SU-76M
Self-Propelled Gun · USSR
A cheap open-topped 76 mm gun carrier that fires faster than a T-34. Its walls stop only rifle fire and the gun swings 15° each way: support the tanks from behind and keep moving.
(the vehicle's description in the garage)
At a glance
| Nation | USSR |
| Role | Tank destroyer (TD) |
| Modelled variant | SU-76M (SU-15M), GAZ / Plant 40 series-engine production 1944-45: open-top casemate, high rear wall with the large door and two firing ports, AA MG sockets; ZiS-3Sh 76.2 mm |
| Price | 500 credits |
| Team stock | 2 per five-player team (scales with team size) |
| Hit points | 650 |
| Main gun | 285 damage per AP shot, 4.4 s reload |
| Speed | 43 km/h on roads, 20.2 km/h off-road |
| View range | 240 m |
| Ability (B) | Ammo Drop |
| Garage ratings | Armour 2/10 · Firepower 5/10 · Mobility 9/10 · Spotting 7/10 |
History
The SU-76M was the second most-produced Soviet armoured vehicle of the war after the T-34, with about 14,000 built. It carried the ZiS-3 76.2 mm divisional gun, the same round as the T-34/76, in a light, open-topped casemate on a lengthened T-70 chassis.
Crews nicknamed it "Suka" (bitch) or "the naked Ferdinand" for its open, exposed fighting compartment, but it was mechanically simple, light enough to cross soft ground and very useful as infantry support. SU-76Ms fought in every Soviet offensive from 1943, including the Seelow Heights. The game models the 1944-45 production version.
In Armor Heads
Design note: SU-76M: the ZiS-3 (the T-34/76's round) in an open light casemate, 15 deg each way; quick to reload.
Compared with the other 34 WW2 vehicles, it is bottom 5 for aim time (#31 of 35).
Survivability
- Hit points: 650. Damage taken multiplier: 1.17 (effective HP 556).
- Open-topped: HE near misses do 1.5x splash damage and hit the crew three times as hard, so they knock crew out far more easily.
- Tracks: a hit on the running gear breaks a track 45 % of the time (the hit does no damage); the crew repairs it in 9 s.
| Zone | Real plate | Damage multiplier (lower = thicker) | Raw shell damage to destroy through this zone | AP of the other 34 vehicles that gets through |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull front | 25 mm at 60° (50 mm) | 0.82 | 423 | 30 |
| Hull side | 15 mm | 1.4 | 248 | 34 |
| Hull rear | 15 mm | 1.4 | 248 | 34 |
| Roof | open | 1.8 | 193 | 34 |
| Turret front | 35 mm at 25° (39 mm) | 0.92 | 377 | 33 |
| Turret side | 10 mm at 25° (11 mm) | 1.61 | 216 | 34 |
| Turret rear | open | 1.8 | 193 | 34 |
Real plate: the thickness of the real vehicle's armour there, and its slope from vertical with the line-of-sight thickness in brackets; each zone's multiplier is worked out from it (see how the numbers work). The last column counts square-on hits under 100 m.
Main gun
- Mount: casemate, gun arc ±15° of the hull centreline at 14°/s; turn the hull to aim further.
- Elevation +25° / depression -3°, at 16°/s.
- Reload: 4.4 s.
- Damage per minute (AP): 3,886.
- Accuracy: 0.06° dispersion when settled, aim time 1.76 s, move bloom 0.09.
- Gunner's sight: PG-1, 3.7x (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 | 662 m/s | 0.66 | 20 | - |
| High Explosive | HE | 185 | 142 | 5.8 m | 680 m/s | 0.984 | 10 | 1.02 |
| 76 mm BR-350P APCR | APCR | 214 | 10 | 2.5 m | 950 m/s | 0.37 | bought (key 3) | - |
The penetration threshold is the lowest zone multiplier (the thickest armour) the shell still gets through: zones below it stop the shell (10 % damage for AP, 20 % for HE). See how the numbers work.
HE and the crew: every direct hit shakes the crew (slower reload and traverse, a wider aim circle) for about 1.9 s when the plate stops it and 3 s when it bursts through. It is big enough to knock crew members out of their seats even when the plate stops it.
APCR (76 mm BR-350P 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 | 0.66 | 0.37 | 285 | 214 |
| 300 m | 0.66 | 0.47 | 262 | 167 |
| 500 m | 0.66 | 0.66 | 239 | 120 |
| 700 m | 0.66 | 0.82 | 228 | 96 |
Matchups (AP against the hull front, square-on, under 100 m)
- Its AP gets through the hull front of 18 of the other 34 vehicles. It is stopped by: Tiger I, M4 Sherman, Panther, T-34/76, T-34-85, Sherman Firefly, M26 Pershing, Tiger II, IS-2, Churchill VII, KV-1, SU-100, Jagdpanther, ISU-152, M32 TRV, Jagdpanzer 38 Hetzer.
- 30 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-60.
- From the side, 34 of them get through its hull side; from behind, 34 get through its hull rear (every zone is in the table above).
Secondary weapons and equipment
- Roof machine gun: DT, the vehicle's own modelled gun on its hull, 10 rounds/s, 1 damage per round, overheats after 63 rounds. It elevates to 70° and can shoot down recon planes.
- Smoke: 1 salvo, each recharges in 40 s.
Mobility
- Running gear: tracks (pivot turns).
- Top speed 43 km/h on roads, 20.2 km/h off-road (47 %), reverse 8.6 km/h, acceleration 3.8 m/s².
- Turn rate 38°/s (23°/s at top speed). Mass 10,500 kg. Engine start 3 s.
Special ability (B)
Ammo Drop: a supply crate comes down by parachute just behind the tank and lands 8 s later; every tank of the team (this one too) that drives over it in the next 60 s gets 50 % of its 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:
- Prokhorovka 1943, Blue (Allied side): 1x in an 8-vehicle line-up (first at position 8).
- Seelow Heights 1945, Blue (Allied side): 1x in an 8-vehicle line-up (first at position 5).
Where it ranks (1 = best of 35)
| Stat | Rank |
|---|---|
| Hit points | 29 |
| Effective HP | 29 |
| Hull front armour (lower multiplier = thicker) | 28 |
| Turret front armour | 30 |
| Road speed | 18 |
| Off-road speed | 18 |
| Shot damage (AP) | 16 |
| Damage per minute | 6 |
| Reload (shortest first) | 11 |
| Accuracy (smallest dispersion first) | 8 |
| Aim time (fastest first) | 31 |
| Turret / gun traverse speed | 29 |
| View range | 9 |
| AP penetration (lower threshold = goes through more) | 25 |
| Price (1 = most expensive) | 28 |
The real vehicle
| Variant | SU-76M (SU-15M), GAZ / Plant 40 series-engine production 1944-45: open-top casemate, high rear wall with the large door and two firing ports, AA MG sockets; ZiS-3Sh 76.2 mm |
| Length with gun | 5.0 m |
| Hull length | 5.0 m |
| Width | 2.74 m |
| Height | 2.1 m |
| Ground clearance | 0.3 m |
| Track width | 0.3 m |
| Gun | 76.2 mm ZiS-3Sh (ZiS-3 mod. 1942, L/41.6); traverse 15 deg left / right (ruwiki; wardrawings 16), elevation -3 / +25 deg (ruwiki, wardrawings; enwiki -5 / +15) |
Sources used for the model: ruwiki https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/СУ-76 (5000 x 2740 x 2200, clearance 300, armour angles, -3/+25, +-15, DT stowed on the left wall); enwiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SU-76 (4.97 x 2.72 x 2.10, -5/+15, +-15, later series: higher rear plate with two firing ports and larger door, AA MG tubes at the casemate rear); wardrawings.be (Onwar data) http://www.wardrawings.be/WW2/Files/1-Vehicles/Allies/2-USSR/05-TankDestroyers/SU-76/Data/SU-76M.htm (300 mm track, 114.3 mm pitch, 89 links, 3.30 m ground contact, +-16, -3/+25, gun overhang 0); Russian dimensioned drawing the-blueprints.com 36930 (5040 / 2780 / 2100 / 300); the-blueprints.com four-view 75415 (main reference)
In-game model: 5.07 m long (gun included) × 2.74 m wide × 2.12 m high (antenna excluded), 6,498 triangles, built at true scale.
Images
Renders of the in-game model in a plain nation colour (the game paints its camouflage at runtime).
