Slitherine

I am working on a (loosely) historical version of Kharkov Feb 43. The Panther D is showing in PzC as being available but it shouldn't be (from an historical POV) until Kursk (Jul-Aug 43). This would be a problem for an historical scenario.

[Edit] Just checked - equipment file has it available from 2 Feb 43.

The prototypes were delivered in September 1942, and production started 2 months later.2,5,7 Daimler-Benz then started production, and in February and March of 1943 Henschel and Maschinenfabrik Niedersachen joined in production.2 Later in war other production (aircraft) was cut back to free up facilities to manufacture parts for Panthers.2

The initial vehicles were tested at Erlangen and Grafenwöhr, and many faults were found. With the excessive weight, the gears and shafts wore down quickly. Guderian emphasized these problems to Hitler in March 1943, telling him that the Panther's should not enter service earlier than July 1943. Despite these warnings, Hitler insisted they be used in Operation Citadel.

2)Tanks of World War II, Duncan Crow, 1979
3)The Panther Family, Horst Scheibert, 1990
4)Battle Winning Tanks, Aircraft & Warships of World War II, David Miller, 2000
5)Airfix Magazine Guide #8 German Tanks of World War 2, Terry Gande and Peter Chamberlain, 1975
6)German Tanks and Armoured Vehicles 1914 - 1945, B. T. White, 1966
7)The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II, Chris Bishop, 1998

Sounds like Hitler listened to Guderian for a change! July 43 was when they were first used, albeit too early even then. Didn't they catch fire easily? I had a friend with a VW Beetle that caught fire, too - who says German technology is so great!

El_Condoro wrote:Didn't they catch fire easily? I had a friend with a VW Beetle that caught fire, too - who says German technology is so great!

Should we show the pictures of T-34 bogged down in mud ("great terrain mobility") or burned out ("diesel does not burn")?

Anyway, question is - take into account the date when production started, or the date when the equipment entered service?
I think I would prefer the latter - with prototypes as reward units available earlier.

Unless there will be some way to prevent the purchase of equipment before its first service date it will have to be the latter or it will drive designers of historical scenarios mad!