Panzer Front 2

[Ailene Goldhirsh]

Thismistake was further perpetuated in when author Steve Clayton wrote a piece for AFV News magazine, Volume 13, Number 2, from March 1978, detailing the discovery of a supposed "StuG III Ausf.L/33". The evidence for this vehicle was two photographs of three indivual tanks of Sturmgeschtz Brigade 280. Clayton posits that in the time between the KwK 37 L/24 being the main AFV support gun mounted on German tanks, and the time the KwK 40 L/43 came along, that there must have been one of the interim designs Krupp and Rheinmetall-Borsig were working on that was mounted on the StuG III in small numbers, and that that was the vehicle seen in these photos. In the subsequent May issue of AFV News (Volume 13, Number 3), reader Richard C. Harley of Scotland wrote in to express his doubt about the assumptions made in the article. Richard Harley correctly identified the vehicle as a StuH 42 Ausf.F without a muzzle break.

In the Volume 13, Number 6 issue of AFV News from November 1978, Mr. Clayton included an addendum, citing the Catalog Of Enemy Ordnance Materiel and German Tanks of World War II: The Complete Illustrated History of German Armoured Fighting Vehicles, 1926-1945 by Ferdinand Maria von Senger und Etterlin, which was based on the Catalog Of Enemy Ordnance Materiel, as proof that there must be an interim model gun that came between the L/24 and L/43. He goes on to question why the original Ordnance document describes the gun as a sturmkannone with an L/30 barrel length, while von Senger und Etterlin describes it as a kampfwagenkannone with a length of L/33. Clayton insists that the Ordnance manual must have made a mistake, and that this gun must have a barrel length of L/33. Also in the same issue, John E. Stauffer of San Diego wrote in to again dispute the idea of a StuG III L/33. He theorizes that there may have been confusion between the StuG III and the Sturm-Infanterigeschtz 33B. Mr. Stauffer also correctly identifies the vehicles in question as early StuH 42s.

While writing Der Panzerkampfwagen Panther und Seine Abarten, Walter Spielberger encountered a report dated from February 10th, 1943, stating that experience on the Eastern Front had shown that the Panther did not have sufficiently thick side armor. As the Panther had not gone into combat at that time, he assumed the date was a typo, and that the document was from 1944. However, the document was indeed from 1943, and was referring to problems experienced with other vehicles, mainly that Russian 14.5mm anti-tank rifles could penetrate their side armor. Since Spielberger had assumed this document came from 1944, not 1943, this led him to believe that the Panther II project was still going in 1944, even though it had thought to have been cancelled. This further led to the Panther II erroneously being linked with the Schmalturm turret (1944), and the Schmalturm mit 8,8cm KwK 43 L/71 (1945). In reality the Panther II was cancelled in 1943, since its major improvement - thicker side armor to defeat Russian AT rifles - was rendered redundant with the introduction of Schrzen.

Made up by a Mr. Sebastian Nast; in what he claims is "historical extrapolation", had the War continued, this vehicle would have hit the battlefields in 1947. It is simply an E-10 chassis with a Gefechtsaufklrer Leopard (VK16.02) turret.

Originally a 1:72nd scale model coming from the now-defunct "World at Arms" site, then hosted at the site "adpublishing.de", this most has been reposed several times across different wargaming forums. The image is often often accompanied by the description from adpublishing.de, which notes it as a fictional "what if" vehicle, and describes it as an E-10 without hydraulic suspension, thicker armor, and an 8,8cm KwK 36 L/56 cannon. While "what if" vehicles are fine as long as they are marked as such, careless posters or careless readers might take it as a real design.

Made up by a Mr. Sebastian Nast; in what he claims is "historical extrapolation", had the War continued, this vehicle would have hit the battlefields in 1947. It is an E-25 with a 8,8cm PaK 43 L/71 cannon which Nast calls "Jaguar II", what "Jaguar I" was, he never says.

One of three fake German tanks made for the 1999 Playstation 1/Dreamcast game "Panzer Front". The motivation for the creation of these vehicles is still a mystery, as the game was supposed to be a "simulator". In the game the tank is called "Panzerkampfwagen VK6600(h) E-79", which in itself does not make sense; E-79 would imply it would weigh over 79 tons, but VK6600 would imply it to be in the 66 ton class. Even the nomenclature "VK6600" is wrong, VK numbers do not end in 0, they end in 1, 2, 3, and so on, for variations of that tank. For example, VK45.01, VK45.02, and VK45.03.

The names "Schwarzwolf" (Black Wolf) and "Zekke" were not from the game Panzer Front, but have since popped up on the internet, as has the name "Panther III". On many dubious websites and forum posts made by uninformed people, the E-79 is passed off as a real vehicle from the end of World War II, often with a convincing story about its supposed developement. However even those who do not have a great interest in the history of vehicles they model or play now recognize the E-79 as fake, and know its real story. The E-79 is probably one of the oldest and most known fake tanks.

Made up by a Mr. Sebastian Nast, this is a tank destroyer based on the E-79 (see above). In what he claims is "historical extrapolation", had the War continued, this vehicle would have hit the battlefields in 1948 (nevermind the fact that the vehicle it's based on is from 1999). The name "Panzerjgerwagen" was never used in reference to a real vehicle. Had this vehicle been real, its name would have been "Jagdpanzer" or "Panzerjger", depending on its purpose. Likewise it was not German nomecleture to use a dash and a number to denote gun calibre, expecially when there was no other alternative; something Nast has not made up at this time.

One of three fake German tanks made for the 1999 Playstation 1/Dreamcast game "Panzer Front". The name "Schnell Jagdpanzer" means "Fast tank destroyer", however the meaning of "SchK" is unclear. Possibly it stands for "Schnellkannone". "Aureole" is a French word meaning "halo". The most ridiculous thing about the Aureole's is that they were powered by twin jet turbines that shot flames out of the back. While turbine-powered tanks were something the Germans looked into (see Panzerkampfwagen Panther GT 101), the turbine would have been significantly down-tuned in order to power such a heavy vehicle.

Originally made up by a Mr. Sebastian Nast, the E-90 has since passed into infamy among tank aficionados. In what he claims is "historical extrapolation", Nast says had the War continued, this vehicle would have hit the battlefields in 1947. It is a slightly scaled-down E-100 with a turret similar to the "E-100 Adler Turret" (also a fake: see a few entries down) presented as a "lighter alternative to the E-100."

The E-90, probably the oldest of Nast's creations, has taken on a life of its own on the internet since its inception. Users of various forums, most commonly the "World of Tanks Forums", will time to time start threads relating to the E-90 or vehicles like it. These threads are usually accompanied by either a fake history of the vehicle, or the user saying something along the lines of "I just found this, there isn't much about it, isn't it cool?"

Created by the modeller Michael Rinaldi as a scratchbuilding exercise for a bit of fun. Using the 1:35th scale Dragon E-100 kit as a base, he cut down the turret and fabricated a new cannon barrel from a felt-tip pen. He called it the E-100 Ausf.B and the name stuck.

Soon enough, a story emerged on the internet saying that this was a seperate turret designed by Henschel that would've gone on the E-100 when it was finished. In reality, Henschel didn't design turrets. Henschel produced tank hulls while Porsche and Krupp made turrets. Had the E-100 been completed, it would've carried a Maus V2 or Maus II Turm.

Further perpetuating this myth, Trumpeter released a 1:35th scale model of the E-100 Ausf.B in 2008, calling it plainly "E-100". Why they used the fictional Henschel turret is unclear. In 2016 this was followed up by a 1:72nd scale version of the model.

In 2017 Trumpter released a retooled version of the model, now including the correct Maus II turret. On the webpage for the old 1:35th scale E-100 Trumpeter now acknowledges it is a hypothetical design, and calls it "E-100 Ausf.B". However this acknowledgement is not included on the page for the 1:72nd scale version, which is still in production as of 2017.

First appearing in November 2007 in the 22nd issue of Batailles & Blinds, a French historical magazine, the Krokodile remains the most widely circulated of all tanks on this page. The depictions of the vehicle were made by French artist Hubert Cance, on commission from Caractere (the publisher of Batailles & Blinds). How much influence, if any, Caractere had on the design is unknown.

Like all myths, there is a grain of truth to the Krokodil. Late in the war there was a proposal made for a heavy assault gun based on either the E-100 or Maus. This vehicle would have been armed with either a 15cm or 17cm cannon; likely the 17cm would have been chosen because Hitler preferred it. This vehicle, the Sturmgeschtz E-100, would have had a casemate placed in the middle or rear of the vehicle in order to distribute the weight evenly, and to prevent the gun from hanging over the front and making the vehicle unable to traverse slopes or woodlands; the same problem encountered by the Soviets in developing the ISU-152-2.

Cance produced two designs of the Krokodil, one with a 15cm cannon and the other with a 17cm. Both had a Jagdpanther-style forward mounted casemate. The placement of the casemate is the main problem with the Krokodil; the E-100's suspension could not have handled the weight of all that armor plus a 15cm (or 17cm!) cannon over the front coil springs.However, what really thrust the Krokodil into the spotlight was when Trumpeter came out with a 1:35th scale model of it in 2011. Trumpeter never called their Jagdpanzer E-100 "Krokodile", though their website calls the vehicle "Salamander" and even claims that prototypes were built! In 2016 Trumpter debuted a 1:72nd scale model of the Krokodile.

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