Slitherine

I'm planning for my future core units. I know that the IIIb is beloved by many here. The IV is switchable. Looking at the artillery side the IV appears better with a range of 2. However, there is a difference of opinion about the rate of fire of the IV. I've seen people say 110% and others 80%. So far artillery is my favorite unit class. I'd love to see opinions about which type add to my core force.
Thanks.

StuG3B is in the artillery class

StuG 4 is in the anti tank class

So this is going to be different. I tried using a StuG 4 late in my Field Marshall Campaign and was unsuccessful, so I do not plan on using them in my Manstein playthrough.

I am curious to hear other's opinion though, so thanks for4 opening up the topic.

StugIIIb? I'd prefer the StuH42.

I run the Stuh42 and the Stug IV. The former is better vs Infantry the later against tanks. Both offer good anti-artillery protection and when absolutely necessary can take their place on the front line.

I just checked the equipment file:
Stug 3A, 3B, Stug IV - RoF 110%
StuH - Rof 100%
Brummbaar - RoF 80%

The StuH and Stug IV both switch to AT, but the Stug IV has much better HA 15. The StuH appears to have HA and SA swapped as SA5, HA10 makes more sense in AT mode than SA10, HA5.As artillery, StugIV also has range 2, which is an advantage over the Stug 3, StuH and Brummbaar.
Armour for StuH, Stug IV and Brummbaar is similar GD15, 15, 16 respectively and AD 12 for all, so better than Stug 3.

On balance, upgrading your Stug 3 to StuH for the better armour and improved SA makes sense and the AT mode switch, but the better ammo and RoF of the Stug mean you might not want to convert all of them at once. Upgrading to the Brumbaar from StuH means losing AT switch and reduceed ROF, but slightly better attack and armour.

Stug IV is AT series, so you can either bring it in to gain rapid experience in artillery mode then upgrade to Elefant or Jagdpanther or as a more versatile replacement for your existing Stug/StuH and towed artillery pool.

@stormbringer: in the default equipment file, StuG IV's ROF is 110%, same as StuG IIIB's. I wouldn't compare the StuG IIIB to StuG IV. A better comparison is StuG IV vs. SU-122 if you are interested in a long-range (i.e., range > 1) SP unit, or StuG IIIB vs. StuH42 vs. Brummbar if you are interested in a close-support/defensive fire/1-range SP unit.

For the long-range unit, I prefer the SU-122 because of its 3-range, high mobility, and ok defenses. For the close-support unit, StuG IIIB wins hands down because of its high ammo, high ROF and ok defenses. The Brummbar has high defenses, but its low ROF is a big letdown. If you want to suppress soft targets, go for rocket artillery; the StuH 42 is meh compared to a Wufrahmen.

I put up all equipment to look at stats on later units and the StuG IV showed under the AT and the artillery lines. Is that just because of the all equipment cheat or will it show on both under normal circumstances?
Thanks for any info.

Must be the all equipment cheat. It should only show as an AT as it isn't available for purchase as artillery. That isn't a big deal, as you can buy it as an AT and switch it. It just means you have to know where to look for it if you want to purchase it which also pertains to other switchable units.

Thanks.