Difference between revisions of "Pz.III E"

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The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} German medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before [[Update 1.41]]. The successor of the [[Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. B|Panzer III B]] and the predecessor of the [[Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. F|Panzer III F]] on the German tree line, the Panzer III Ausf. E has an improved armour layout with 30 mm thick front and side armour while retaining the [[3.7 cm KwK 36|37 mm]] gun.
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The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} German medium tank {{Battle-rating}}. It was introduced in during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before [[Update 1.41]]. The successor of the [[Pz.III B|Panzer III B]] and the predecessor of the [[Pz.III F|Panzer III F]] on the German tree line, the Panzer III Ausf. E has an improved armour layout with 30 mm thick front and side armour while retaining the [[KwK 36 (37 mm)|37 mm]] gun.
  
 
== General info ==
 
== General info ==

Revision as of 01:55, 15 May 2019

RANK 6 BRITAIN
Rooikat 105 PACK
Pz.III E
germ_pzkpfw_iii_ausf_e.png
Pz.III E
AB RB SB
1.0 1.0 1.0
Class:
Research:Free
Purchase:Free
Show in game

Description

GarageImage Pz.III E.jpg


The Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. E is a rank I German medium tank with a battle rating of 1.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in during the Closed Beta Test for Ground Forces before Update 1.41. The successor of the Panzer III B and the predecessor of the Panzer III F on the German tree line, the Panzer III Ausf. E has an improved armour layout with 30 mm thick front and side armour while retaining the 37 mm gun.

General info

Survivability and armour

The crew of the Pz. III E is well-spaced out, enabling survival of a frontal penetration or two by typical low-rank cannons. Compared to the Pz.III B, the frontal armour protection is roughly doubled, with 30-35 mm on the turret face and 30 mm on the upper & lower front plates. The turret has some overlapping plates for up to 65 mm of protection on some areas, sometimes saving you from otherwise guaranteed knockout. The sides are also 30 mm thick while the rear is 20 mm sloped, making it totally immune to tank-mounted .50 cal machine guns.

Mobility

Top speed improves significantly over the Pz. III B, at 71 kph forward and 12 kph reverse. Power/weight ratio is similar, 29.3 hp/ton in AB and 15.38 hp/ton for RB/SB. Maneuverability is similar to its predecessor.

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: KwK 36 (37 mm)

The Pz. III E has the same main gun as its predecessor, the 37 mm KwK 36. Ammunition is the same - PzGr. APHE with 46 mm penetration and 13 g explosive mass as the stock option, with 91 mm penetrating PzGr.40 APCR as an unlock.

Machine guns

Main article: MG 34 (7.92 mm)

Like its predecessor, the Pz. III E has two coaxial 7.92mm MG34 machine guns that easily shred lightly armoured flak trucks seen commonly at low ranks. Slow turret traverse makes it generally useless vs aircraft, however.

Usage in battles

The Pz. III E still has the "average" flavor of its predecessor, but is able to rely on its armour a little more than before. However, the higher BR of 1.7 means it runs into much nastier opposition. The B1 ter at 2.3 is just about unpennable from any side even with the APCR shell, the Matilda Mk II at 2.7 is slightly easier to pen but has a gun strong enough to annihilate you at a mere glance. The M5A1 at 2.3 runs circles around you with a better gun than you.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Gun is average for the rank
  • APHE post-penetration effect helps destroy targets quickly considering its other downsides
  • High-pen APCR for rank helps immensely during uptiers
  • Significantly improved mobility over Pz. III B
  • Totally immune against .50 cal machine gun fire from other tanks

Cons:

  • Slow turret traverse of only 5.1 degrees/s makes it not well-suited to close-range combat
  • Stock shell not suited to destroying many opponents
  • APCR post-penetration is generally inadequate yet you are forced to use it more often than not
  • Easily crippled or knocked out from above by aircraft-mounted .50 cals

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

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;
  • encyclopedia page on the tank;
  • other literature.


Germany medium tanks
Pz.III  Pz.III B · Pz.III E · Pz.III F · Pz.III J · Pz.III J1 · Pz.III J1 TD · Pz.III L · Pz.III M · Pz.III N
Pz.IV  Pz.IV C · Pz.IV E · Pz.IV F1 · Pz.IV F2 · Pz.IV G · Pz.IV H · Pz.IV J · Pz.Bef.Wg.IV J
Pz.V  VK 3002 (M) · Panther A · Panther D · Panther F · Panther G · Ersatz M10 · Panther II
M48 upgrades  M48A2 G A2 · M48 Super
Leopard 1  Leopard I · Leopard A1A1 · Leopard A1A1 (L/44) · Leopard 1A5 · C2A1 · Turm III
Leopard 2  PT-16/T14 mod. · Leopard 2K · Leopard 2AV
  Leopard 2A4 · Leopard 2 (PzBtl 123) · Leopard 2 PL · Leopard 2A5 · Leopard 2 PSO · Leopard 2A6 · Leopard 2A7V
Trophies  ▀M4 748 (a) · ▀T 34 747 (r)
Other  Nb.Fz. · KPz-70
USA  mKPz M47 G · M48A2 C
USSR  ◊T-72M1