I have the pzIV E premium, am I ever going to want to change it for pzIII J or the pzIV F1
Only people who have these, please can you give opinions on the latter tanks for axis.
I think the premium is great against gold t50s
Answer is: No.
The censored premium pz4 comes with HEAT shells, and that alone makes it able to destroy ANYTHING the Russian army possess.
The pz3J is a bit of a let down: it’s turret is slow… but SLOOOOW… so it’s anti infantry ability is sub par. it’s gun can pen Russian tanks well, but will still struggle vs T-50 that will deflect shells from time to time and prevent you from aiming well thanks to it’s great mobility (and the fact your turret is slow)
Last pz4f1 is nice, but just like the pz3J, the added armour means nothing since every Russian tank past T60 can pen it frontally.
As such: Keep your premium pz4. It will even be more mobile since it comes full star.
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Great summary thank you! I thought premium was best, but I read the pzIII J had better armour somewhere…
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It does: 50mm more on less on the turret. But sadly, it’s still worthless, since t26, bt7, t50… can all pen it just as easily as if it was 30mm. the ONLY thing pz3J does well is it has a precise gun that pens easily. But… Regular pz4 can achieve same results, is more mobile, has ASTOUNDING anti infantry capability and will tank enemy shells just as well as pz3J (wich means not really) since added armour means nothing…
Pz3j is GREAT in Tunisia however. Maps are a bit bigger and the pz3j can use it’s main advantage well here: being a good sniper.
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As with my comments in relation to the aircraft performance, the same will apply to Tanks.
When you look at the PzIII J in this case, have a look a the distribution of modifications available.
The critical ones are staggered towards the very end of the upgrade tree.
Suspension damping +15%
Horizontal turret aim speed +15%
Vertical gun aim speed +20%
Those are some very large modifiers when you think about it, and so an undamaged PzIII J is quite battleworthy.
The challenge comes in that it deteriorates pretty quickly, as @Conscript_Joe puts it, once you start taking damage.
The 45mm rounds have a high ROF and in many cases the more experienced Soviet gunners will aim at the traverse gear box.
Generally 2-3 hits are required to significantly degrade most PzIIIs or IVs to either force them to withdraw and repair, or if you’re on the attack to be able to flank them and apply fire without fear of retribution.
Correspondingly, Soviet armour is easy to blow up if you aim at the lower hull between the road wheels and the height of the return track. (where visible)
If not then turret cheeks are the classic vulnerability points imported from WT and tend to knock out the Main and Coax reliably, leaving you some time to snipe the rest of the crew out.
Take it from mostly tank player, don’t get the III. Both IV E and Premiuf IV F1 are much better tanks. That said, T-50 will be always an issue. So once you face enemies with maxed out T-50s, they will hunt you, I tell you. Unless you get a drop on them and land the first shot in those turret weak spots.
But yeah, I would not touch III J. Espcially if you plan to invest into your armor.
Axis Moscow? Add me mate, fellow tankers always needed.
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I use the PZIIIJ instead of the F1. The gun has amazing velocity meaning making precise ranged ahots on the T50s weakspot is easy
I thought precise ranged shots would be the way to go at first, too.
But REAL experienced t-50 drivers stay mobile… and with the slow turret traverse speed of the 3J, it takes time to aim shots correctly. As such the best way to play an Axis tanker in Moscow is to ambush. To wait for the right opportunity to shoot. When doing so, even the regular pz4 will do very well, in fact even more so, because if it’s shell manages to pen, it’s quite devastating for any tank. And when there’s no t50 around, the pz4 (any version) anti infantry ability is unmatched, save for the Russian t28.
I tuned the Pz4e and Pz4F1 to maximum.
The Panzer4e has less mm of armor than the F1.
X-rays show the 4e mainly orange to red.
Means almost impenetrable.
Also supports my Experience.
The 4F1 is shown in all green in Xray.
I’ve been killed countless times with it.
with all that Russia has to offer.
4F1 my biggest mistake so far
I swapped it out for the 3J Panzerkiller.
9 Days Playtime Moscow btw
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4E is the primary tank for me. F1 is the back up.
Russian infantry in Moscow is insanely effective. And I would disagree with the F1 assessment. Both of those tanks are insanely, and I mean insanely effective vs infantry, AT guns and AA guns. Those anti infantry rounds rip Soviet infantry apart in insane numbers.
I’ve noticed that Moscow lobby is now full of elite players and the only thing that makes Germans still hold their own is probably the fact that Russian side is not as organized.
T-50s and T-28Es will blow up everything our German side has to offer if they discover you first. So the difference in tanks there is moot - F1, E or 3J all die just as easily. And so on many maps against top tier players, you will have to play games of cat and mouse - so much fun.
They’ll wait for your muzzle flashes to see your position or until their teammates will greenlit you, so they can get a first shot and blow you out of the water. Then, they will reposition so that the killcam that gave away their position becomes useless. Those guys in T-28Es and T-50s are a decisive threat on a good team, and you will be hard pressed to survive them, especially in tandem teams or with their engineers and infantry squads working together.
16 days 
Playing Moscow axis is the ultimate underdog experience but there’s a catch: nobody is cheering for you…
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Amen, hence victories taste a bit sweeter, no?
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Oh boy it sure does
Ultimately the Devs response to the plea’s of the Axis players, as you pointed out earlier, is the Premium PzIV with the HEAT round.
With that there is no tank in the Moscow campaign that you can’t destroy as long as you have LOS. The fact that you have to pay for the privilege of being able to easily erase T-50s, well that’s just classic Gaijin.
Yeah…
I HATE this vehicle, because of what it is: a pay too win crutch. It’s the same thing as the regular one, but with better things than the free version (here, highly potent HEAT) oh, it also looks silly as can be with it’s big censored flag on top.
For tge same reason I hate brick wall valentines and sandcastle jumbo in Normandy.