Marder

The Marder series of tank destroyers/assault guns were largely a series of obsolete and captured tank chasses that were converted to carry large fuckoff guns. There were three main variants of the Marder, the most recognizable of which is the Marder III.

IRL

The Marder series existed largely as a general German response to the T-34 existing. The current Panzers were incapable of beating the T-34 in combat, and the PaK 36 did not always have the mobility and penetration to defeat the T-34. Thus, it was decided that bigger guns were needed.

The Marder I was largely developed by Major Alfred Becker and the Alkett weapons firm, who got the bright idea to strap a PaK 40 to a French Tracteur Blinde 37L.

The Marder II was a branch off of this design, created also by Alkett, except it used the Panzer II chassis. Early versions had rechambered Soviet At-guns, but they were later replaced by the German PaK 40.

The Marder III was the final in the series, and was based on the Panzer 38(t) chassis. It gained a reputation for being mechanically reliable and even saw service in Africa.

In general, the Marders pailed in comparison to their bigger cousin, the Nashorn. But they served exceptionally well providing the role of defensive and overwatch fire, a very valuable role for the Wehrmacht in the latter part of the war.