Early War Pz-IVs (et al)

[rules_heretic]

Peter,

"By far the most effective weapon is the 7.5 cm tank gun with Sprenggranaten. Also, the 3.7 cm Sprenggranate is especially effective (an increased supply is desired)."

Is this referring to the standard HE round, or the "rifle-grenade like" round that launched out of the barrel?  (I think the rifle-grenade 37mm round is in ASL, but I don't remember anything beyond HEAT being mentioned.)

I am deleting this post since I had forgotten the context (which was versus ATG!)

[plloyd1010]

Yes it is. Here is the Wikipedia page on the 7.5cm Kwk37 ammunition. Keep in mind, at that point the reference is in relation to combat against anti-tank guns.

[plloyd1010]

One thing that always seemed to be strange about, besides being a little overrated, was the graininess in the AT strength. Since the discussion is about the PzKw IV, this is the basic breakdown.

7.5cm KwK 37 L/24, AT of 4
7.5cm KwK 40 L/43, AT of 5
7.5cm Pak 40 L/46, AT of 5
7.5cm KwK 40 L/48, AT of 6

Who would have though that 3 inches of barrel could have such an effect, when 56 inches had so little.

[rules_heretic]

Quick comment on values posted by Peter.  (Ignoring the 7.5 L/24) I have thought of these minor variations as points for intangibles.  (Improved turret layout.  Improved optics.)
 

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To the original discussion and to tie in many of the posts above:

First, the Daily Content post is clear.  The 4-4 value represents use of the HEAT round.  I probably read that long ago and had based my modified values on this idea.  The "original" version of the post mentioned the intention that pre-Barbarossa games would have lower values (which never panned out - resulting in the "revised" version).

Second, from Peter's posting it is clear that the 7.5 L/24 was superior to the 37mm used on the early Pz-IIIs.

Third, IMHO the French 75 should be used as a reference gun since this was a well respected ATG (for the early war).  If the AP round for the 7.5 L/24 deserves a 4-x rating then the French 75 should have one too. 

I used to read the Daily Content pretty regularly and it was often very good.  There was a post that basically admitted that the Firefly was undervalued in Beyond Normandy.  I haven't read this in years and so don't know if there has been any discussion of these issues.

To modify my original post:

I think the 7.5 L/24 & the Semovente AP should be given a 3-4 rating to reflect that at the time this was more effective than anything else available. (I don't thing a 4-x is at all justified without a review of a number of other weapons.  Per the Daily Content, the 4-4 was intended for HEAT!)

Starting in either June 1941 or May 1942, HEAT should be considered available for the 7.5 L/24 giving it a rating of 4-4.  The Semovente gets a similar upgrade at some date.  (Note that this actually decreases the range from Afrika Korps the range of these came from who knows where.)