StuG III guide

The Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun was Germany's most produced armoured fighting vehicle during World War II. It was built on the chassis of the proven Panzer III tank. Initially intended as a mobile, armoured light gun for infantry support, the StuG was continually modified and was widely employed as a tank destroyer.

The top speed is not particularly high, but the StuG reaches it pretty fast. The traverse speed of the tracks is excellent so you can keep up with enemy light and medium tanks that want to circle around you. The reverse speed however is a disadvantage (only 10 km/h), so be sure to have some cower close by if you get spotted and need to get to safety fast.

80 mm front armour sounds pretty good, but don’t rely on it when facing tanks of the same or higher tier since it’s not sloped like the armour on the Hetzer. The only really tough spot is the gun mantlet and because it’s relatively big it can save you a good amount of health points, so always keep your distance to the enemy.

7,5 cm StuK 40 L/43 - the stock gun. You only use it with the stock suspension because the 7,5 cm PaK 39 L/48 of the Hetzer is to heavy to be mounted on it.

7,5 cm PaK 39 L/48 - This gun has pretty good rate of fire and enough penetration to damage most tanks in T5 and T6 battles. Also it has the best gun elevation and depression of all the guns available for the StuG.

10,5 cm StuH 42 L/28 - Also called the Derp gun or the Troll gun. This gun has slower rate of fire compared to the previous guns, the worst accuracy, and less penetrating power with AP shells. If it’s used with normal ammo it’s best to use high explosive shells, but the main reason to use this gun is the huge damage it inflicts (350/410 average) if it penetrates and to enhance penetrating power you need to use premium HEAT (high explosive anti tank) shells.

7,5 cm StuK 42 L/70 - The final gun is also the best choice for the StuG. With this gun you are ready to face even T7 tanks, of course while staying hidden and keeping your distance.

This TD can be very dangerous if it’s used right. It has great camouflage capability, a high rate of fire, excellent accuracy and the second best penetration of it’s tier (150 mm average) with regular AP ammo. As any tier 5 TD it has poor health points so it’s best to stay back and stay hidden, but if you get attacked by a medium or light tank the traverse speed can help you fight even in close combat.

The primary skill to train from start is camouflage. It gives great advantage to this TD since it has very good basic camouflage value. After the camouflage is at 100% and the second skill on 40% you can drop the commanders skill and choose sixth sense (because this skill only works when it’s on 100%), drop the drivers skill and pick Preventive maintenance as the first skill (because of frontal mounted engine it’s prone to catch fire), drop the gunners skill and pick Deadeye (increases the chance to cause critical damage to enemy modules and crew) and also drop the skill on the loader and pick situational awareness (it’s a radio operator skill that improves view range).

It sounds complicated, but it’s necessary because most of the skills work only when they are at 100%.

At the end it should look like this:

Commander - sixth sense - recon - camo

Gunner - deadeye - camo - optional

Driver - preventive maintenance - camo - optional

Loader - Situational awareness - camo - optional

Suggested equipment

Camouflage net - it gives +25% camouflage to the vehicle while it remains stationary. Along with the camo skill on the crew and the already excellent basic camouflage value this decreases the chance of being detected.

Medium caliber tank gun rammer - it improves the already good rate of fire of the vehicle. Rate of fire can make a difference if you are forced to fight in close quarter combat.

Binocular telescope - this piece of equipment is a must on the StuG. It gives you +25% more view range. The StuG has 310 view range so the bonus is 77,5 meters and if you add the 3% (9,3 m) from situational awareness and 2% (6,2 m) from recon the result is significant - 403 meters view range. But it only works if the vehicle remains stationary for more than 3 seconds.

-Research the tracks first so you can mount the 7,5 cm PaK 39 L/48 or the 10,5 cm StuH 42 L/28 from the Hetzer

-If you have not played the PzKpfw III Ausf. A or the PzKpfw IV, then you need to research the engines - they require little experience (710 exp and 1500 exp)

-Research the 7,5 cm StuK 42 L/70 gun for the firepower

-If you have not played the before mentioned PzKpfw III Ausf. A or the PzKpfw IV then you need to research the Fug 7 radio as the last module before the grind to the Jagdpanzer IV