Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer
Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer
Mouse over "
[Client Values; Actual values in
127,000  Cost |
| 41583 HP Hit Points |
| 16.17/16.85.42/18.5 t Weight Limit |
- Commander (Radio Operator)
- Driver
- Gunner
- Loader
| 100220 hp Engine Power |
| 42/11 km/h Speed Limit |
| 2830 deg/s Traverse |
| 6.1840.59 hp/t Power/Wt Ratio |
| YesYes Pivot |
| // mm Hull Armor |
AP/APCR/HE
AP/HEAT/HE Shells |
70/2800/38
120/4000/128 Shell Cost |
| 110/110/175350/350/410 HP Damage |
| 103/139/3864/104/53 mm Penetration |
|
15.38 r/m ▲
6.98 r/m Standard Gun ▲ Rate of Fire Standard Gun |
|
1691.8 ▲
Standard Gun
▼
Standard Gun
▲
2443 Standard Gun ▲
Standard Gun
▼
Standard Gun
▲ Damage Per Minute Standard Gun |
|
0.39 m ▲
0.53 m With 50% Crew: 0.483 m ▲ Accuracy With 50% Crew: 0.657 m |
| 1.7 s 1.7 s Aim time |
| 4444 deg/s Gun Traverse Speed |
| 20° Gun Arc |
| -8°/+15°-7°/+15° Elevation Arc |
| 6030 rounds Ammo Capacity |
| 2015 % Chance of Fire |
| 260 m 260 m View Range |
| 290 m 615 m Signal Range |
IV
127000
The Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer is a German tier 4 tank destroyer.
In 1943, the Wehrmacht were experiencing a dire shortage of StuG III tank destroyers because the joint U.S.A.-U.K. air raids caused considerable damage to the Alkett company's factory that produced these vehicles. December 1943, a decision was made to utilize the working capacities of the BMM company in Prague to start production of tank destroyers. Components of the Pz.Kpfw. 38(t) tank were widely used in the new vehicle. The first prototypes were produced in March 1944. More than 2,800 vehicles were built by May 1945.
It is a very different tank from its predecessor, the Marder II. Initially, its poor speed and restricted arc of fire seem to be a downgrade from the long-range firepower of the Marder II; a point that provokes a lot of mixed opinions from players. It takes some time, and a few upgrades, to unlock the Hetzer's true potential and allow its excellent sloped armor, low profile, and powerful guns to come to the fore. Tier 4 and under tanks will fear the Hetzer to the choices of either the accurate and uprated 75mm gun, or the infamous 105mm that has the potential to take most, if not all of the hitpoints of tier 3s and 4s.
The Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer marks the end of its German tank destroyer line.
Modules / Available Equipment and Consumables
Modules
Guns
| Tier | Gun | Penetration (mm) |
Damage (HP) |
Rate of fire (rounds/minute) |
Dispersion (m/100m) |
Aiming time (s) |
Weight (kg) |
Price (  )
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IV | 7,5 cm Stu.K. 40 L/43 | 103/139/38 | 110/110/175 | 15.38 | 0.39 | 1.7 | 1437 | 25000 | |
| V | 7,5 cm Pak 39 L/48 | 110/158/38 | 110/110/175 | 15.38 | 0.37 | 1.7 | 1520 | 27380 | |
| V | 10,5 cm Stu.H. 42 L/28 | 64/104/53 | 350/350/410 | 6.98 | 0.53 | 1.7 | 2100 | 28000 |
Engines
| Tier | Engine | Engine Power (hp) |
Chance of Fire on Impact (%) |
Weight (kg) |
Price ( )
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| II | Praga TN 100 | 100 | 20 | 340 | 800 | |
| II | Praga TNPS | 120 | 20 | 350 | 1150 | |
| III | Scania Vabis 1664 | 165 | 15 | 400 | 4980 | |
| IV | Tatra Typ 103 | 220 | 15 | 500 | 9120 |
Suspensions
| Tier | Suspension | Load Limit (т) |
Traverse Speed (gr/sec) |
Rmin | Weight (kg) |
Price ( )
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| III | Jagdpanzer 38 (t) | 16.8 | 28 | 0 | 2500 | 1950 | |
| IV | Jagdpanzer 38 (t) verstärkteketten | 18.5 | 30 | 0 | 2500 | 4370 |
Radios
| Tier | Radio | Signal Range (m) |
Weight (kg) |
Price ( )
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VII | FuG 10 | 455 | 100 | 21600 | |
| IX | FuG 11 | 615 | 70 | 33600 | |
| II | FuG 37 | 290 | 40 | 180 |
Compatible Equipment
Compatible Consumables
Player Opinion
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Good upper plate armor due to sloping (~110mm effective)
- Good choice of guns and tough gun mantlet
- Excellent camo factor
- Amazing aim time on all guns
- Surprisingly fast hull traverse gives it more chance in close-quarters fights
Cons:
- Abysmal view range
- Paper side and rear armor
- Asymmetric, tiny gun arc - forces you to expose bits of your side to the enemy, which is easily penetrated
- Incredibly crappy stock engine
- Lower plate armor can be penetrated by many tanks.
Performance
The stock Hetzer isn't terrible. Its starting gun is identical damage wise to the Pak 39 L/48, and just 8mm short of penetration for AP. However, the stock engine is equal to crap, making the stock Hetzer extremely slow. Fortunately, the engines aren't very expensive to research. A single good match with the daily 2x bonus can net you the Scania Vabis 1664 engine. It plays very differently from the Marder II, mainly in that it features very bouncy frontal armour (with a weak lower glacis plate, something that sets the tone for most of the german td line after)-but it doesn't get the powerful top gun Marder II had. Instead, it gains the fast firing Pak 39 L/48, which is pretty accurate; or the infamous 10,5cm StuH 42 L28, a derp gun that can take most of a tank's hp, but lacks penetration. HE should be your first choice of ammo. Whichever gun you choose, try and play it as an ambush tank. Its high camo value makes it hard to spot, so you can stay hidden until the moment you fire. A Camo Net helps a lot, and a Rammer is practically needed with the 10,5 cm.
The uprated 75mm pak 39 L/48 has better penetration for both AP and APCR, and also superior dispersion of .37 vs the stock 0.39. When combined with combat experience as well as more intrinsic tank handling, it makes for a deadly package. However, most players who have encountered this tank in battle do not see the 75mm. They see the 105mm Stu.H. 42 L/28, otherwise known as the "Derp" cannon. This choice of gun completely changes how you play the tank. Long range effectiveness? Gone due to the horrid .53 dispersion. Average penetration values are almost halved, and it takes more than double the time to reload. The saving grace? Obscene amounts of both alpha damage as well as dpm normally reserved for much higher tier tanks. No matter what situation matchmaker puts you in, HE your way out of it. With same or lower tier matches however, the power of this gun comes out in full force. Boasting 63mm of AP penetration (w/350 average dmg), it is enough to pen most same or lower tier tanks, to the utter terror of the enemy losing almost all of their hitpoints . HEAT shells have the same dmg but close to double the penetration. Study tanks and exploit their weakpoints, as the joy of snatching someone's hitpoints and/or killing an enemy will be much more frequent.
Be aware that the heavy, sloped armor is increased in effectiveness at range - very few guns with 100mm penetration or less will penetrate you ever frontally and many guns higher than that also have a good chance of bouncing. Keep your frontal armor at the enemy, and learn how to angle your tank to improve effective armor thickness. Vulnerabilities
The front armour is extremely slanted and this has a tendency to bounce a lot of shots (almost every shot from your own tier or lower). The drivers view port is the sole weak point here, which is pretty small in itself. The rear, side, and top armour is paper thin, so wherever possible, flank this TD, utilize HE, and don't take it head on unless you can pen the frontal armour. Regardless of whether you can penetrate its frontal armour or not, it can do a lot of damage with the derp gun. It can spin on a dime, but is as vulnerable to detracking as any turretless TD. The ammo rack is quite weak, and doing so will render the tank practically ineffective.
Early Research
- Unfortunately nothing carries over from the Marder II. However, if you play the Pz.Kpfw. 38 (t) first, the Praga TNPS engine is available immediately, as the Hetzer is mounted on the Pz.Kpfw. 38(t)'s chassis
- First research up to the Scania Vabis 1664 engine.
- Next research the upgraded suspension for increased traverse speed and weight capacity.
- Now research your gun of choice.
- Of note: The 75mm is much more friendly to Newer players, and will teach you how to handle the tank better. The 105mm takes decent practice to really bring out its potential.
- The upgraded radios are exclusive to the Hetzer. Research the first one, but don't bother with the second one unless you intend to keep it.
- After that should be the final engine, which will give the Hetzer decent mobility and very good traverse speed (in excess of 45 deg. per sec).
Suggested Equipment
Gallery
Historical Info
The Jagdpanzer 38(t) (Sd.Kfz. 138/2), later known as Hetzer ("baiter"), was a German light tank-destroyer of the Second World War based on a modified pre-war Czechoslovakian Panzer 38(t) chassis. The project was inspired by the Romanian "Mareşal" tank destroyer.
The name "Hetzer" was, at the time, not commonly used for this vehicle. It was the designation for a related prototype, the E-10. The Škoda factory (for a very short period) confused the two names in its documentation, and the very first unit equipped with the vehicle (for a few weeks) applied the incorrect name until matters were cleared. However, there exists a memorandum from Heinz Guderian to Hitler incorrectly claiming that an unofficial name, Hetzer, had spontaneously been coined by the troops. Post-war historians, basing themselves on this statement, made the name popular in their works. The vehicle was never named as such in official documents.
Development
The Jagdpanzer 38(t) was intended to be more cost-effective than the much more ambitious Jagdpanther and Jagdtiger designs of the same period. Using a proven chassis, it avoided the mechanical problems of the larger armored vehicles.
It was better armored than the earlier Panzerjäger Marder and Nashorn with a sloped armor front-plate of 60 mm, sloped back at 60 degrees from the vertical (equivalent in protection to about 120 mm), carried a reasonably powerful gun, was mechanically reliable, small, and easily concealed. It was also cheap to build. The Jagdpanzer 38(t) succeeded the Marder III (based on the same chassis) in production from April 1944: about 2,584 were built until the end of the war. The older Marder III Panzerjager-series retained the same vertically-sided chassis as Panzer 38(t). In the Hetzer, the lower hull-sides sloped slightly to increase the available interior space and enable a fully-enclosed fighting compartment. Because of the fully enclosed armor, it was 5 tons heavier than the Marder III. To compensate for the increased weight, track shoe width was increased from 293 mm to 350 mm. Additionally, in late 1944, Guderian ordered the petrol engine replaced by a 190hp air-cooled Tatra Type 928 diesel engine, a result of Germany's rapidly diminishing supply of petrol fuel. This change was not immediately implimented to prevent disruption of production, but by spring 1945, Tatra diesel-powered Hetzers were emerging from factories.
The Hetzer equipped the Panzerjägerabteilungen (tank-destroyer battalions) of the infantry divisions, giving them some limited mobile anti-armor capability. After the war, Czechoslovakia continued to build the type (versions ST-I and ST-III for training version: about 180 units built) and exported 158 vehicles (version G-13) to Switzerland. Most vehicles in today's collections are of Swiss origin.
By order of Adolf Hitler in November 1944, a number of Jagdpanzer 38(t)s were refurbished straight from the factory with a Keobe flamethrower and accompanying equipment instead of the normal gun. The flame projector was encased in a metal shield reminiscent of that of a gun barrel, and easily prone to damage. Less than 50 of these vehicles, designated Flammpanzer 38, were completed before the end of the war, but they were used operationally against Allied forces on the Western Front. Further variants were a Hetzer carrying the 150 mm sIG33/2 Howitzer, of which 30 were produced before the end of the war, and the Bergepanzer 38(t)Hetzer, a light recovery vehicle of which 170 were produced. Plans were made to produce other variants, including an assault-gun version of the Hetzer carrying a 105mm StuH main cannon, and an anti-aircraft variant mounted with a flak turret. The war ended before these proposed models were put into production.
Performance
The Jagdpanzer 38(t) fitted into the lighter category of German tank-destroyers that began with the Panzerjäger I, continued with the Marder series, and ended with the Jagdpanzer 38(t). The 75 mm gun fitted on the Jagdpanzer 38 (t) was a modified 75 mm Pak 39 L/48, very similar to the late Panzer IV marks. The 75 mm kwk 40 L/48 could destroy nearly all allied tanks in service at long ranges, and its fully-enclosed armor protection made it a safer vehicle to crew than the Marder II or Marder III series. The Jagdpanzer 38(t) was one of the most common late-war German tank-destroyers. It was available in relatively large numbers and was generally mechanically reliable. Also, its small size made it easier to conceal than larger vehicles.
Like some other late-war German SPGs, the Hetzer mounted a remote-control machine gun mount which could be fired from within the vehicle. This proved popular with crews, though to reload the gun, a crewmember needed to expose themselves to enemy fire.
Its main failings were comparatively thin armor, limited ammunition storage, as well as torsion-bars and drive wheels that were prone to failure due to the increased weight of the Hetzer body on the Type 38 (t) suspension.
Historical Gallery
Historical Accuracy Errata
The Hetzer's actual name is Jagdpanzer 38(t).
- Hetzers were painted with a dark yellow base coat called Dunkelgelb. In World of Tanks, however, the Hetzer is in early Panzer Grey.
- The 7,5 cm Stu.K. 40 L/43 gun was mounted on the G-13. This variant was only used by the Swiss Army.
- The 10,5 cm howitzer was actually fitted to a Hetzer with a modified fighting compartment. Thus the current model configuration is fictitious.
- The Praga engine is considerably less powerful than it is in real life, with 100-120 horsepower compared to the historical 160.
- The Tatra engine was actually fitted to the Jagdpanzer 38 Starr, a simplified design which removed the recoil absorber and attached the main gun to the chassis. Its configuration on the original Hetzer is fake.
- Has the same Scania Vabis 1664 engine as the Sav m/43, yet their horsepower and weight values are inconsistent.
