Panther bashing!

[DanTepX]

Here is an intesting account of panthers in battle. I also read (on the intenet not a book) that they would catch fire easily from gas fumes in the tank. I usually play early WW2 (I love the old tanks!) in SPWAW so I've never really used Panthers much. Do they have any strange traits in the game?


http://www.activevr.com/afv/cgi_bin/web-bbs/webbbs_config.pl?read=25587

Usually I hear only good things about panthers!

[Grumble]

I wouldn't say "strange" necessarily, but Panther D's are subject to frequent breakdowns (as per actual performance). I've heard the tendency to catch fire before. When I lived in Germany, my neighbor's uncle was a Panther commander during the Ardennes Offensive (Winter Kampf). He mentioned that, (and the fact that maneuvering a 45-ton vehicle on narrow icy roads "is not the way to spend Christmas"),but also some advantages of the weapon system that aren't advertised:
1- excellent cross country mobility. Much better than PzIVs in his estimation, due to the lower ground pressure (heavier weight, but wider tracks).
2- 75mm rounds were easier for the loader to handle. RoF was higher than for a 88mm equipped vehicle.
3- Overall reliability was "about the same as a PzIVh/j". He was referring to the G-model...
4- Crew confidence in the vehicle was high. Felt that they were more than able to handle most Allied vehicles (exceptions were Sherman Firefly, M36). I never asked him about Russian vehicles.

[panda124c]

Originally posted by DanTepX:
Do they have any strange traits in the game?

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Yes look at the Uhu, infared sights, for those realy dark nights. <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">

From behind
An M4 shoots
Oh so nice
Panther bash

<img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">

[ January 22, 2002: Message edited by: pbear ]</p>

[Krec]

Here is food for thought. The following is fromWorld War Two Tanks by George Forty page 96:

" Panther, as the new tank was named, first rolled off the production line at MAN in November 1942. The first model was initially known as the Ausf A,although this was later changed to Ausf D.Development was undoubtedly rushed and this led to many problems, such as transmission and steering faults, because the parts were designed for use on the lighter less powerful AFVs. Even the engine was prone to overheating. Everyone was worried,Guderian writing in his diary for example. that he had...'spent 15 June worrying about our problem child, the Panther;the track,suspension and drive were not right and the optics were also not yet satisfactory'. The gun, however, lived up to its expectations according to one battlefield trials report, knocking out a T-34 with the first round at an unbelievable range of 7,224metres! The same report did not, however,make entirely satisfactory reading: of the 200 Panthers involved in this trial in Russia, 160 were out of action by the end of the first day and nine days later, there were only 43 serviceable. Many had broken down between the railhead and the battlefront and because of their weight towing was extremely difficult. Eventually, these mechanical problems were cured and Panther gained a reputation for all-round excellence,just under 6,000 gun tanks being built, with many others using the same chassis." <img src="wink.gif" border="0"> <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

[john g]

Originally posted by Krec:
The gun, however, lived up to its expectations according to one battlefield trials report, knocking out a T-34 with the first round at an unbelievable range of 7,224metres!

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That is nearly 4.5 English miles, the author is right that is unbelieveable. Even ignoring the penetration at that range, hitting a tank size target at that range would be pure luck. You would need some mighty good optics just to see the tank at that distance.
thanks, John.

[DanTepX]

Almost sounds like the panthers in the battle account I posted were a bad batch. I mean one of them lit up after being hit by a shell that didn't even penetrate the armor! I guess even the tanks with the better reputations had weaknesses.

Also that kill from 7224 meters is amazing! I heard the longest kill from direct fire in WW2 was 17km in north Africa by a 88mm Flak gun firing at a British convoy. It hit a AFV of some sort (I might have heard this from another post in the forum here). If these accounts are true the gunners should have played the lottery that day.

[Khan7]

The Panther is probably a 3 vs. 5 straight-up head-on match with the T-34/85s. Combine that with superior German crews and doctrines, and you have some serious Russian losses.

Matt

[Frank W.]

Originally posted by Khan7:
The Panther is probably a 3 vs. 5 straight-up head-on match with the T-34/85s. Combine that with superior German crews and doctrines, and you have some serious Russian losses.

Matt

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from my (not expert) view i think the weakest point in panthers are their thin side armor.

and,if i would be a german engineer,i would try to mount a 20mm aa gun on it in favor of the mg 42 or 34. a little bit more protection from air attacks!!