Pz.IV G

This page is about the German medium tank Pz.IV G. For other versions, see Pz.IV (Family).

Pz.IV G

Pz.IV F2

Pz.IV H

Pz.IV G

Pz.IV F2

Pz.IV H

Germany

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.7	3.3	3.3

Class:

Medium tank

Research:5 600

Purchase:22 000

Description

The Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausführung G (Panzer IV G) (Sd.Kfz. Index: Sd.Kfz. 161/2) was the seventh variant of the Panzer IV medium tank family. The Panzer IV G variant effectively changed the Panzer IV's overall combat purpose. While all previous variants were primarily meant to engage fortifications and entrenched positions in support of the infantry, the Panzer IV G was the first entirely new variant to receive a significant increase in firepower against armoured targets. Previously, Panzer IIIs were usually assigned to such tasks. Aside from its rearmament with the long-barrelled 75 mm L43 anti-tank gun, relatively few modifications were made to its overall design in comparison to the earlier Panzer IV F2 variant. The production of this variant began in 1942, considerably assisting the German armoured divisions in fighting more effectively against the well-armoured enemy tanks on the Eastern Front and in North Africa.

Introduced in the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41, the Panzer IV G variant is very identical to the previous Panzer IV F2 variant except for three obvious differences. To begin, the thickness of the hull frontal armour was increased from 50 mm to 80 mm. Second, the previous Panzer IV F2 variant's ball-shaped muzzle brake was replaced with the more common double-chambered muzzle brake type. Third, since the new Panzer IV G's first operational employment was during the North African Campaign during intense skirmishes with British forces, the tank was painted in the unique Dunkelgelb yellow coat. Small changes, such as the addition of smoke grenade launchers on either side of the turret, were also made, giving players the chance to hide from enemy sight when the situation becomes complicated. Otherwise, the gameplay is identical to the previous Panzer IV F2 variant.

General info

Survivability and armour

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

Armourfront / side / back

Hull80 / 30 / 20

Turret50 / 30 / 30

Crew5 people

Visibility99 %

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour (Cupola)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	80 mm (11-12°) Front plate 20 mm (73°) Front glacis 80 mm (13-14°) Lower glacis	30 mm	20 mm (4-15°)	10 mm
Turret	50 mm (11°) Turret front 50 mm (7-29°) Gun mantlet	30 mm (23-26°)	30 mm (15-17°)	16 mm Front 25 mm Rear
Cupola	95 mm	95 mm	95 mm	8 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.
• Lower glacis is protected by attached spare tracks, adding 20 mm of armour

The Panzer IV Ausf. G, despite the improved 80 mm front plate, is still vulnerable to most front shot engagement, especially so if no serious attempt is made in compound angling. The front plate in its unsloped format is an enticing target, but beware to not hit the front sloping glacis right in front of it as that area has a tendency to bounce everything. Also, avoid hitting straight into the ball machine gun and driver's port in the front as these also have a tendency to nullify an armour-piercing shot. When using APHE rounds, simply hit centre mass of the front plate and let the post-penetration effect do the rest.

In the case of a vehicle with a gun simply unable to penetrate this front plate, aim towards the turret that still retains a 50 mm front plate. Even the weaker non-autocannon armaments can penetrate through this front plate and incapacitate the turret crew. Aim for the turret left side (right side when shooting it) to knock out the gunner and deny their firepower, then chip away at weak spots until the threat is destroyed.

Alternatively, aim at the Panzer IV from its long vulnerable sides in cases where its turret traverse cannot keep up with a flanking manoeuvre or catching it in an ambush. The interior is fully stocked with ammo racks even when the user is taking a minimum load. Moreover, the fuel tank resides at the very bottom of the centre of the tank, so a penetrating shot with APHE will either detonate the ammunition, set the tank on fire, or knock out a good portion of the crew, if not fully destroy the tank with all three effects.

In every case scenario, it is to the benefit of the surviving player to fire the first shot against the Panzer IV Ausf. G above all else, as it would deny the Panzer IV G even a chance to use its high-penetrating 75 mm gun.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB45 / 9 km/h

RB and SB40 / 8 km/h

Number of gears6 forward

1 back

Weight23.7 t

Engine power

AB572 hp

RB and SB300 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB24.1 hp/t

RB and SB12.7 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)		Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse	Stock	AoA	Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	45	9	23.5	0.15	465	572	19.75	24.14
Realistic	40	8			265	300	11.25	12.66

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB638 → 919

RB732 → 1 055

SB907 → 1 307

Total cost of modifications10 430

13 810

Talisman cost750

Crew training6 300

Experts22 000

Aces210

Research Aces220 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

40 / 60 / 80 %

124 / 124 / 124 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Research: 520 Cost: 690 100 Ostketten Research: 520 Cost: 690 100 Suspension Research: 470 Cost: 620 90 Brake System Research: 470 Cost: 620 90 Filters Research: 520 Cost: 690 100 Transmission Research: 680 Cost: 900 130 Engine Research: 680 Cost: 900 130	Improved Parts Research: 520 Cost: 690 100 Improved FPE Research: 470 Cost: 620 90 Crew Replenishment Research: 520 Cost: 690 100 Add-on Armor Research: 680 Cost: 900 130	Horizontal Drive Research: 520 Cost: 690 100 75mm_kwk_37_40_HEAT_ammo_pack Research: 470 Cost: 620 90 Adjustment of Fire Research: 470 Cost: 620 90 75mm_kwk_40_APCR_ammo_pack Research: 520 Cost: 690 100 Elevation Mechanism Research: 520 Cost: 690 100 Smoke grenade Research: 520 Cost: 690 100 Artillery Support Research: 680 Cost: 900 130 75mm_ger_Smoke_ammo_pack Research: 680 Cost: 900 130

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm KwK40 L43 cannon

Ammunition87 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

7.6 → 5.9 s

Vertical guidance-10° / 20°

75 mm KwK40 L43					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	13.33	18.45	22.40	24.77	26.35	7.67	6.79	6.25	5.90
Realistic					8.33	9.80	11.90	13.16	14.00

Ammunition

• PzGr 39 - Armour-Piercing Ballistic Cap shell - Use this shell as your main ammunition type, as it has a good penetration power and deals the most damage upon penetration thanks to its explosive filler.
• Hl.Gr. 38B - High Explosive Anti-Tank 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 - Armour-Piercing Composite Rigid shell - This type of ammo should be used when facing a heavily armoured enemy such as the Churchill VII and flanking is not an option. However, its post-penetration damage is much lower because it has no explosive filler to detonate after penetrating. Do not use the PzGr 40 against sloped armour as APCR shells have extremely poor performance against angled armour.
• SprGr. 34 - High Explosive 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 shell - Pack a few of these. They are useful to blind enemy vehicles that block your advance while being being too remote for you to disable.

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	137	135	123	110	98	88
Hl.Gr 38B	HEAT	80	80	80	80	80	80
PzGr 40	APCR	163	159	143	126	110	96
Sprgr. 34	HE	10	10	10	10	10	10

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	740	6.8	1.2	14	28.9	48°	63°	71°
Hl.Gr 38B	HEAT	450	4.4	0.05	0.1	872.1	62°	69°	73°
PzGr 40	APCR	919	4.1	-	-	-	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	6.2	13	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Pz.IV H (identical).

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty
87	84 (+3)	82 (+5)	80 (+7)	72 (+15)	63 (+24)	54 (+33)
7th rack empty	8th rack empty	9th rack empty	10th rack empty	11th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
46 (+41)	38 (+49)	30 (+57)	24 (+63)	1 (+86)	No

Notes:

• Racks are modeled by sets of 2 and disappear after both shells in the set having been shot or loaded.
• Sides empty: 30 (+57) shells.

Machine guns

7.92 mm MG34 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition3 000 rounds

Belt capacity150 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate900 shots/min

7.92 mm MG34
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Coaxial	3,000 (150)	900	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

The Pz.IV G can be utilized as both a sniper and brawler, thanks to its improved armour and great gun - however, situational awareness must be maintained at all costs as the un-sloped armour, while an improvement over the Ausf. F2 is still not sufficient to provide reliable defence. It is best to shoot first, as the KwK40 L/43 can deal with the majority of enemies it will face. Heavy tanks like the KV and M6A1 will need careful aim but are still not a major threat. Like most German tanks, the default round is the best round available; however, the maximum load should be avoided (around 30 is sufficient) as it increases the chance of ammo rack explosions if the armour is penetrated.

In close quarters and urban settings, it can also perform adequately due to the average turret traverse rate, mobility, and high-punching gun. A good tactic is to launch the smoke grenades and flank enemies that are aware of the Panzer's presence.

In long range engagements, the Pz. IV G is able to send powerful armour-piercing shells that will penetrate almost any armour at this BR. In arcade battles, its quick speed and turret traverse are perfect for poking out and shooting at enemies then retreating back to cover. On open maps, this tank performs better in realistic battles, it's slower but you don't sacrifice any gun power so it's better suited to more sniper style gameplay. However, a general rule for any gamemode whilst sniping is that it's important to only reveal the turret if possible, the turret armour is much thicker. This means you are less likely to have an ammorack detonation and you protect the hull.

The 75 mm KwK40 L/43 gun still packs a powerful punch at this rank. A solid hit on a target's front armour that's not sloped is very likely to penetrate. At its realistic battle rating, the most heavily armoured vehicle the Pz.IV G will fight will be the KV-1 series ,which has prominent weak spots that can be exploited. Shoot first, hit hard and don't miss. Unless uptiered in arcade, the M6A1 is not a concern in realistic, but nonetheless aim for weak spots and be the first to shoot.

The Churchill VII is also a common sight in higher rank games. It has thick armour and a gun that is effective against the Panzer's weak turret armour. Under 500 m, it is advisable to use APCR, which is effective against the Churchills flat armour. If the Churchill is angling, the best method is to try flanking or aiming for its weak machine gun ports.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Better armour than predecessors, 80 mm thick at the hull front
• Cupola armour greatly improved to 95 mm thick
• Great gun depression, no need to expose hull when shooting from a ridge
• High APCR shell velocity makes targeting moving tanks easy
• Large ammo capacity
• Decent mobility on hard ground

Cons:

• Poor ammo storage protection, prone to detonation if penetrated
• Turret front armour is still weak (only 50 mm thick)
• Narrow tracks and weight give it poor cross-country performance, until the Ostketten are researched and equipped

History

Development

The Pz.Kpfw. IV's creation, like its predecessor the Pz.Kpfw. III, was devised by Heinz Guderian. He envisioned a support tank that could be used to handle anti-tank guns and fortifications. In Panzer Divisions, the Panzer IV was to work alongside the more numerable Panzer III (three company of IIIs and one of IVs). The role of anti-armour was reserved for the Panzer III in these situations. As a support tank, the Panzer IV was to have the short 75 mm howitzer as its main armament and also a weight limit of 24 tons. MAN, Krupp, and Rheinmetall-Borsig worked on the development of the tanks, but the Krupp's model was selected for further testing.

The chosen model from Krupp, once finished, used a leaf-spring double-bogie system for its suspension, doing away the proposed interleaved or torsion bar suspension system earlier devised for the sake of faster production. The vehicle held five crew members - the commander, gunner, loader, radio operator (hull machine gunner), and driver. Though it looked symmetrical, the Panzer IV's turret was actually offset to the left of the chassis centre line while the engine was also offset to the right. This was to allow the torque shaft to turn the turret. The offset also meant that most of the ammo was held on the right side of the tank in storage areas. The Panzer IV was then accepted into service and production began in 1936.

Panzer IV Ausf. G

With the appearance of the Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks, the Panzer IV Ausf. F2 was made as a stopgap solution with a new and more powerful KwK40 L/43 gun. After three months into production, the Panzer IV was upgraded again to the Panzer IV Ausf. G. The Ausf. G featured a stronger 80 mm thick front glacis armour with 30 mm side armour. Some weight-saving techniques were put into play, but the tank still weighed about 23.6 tons and put strain onto the driving system. Some simplification went into the tank such as the removal of the vision ports on the sides of the turret.

The Panzer IV Ausf. G was also the first variant on the Panzer IV line to feature some new innovative features. In March 1943, the Ausf. G was presented with the first of the Schürzen side armour skirts on the turret and hull sides. On the later models, the KwK40 L/43 was also upgraded to the L/48 variant, simply a longer version with a better muzzle brake to improve recoil efficiency.

The Panzer IV Ausf. G was well-liked by the armoured crews due to increased armour and lethality against the progressively stronger Allied armour such as the T-34s and the M4 Shermans. While the 50 mm armour before was deemed very vulnerable to the Allied guns, the 80 mm caused some headaches among Allied tankers, though could still come on-par in performances. At this point, the newer Panther tanks in production should have replaced the venerable Panzer IV by now, but production problems and low quantity meant the Panzer IV was staying at the main tank for the German Army for a while.

The Panzer IV Ausf. G was then upgraded again to the Panzer IV Ausf. H, which would become the most numerous variant of all the Panzer IVs.

Archive of the in-game description

The first changes of this variant, which were carried out in the summer of 1942, included a new two-chamber pear-shaped muzzle brake. The viewports in the front plates of the turret and the view hatch in its forward plate were removed. Smoke grenade launchers were moved from the rear of the hull to the sides of the turret. The tank was given an ignition assistance system for winter conditions. Since the 50-mm-thick front armour of the Pz.Kpfw. IV was still inadequate, it was strengthened with additional 30 mm armour plates that were welded or bolted on. The thickness of the front plates on the turret and the weapon mantlet was 50 mm, and this thickness was not increased in future upgrades. Improving the machines' protective armour during production was a slow process, and by November only about half of the tanks included the reinforced armour. This armour was only installed on all new tanks from January 1943 onward. In the spring of 1943, the 7,5 cm KwK40 L/43 gun on this variant was replaced with a 7,5 cm Kw.K.40 L/48 with a long 48 calibre barrel, which had slightly higher armour penetration power. By the Battle of Kursk, almost all of the tanks had received Schurzen skirts for their sides and turrets. Production of Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. G tanks lasted until June 1943, with a total of 1687 units being produced. Of this number, about 700 tanks received the reinforced armour, and 412 had the KwK40 L/48 gun installed. This variant made up the majority of Pz.Kpfw. IV tanks which participated in Operation Citadel. Ausf. G tanks were supplied to Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Turkey, and Spain. The Bulgarian and Romanian machines fought against the Red Army, and after they joined the Allies, against the German military. Captured Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F tanks which were still serviceable were eagerly used by the Red Army.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Pz.IV G from live.warthunder.com.

Sights

• RideR2's Realistic gunsight (TZF4a, TZF 5a/b/d/e/f/f2, TZF 9b/b1/c/d, TZF 12/a) for Pzkpfw II, Pzkpfw III, Pzkpfw IV, Pzkpfw V, Pzkpfw VI

See also

Similar Vehicles

• T-34-57
• M4A2
• Sherman II

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.