Nb.Fz.

Nb.Fz.

Nb.Fz.

Germany

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.3	1.3	1.3

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

Purchase:1 750

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Description

The Neubaufahrzeug is a rank I German medium tank with a battle rating of 1.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.51 "Cold Steel".

General info

Survivability and armour

The Nebaufahrzeug has even higher survivability than Panzer III/IV tanks at similar battle ratings, due to its size and relegation of crews to several turrets. The armour on it is actually rather thin, despite it looking very imposing and being trolly in layout. It has six crew members: a driver, two machine gunners in small independent turrets, a gunner, loader, and a commander in the main turret where the pair of weapons are located. The front armour thickness ranges from just 13mm to 20mm, making it possible to immobilize it with .50cal machine gun fire frontally.

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	34	5	23.4	434	553	18.55	23.63
Realistic	31	4		248	290	10.6	12.39

The top speed of the Nb.Fz. is 28.5 km/h, which is slow for low-tier ranks. The power-to-weight ratio, on the other hand, is rather good at 11.9 hp/ton, giving it a very nice acceleration considering how large it is. It feels like the Russian KV-1 in that regard.

Armaments

Main armament

The Nebaufahrzeug's main armament is the KwK 37 cannon, which shoots APCBC-HE, penetrating up to 52 mm of armour, 80 mm penetration HEAT, and smoke rounds. Problem is, due to the current limitations of the game, it is impossible to take more than four different kinds of shells, and for multi-gun tanks, each gun can just pick two shells in its repertoire. So the practical combinations would be either APCBC+HEAT, APCBC+smoke, or HEAT+smoke.

Additional armament

The Nebaufahrzeug also has an additional second anti-tank gun in the main turret: a KwK 36, located to the left of the 75 mm cannon. This shoots either 47 mm penetration APHE or 91 mm penetration APCR rounds. It is decent, much like the same gun on the Pz. III B and Pz. III E, but is best used as a backup to the 75 mm between reloads on that. It shoots at far higher velocities than the 75 mm, so it is more suited to long-range engagements.

Machine guns

The Nebaufahrzeug also holds three 7.92 mm Dryse machine guns, which are similar to the MG34 and use the same belts. At best, they're good for zapping flak trucks, but in practicality, they're almost useless since the two extra MG turrets have very poor turret traverse.

Usage in battles

This vehicle may look like a heavy tank, but it is anything but. The armour is far too thin to use this thing for its armour, relegating it to a support/ambush role. By binding separate keys for the 75 mm and 37 mm guns, you can "one-two-punch" just about anything you encounter.

The HEAT on the 75 mm, however, is generally inadequate against the B1 bis and useless against the B1 ter. The Valentine Mk I is a bit easier to penetrate but has a much stronger gun which you should avoid at all costs. The 37mm APCR round doesn't fare that much better against any of these targets either. Concisely, just avoid these where possible.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Can chain the two guns between reloads of each
• Both guns reload in similarly fast speeds
• High survivability due to numerous and well-spaced out crew
• More mobile than one would expect for such a large tank
• Good zoom on the guns

Cons:

• Armor is deceptively thin for such a large tank
• Top speed is nothing to write home about in this rank
• Would find its options limited when against the B1 bis, B1 ter, and Valentine Mk I
• Awful turret traverse on all three turrets makes it hard to react well to multiple enemies, let alone flak trucks
• Large target

History

The Neubaufahrzeug was a prototype of what was to come with German heavy tanks. Historically, they were slow, heavy, and complicated. Not thought of as successful, only 5 were actually built. However, 3 of these tanks did see action in Norway during 1940.

In-game description

An experimental multi-turret medium tank. The first models were built in 1934. During construction, the tank took on the designation of Neubaufahrzeug V (Nb.Fz.V) for the first two vehicles. The second series of three tanks had the designation Nb.Fz.VI.

In German military documentation the designation Panzerkampfwagen VII is also encountered; it was later replaced by Pz.Kpfw.IVnA (Panzerkampfwagen IV new Art). During the Norwegian campaign, the tanks were also referred to in documents as Neubau-Pz.Kpfw.IV.

All three tanks of the second series were used during the Norwegian operation. They were officially part of the special tank battalion Panzer Abteilung zur besonderer Vervendung 40 (Pz.Abt1. Zb.V 40). The tanks were combined into one company under the command of Lt. Hans Horstmann.

The official name of this subdivision in battalion documentation was Zug “Plutos”, but it was most commonly referred to by its commander’s name as Panzerzug “Horstmann.” The company’s emblem was a mammoth’s head located in front of the driver’s cabin.

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

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the tank;
• other literature.