I’ve been playing a bit of Tank Crew, part of IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles, in recent days and that has made me realize that I have not yet reviewed the Sturmgeschütz III Ausf. G (StuG III Ausf. G for short) Collector Vehicle. I reviewed the Churchill Mark IV several months ago and then completely neglected to also review the StuG when it arrived. So, I am correcting that miss with a review now! How is the StuG? How does it fit in? Is it something that you might want to buy for Tank Crew? I’ll try and answer.

A bit of history

About 11,300 examples of the Sturmgeschütz III were built over the course of World War II giving it the distinction of being the most-produced fully tracked armoured fighting vehicle and second-most produced German armored combat vehicle of any type (second to the Sd.Kfz. 251 half-track).

It was envisioned as an infantry support vehicle giving infantry units the ability to engage fortifications directly with a vehicle that could keep up during an advancing offensive. This mobility granted to these armored assault guns would ultimately enable them to find another life as a tank destroyer.

Owing to their usefulness and their large numbers, the StuG was found on virtually every front that the German Army found itself. From North Africa to Russia and the Western Front, StuG models were on hand.

As the tides of war turned, StuGs were used as anti-tank ambush weapons often covering retreats for other units. Exported models were also popular. In Finland, for example, a small number of exported StuGs were used successfully in defeating far superior numbers of Soviet tanks.

The StuG’s chief advantages were its mobility and firepower as well as its cost effective nature with the StuG being significantly easier and cheaper to make versus the Panzer tanks. Its sensitive transmission system and light side armor as well as the lack of a turret inherent to the design were seen as downsides to the system. As with most armored vehicles, the StuG was an exercise in various compromises.

Visuals and sounds

The StuG III gets the same kind of treatment that every other tank in the Tank Crew sub brand has experienced. This is a detailed recreation of the StuG III Ausf. G complete with all kinds of fine details all over the exterior and interior. Dynamic vehicle damage, which places bullet and shell impacts on the exact point where the tank was hit, remain impressive.

This one stands out a little less from the Churchill that I reviewed previously, primarily, because it’s a bit more of the same relative to the other German tanks we already have. Inside you’ll find a very typical German WWII tank interior that is well realized. You’ll see and almost feel the cramped quarters where the crew sits.

There are six available liveries but none of them really stand out. From a practical standpoint there is a summer and winter skin and that together with the tactical code is often all you need to create either a historical or at least distinctly marked StuG online.

Sound work here is identical to what we’ve seen on other tanks in the series. Engine sounds are good, reload and firing sounds are good, and generally the quality is where it needs to be.

The IL-2 engine, in 2023, is showing some of its age and so there are a few places where I think maybe a higher detail level either in polygons or textures may have helped. Despite that, it looks good overall and it fits in superbly well with the rest of what is there in the series.

The StuG in combat

Up to this point I’ve been referring to the StuG as a tank but the more correct term is assault gun. Underneath it may be a Panzer III medium tank chasis but up top it’s mostly just a big gun with armor around it.

Armed with the 7.5 cm KwK 40 cannon as its primary armament, the StuG III carries around far greater firepower than the turreted vehicles of a similar size and weight. Combine firepower with a low profile and you have a weapon that has the potential to be very capable – in the right situation. And that is the crux of the matter with the StuG and similar Jagpanzer models.

Because the turret traverses only a few degrees in each direction, the StuG III has fewer options in combat than anything with a turret. If a new target is spotted, the whole tank needs to be turned to face it before engaging.

There are trade-offs with this design which fortunately come packaged in a reasonably responsive system. This isn’t a lumbering heavy tank destroyer like the Sd. Kfz. 184 “Ferdinand” and is instead much more mobile like the Panzer III its based on. Maximum speed is listed as 40 km/h which is about right for on-road driving. Off-road will half that or more.

Another downside with the StuG III is the gun sighting system. It’s a little more primitive than those on the turreted tanks with no ranging system. I’ve read that real world versions often had range finding options for the commander but nothing like that exists as near as I can tell. Those familiar with the gunsight will be able to make ample use of it but it was something that took me a few times out before I was any good at engaging targets with it – and even then I was less effective at range. My engagement range is a fair bit shorter as a result.

On the upside, the KwK 40 is extremely capable. A small and mobile armored vehicle with a big gun that can prove to be surprising to its opponents. The potential to one shot a T-34 or similar tank is possible depending on ammunition type and even heavier tanks like the Churchill and KV-1S are vulnerable.

The commanders cupola is a really nice feature here that gives extremely good vision. You have essentially 360 degrees around the tank with little blockage in sight while at the same time enabling the commander to mostly keep his head down.

It took me a little while to find but the loader station has its own hatch that, when opened up, also enables you to fire a MG34 machine gun partially protected by an armoured plate. There’s low utility for this in Tank Crew but it’s inclusion is important nonetheless and I have used it to spray down some machine gun nests after clearing out the heavy artillery.

The StuG also has six mortars which are functional and useful to cover retreats. Particularly so against human players.

I think the StuG III does offer a legitimate option to tank drivers. Do you want to take a Panzer III with a smaller gun and a taller turret or do you want added firepower in a smaller, less obvious, package? The determining factor will be how you play and if you favour ambush tactics. A smaller vehicle might be able to hide out and surprise the enemy versus having a straight up fight on the battlefield. If you like ambushes, the StuG III will do the job!

Content and experiences

I should mention that the StuG III comes with a single player mission. It’s got voice acting and a mini cinematic at the beginning. In it, you play as a StuG III caught behind enemy lines and forced to fight your way back to friendly ones. Its very difficult and I’ve never made it through to the end but it does offer a good challenge to experienced tankers. There is replayability here too as you can approach problems from different angles and potentially achieve a different outcome. That is it for official experiences with this collector vehicle.

Fortunately, a free campaign by community member Tx_Tip is available for download from the forums. It gives you a 5 mission single player experience that helps make this tank worthwhile and 1CGS should give serious consideration to making a deal to make this part of the package. The missions in this campaign are fun and well scripted.

Modifications

The StuG III comes with a small number of typical modifications that include the ability to pack a standard array of 27 APHE and 27 HE or any number of combinations of APHE, sub-calibre AP shells, HE anti-tank shells, and HE shells. These are all intended for the KwK 40 7.5cm gun of course.

You can also add additional armor plates along the side and optional smoke mortars. The smoke mortars are the second appearance of this weapon in the series with the first being on the Churchill tank. The armor plates really change the look of the StuG.

Final thoughts

As with my review for the Churchill, the biggest issue for the StuG III is that it doesn’t have a ton of things to do. It doesn’t slot into the scripted campaigns for Tank Crew and that means that as a single player you may struggle to find things for this tank – excepting the available community campaign which really is the saving grace here.

In multiplayer the StuG III is reasonably fast and highly effective when you connect your shots so that makes for some decent gameplay. If you spend most of your time online then the StuG III has far greater value than if you do single player alone.

The other categories that I can examine this in do raise it up quite a bit. Its well modeled and it has visual, sound and overall experience that sits on par with the other tanks in the series. It’s a quality product when looked at these attributes alone. Available modifications provide for good historical configurations as well as added gameplay.

This Collector Vehicle for the IL-2 series offers an extremely well made tank that matches the quality of past releases and plays great in multiplayer. But only if you’re good at the kind of ambush tactics that this vehicle is best known for.

Screenshots