attack them from the sides where they become vulnerable.
Pros and cons
Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in a bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".
Pros:
- 75 mm cannon has high 145 mm penetration and great damage (28.9 g TNT), can knock out all common foes with a single shot
- -10° gun depression is very handy when fighting among hills
- Satisfactory speed (~35 km/h on average) allows it to keep up with most teammates
- Smoke grenades help to conceal the tank when needed
- 80 mm frontal hull armour may deflect some shells when angled properly
- 5 mm turret side skirt protects it from tanks using HEAT/HE shells
Cons:
- Extremely poor turret traverse, targeting process is slow and dangerous
- Weak survivability: cramped crew, thin frontal turret & side hull armour. Usually gets frontally penetrated easily
- Sluggish acceleration
- Large transmission at the front often gets broken by frontal hits, immobilising the whole tank
- APCBC struggles to penetrate well-armoured tanks at long range (>800 m)
- Low reverse speed of -8 km/h may put the player in a fatal situation
History
The Panzer IV was the brainchild of the German general and innovative armoured warfare theorist Heinz Guderian. In concept, it was intended to be a support tank for use against enemy anti-tank guns and fortifications. Ideally, each tank battalion in a panzer division was to have three medium companies of Panzer IIIs and one heavy company of Panzer IVs. On 11 January 1934, the German army wrote the specifications for a "medium tractor", and issued them to a number of defense companies. To support the Panzer III, which would be armed with a 37-millimetre (1.46 in) anti-tank gun, the new vehicle would have a short-barreled, howitzer-like 75-millimetre (2.95 in) as its main gun, and was allotted a weight limit of 24 tonnes (26.46 short tons). Development was carried out under the name Begleitwagen ("accompanying vehicle"), or BW, to disguise its actual purpose, given that Germany was still theoretically bound by the Treaty of Versailles ban on tanks. MAN, Krupp, and Rheinmetall-Borsig each developed prototypes, with Krupp's being selected for further development.
The chassis had originally been designed with a six-wheeled Schachtellaufwerk interleaved-roadwheel suspension (as already adopted for German half-tracks), but the German Army amended this to a torsion bar system. Permitting greater vertical deflection of the roadwheels, this was intended to improve performance and crew comfort both on- and off-road. However, due to the urgent requirement for the new tank, neither proposal was adopted, and Krupp instead equipped it with a simple leaf spring double-bogie suspension, with eight rubber-rimmed roadwheels per side.
The prototype had a crew of five; the hull contained the engine bay to the rear, with the driver and radio operator, who doubled as the hull machine gunner, seated at the front-left and front-right, respectively. In the turret, the tank commander sat beneath his roof hatch, while the gunner was situated to the left of the gun breech and the loader to the right. The torque shaft ran from the rear engine to the transmission box in the front hull between the driver and radio operator. To keep the shaft clear of the rotary base junction, which provided electrical power to the turret including the motor to turn it, the turret was offset 66.5 mm (2.62 in) to the left of the chassis center line, and the engine was moved 152.4 mm (6.00 in) to the right. Due to the asymmetric layout, the right side of the tank contained the bulk of its stowage volume, which was taken up by ready-use ammunition lockers.
Accepted into service under the designation Versuchskraftfahrzeug 622 (Vs.Kfz. 622), "experimental motor vehicle 622", production began in 1936 at Fried. Krupp Grusonwerk AG factory at Magdeburg.
More can be found at Panzer IV - Wikipedia
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the vehicles;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| Sweden medium tanks | |
|---|---|
| Strv m/42 | Lago I · Strv m/42 EH · Ikv 73 · Strv m/42 DT · Pvkv IV |
| Centurion derivatives | Strv 81 · Strv 81 (RB 52) · Strv 101 · Strv 104 · Strv 105 |
| Strv 103 | Strv 103-0 · Strv 103A · Strv 103С |
| Strv 121/122 | Strv 121 · Christian II · Strv 122A · Strv 122B PLSS · Strv 122B+ |
| Other | Sherman III/IV · T 80 U |
| Finland | |
| WWII | ▄T-28 · ▄T-34 · ▄Pz.IV · ▄T-34-85 |
| Post War | ▄Comet I · ▄Charioteer Mk VII · ▄T-54 · ▄T-55M · ▄T-72M1 · ▄Leopard 2A4 · ▄Leopard 2A6 |
| Norway | Leopard 1A5NO2 |
