Marder III
Tank Destroyer · Germany
A hard-hitting 7.62 cm gun on a light chassis behind a thin open shield. 18 rounds and almost no armour: fire from cover inside its 25° arc, and HE splash reaches the crew.
(the vehicle's description in the garage)
At a glance
| Nation | Germany |
| Role | Tank destroyer (TD) |
| Modelled variant | Marder III, Sd.Kfz. 139 (Panzerjaeger 38(t) fuer 7.62 cm PaK 36(r)), 1942 production |
| Price | 560 credits |
| Team stock | 2 per five-player team (scales with team size) |
| Hit points | 640 |
| Main gun | 285 damage per AP shot, 4.8 s reload |
| Speed | 42 km/h on roads, 19.7 km/h off-road |
| View range | 240 m |
| Ability (B) | Ammo Drop |
| Garage ratings | Armour 2/10 · Firepower 5/10 · Mobility 8/10 · Spotting 7/10 |
History
The Marder III (Sd.Kfz. 139) was an early German tank destroyer built in a hurry in 1942 to counter the T-34 and KV-1. It mounted captured Soviet 76.2 mm F-22 field guns, re-bored as the 7.62 cm PaK 36(r), on the chassis of the Czech-built Panzer 38(t), behind a tall, thin, open-topped shield. About 340 were built.
The gun was powerful for 1942, but the vehicle was tall, lightly armoured and open at the top and rear, so its crews relied on concealment. Marder IIIs fought at Stalingrad, in North Africa and at Kursk.
In Armor Heads
Design note: Marder III, Sd.Kfz. 139: the captured Soviet 7.62 cm PaK 36(r) (about the StuG's penetration) on the Panzer 38(t), open top and rear, 25 deg each way (Panzer Tracts), no MG (none on the real vehicle).
Compared with the other 34 WW2 vehicles, it is bottom 5 for turret front armour (#32 of 35).
Survivability
- Hit points: 640. Damage taken multiplier: 1.18 (effective HP 542).
- Open-topped: HE near misses hurt more and knock out the crew far more easily.
- Track repair: 8 s.
| Zone | Damage multiplier (lower = thicker) | Raw shell damage to destroy through this zone |
|---|---|---|
| Hull front | 0.75 | 452 |
| Hull side | 1.3 | 261 |
| Hull rear | 1.4 | 242 |
| Roof | 1.8 | 188 |
| Turret front | 1.1 | 308 |
| Turret side | 1.5 | 226 |
| Turret rear | 1.8 | 188 |
Main gun
- Mount: casemate, gun arc ±25° of the hull centreline at 14°/s; turn the hull to aim further.
- Elevation +16° / depression -8°, at 16°/s.
- Reload: 4.8 s.
- Damage per minute (AP): 3,562.
- Accuracy: 0.06° dispersion when settled, aim time 1.76 s, move bloom 0.09.
- Gunner's sight: ZF 3x8, 3x (binoculars 6x / 10x / 15x).
| Shell | Type | Damage | Splash | Blast radius | Muzzle velocity | Penetration threshold | Rounds | Crew shock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armour Piercing | AP | 285 | 20 | 2.5 m | 790 m/s | 0.54 | 12 | - |
| High Explosive | HE | 185 | 142 | 5.8 m | 550 m/s | 0.984 | 6 | 1.02 |
| 7.5 cm Pzgr. 40 APCR | APCR | 214 | 10 | 2.5 m | 933 m/s | 0.3 | bought (key 3) | - |
The penetration threshold is the thinnest zone multiplier the shell gets through: zones below it stop the shell (10 % damage for AP, 20 % for HE). See how the numbers work.
APCR (7.5 cm Pzgr. 40 APCR) is bought in the garage, not issued: 3 rounds for 200 credits, at most 6 carried, from a team stock of 3 per player for the whole match (never resupplied). It gets through far thicker plate than the AP up close but loses its punch quickly with range:
| Range | AP needs | APCR needs | AP damage | APCR damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 m | 0.54 | 0.3 | 285 | 214 |
| 300 m | 0.54 | 0.39 | 262 | 167 |
| 500 m | 0.54 | 0.54 | 239 | 120 |
| 700 m | 0.54 | 0.67 | 228 | 96 |
Matchups (AP against the hull front, square-on, under 100 m)
- Its AP gets through the hull front of 28 of the other 34 vehicles. It is stopped by: Panther, M26 Pershing, Tiger II, IS-2, Churchill VII, Jagdpanther.
- 29 of the other 34 vehicles' AP get through its hull front. Safe from the front against: Panzer II Luchs, M32 TRV, Sd.Kfz. 250/9, T-70M, T-60.
- Sides, rears and roofs are thinner on every vehicle; see each page's zone table.
Secondary weapons and equipment
- No working roof machine gun.
- Smoke: 1 salvo, each recharges in 40 s.
Mobility
- Running gear: tracks (pivot turns).
- Top speed 42 km/h on roads, 19.7 km/h off-road (47 %), reverse 8.4 km/h, acceleration 3 m/s².
- Turn rate 34°/s (20°/s at top speed). Mass 10,700 kg. Engine start 3 s.
Special ability (B)
Ammo Drop: drops a crate behind the tank; team-mates who drive over it within 60 s get 50 % of their full shell and smoke load back (once each). Ready 30 s after the round goes live, once per round; another use costs 150 credits.
Where it appears
Players can take it on all seven WW2 maps, on either team. The AI fields it on:
- Kasserine Pass 1943, Red (Axis side): 1x in an 7-vehicle line-up (first at position 5).
- Prokhorovka 1943, Red (Axis side): 1x in an 8-vehicle line-up (first at position 5).
- Stalingrad 1942, Red (Axis side): 1x in an 7-vehicle line-up (first at position 3).
Where it ranks (1 = best of 35)
| Stat | Rank |
|---|---|
| Hit points | 30 |
| Effective HP | 30 |
| Hull front armour (lower multiplier = thicker) | 26 |
| Turret front armour | 32 |
| Road speed | 20 |
| Off-road speed | 20 |
| Shot damage (AP) | 15 |
| Damage per minute | 15 |
| Reload (shortest first) | 20 |
| Accuracy (smallest dispersion first) | 7 |
| Aim time (fastest first) | 30 |
| Turret / gun traverse speed | 28 |
| View range | 8 |
| AP penetration (lower threshold = goes through more) | 16 |
| Price (1 = most expensive) | 25 |
The real vehicle
| Variant | Marder III, Sd.Kfz. 139 (Panzerjaeger 38(t) fuer 7.62 cm PaK 36(r)), 1942 production |
| Length with gun | 5.85 m |
| Hull length | 4.61 m |
| Width | 2.16 m |
| Height | 2.5 m |
| Ground clearance | 0.38-0.40 |
| Track width | 0.293 m |
| Gun | 7.62 cm PaK 36(r) L/51.2 (rebored F-22), traverse 25 deg each way (Panzer Tracts 7-2; Spielberger 21), elevation -8 / +16 deg |
Sources used for the model: armedconflicts.com https://www.armedconflicts.com/-t6378 (5,850 x 2,160 x 2,500 mm, 380 mm clearance, 10,670 kg, PaK 36(r) L/51.2); tanks-encyclopedia.com https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/germany/panzerjager-38t-fur-7-62-cm-pak-36r-sd-kfz-139-marder-iii/ (5.85 x 2.16 x 2.5 m, -7/+16 deg, 50 deg traverse); armedconflicts.com Pz.Kpfw. 38(t) Ausf. F https://www.armedconflicts.com/topic/view/36580 (4,610 mm, 2,135 mm, 293 mm track, 400 mm clearance, Panzer Tracts 18); Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_38(t) (775 mm wheels in the Ausf. F thread; 4.61 m); blueprint Dr Dan Saranga four-view, the-blueprints.com 69935 (one scale 3.00 mm/px)
In-game model: 5.86 m long (gun included) × 2.18 m wide × 2.51 m high (antenna excluded), 6,014 triangles, built at true scale.
Images
Renders of the in-game model in a plain nation colour (the game paints its camouflage at runtime).
