Panzer II Luchs
Recon Tank · Germany
Recon with a 2 cm autocannon: ten rounds in a burst, then a 4 s magazine change. It shreds light plate and nothing else, and its hand-cranked turret is slow. Spot for the team and stay out of sight.
(the vehicle's description in the garage)
At a glance
| Nation | Germany |
| Role | Light vehicle (LT) |
| Modelled variant | Panzer II Ausf. L Luchs (Sd.Kfz. 123) |
| Price | 450 credits |
| Team stock | 3 per five-player team (scales with team size) |
| Hit points | 620 |
| Main gun | 60 damage per AP shot, 4 s reload |
| Speed | 60 km/h on roads, 28.2 km/h off-road |
| View range | 300 m |
| Ability (B) | Stuka (Ju 87 Dive Bomber) |
| Garage ratings | Armour 2/10 · Firepower 1/10 · Mobility 10/10 · Spotting 9/10 |
History
The Panzer II Ausf. L "Luchs" (lynx) was a purpose-built reconnaissance tank with a new torsion-bar running gear with interleaved road wheels, a roomier turret and a 2 cm KwK 38 autocannon. Only about 100 were built in 1942-44, and they served with the recon battalions of panzer divisions on both the Eastern and Western fronts, including in Normandy and the Ardennes.
The Luchs was fast and had good optics and radios, but its 2 cm gun was useless against tank armour from the front and its armour stopped little more than small-arms fire. Its job was to find the enemy, report and get away. In Armor Heads that role is reflected in its ability to call in a Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber.
In Armor Heads
Compared with the other 34 WW2 vehicles, it is bottom 5 for hit points (#31 of 35); bottom 5 for effective hp (#31 of 35); bottom 5 for hull front armour (#32 of 35); bottom 5 for turret front armour (#31 of 35); top 5 for road speed (#4 of 35); bottom 5 for shot damage (#32 of 35); top 5 for damage per minute (#2 of 35); top 5 for aim time (#3 of 35); top 5 for view range (#2 of 35); bottom 5 for ap penetration (#32 of 35).
Survivability
- Hit points: 620. Damage taken multiplier: 1.17 (effective HP 530).
- Track repair: 4 s.
| Zone | Damage multiplier (lower = thicker) | Raw shell damage to destroy through this zone |
|---|---|---|
| Hull front | 1.05 | 315 |
| Hull side | 1.32 | 251 |
| Hull rear | 1.32 | 251 |
| Roof | 1.64 | 202 |
| Turret front | 1.08 | 307 |
| Turret side | 1.32 | 251 |
| Turret rear | 1.32 | 251 |
Main gun
- Mount: turret, 360° traverse at 15°/s.
- Elevation +18° / depression -9°, at 30°/s.
- Autocannon: 10-round clip, 0.2 s between rounds, 4 s to reload the clip.
- Damage per minute (AP): 5,760.
- Accuracy: 0.095° dispersion when settled, aim time 1.36 s, move bloom 0.06.
- Gunner's sight: TZF 6/38, 2.5x (binoculars 6x / 10x / 15x).
| Shell | Type | Damage | Splash | Blast radius | Muzzle velocity | Penetration threshold | Rounds | Crew shock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autocannon AP | AP | 60 | 5 | 1 m | 780 m/s | 0.85 | 110 | - |
| Autocannon HE | HE | 39 | 30 | 3 m | 995 m/s | 1.3 | 55 | 0.25 |
| 2 cm Pzgr. 40 APCR | APCR | 45 | 2 | 1 m | 1050 m/s | 0.48 | 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 (2 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 | 0.85 | 0.48 | 60 | 45 |
| 300 m | 0.85 | 0.61 | 52 | 35 |
| 500 m | 0.85 | 0.86 | 43 | 25 |
| 700 m | 0.85 | 1.07 | 39 | 20 |
Matchups (AP against the hull front, square-on, under 100 m)
- Its AP gets through the hull front of 8 of the other 34 vehicles. It is stopped by: Tiger I, M4 Sherman, Panther, Panzer III Ausf. L, T-34/76, T-34-85, Panzer IV Ausf. H, Cromwell, Sherman Firefly, M26 Pershing, Tiger II, IS-2, Churchill VII, KV-1, M10 Wolverine, StuG III Ausf. G, SU-100, Jagdpanther, ISU-152, M32 TRV, T-70M, Marder III, M36 Jackson, Jagdpanzer 38 Hetzer, M3 Lee, 17pdr SP Achilles.
- 34 of the other 34 vehicles' AP get through its hull front. None of them is stopped by it.
- 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: 3 salvos, each recharges in 25 s.
Mobility
- Running gear: tracks (pivot turns).
- Top speed 60 km/h on roads, 28.2 km/h off-road (47 %), reverse 12 km/h, acceleration 3.8 m/s².
- Turn rate 38°/s (23°/s at top speed). Mass 11,800 kg. Engine start 2 s.
Special ability (B)
Stuka (Ju 87 Dive Bomber): a Ju 87 Stuka dives, siren screaming across the map, on the enemy tank nearest the point you mark (within 1,000 m) and drops a 500 kg bomb; a direct hit destroys anything. Ready 90 s after the round goes live, once per round; another use costs 450 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): 1x in an 8-vehicle line-up (first at position 5).
- Bastogne 1944, Red (Axis side): 1x in an 8-vehicle line-up (first at position 5).
Where it ranks (1 = best of 35)
| Stat | Rank |
|---|---|
| Hit points | 31 |
| Effective HP | 31 |
| Hull front armour (lower multiplier = thicker) | 32 |
| Turret front armour | 31 |
| Road speed | 4 |
| Off-road speed | 6 |
| Shot damage (AP) | 32 |
| Damage per minute | 2 |
| Reload (shortest first) | 6 |
| Accuracy (smallest dispersion first) | 30 |
| Aim time (fastest first) | 3 |
| Turret / gun traverse speed | 26 |
| View range | 2 |
| AP penetration (lower threshold = goes through more) | 32 |
| Price (1 = most expensive) | 31 |
The real vehicle
| Variant | Panzer II Ausf. L Luchs (Sd.Kfz. 123) |
| Length with gun | 4.63 m |
| Hull length | 4.63 m |
| Width | 2.48 m |
| Height | 2.21 m |
Sources used for the model: Length 4.63 m, width 2.48 m, height 2.21 m, 11.8 t: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_II and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luchs_(tank); track Kgs 63/360/90 (360 mm wide, 90 mm pitch, 96 links), 400 mm clearance (Panzer Tracts 2-2 via https://www.armedconflicts.com/15789-); the 2 cm KwK 38 muzzle ends about at the nose, so length with gun = hull length (the-blueprints.com side view: https://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints/tanks/ww2-tanks-germany-1/35135/view/pzkpfw_ii_ausf_l_luchs/)
In-game model: 4.62 m long (gun included) × 2.49 m wide × 2.19 m high (antenna excluded), 6,056 triangles, built at true scale.
Images
Renders of the in-game model in a plain nation colour (the game paints its camouflage at runtime).
