Panther/M10

## Basic Information

The **Panther/M10** is a German tier 7 premium medium tank.

During the preparation of Otto Skorzeny's Panzerbrigade 150 for the Ardennes offensive, four Panther tanks were disguised as M10 tank destroyers. The tank brigade was to carry out diversions deep behind the allied lines. All vehicles were lost during the battle with the 120th U.S. Infantry Regiment on February 21, 1945.

The Panther/M10 is more or less identical to a *historical* Panther G tank, featuring the well-known long 75 L70. Like the Panther, the Panther/M10 is a medium tank with somewhat mediocre mobility and firepower. Armor is arguably above-average for a medium tank but is generally not reliable.

At a glance, it seems somewhat lackluster even for a T7 medium tank. However, the Panther/M10 features limited matchmaking - which from 9.18 onwards means it, at worst, will see five T8s. Generally, expect single-tier T7 and 5+10 T7+T6 battles. Furthermore, like the normal Panther, it features a *huge* hit point pool of 1300, equivalent to many T8 medium tanks. Gun-wise, using the same one as T6 medium tanks (or even T5 TDs) might not seem too good. DPM is not much better than a VK 30.01 D, but it gets *far* better gun handling - better than a Comet equipped with a vertical stabilizer. This, combined with the HP pool, makes it a formidable opponent on the battlefield. Medium-long range combat is recommended, conserving the HP pool for the mid-late game.

## Pros & Cons

##### Pros:

* Very good base accuracy and decent gun handling with high rate of fire and enormous ammo pool
* The DPM is good even by tier 8 medium standards.
* Decent mobility, it can reposition quickly and can ram well due to weight.
* Preferential matchmaking (tier 8 max, no tier 9 battles)
* Very high health pool for a tier 7 medium

##### Cons:

* The gun has very low alpha and very low penetration, so you have to go for the sides of distracted enemies.
* Armor is weak but your hull can bounce 200mm shells if you're hull down and angled.
* Can't use vertical stabilizers.
* Only 8 degrees of gun depression
* Tank has so-so camo/view range so it's not going to be scouting against stuff like Bourrasques.

## Historical Information

In late 1944, Hitler was planning one last desperate offensive to attempt to obtain a separate peace from the Western Allies. The Wacht am Rhein plan was designed to split the British and American armies as well as capture Antwerp. This battle, of course, became known as the Battle of the Bulge in the West. As a part of the Wacht am Rhein plan was Operation Greif under the command of Otto 'Scarface' Skorzeny. English speaking German commandos in American uniforms and using as much American equipment as possible would infiltrate American positions to seize bridges across the Meuse. This unit, innocuously entitled Panzer Brigade 150 was supposed to consist of 3,300 men, 15 Sherman tanks, 32 armored cars (U.S.), 198 trucks, and 147 jeeps which had been requisition from OB West. Unfortunately for the brigade, the required equipment never materialized. Panzer Brigade 150 went into battle with only about 2,500 men and a dozen tanks and assault guns. Several of the tanks were Panthers extensively modified to look like U.S. M-10 tank destroyers.

**Turret**

The turret was disguised by using five pieces of sheet metal, two of which were cut to resemble the distinctive sides of the M10 turret and then were flanged on the edges, bent to shape, and stiffened with small angle iron. The gun shield was carefully formed from another sheet to the exact shape of the M10 shield, and a hole was made to the right of the gun hole in the shield for the co-axial M.G. 34, a hole which does not exist in the M10 shield. Two pieces of sheet metal made up the rear of the turret, one representing the bottom slant surface of the rear and one representing the counterweight. The pieces representing the sides and rear were joined together and braced with angle iron, and the whole was attached to the turret. The false gun shield was attached to the Panther gun shield, and all the lifting rings, brackets, extra-armor studs, etc., found on the M10 turret were carefully duplicated and welded to the false turret.

**False Bow**

Approximately four pieces of sheet metal, shaped to imitate as closely as possible the contours of the M10 bow, made up the false bow, necessary because the Panther bow is bulkier than the M10. The false bottom was shaped to give the characteristic appearance of the front drive sprocket housing of the M10, and the top was shaped carefully, and various component pieces attached to the front of the tank. All the brackets, lifting rings, towing devises, etc., of the M10 bow were also imitated. A square opening was cut in the false bow to permit the use of the bow M.G. 34, but a removable cover attached with a small chain was made for this opening.

**False Rear and Sides**

The false rear was made of sheet metal. It was a faithful duplicate of the M10 rear except for two holes to permit the twin exhaust elbows of the Panther to protrude. An attempt was made to imitate the skirting armor of the M10 which appears to hang lower than the side armor of the Panther and is beveled in at the bottom. A long flat strip of sheet metal was attached to the sides parallel to the ground, and a vertical sheet strip was attached at right angles to this strip to give the appearance of low skirting armor. While a few of the jeep commando teams easily slipped through American sentries and roamed freely behind American lines, but the rest of the unit languished with Sixth Panzer Armee. When it became apparent that no breakthrough was going to occur, the "Ersatz M-10's" were committed along with the rest of the brigade as a normal combat unit. Ultimately, all of the vehicles were destroyed or disabled in the fighting.

The following is an excerpt from the log of one of the commanders of the disguised Panthers:

Day 12: The Americans STILL have not suspected that I am not, in fact, an M10 - but rather a poorly disguised Panther. They smile and wave and bring us coffee. I am flummoxed and ready to yell, "Hey stupids, I look nothing like an M10!!! Unless... they know the ruse and are playing along for some diabolical reason. I fear my crew is starting to think that they are Americans too. Mien Gott - I wrote this in English! Yes, I DO want to super-size my meal for $1 more!!

## Historical Accuracy Errata

Muzzle brake is missing. Images showing the tank without its muzzle brake was after they had been removed by American troops in the aftermath of the battle. It was common practice for American troops to remove muzzle brakes from abandoned German tanks, probably in the event that the Germans were able to recover the tank, they could not fire the gun lest they suffer the greater recoil.

* Actual name is Ersatz M10.
* Contrary to the in-game description, the Panther/M10 actually saw action on 21 December 1944; February 1945 was a month after the Battle of the Bulge had ended.