Any idea why the M15/42 is a whole 1.4BR above the Pz.III F?
M15/42 is at 2.7.
Pz.III F is at 1.3.
The M15/42, fulfilling largely the same role as the Panzer III F is a sidegrade at best.
The Panzer III F is admittedly rather egregiously undertiered(I spaded it in two matches with 14k/r and 28k/d) but finding that the M15/42 exists so far above it is just utterly ridiculous.
Here’s a comparison of major characteristics in case you’re not familiar with the vehicles:
Mobility:
M15/42:
-38/3 km/h
-12.3hp/ton
Pz.III F:
+71/12 km/h
+15.2hp/ton
Main Gun:
M15/42: 47mm 47/40 mod.38
+3.8->2.9s reload
=-10/20deg depression/elevation
=9.8->14deg/s traverse, 2.8->4deg/s elevation
-APHE 62mm @ 10m, 53mm @ 500m, (+) 30g filler(not a major difference at all)
+HE 150g filler, not enough to overpressure but still useful for clearing turret crews of opentops
Pz.III F: 59mm KwK L/42
-5.2->4s reload
=-10/20deg depression/elevation
=9.8->14deg/s traverse, 2.8->4deg/s elevation
+APHEC 80mm @ 10m, 62mm @ 500m, (-) 29g filler
+APCR 116cm @ 10m, 74mm @ 500m, not terribly useful but helps to be at least capable of penning vehicles like Matildas or B1s without pixel-hunting(the former which it can’t see at 1.3 and the latter’s bis variant in a full uptier)
Armour/Survivability:
M15/42:
+Hull 50/25mm at roughly flat
+Turret 45/25mm, maybe somewhat trolly but at a br where many guns won’t even have trouble penning 90mm
-4 crew, cramped
Pz.III F
(-)Hull 30/30mm roughly flat, good for angling at the BR
(-) Turret 30/30mm, rather trolly especially against reserve guns and new players
+5 crew, not as cramped with distinct groupings of turret crew and hull crew considerably separated, difficult to oneshot with small guns
These are trade-offs I would associate with equal BR or at most 0.3 BR difference vehicles, not gosh darn 1.4 BR difference vehicles, especially these are both “medium tanks” and have nothing to do with the role of the vehicle. I feel as if the Italian mediums are given 0.3 BR changes in sequence because of largely incremental and barely noticeable upgrades that, while undoubtedly improvements, are nowhere near enough to individually justify BR hikes such that the Italian mediums just cannot keep up. Is the Pz.III F egregiously undertiered and probably 2.0 or at least 1.7 material? Yes. Are the M15/42 and to a substantial extent the M13/40(III) and M14/42 deserving of their current BRs? Absolutely not.
Before you chime in with how “nobody cares about low tier”, first of all, the Pz. III F was 2.0 many years ago, and it was purposely moved down for some reason… Second, whether the dev team will actually make a change is one thing, pointing out a highly pronounced issue is another.