Panther
Medium Tank · Germany
A heavy's gun and front on a medium's chassis: the long 75 hits hard and flat, and the sloped glacis shrugs off most shots. The thin sides and the slow turret are its weak spots: keep it facing the fight.
(the vehicle's description in the garage)
At a glance
| Nation | Germany |
| Role | Medium tank (MT) |
| Modelled variant | Panther Ausf. G (Sd.Kfz. 171), late 1944 production: chin mantlet, Schuerzen, flame-damper exhausts |
| Price | 810 credits |
| Team stock | 2 per five-player team (scales with team size) |
| Hit points | 1100 |
| Main gun | 280 damage per AP shot, 8.5 s reload |
| Speed | 46 km/h on roads, 22.1 km/h off-road |
| View range | 230 m |
| Ability (B) | Recon Plane |
| Garage ratings | Armour 3/10 · Firepower 4/10 · Mobility 9/10 · Spotting 7/10 |
History
The Panzerkampfwagen V Panther was Germany's answer to the Soviet T-34: sloped armour, wide tracks and a long, high-velocity 7.5 cm KwK 42 L/70 gun. About 6,000 were built between 1943 and 1945. Its first battle at Kursk in July 1943 was marred by mechanical failures, but once the early problems were fixed it became one of the best tanks of the war, with a frontal glacis of 80 mm sloped at 55 degrees and a gun that out-penetrated the Tiger's 88.
Its weak points were the thinner sides, a final drive that wore out quickly and, on early turrets, a curved mantlet that could deflect shots down into the hull roof. The game models a late 1944 Panther Ausf. G with the "chin" mantlet that cured that problem, side skirts and flame-damping exhausts. Panthers led the German counter-attacks at Arracourt in September 1944, fought in the Ardennes around Bastogne, and were among the last tanks defending the Seelow Heights in April 1945.
In Armor Heads
Compared with the other 34 WW2 vehicles, it is top 5 for hull front armour (#5 of 35); bottom 5 for damage per minute (#35 of 35); bottom 5 for reload (#32 of 35).
Survivability
- Hit points: 1100. Damage taken multiplier: 0.94 (effective HP 1170).
- Track repair: 9 s.
| Zone | Damage multiplier (lower = thicker) | Raw shell damage to destroy through this zone |
|---|---|---|
| Hull front | 0.5 | 1,463 |
| Hull side | 0.84 | 871 |
| Hull rear | 1.3 | 563 |
| Roof | 1.48 | 494 |
| Turret front | 0.56 | 1,306 |
| Turret side | 0.84 | 871 |
| Turret rear | 1.3 | 563 |
Main gun
- Mount: turret, 360° traverse at 28°/s.
- Elevation +18° / depression -8°, at 20°/s.
- Reload: 8.5 s.
- Damage per minute (AP): 1,976.
- Accuracy: 0.07° dispersion when settled, aim time 1.6 s, move bloom 0.06.
- Gunner's sight: TZF 12a, 2.5x / 5x (binoculars 6x / 10x / 15x).
| Shell | Type | Damage | Splash | Blast radius | Muzzle velocity | Penetration threshold | Rounds | Crew shock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armour Piercing | AP | 280 | 20 | 2.5 m | 925 m/s | 0.48 | 27 | - |
| High Explosive | HE | 182 | 140 | 6 m | 700 m/s | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| 7.5 cm Pzgr. 40/42 APCR | APCR | 210 | 10 | 2.5 m | 1120 m/s | 0.27 | 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. 40/42 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 | 0.48 | 0.27 | 280 | 210 |
| 300 m | 0.48 | 0.35 | 258 | 164 |
| 500 m | 0.48 | 0.48 | 235 | 118 |
| 700 m | 0.48 | 0.6 | 224 | 94 |
Matchups (AP against the hull front, square-on, under 100 m)
- Its AP gets through the hull front of 32 of the other 34 vehicles. It is stopped by: Tiger II, IS-2.
- 9 of the other 34 vehicles' AP get through its hull front. Safe from the front against: M4 Sherman, M3A1 Stuart, Panzer II Luchs, Panzer III Ausf. L, T-34/76, T-34-85, Panzer IV Ausf. H, Cromwell, Churchill VII, KV-1, M10 Wolverine, M18 Hellcat, StuG III Ausf. G, ISU-152, M32 TRV, M24 Chaffee, Sd.Kfz. 250/9, T-70M, T-60, Marder III, SU-76M, Jagdpanzer 38 Hetzer, M3 Lee, 75 mm GMC M3, Stuart V "Honey".
- Sides, rears and roofs are thinner on every vehicle; see each page's zone table.
Secondary weapons and equipment
- Roof machine gun: MG 34, the vehicle's own modelled gun on its turret, 13 rounds/s, 1 damage per round, overheats after 60 rounds. It elevates to 70° and can shoot down recon planes.
- Smoke: 2 salvos, each recharges in 40 s.
Mobility
- Running gear: tracks (pivot turns).
- Top speed 46 km/h on roads, 22.1 km/h off-road (48 %), reverse 3.5 km/h, acceleration 3.9 m/s².
- Turn rate 38°/s (23°/s at top speed). Mass 44,800 kg. Engine start 3.5 s.
Special ability (B)
Recon Plane: a recon plane flies a line you draw on the map (up to 800 m) and spots every enemy within 75 m of it for 10 s. Ready 60 s after the round goes live, once per round; another use costs 250 credits.
Where it appears
Players can take it on all seven WW2 maps, on either team. The AI fields it on:
- Arracourt 1944, Red (Axis side): 3x in an 8-vehicle line-up (first at position 1).
- Bastogne 1944, Red (Axis side): 2x in an 8-vehicle line-up (first at position 2).
- Seelow Heights 1945, Red (Axis side): 2x in an 8-vehicle line-up (first at position 1).
- Villers-Bocage 1944, 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 | 9 |
| Effective HP | 9 |
| Hull front armour (lower multiplier = thicker) | 5 |
| Turret front armour | 9 |
| Road speed | 15 |
| Off-road speed | 16 |
| Shot damage (AP) | 19 |
| Damage per minute | 35 |
| Reload (shortest first) | 32 |
| Accuracy (smallest dispersion first) | 19 |
| Aim time (fastest first) | 18 |
| Turret / gun traverse speed | 11 |
| View range | 13 |
| AP penetration (lower threshold = goes through more) | 8 |
| Price (1 = most expensive) | 11 |
The real vehicle
| Variant | Panther Ausf. G (Sd.Kfz. 171), late 1944 production: chin mantlet, Schuerzen, flame-damper exhausts |
| Length with gun | 8.66 m |
| Hull length | 6.87 m |
| Width | 3.42 m |
| Height | 2.99 m |
| Ground clearance | 0.56 m |
| Track width | 0.66 m |
| Gun | 7.5 cm KwK 42 L/70, elevation -8 / +20 deg (task brief; often quoted -8 / +18) |
Sources used for the model: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panther_tank (6.87 m hull, 8.66 m with gun, 3.27 m / 3.42 m with skirts, 2.99 m); armedconflicts.com https://www.armedconflicts.com/-t520 (8,660 mm, 3,270 mm without skirts, 2,995 mm, 560 mm clearance, Kgs 64/660/150, 87 then 86 links, 650 mm self-cleaning idler 10/1944); panther1944.de https://panther1944.de/index.php/en/sdkfz-171-pzkpfwg-panther/technology/kette (150 mm pitch, 86 links, 660 mm, 3920 mm contact) and .../panzerschuerzen (skirt plate 625 x 1250 x 4 mm); Lone Sentry TTT https://lonesentry.com/articles/ttt/panther-panzer-v.html (12 ft 9.5 in bogie-wheel centres, 6 in pitch, 5 ft 5 in turret ring); blueprint the-blueprints.com 81843 (four-view, 8.8 mm/px)
In-game model: 8.87 m long (gun included) × 3.34 m wide × 3.1 m high (antenna excluded), 6,640 triangles, built at true scale.
Images
Renders of the in-game model in a plain nation colour (the game paints its camouflage at runtime).
