Pz.IV (Sweden)

Description

The ▄Pz.IV is a rank Swedish medium tank with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced in Update "Fire and Ice". This Panzer IV is a Ausf. J variant. The biggest difference with the German Pz.IV J is the lack of a pintle-mounted MG over the turret, the lack of Ostketten for a better mobility in the snow, and the lack of add-on armour.

General info

Survivability and armour

If you stay mobile and far from adversaries, or stay in a hulldown position for sniping, the Pz IV is survivable. In urban and CQC situations, unless in a downtier, survivability is lower than other medium tanks at the battle rating.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour

Notes:

Mobility

The mobility of this tank is another flaw (being the heaviest of the entire Panzer 4 series). Although it can achieve a decent speed, it will take time for it to accelerate to top speed. Engine is under powered and the tracks are narrow, which results in poorer cross-country performance than many heavier tanks.

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Main armament

The turret traverse speed is slow since it is rotated manually.

Ammunition

• PzGr 39; APCBC shell - This is the main ammo type, and can confidently penetrate enemy armour due to the explosive filler. This should be the main ammo that your crew carries even as you unlock the other two shell types.
• Hl.Gr 38B; HEAT shell - it is recommended to completely avoid this kind of shell as its performance is vastly inferior in all aspects compared to APCBC or APCR ammo used by this tank.
• PzGr 40; APCR shell - This type of ammo should be used only if there is trouble penetrating the opponent, or trying to hit a fast moving tank at some distance. However, its damaging potential is much lower because it has no explosive filler to further enhance damage after the penetration.
• Sprgr. 34; HE shell - Carry only very few of these. They are useless against anything other than unarmoured AA vehicles, to which it is lethal.
• K.Gr.Rot Nb. - Smoke shells are useful to blind enemy vehicles that block your advance while being being too remote for you to disable.

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Pz.IV H (identical)

Notes:

• Racks are modeled by sets of 2 shells and disappear after both shells in the set have been shot or loaded.
• Racks 5 and 6 have a shell set in common.
• Sides empty: 30 (+57) shells.

Machine guns

The MG34 can deal with open-topped vehicles, it can also be used to assist in marking targets for friendly forces. As there is no external MG, it has a very limited use when dealing with hostile aircraft.

Usage in battles

The Pz.IV suffers from its slow, manual turret traverse rate. This causes the Panzer IV to lose flexibility in reacting to close encounters without turning the entire hull around. As such, it is recommended not to use the Panzer IV as a front-line assaulter in combat.

While its KwK40 L48 main gun is quite powerful for its BR, it has obvious weaknesses in its armour and should not be used as a main line tank or you will quickly be back to the hangar screen. Tactics-wise, the Panzer IV is perfect for sniping and ambushes, where the slower turret traverse rate affects its combat performance less. Attack from a distance, especially while that enemy is focused on other allies in the team. Ambushes can also work in close-range events when watching corners, street intersections, and choke points, but be wary of any enemies trying to outmanoeuvre the Panzer IV as it would require drastic action with the slow turret rate. Try not to engage the enemy in a straight-up front confrontation as most enemies would be able to easily cleave through the front armour and knock out your vehicle.

Although any tank of Rank III can destroy the Panzer IV pretty quickly, the tanks that mostly need to avoided in open combat are IS-2, KV-2, SU-152, Tiger H1 and Panther tanks. Most of the heavy tanks that it will face include Tigers, the last of KV series, IS-1s, and even some IS-2s. Particularly, IS-2s will be the toughest opponent and can take out the Panzer IV with one hit. Avoid frontal confrontation at all cost. Instead try to be sneaky and attack them from the sides where they become vulnerable.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• 75 mm APCBC shell has high penetration and great post-penetration, can knock out all common foes with a single shot
• -10° gun depression is very handy when fighting among hills
• Satisfactory speed (~35 km/h on average) allows it to keep up with most teammates
• Smoke grenades help to conceal the tank when needed
• 80 mm frontal hull armour may deflect some shells when angled properly
• 5 mm turret side skirt protects it from tanks using HEAT/HE shells

Cons:

• Extremely poor turret traverse, targeting process is slow and dangerous
• Weak survivability: cramped crew, thin frontal turret & side hull armour. Usually gets frontally penetrated easily
• Sluggish acceleration
• Large transmission at the front often gets broken by frontal hits, immobilising the whole tank
• APCBC struggles to penetrate well-armoured tanks at long range (>800 m)
• Low reverse speed of -8 km/h may put the player in a fatal situation

History

The Finnish bought 15 Panzerkampfwagen IV (Pz.Kpfw. IV) in 1944, and another 40 Pz IV and StuG III, but only the first 15 arrived. Unfortunately they arrived too late to combat the soviets, but they were used against the Nazi during the Lapland retreat. After the war the Pz Iv (or as known to the Finns, Pzkw IV Ausf. J) was used in movies and as training vehicles.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Pz.IV (Sweden) from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.