Panzer IV Hydro – short review

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Hello everyone,

today, we will have a look at another mythical creature few have seen in battle, the Panzer IV Hydro.

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It’s really difficult to find something to write about, because this vehicle is simply a form of the Panzer IV tank. Historically, one prototype of this vehicle existed: by the end of the war, there was a project to equip Panzer IV with hydrostatic control systems (hence the “hydro”). Historical info from wot-wiki states:

In late 1943, Zahnradfabrik Augsburg equipped normal (turretless) Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf G/H with newly developed hydraulic steering system. Thoma (non-liquid) oil drive transmission was installed and drive sprocket was replaced with the new one. The power train consisted of twin oil pumps driven by Maybach HL 120 TRM engine. In order to accommodate all the changes, entire engine deck and rear was modified. In mid 1944, this prototype was fitted with modified hydraulically operated turret. Tests were carried on but were never concluded and for testing purposes the only prototype was send to Russia and served with the Waffen SS unit. At the end of the war, this vehicle was captured by the US Army and was sent to United States for further examination. Tests were never concluded and this vehicle is still at Aberdeen U.S Army Proving Grounds in Maryland.

Other sources state that the vehicle this tank was build upon was Panzer IV Ausf.H specifically and that it has never seen combat, because it was breaking down constantly.

Panzer IV Hydro was introduced into the game very long time ago (about a year and a half) along with the SU-85I Soviet tank destroyer. What was the purpose of its introduction is not known, but neither vehicle ever made it to live servers and somehow got stuck in development “limbo”. Currently, there is no way to see it in battle apart from using press, supertester or developer accounts and as far as I know, there are currently no plans for introducing it, although it is possible it might appear at one point as a reward vehicle of some sort, maybe for some difficult mission, or for historical battles.

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Statistically, this vehicle, despite its curious looks, is very similiar to Panzer IV and if you like how Panzer IV drives, you will like it too. There are some differences though. For one, it only has 50mm of frontal armor, not 80mm like the original Panzer IV (50mm was the historical value of the earlier models, 80mm was achieved by adding – either by bolting or by welding – an additional 3cm plate towards the front). Turrets are practically identical (Hydro has less viewrange – 330 compared to the original 350), which is weird, because the turrets were the same even historically, but it’s a balance feature after all. Hydro on the other hand has more health (550 compared to 460 of Panzer IV).

Both vehicles have the same (top) gun (KwK 40 L/48) with the same parameters, but Hydro fires a bit slower (13,95 ROF compared to 15 ROF of PzIV), giving it less DPM. Hydro also has a tiny bit worse accuracy on the move, but it has better depression (-10 compared to -8 of Panzer IV). Hydro also has worse radio (620m compared to 710m of Panzer IV).

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Mobility-wise, Panzer IV Hydro weights less (23,7 tons compared to 25,1 tons of Panzer IV), but it has a weaker engine (300hp, compared to 440hp Maybach of Panzer IV). On the other hand, it has better terrain resistance, so all in all, the mobility of both tanks is the same, both are very agile and even though Hydro can’t take as much punishment thanks to its thinner armor, it behaves more or less the same.

Other than its weird rear looks, it has no special features actually. It’s just a good premium tank and I actually enjoyed driving it. It had no weird glitches or quirks as far as I could notice, it plays well and generally speaking, I have no idea, why it wasn’t introduced into the game (unlike the broken MTLS). In my opinion it is balanced well for a premium, it’s effectively a bit worse Panzer IV with less armor. With a tiny little bit of ROF nerf it would be perfect, but that’s subjective. I hope we will actually see this vehicle one day in the game – perhaps as a mission or historical battle reward?

37 thoughts on “Panzer IV Hydro – short review”

  1. It looks decent :) . Would like to see it.
    SS, do you think that the PZ 4 will have 2 hulls? As in a 50mm and a 80mm one (frontal armour of coarse). And will it be like the T-54′s hull choice where one hull will be weaker in armour but better in mobility or will it be a straight upgrade?

        • Well, the Schurzen one is heavier, the 80mm frontal plate is also heavy (in real life it caused maintenance issues with final drives and suspension due to the vehicle being more nose heavy), but in game terms this was compensated by stronger engines, so I guess in the end all will handle more or less the same.

          Schurzen thickness was 4,5mm IIRC

          • Nice. At 4-5mm it will actually help, even if a little, against HEAT rounds and extreme angle shots :) . Not to mention confusing the enemy that may make a mistake when shooting at the vehicle’s profile from the side :) .

            Why does the Panzer 4 SchmallTurm not have Schurzen?

            • Why should it? The entire point of Schurzen was to compensate cheaply for something the Schmalturm was designed to solve fully (plus, Panzer IV could not carry the Schmalturm – the one in game was basically just an “idea”).

                • Ah. I misunderstood you. Well, the thing is, the PzIV Schmal skirts are made of mesh, that could destabilize a rifle bullet, but had almost no effect on anything else.

                • No problem. Damn though :( . Hmm I do wonder whether WarGaming will change it to an actual Schurzen someday. That would help the vehicle (its decent IMO, but it would be made better).

                • Since I can’t reply to your further statements, I’ll put it here

                  At the time of Krupp’s late November 1944 proposal to mount the Schmalturm on the Panzer IV, Ausf. J production had already been going on for a few months now, and if they ever got around the suspension issue, it would still be some time before they could manufacture them in the Ausf. J design. By this stage of the war, plate schurzen were being removed from production due to their potential to brush against debris and fall off, from a combined arms conflict and from a logistics perspective, the cheaper mesh schurzen were the better choice

            • Against HEAT yeah it’d help, but I’m pretty sure super thin skirts tend to be detrimental thanks to overmatch mechanics.

  5. That’s the way to screw up all stats reality-wise. Everything should be other way round…

    Still, i’d like to have this one just for having and for looks.

  6. I can explain lower wiewrange , rate of fire and accuracy.
    Its very simple… As you mentioned, hydrostatic drivetrain was not very reliable. Imagine this..you are sitting in a tank which is very prone to failure and chance for being stuck is very high. It is not pleasure… I think, crew can be very nervous and maybe even affraid.. i would be affraid at their place. When you are affraid or nervous, you can not focus … and when you can not focus, you dont perofm very well.

  9. @Silentstalker: Hello,
    Your account is nothing special… I have such an account too the name of it WG_PanzerMaus but you can not find me in friend list :) because its an supertester account ;)

  11. From the looks of it, the Pz4 Hydro was balanced with similar stats to the Panzer IV in it’s late Ausf. G configuration, when the Schmalturm was removed and the Ausf. H turret was given, the tech tree vehicle had to be buffed which placed it over the Hydro

    Why WG doesn’t have it available now though…..