StuG IIIB

[Shrews]

This unit shows up as artillery piece.

Correct me if I am wrong but wasn't a StuG IIIB an anti-tank unit?

[ThorHa]

No, it was not. It was intended and designed as an infantry support unit fro dealing with bunkers, strongpoints or building, where short range mobile and protected firepower was required. Therefore it obtained the short barrel 7,5 cm gun. Wehrmacht assignment was the artillery branch of the military.

Regards,
Thorsten

[captainjack]

Compared with many contemporary tanks, the armour on the Stug 3 was quite good, and the relatively large gun was quite effective, so they were used as tank killers in emergencies. Their success in this role led to dedicated tank killer Stugs being developed.

Stug 3Bs survive well in early Panzer Corps scenarios because they have fairly good armour and also because even though they need to be in contact to attack, they attack as artillery which means they don't take return fire. Once they get experience, they start to rack up kills as well as suppression. Other factors in their favour are a reasonable ammo supply, 110% Rate of Fire, fortkiller attribute and the ability to keep up with other troops so they get a lot of experience from a lot of defensive fire. All in all, very good value for money and they work OK when used in a reasonably historical way.

[Longasc]

StuG is an abbreviation for Sturmgeschütz/Assault Gun, and that's what they were initially. They evolved into tank destroyers at the Eastern Front due to the threat of Russian tanks. There were still lots of StuGs and similar armored vehicles that used mainly HE shells to deal with fortifications and enemy Infantry. These are mostly listed as StuH for Sturmhaubitze and can switch between artillery and AT mode in Panzer Corps. The StuGIIIA/B doesn't do that but its very good a people pointed out and stronger than you would think. It also is an aggro magnet for the AI, as it loves to attack artillery units. But this one is a tough cookie. The AI will attack it nevertheless.

[ptje63]

However - having the StuG IIIB in the PC artillery section means it can never be upgraded to a better AT-unit, although it was used in both ways. I remember Close Combat - The Russian Front gave an early option to obtain it and use as AT. Nice change for the Panzerjäger which was too vulnerable.

[fliegenderstaub]

StuG IIIB had a short barrel gun (7,5cm L24; L24 means L for Länge/length and 24 is the multiplier for the caliber <interior diameterof the barrel>, which as a result gives the length of the barrel -> 24 * 7,5 cm; by the way this was the same gun, the early Pz IV had), which made it rather less effective against hard targets. It was designed an assault gun anyway. The later StuG III F and G had an 7,5 cm L48. They were tank hunters, mainly used in Infantry Divisions.

Unfortunately in Panzer Corps you can't upgrade the StuG IIIB to the F or G model, but you'll get the StuH 42, which is one of my favorites, because it is rugged and switchable. I rarely use the Brummbär upgrade later on. But that's a matter of taste.

[Carius]

It should be in the antitank category or at least given the ability to switch. The stugIII needed direct line of sight to take out bunkers. At the range, there is too much dispersion with the short barrel gun to hit the intended target.

[McGuba]

It should be in the antitank category or at least given the ability to switch. The StugIII needed direct line of sight to take out bunkers. At the range, there is too much dispersion with the short barrel gun to hit the intended target.

I absolutely agree, the StuG problem was discussed in detail earlier here:

http://slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... ii#p487630

In the end I decided to make the StuG IIIB multipurpose in my mod and I can tell that now it works just fine as it has been tested by many players since then. Too bad that we cannot expect that the creators of the game will change it as well in a later patch as they fear any such fundamental change would affect the balance of the numerous existing and well tested official campaings.