PzKpfw.VI
From Battleground Europe Wiki
PzKpfw.VI Tiger
| |
| PzKfw. VI Ausf. E (Tiger) | |
|---|---|
| Specifications | |
| Type | Heavy Armored Fighting Vehicle |
| Armament | 1 x 88 mm Main Gun, 2 x 7.9 mm Machine Guns |
| Crew | 4: (Driver, commander, gunner, loader) |
| Weight | 57,000 kg |
| Top Speed | 37 km/h |
History
Probably the most famous tank of WW2, the Tiger had a long development phase. From an original design for a modest 33 ton breakthrough tank, it ballooned into a 57-ton behemoth after the Wehrmacht’s humbling first encounters with the well sloped Russian T34 and the heavy KV series of tanks.
Despite its heavy armor and superb 88mm gun, the Tiger’s initial performance in combat was unimpressive and disappointing, suffering from extensive mechanical breakdowns due to its subsequent rushed and desperate deployment into battle. After the teething problems were largely solved, the Tiger earned its fearsome reputation at the hands of audacious commanders like Michael Wittman, his skilled crew credited with knocking out 141 tanks and 132 AT guns. The sheer size and weight of the Tiger tanks did cause them some difficulty in traversing a variety of terrain that they would encounter, but to be fair they were not slow and were fairly mobile for such a large and heavy AFV.
Game Play
The Tiger is an outstanding armored vehicle, probably undefeatable by any other tank in the game if used properly. The exceptionally good 88mm gun is extremely effective at very long range, this means that anytime you engage a target at less than 500m, you’re handing them a significant advantage that you don’t need to, and removing your own strengths. Keep your front aspect in mind at all times – facing an enemy with 100mm of armor may make you almost invulnerable to most return AT gun fire. But beware of aircraft as you are without a doubt the very highest value ground attack target and enemy pilots will be searching for you everywhere.
The Tiger’s massive FlaK.36 derived gun means a very slow turret speed, but this also means that the Tiger is a particularly effective tank for multicrewing (not to mention a better use of limited spawn list numbers). Wittman innovated the clever and expedient maneuver of assisted traverse, where the driver would slew the tank around on its tracks as hard as possible while the slower turret turned in the same direction, giving the tank an effective turret traversal rate much higher than available by simply traversing the gun – probably worth practicing with a regular multicrew buddy.
The Tiger is also the most expensive tank to Research and Develop into campaign Production within the Battleground Europe RDP factory system. This means there will never be as many of these giant monsters as there are of lesser tanks in the Axis armored brigades. Guard them carefully in combat when you manage to procure one of these highly prized tanks, they are just as susceptible to anti-tank tactics as any other tank when attacked at close quarters by enemy ATG’s and anti-armor infantry.
Range and gunsight optics remain your greatest advantages. Engage enemy armor at long range where your 88mm FlaK derived gun can kill almost all enemy armor and they will struggle to even dent your thickly armored hide. At shorter ranges you give away many advantages while gaining none for yourself.
