PzKpfw III Ausf. N/Sturmpanzer III (Sd. Kfz. 141/2)
    Copyright (C) 1996 by James Lowry (jlowry@tfb.com).

        The Sturmpanzer III was the last production of the Panzer III chassis
    with a turret.  It held the 75mm howitzer that had originally been in the
    Panzer IV.  The Panzer III had reached its limits with the Ausf. M, and a
    75mm gun had become necessary to defeat the Allied Sherman and T-34 tanks.
    Ironically, the Panzer IV, which had originally been the 'close suport'
    tank was upgunned to a regular 75mm gun, and took over the 'medium tank'
    role while the Panzer III became the 'close support' tank.
        About 2000 Ns were produced, starting in January 1943, and production
    was terminated in August 1943, with the production lines switching to
    either the Sturmgeschuetz III or the new Panther.
        The adjusted cost is pre-WWII even though this variant was developed
    after the war started. The main armament is a 75mm howitzer
    (crit|exp|6dx4[6d]|no|10|n/a|6 mi.|1/3|1) with HE ammunition and a MG34
    machine gun (crit|cr|7d|19|10|1,000|3,900|15*|50) in the same mount in the
    turret, and another on the front of the hull.  Six smoke rockets are
    mounted in two fixed external mounts (stats as for pintles) on the ouside
    of the the turret.  The turret is motor-driven or turned with a hand crank.
        I used _Panzerkampfwagen: German Combat Tanks 1933-1945_ by Chris
    Elliot and Hilary Doyle as reference.
        The Panzer III N (v. 1.0) is a TL 6 vehice [July 96 errata sheet] with
    a weapon from High Tech, a new weapon and my armor sloping table.

    90mm Unguided Rocket (TL 6)
        The Germans developed a smaller rocket meant for use on vehicles to
    provide them with smoke laying capabilities. A launch tube is $250, 15
    lbs., 1.5 cf, DR 5 and HT 8, the rockets are $200, 20 lbs. and 1 cf apiece.
    90mm Rocket  Malf   Type   Damage     SS   Acc   1/2D   Max     RoF   Shots
     with HE     crit.  exp.   6dx6[6d]   no   5     n/a    1,000   1/30  1
     with smoke  crit.   -     6 yards    no   5     n/a    1,000   1/30  1
    
    Structure:  490 cf extra-heavy standard body, max. load 44,100 lbs. (HT
        1,200).  Tracked motive system with two tracks (DR 9, HT 600).  18
        degree sloped front, 18 degree sloped back, sealed body.
    Turret:  65 cf standard full-traverse turrret (HT 100).  18 degree sloped
        front, 25 degree sloped right, left.
    Propulsion:  232 KW tracked drivetrain.
    Power:  239 KW gasoline engine (DR 5, HT 75), uses 7.17 gallons/hour. 5
        16.5 gallon self-sealing gas tanks (DR 5, HT 12, fire 10), endurance
        11.51 hours.
    Accomodations:  5 cramped internal seats, 3 of which are half in the
        turret.
    Vision:  Slits.
    Crew:  5; driver, radio operator/hull gunner, commander, gunner, loader.
    Accessories:  Enviromental control.
    Turret Accessories:  Tactical radio (+0 intercept, 15 mi.).
    Cargo:  50 cf cargo space, 20 cf access space, 60.145 cf waste space +
        8.776 cf waste space in the turret.
    Armor:  308 points advanced laminate armor, 235 points expensive armor.
        F6/147L (slope), R6/84L, L6/84L, B6/147 (slope), T6/50, U5/45.
    Turret Armor:  412 points advanced laminate armor, 28 points expensive
        armor.  F6/168L (slope), R6/92L (slope), L6/92L (slope), B6/84L, T4/28.
    Weaponry:  75mm howitzer (DR 5, HT 50) and co-axial MG34 machine gun ($400,
        27 lbs., DR 5, HT 12) in the turret.  MG34 machine gun in forward
        casemate mount.  64 rounds of 75mm ammo, plus 3400 rounds of machine
        gun ammunition.  Six 90mm smoke rockets (DR 5, HT 8) in two pintle
        mounts on the turret.
    Statistics:  Cost $236,950 (adjusted $15,797), design mass 42,266.75 lbs.,
        max. payload 1,833.25 lbs., max. cargo load 1,833.25 lbs., current
        payload 1,000 lbs., loaded mass 43,266.75 lbs. (21.63 tons), Size
        Modifier +4 (+2), Radar Signature +4, IR Signature +5, Acoustic
        Signature +6.
    Ground Performance:  Ground speed factor 12, top speed 27 mph, acceleration
        3.25 mph/s, deceleration 20 mph/s, MR .25, SR 7, gets 3.77
        miles/gallon.