Flakpanzer 38
| This page is about the German SPAA Flakpanzer 38. For other uses, see LT-38 (Family). |
Contents
Description
The Flakpanzer 38, 2 cm, Pz.Fgst.38 (t) Sf., officially named Flakpanzer 38(t) auf Selbstfahrlafette 38(t) Ausf M (Sd.Kfz. 140), is a rank I German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun with a battle rating of 2.0 (AB) and 1.7 (RB/SB). It is sometimes, incorrectly, referred to as the Gepard, which may lead to confusion with the unrelated Flakpanzer Gepard. It was introduced in Update 1.47 "Big Guns".
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 10 mm (65°) Front glacis 20 mm (14°) Lower glacis |
15 mm | 10-15 mm (40°) | 8 mm |
| Gun shield | 7 mm Turret front 7 mm Gun mantlet |
The Flakpanzer 38(t) has thin but highly sloped front armour that resists small-calibre machine gun bullets and even 12.7 mm machine gun rounds at a distance. The gun shield will shrug off smaller rifle-calibre rounds but not 12.7 mm bullets and larger. Like its predecessor, the Flakpanzer I, it maintains a limited crew of two and is also easily destroyed by overpressure. Common threats include HE shells, artillery strikes, air-dropped bombs, HEAT projectiles, strafing planes and HMG fire.
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 | 46 | 7 | 9.8 | 213 | 286 | 21.73 | 29.18 |
| Realistic | 43 | 7 | 133 | 150 | 13.57 | 15.31 | |
Top speed and power-to-weight ratio are much higher than the Flakpanzer I, topping out at 46 km/h forward, -6 km/h backwards, and a power-to-weight ratio in realistic and simulator battles of 15.31 hp/ton.
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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For this vehicle, two very important modifications to keep an eye out for are the Sprgr. and PzGr 40 ammo belts. The first provides a boost to the vehicle's anti-air capabilities, being completely filled with high explosive shells, and the second turns the Flakpanzer into a deadly anti-tank machine with high-penetration HVAP rounds.
Armaments
Main armament
The gun is the same as its predecessor, the FlaK38. It has sufficient HE shells for planes, 46 mm penetration AP-I, and 64 mm penetration HVAP. The belt size is identical. Reload between clips is long. The gun can pen most things the tank encounters, barring Valentines, Matildas, B1 bis, B1 ter, and T-28E.
| 20 mm FlaK38 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 1,080 (20) | 480 | -10°/+90° | ±180° | N/A | 30.82 | 42.66 | 51.79 | 57.28 | 60.94 | 3.90 | 3.45 | 3.18 | 3.00 |
| Realistic | 20.83 | 24.50 | 29.75 | 32.90 | 35.00 | |||||||||
Ammunition
- Default: API-T · HEFI-T · HEFI-T · HEFI-T
- Sprgr.: HEFI-T
- PzGr: API-T
- PzGr.40: HVAP-T · API-T
| Penetration statistics | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belts | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | |
| Default | 36 | 34 | 26 | 19 | 14 | 10 |
| Sprgr. | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| PzGr | 36 | 34 | 26 | 19 | 14 | 10 |
| PzGr.40 | 64 | 63 | 26 | 19 | 14 | 10 |
| Belt 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% | |||||||
| Sprgr. | HEFI-T | 900 | 0.115 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 10.2 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
| PzGr | API-T | 780 | 0.147 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 47° | 60° | 65° |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|
| 54 | 1 (+53) | Yes |
Usage in battles
As an SPAA:
Warning: this play style is recommended to AB, as you low volume of fire will be compensated by an aim assist when shooting at planes. In RB, it will turn out to be harder to aim properly, due to low volume of fire, no aim assist, rather short belt, and average reload time, so it might get yourself killed.
At the start of the match, you can camp around the spawn point and wait until the enemy planes show up, this is the safest way, but it's passive and not efficient in terms of getting kills.
When shooting planes, avoid opening fire when the plane is far away from you. This will only waste your ammo and give your position away to both the plane and the tanks. Instead you have two tactics: one is to passively wait until the plane flies close and is unaware of you, then suddenly open fire. The other tactic is a bit risky. First find a good cover so you are not likely to get shot from tanks. Then regardless of the plane's distance from you, fire some random shells at it to get their attention. Once they know you're there, a lot of pilots will turn towards you and try to kill you, knowing that SPAAs usually have weak protection. When they're flying head-on towards you, use the fast fire rate and spray a stream of shells in their path and wait for them to crash into your shells, then quickly move away to dodge the bullets. Tip: aim slightly above the plane to compensate for the shell drop, as the distance between you and the plane is usually greater than you think.
In the late stages of the match you should be even more careful, as at this time most people will take out their SPAAs, and those fast-firing guns are your biggest threat. Try and be more aware of the surrounding situations, avoid running into anyone. Use the mobility to flank and the small profile to ambush.
As an MBT:
Warning: this play style is recommended to RB, as in AB people will see your marker and planes will know your position, which will attract deadly strafes. However, you can also play it in AB, as you have an armour penetration indicator, which will help you against heavily armoured targets.
Another very effective play style is to use the Flakpanzer's great mobility and good armour penetration to attack geround targets, even heavy tanks like the Churchill, and the Matilda, which are rather commonly encountered. Load the Pzgr. 40, if you have access to it, or, if you haven't, load the Pzgr.. These will make short work of light tanks (BT-5/7, M24, Stuarts, etc.), medium tanks (like the M4A3 (105)), SPGs (like the SU-76, SU-122 or even StuG III), and many others. Your main goal is to flank, as a front encounter will only result in your death if the enemy isn't a light tank. You can penetrate front armour of most mediums, and don't hesitate to if you need, but your best option is always for a surprise attack. The Pzgr. has HE filler, but decreased penetration to the Pzgr. 40, so it is recomended to use the mixed belt. Engage enemy planes only if they are posing a threat to you, or they are very weak, like biplanes, as your AP belt won't deal much damage to others. If you encounter the Matilda or the Churchill frontally, or facing you, send a quick belt towards the gun barrel and around, to disable both cannon and MG. Then ram it to get maximum penetration and shoot it in the neck until it blows away. Note: If you see you are going to detonate a rack, go away and shoot from 10m+, otherwise the explosion will kill you. Always give preference to a rack or the enemy's gunner, which will leave him out of combat for time enough.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Great firepower: wonderful combination of rapid firerate, adequate velocity, 20 round mag and various belt types- Sprgr. belt is destructive against low tier aircraft, while PzGr 40 is very deadly against armoured targets (eg. M3A3, T-60 or even the B1 bis)
- Fast turret traverse allows it to keep up with close/fast targets easily, while the great gun elevation and depression means it can fight in any terrain
- Pzgr. shot has HE filler, although less penetration.
- Pzgr. 40 shot has high penetration, although no HE filler.
- Can shoot in a 360º arc, unlike it's successor
- Multiple play styles.
- Small frontal profile allows it to hide behind cover or bushes easily, which mitigates against its lack of protection
- Decent top speed of 42 km/h means it can get to certain positions alongside light tanks, which is great for ambushing
- Thin turret armour can make some shells over-penetrate, dealing little damage
- Hull armour can resist 12.7 mm bullets, commonly used on US tanks like M13 MGMC and M8 Greyhound
Cons:
- Extremely poor survivability: only two crew protected by thin armour makes it easily to get destroyed by overpressure
- Rather long reload time will prove fatal against aircraft if they are not shot down before it ends
- The PzGr 40 belt is mixed with low-penetrating belts, reducing its anti-tank capability as half of the shells sometimes won't be able to penetrate
- MBT mode is ill-advised in AB, for reasons described in it's section above.
- Slow reverse speed of only -6 km/h can get the player killed due to not being able to retreat from danger quickly
History
Combat Usage
The Flakpanzer 38(t) self-propelled anti-air mount was a temporary transitional version that was used until the development of a real anti-air tank on the chassis of the Panzer IV was completed. The vehicle was produced from November, 1943 to February, 1944. The first 87 Flakpanzer 38(t) AA vehicles appeared at the front in January, 1944 and made up Flugabwehrzug (AA platoons) in tank divisions and tank grenadier divisions (sometimes in Waffen SS divisions such as the Hitlerjugend 12th Waffen SS division in Norway in 1944).
In 1944-1945 Flakpanzer 38(t) AA vehicles were used actively on the Italian and Western Fronts, where they were effective against low-flying aircraft.
A total of 141 Flakpanzer 38(t) AA vehicles were released.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
- Other vehicles of similar configuration and role
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| Germany anti-aircraft vehicles | |
|---|---|
| Wheeled | Sd.Kfz.222 |
| Half-track | Sd.Kfz.251/21 · Sd.Kfz. 6/2 |
| Flakpanzer IV | Wirbelwind · Ostwind · Ostwind II · Kugelblitz · Zerstörer 45 |
| Other Flakpanzers | Flakpanzer I · Flakpanzer 38 · Flakpanzer 341 |
| Wiesel AWC | Wiesel 1A4 · Ozelot |
| Radar SPAAG | Gepard · Gepard 1A2 |
| Missile SPAA | FlaRakPz 1 · FlaRakRad |
