Pz.IV C

Pz.IV C

Pz.II C

Pz.IV C

Pz.II C

Germany

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.3	1.3	1.3

Class:

Medium tank

Research:2 900

Purchase:700

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Description

The Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. C (Panzer IV C) is a Rank I German medium tank with a battle rating of 1.3. It was introduced in during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour (Cupola)

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	30 mm (11°) Front plate 12 mm (72°) Front glacis 30 mm (14°) Lower glacis	15 mm	15 mm	12 mm
Turret	30 mm Turret front 30 mm Gun mantlet	15 mm	15 mm	10 mm
Armour	Sides	Roof
Cupola	15 mm	10 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and tracks are 15 mm thick.
• Belly armour is 5 mm thick.
• Hull underside right above tracks is only 5 mm thick.

Mobility

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons)	Add-on Armour weight (tons)	Max speed (km/h)
19.2	N/A	39 (AB)
		35 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	465	572
Realistic/Simulator	265	300
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	24.22	29.79
Realistic/Simulator	13.80	15.62

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm KwK 37
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
80			-10°/+20°	±180°	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	8.30	11.53	_.__	_.__	_.__
Realistic	8.30	9.80	_.__	_.__	_.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
4.29	_.__	_.__	_.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
K.Gr.rot Pz.	APCBC	56	54	50	46	42	38
Hl.Gr. 38B	HEAT	80	80	80	80	80	80
Sprgr. 34	HE	10	10	10	10	10	10

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
K.Gr.rot Pz.	APCBC	385	6.8	1.3	15.0	80	+4°	48°	63°	71°
Hl.Gr. 38B	HEAT	450	4.6	0.0	0.1	872.1	+0°	62°	69°	73°
Sprgr. 34	HE	420	5.7	0.1	0.1	686	+0°	79°	80°	81°

Smoke characteristic
Ammunition	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Screen radius in m	Screen time in s	Screen hold time in s:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):
K.Gr.Rot Nb.	Smoke	423	6.8	13	5	20	50

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Panzer IV C.

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty	8th rack empty	9th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
80	72 (+8)	63 (+17)	54 (+26)	45 (+35)	36 (+44)	27 (+53)	18 (+62)	9 (+71)	1 (+79)	no

Machine guns

7.92 mm MG 34
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
2,400 (150)				900	N/A	N/A

Usage in the battles

The Panzer IV Ausf. C is a fine tank in Rank I due to its high powered yet low-velocity cannon. It is often capable of annihilating an enemy vehicle with a single HE or HEAT shell, regardless of the angle of the enemy's armour. It has a fair amount of armour, however due to the lack of an actual slope it may seem considerably more fragile than some soviet vehicles when facing AP shells. Against Rank I, it is often wiser to close in with the enemy vehicle, counting on the slower turret speed of the soviet machines, allowing the player to circle around them with ease and deliver devastating shots. Bear in mind that while this tank can easily obliterate any vehicle at its own BR, against higher rank enemies the relatively poor penetration of the gun and very slow shell travel speed can become a problem. Avoiding direct encounters, and using flanking maneuvers is advisable.

Regarding gameplay, the "Panzer Kampfwagen IV Ausführung C" can be a difficult tank to use. The reason is that while armour and speed are comparable with other tanks of its rank, the gun clearly shows its roots as an infantry support weapon, not designed to fight other tanks. With its low muzzle velocity and low penetration values of basic ammunition, compared to 37 mm and 45 mm guns of the Ausf.C’s opposition. Like in the same tree with the Panzer 38(t), it offers similar armour and speed, too.d

However, with HEAT ammunition and a skilled player, the Ausf.C can be a great tank. HEAT ammo is difficult to aim due to its very low muzzle velocity, but its superb penetration, unmatched by anything in its rank, renders any enemy armour protection useless. Coupled with fast reload times, the Ausf.C can be a surprisingly effective frontline brawler, crippling or destroying enemy tanks regardless of their armour protection. In this role it’s essential to dispatch the enemy before he can fire – your flat armour cannot protect you against anything at point-blank range.

If you prefer a safer play style, you can lob HEAT shells from afar – this is difficult task to do but as HEAT ammo does not lose penetration over distance, you can destroy targets afar as well as up close and your armour can bounce a hit or two from longer distances. Engaging moving targets is however very challenging.

Despite it's low penetration, it's actually not that bad. You might seem to have low penetration, but remember. You are at a battle rating of 1.3 You can pen actually pretty much everything you meet with normal AP shells. Also, the 75 mm has a very fast rate of fire. The gun size is also fantastic and there are frequent 1 shot kills. Don't worry about T-34s or T-50s, you won't meet them.

Overall, the Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. C suffers from its roots as an infantry support tank and many players will avoid it, but if you like a challenge and you can put its HEAT shells to good use, you can achieve great results. Further research then moves you to another part of the PzKpfw IV line – the Panzer IV Ausf. E, sporting additional armour and improved HEAT rounds with 100mm of penetration.

Modules

1) Parts and Turret Drive: the tank is quite robust but some parts are very fragile;- turret can get jammed, and front mounted transmission can get hit.
2) Fire Extinguisher and HEAT: HEAT for use against more heavily armoured tanks. Fire extinguisher to improve suitability, and/or to extinguish engine fires.
3) Other gun enhancing modifications: then the remaining modifications.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Good armour
• Very potent main armament
• Rapid fire
• Smooth gear changes
• Good mobility
• Spacious fighting compartment

Cons:

• Frontal armour is thin.
• No slope of armour reduces its effectiveness
• Gun has very limited range and high shell arc
• Turret cheeks can be penned easily

History

Development

The Pz.Kpfw. IV's creation, like its predecessor the Pz.Kpfw. III, was devised by Heinz Guderian, where he envisioned a support tank to be used to handle anti-tank guns and fortifications. The Panzer IV was to work alongside the more numerable Panzer III in Panzer Divisions (three company of IIIs and one of IVs) to engage the enemy, giving the role of fighting enemy armoured forces to the Panzer IIIs. As a support tank, the tank was to have the short 75 mm howiter as its main armament and have 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 (and hull machine gunner), and driver. Though it looked symmetrical, the Panzer IV turret was actually offset to the left of the chassis center line a bit 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 is 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. C

The initial Ausf. A variant of the Panzer IV had armour only about 14 mm, enough to stop small arms fire. It quickly moved on to the Ausf. B with a more powerful engine and transmission, and more armour to 30 mm thick. Then the Panzer IV Ausf. C, introduced in 1938, showed up with a better engine and slightly more armour on the turret to 30 mm. The Ausf. C ended with the Panzer IV with the KwK 37 L/24 75 mm howitzer gun that was capable of penetrating 43 mm of armour with armour-piercing rounds. The tank weighed 18 tons in this variant.

The early variant of the Panzer IV Ausf. C and Ausf. D (has 20 mm side armour) saw combat in Poland and France, where its light armour and gun had difficulty against the British Matilda and French Char B1 tanks. A 50 mm Pak 38 cannon was tested on the Ausf. D in response to the threat, but the swift victory of the French campaign ended these tests.

After the initial stages of World War II, the Panzer IV Ausf. C saw further upgrades to its later variants. Its next variant, made in October 1940, was the Panzer IV Ausf. E.

Media

Links for custom camouflages:

• General link to all Pz.4 on live.warthunder
• Kink to all "#pz_iv_c" on live.warthunder

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

Read also

Official War Thunder forum article: [Vehicle Profile] PzKpfw IV Ausf.C

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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