Low Tier German Arty

I recently went back and replayed these tanks.

By low tier, I mean up to and including tier 4.  Here are my thoughts on each:

The German arty line splits at tier 3 into two distinct lines, which have distinct play styles.  In this instance, they are considerably different - one line is a conventional arty - but with decent gun traverse arcs, and the other are effective assault guns.

In all instances I ran Rammer, GLD and Cammo Net (where possible), and I've played all of these til I've aced them.

I've rated them 1 - 5 star

Tier 2 - G.Pz Mk IV - this is a dreadful, dreadful tank.  It has one redeeming feature, and that is that the tank is so bad, it will discourage other people from taking the arty route.  The gun arc is poor, the speed is dismal and the rate of fire is too small for fast moving low tier opposition.
What makes this tank so terrible however, is that the radio range is so low.  It's so low, that I actually recommend you fit binocs, as frequently, you won't be able to see what is happening - you'll see shots fired in god mode, but not see the enemy tanks.  This happens very quickly, as newer players often see the radio as the last option to upgrade.

1 star.  Dreadful.  

The "conventional" arty line:

Tier 3 - Wespe - This is actually a great arty - the damage is decent for the tier, the range is excellent, and it's reasonably quick.  On top of that, it's got a great gun arc.  This tank sits in a sweet spot for arty, you'll hit a lot, and do reasonable damage, and can sit back quite a long way.  The radio range is a little low, but with the increase in tier, a lot more of your team will have reasonable radio range, so it's not so bad.  You're also mobile enough to relocate as needed.

4 star.  Flexible and effective.

Tier 4 - Pz.Sfl. IVb - this thing has a turret.  This is brilliant.  It's a little slow, but has decent range.  The damage is a little low, but you have plenty of ammo.  This is a baby GW Panther.

4 star.  Low damage but the turret makes up for a lot.

The "Assault gun" arty.

Tier 3 - SturmPanzer I Bison - In some ways this is the opposite of the Wespe.  The gun traverse is tiny - so tiny that you'll spend most of your time with your target reticule spread out wider than WJDE's mum's fanny.  The radio range is insane - it will cover most of the map.  But that's not really that much use other than to let you know who is about to kill you, as the range is so low.  The rate of fire is poor, pretty dismal actually.  But these are not the main problems.  These are twofold:
1) It has such limited ammo, you'll often run out.
2) It's top heavy, and the physics engine doesn't cope with this very well.  NEVER take a bison over rough terrain and certainly never in god-view, as you end up propped up on one track, totally helpless.  You can get someone to nudge you back on to two tracks, but it's a killer.
It does have a couple of plus points though.  
- HEAT ammo can flatten pretty much any like-tier tank and even cause massive damage to higher tiers - in fact you find yourself praying for a high tier match as they are slow enough to hit.
- The "silver" ammo is only fractionally more expensive, but does a lot more damage.  Only use that and some HEAT.
- At the edge of your firing range, shells come down straight down.  That means you are hitting roofs and cover is negated.  Which is nice.

2 star - it's not the Bison of old with the HEAT nerf, and it's slow and painful, but it's still mildly better than the tier II.  Honest.

Tier 3 - The SturmPanzer II - This was a surprise to me.  The first time I played it, I couldn't wait to get past it to the Grille.  I approached it with a huge amount of trepidation.  But actually, I loved it.  Seriously - this is one of the most underrated, surprising tanks I've played.  It took a while to get used to, but it's lethal.

So why?
- The ammo capacity is considerable - I usually carried at least half a dozen HEAT, and the rest "silver".
- The Rate of Fire is good.  It's very decent for an arty that kicks out such big shells.
- Much wider gun arc than the Bison
- Vertical shells are very dangerous for stupid KV1 tanks.

The trick with this one is simple - move us behind the line, and pre-aim where you expect the opposition to be.  Make sure you're on the edge of your gun range and hurt them - lots.  Use cover well - did I mention it's stealthy? - and don't just try to go to the conventional arty spots.  

Think of it almost as an indirect fire TD - be stealthy and deal massive damage.

5 star - Contentious!!  But seriously - consider giving it a go.  I actually found myself looking forward to playing it.  And for the record - I got 7 kills in it

I welcome your comments!

If this is useful, I've recently done the tier 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 meds and some lights too.  I could give you my thoughts (drivel) on those too