The Germans had various means for neutralizing tanks. The best were quite simply artillery and anti-tank ditches. For the infantry, there was the K Patrone armour piercing bullet for the Gewehr 98 rifle and MG 08 Machine Gun. There was also the improvised 'Gebalt Ladung' or 'concentrated charge' hand grenade; this consisted of a stick grenade, with 4-6 warheads from other stick grenades wrapped around it's head. The grenade would be thrown on top of engine compartment.

By 1918, German 77mm field gun crews were being equipped with anti-tank rounds and trained in combating tanks; the first of these units fought at Cambrai in 1917, and exacted a heavy toll on the tanks supporting 51st Division.

By this time, small numbers of 37mm anti-tank guns were beginning to see service, as was the Mauser 13mm anti-tank rifle, which fired 13mm armour piercing rounds. A larger variant of the MG-08, the MG-18 was being tested before the war ended; it fired the same 13mm ammunition as the Mauser AT rifle, and was meant as an Anti-tank and Anti-Aircraft weapon, sort of like the M2 .50 cal. when it first entered service.