Bruceov Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 I see more and more Hetzers in 44-45 games in Italy. Provided you keep the front of the vehicle toward the enemy this vehicle is unkillable from the front by Sherman 75 or 76 or any antitank gun. I mean u can leave it parked out there and the shemans can flail away and unless the shermans get a gun hit or immobilize it they cant hurt it. Its more resistant to damage then is the Tiger or Panther. To make matters worse it shows up at a stug III to the enemy and you dont know its a hetzer until the shells start bouncing. How common and how successful was this vehicle. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Russian Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 Originally posted by Bruceov: I see more and more Hetzers in 44-45 games in Italy. Provided you keep the front of the vehicle toward the enemy this vehicle is unkillable from the front by Sherman 75 or 76 or any antitank gun. I mean u can leave it parked out there and the shemans can flail away and unless the shermans get a gun hit or immobilize it they cant hurt it. Its more resistant to damage then is the Tiger or Panther. To make matters worse it shows up at a stug III to the enemy and you dont know its a hetzer until the shells start bouncing. How common and how successful was this vehicle. It was very common and very successful. Probably not as successful as you are seeing though. It's small size made it very hard to hit. The Hetzer didn't have the same problem when it shot back. There was a flamethrower version of the Hetzer as well. Panther Commander 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 There were ~1,550 built, and used on all fronts. It was probably quite common, because it was used to equip a company in the AT battalions of infantry and Panzergrenadier divisions. I guess at full TO&E they would have ten per division. It was a very successful weapon, with Hitler allegedly saying it was a triumph of weapon's technology. The Swiss bought 170 of them, and used them until the 1970s. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xerxes Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 Area fire HE directly under the hetzer. Then laugh. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruceov Posted January 17, 2004 Author Share Posted January 17, 2004 will 75mm He under the hetzer knock it out? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rexford Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 Originally posted by Bruceov: I see more and more Hetzers in 44-45 games in Italy. Provided you keep the front of the vehicle toward the enemy this vehicle is unkillable from the front by Sherman 75 or 76 or any antitank gun. I mean u can leave it parked out there and the shemans can flail away and unless the shermans get a gun hit or immobilize it they cant hurt it. Its more resistant to damage then is the Tiger or Panther. To make matters worse it shows up at a stug III to the enemy and you dont know its a hetzer until the shells start bouncing. How common and how successful was this vehicle. The Hetzer is quite vulnerable to many hits, including front hits on the lower hull armor. A Sherman 75mm APCBC hit that strikes the street pavement in front of a Hetzer and bounces up might pierce the front lower hull armor, and I think I read of such a case somewhere. The front lower hull armor on Hetzer is 60mm at 40 degrees from vertical, which is an easy mark for U.S. 76mm APCBC. If there is a quality factor less than 1.00 than Sherman 75mm APCBC would have a chance at close range. The side armor is very thin and an oblique hit that strikes the side armor might find its way through. The Hetzer front is so narrow that many shots which would land on the front armor of a Tiger or Panther hit the side plate on Hetzer. The upper side armor is 20mm at 40 degrees from vertical. Hitting that armor with a shot 20 degrees from the hull facing (70 degrees from side perpendicular) could still penetrate the 20mm armor even though the combined angle is 75 degrees from vertical. Hetzer is vulnerable in many situations where a full sized tank would not be, and they have to be used carefully or they can be lost very quickly. City streets are good, with rubble or ground in front of the front lower hull is great, out in the open facing M10's and easy eights and M36's is not so safe. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer76 Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 Hetzers are great bang for the buck. In a typical 1500 pts QB, you can get a platoon of 4 Hetzers. Problem with Hetzers are ofcos their poor anti inf capabilities and slow ROF. As with any tank vs tank engagement, you should avoid going head to head and this is very true for the Hetzer. Use fast AFVs/AC (M18, Grayhound) to outflank turretless TDs. From the rear a .50 can take out a Hetzer 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xerxes Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 HE fired directly underneath tanks will cause them all kinds of problems. If they're unubuttoned you have a good chance of wacking the TC. Immobilizing and gun damage are also going to occur. After immobilization you can often get an abandon. The larger the HE the more effective, the weaker the side/rear armor, the more effective. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer76 Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 Originally posted by xerxes: HE fired directly underneath tanks will cause them all kinds of problems. As a decent player will strive for his Hetzers to be in a hull down pos, it will be kinda hard to fire underneath the tank 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Tittles Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 The Hetzer was first issued to panzerjaeger battalions (3 of them) then to inf and panzergrenadier division AT companys. This was from mid-44 on. The panzerfaust and Hetzer came on board about the same time. This stiffened the AT capabilitys of German divisions considerably. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hpt. Lisse Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 Read all about it. http://www.achtungpanzer.com/hetzer.htm It was a successful and well-liked tank destroyer, built off of a Pz 38(t) chassis. The Swiss used them into the 70's... Hpt. Lisse 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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