Panzer III

The Panzer III was a common name for a series of similarly designed tanks in service with the German army during World War II.

Some 5,774 Panzer IIIs were built over the course of the war. Beyond that Chassis was a versitile one and was adapted to serve various roles such as the StuG III self propelled gun.

Mid War

The Panzer III was the most overall best German tank through the early-to-mid-war period, and on the Eastern Front it was the best available in numbers in 1941 when Operation Barbarossa commenced. The Panzer III quickly runs up against problems if faced with a T-34/76, but against anything else the Soviets have Mid War, it does well.

A specialized variant of this tank was used in limited numbers, the Flammpanzer III, to burn out hardened structures and other particularly tenacious defenders who didn't like the Nazis barging right into their country. It loses much of its effective range and all of its anti-armor firepower, however, as the main cannon is swapped out for a heavy flamethrower, meaning your Flammpanzer III's will need constant support in order to advance and destroy their opponents with flame.

Late War

By the Late War period (1944-1945), the Panzer III was boned. Bigger, better tanks were headed for Germany from every direction, and most remaining IIIs were converted into StuGs, where they served the rest of the war as stubborn, tenacious tank destroyers. If you do field a surviving Panzer III in the Late War period, expect it to lose, but having said that, it can still put up a fight.

IRL

During the 1930s as Germany continued to recover from the Great Depression, German industry was starting to build tanks in preparation for war. The Panzer III was actually an early 30s design, but was delayed due to the inadequate state of German heavy industry at the time. By the latter part of the decade, industry had progressed enough to begin mass manufacture of the Panzer III and their cousin, the Panzer IV.

The Panzer III series saw limited combat in Poland, but first made it's name in France, where the French and British heavy tanks were more than a match for the pitiful 20mm cannons of the Panzer II's. The improved firepower of the 37mm guns employed by the Panzer III, along with the higher relative mobility made it the perfect weapon for use with the Blitzkrieg tactics employed by the Wehrmacht.

However, the Panzer showed it's age rather quickly with the introduction of the T-34, KV-1, and M4 Sherman battle tanks, which carried enough firepower to wipe Panzer IIIs off the battlefield and could easily tank firepower from the puny 37mm cannons utilized by most German Panzers. It was this inadequacy that spawned the production of the Panzer V, along with a complete reorganization of roles, with the Panzer III switching from a mainline battle tank to a Infantry Support tank, while their cousins the Panzer IV picked up the slack. The Ausf. N and Ausf. J variants were both introduced specifically to give extra armor pentration due to the lacking performance of the 37mm, and even 50mm guns that other variants had been upgraded to.

However, by the later stages of the war, the Panzer III was being returned to factories and converted into the Stug III due to the high success of Stug series.

The Panzer III spawned many interesting little variants, including a prototype minesweeper and a production recovery vehicle for Tiger tanks, but one of the more interesting ones is the Tauchpanzer, a vehicle that was planned to be used during Operation Sea Lion. While the Bongs were busy trying to make tanks float, the Germans figured out how to waterproof tanks and let them just drive underwater towards the enemy shore. Unfortunately, we never got to see them in action because Hitler decided it was more important to commit war crimes against Commies and that Britian was a minor threat.