- Yes
- No
I would like to suggest the StuG III Ausf. E.
It would give the game more StuG III variants and give the final and most reformed StuG III with L/24 gun, while a slightly improved sidegrade to the StuG III Ausf. A (or D), it could come with additional track armor and be placed in a folder with the StuG III Ausf. A (or D) at 2.3. It would also show the historically development of the StuG III befor the allready in game Ausf. F.
History:
The Ausf. E was the last model with the short L/24 gun, and was cancelled in favour of the Ausf. F after 284 were build. After the success of the StuG III a bigger request for more StuG IIIs were demanded and an order of 500 additional were placed of the slightly more improved Ausf. E.
The biggest change from the Ausf. D to E was, that a great problem cince the beginning was that there werent any command StuG III vehicles. Duo to lack of space inside the vehicle only 1 sponsen on the left side with the radio inside was the standart, with a full 9-11 mm sideplate on the right and a short version on the left in front of the sponsen, this however changed with the Ausf. E, which recived a 2nd identical sponsen on the right side and the additional plates were discontinued in production. So that they also could be used as command vehicles instead of the Sd.Kfz.253.
However as mentioned above the request for 500 Ausf. E was not completed and instead stopped after 284 to quickly start production of the minimally improved Ausf. F instead of the further planned original Ausf. F, which had further improvements such as found on the Prototype.
Pictures:
Spoiler
The only fully surviving StuG III Ausf. E can be found at the Motor Technik Museum Bad Oeynhausen and was pulled out of a lake near Saint Petersburg in 1990.
The Gun:
7,5 cm StuK 37 L/24
Horizontal: 12° Both direcitons.
Vertical: -10° +20°
Ammo amount: 44 rounds.
K.Gr. Rot. Pz. Apcbc 6,78 kg 385m/s 80g Fp.02 und Np.10 with 52mm/10m
Gr. 38 Hl/b Heat 4,57 kg 450m/s 872,1 g TnT aquivalent 87mm/all
Gr. 38 Hl/c Heat 4,8 kg 450m/s 875,5 g TnT aquivalent 115mm/all
Sprgr. 34 He 5,74 kg 420m/s 686g Fp.02 und Np.10 (878,08g TnTa) 13mm/all
K.Gr. Rot. Nb. 6,2 kg 423m/s 50g Smokestuff
Armor:
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 30 mm (86°) Front glacis | |||
| 50 mm (23°) Lower glacis | 30 mm | 30 mm | 17 mm | |
| Superstructure | 50 mm (11°) Front plate | 30 mm | 30 mm | 11 mm |
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (ton) | Engine power (horsepower) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | 22 | Upgraded | Stock | |
| Arcade | 44 | 9 | 426 | 572 | |
| Realistic | 41 | 8 | 265 | 300 |
Source:
Munition der 7,5 cm StuK
Sturmartillerie Tome 1 Didier Laugier
Sturmgeschütz & Its Variants, Walter J Spielberger
Panzer Tracts No. 8 Sturmgeschütz Thomas J Lentz and Hilary Doyle
Stug III Assault Gun 1940-1942 Thomas J Lentz and Hilary Doyle
