Tiger II
From OMGWiki
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Tiger II is updated to version Beta Two. |
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| Placement | ||
| Faction | Wehrmacht | |
|---|---|---|
| Doctrine | Terror | |
| Tree | Any | |
| Price | ||
 Manpower
| 1000 | |
 Ammunition
| 0 | |
 Fuel
| 1000 | |
 Population
| 18 | |
| Attributes | ||
| Health | 2000 | |
| Targeting | ||
| Target Type | armour_tiger | |
| Rear Armor | true | |
| Vision | ||
| Sight | 35 | |
| Detection | 0/0 | |
| Speed | ||
| Max Speed | 3 | |
| Acceleration | 1.2 | |
| Deceleration | 2 | |
| Rotation | 20 | |
| Crush | ||
| Crush Mode | crush_heavy | |
| Human Crush | true | |
| Abilities | ||
| Vehicle Cover | ||
| Weapons | ||
 88mm King Tiger
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| MG42 Coaxial MG
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| MG42 Hull MG
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| MG42 Turret
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| Wehrmacht | Tiger II Veterancy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 10% increase to accuracy. | 64 |  Level 1
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| 15% increase to turret rotation, 10% increase to top speed & 10% increase to acceleration. | 192 |  Level 2
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| 20% increase to turret rotation & 20% reduction to reload. | 480 |  Level 3
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| Known Unit (Custom Name) | 720 |  Level 4
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| Feared Unit (Custom Skin) | 1080 |  Level 5
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| Tiger II Visual Identification | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Tiger II is the common name of a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. B and the tank also had the ordnance inventory designation SdKfz 182. It is also known under the informal name Königstiger (German for the Bengal Tiger), often literally translated as King Tiger and by the British as Royal Tiger.
The design followed the same concept as the Tiger I, but was intended to be even more formidable. The Tiger II combined the thick armor of the Tiger I with the sloped armor of the Panther. The tank weighed 68.5 (early turret) to 69.8 (production turret) metric tons, was protected by 150 to 180 mm of frontal armor, and was armed with the 88 mm KwK 43 L/71 gun. The very heavy armor and powerful long-range gun gave the Tiger II the advantage against virtually all opposing Allied and Soviet tanks. This was especially true on the Western Front, where the British and U.S. forces had almost no heavy tanks to oppose it. The M4 Sherman was unable to penetrate the front even at point blank range and the M26 Pershing (using tungsten HVAP ammunition) and IS-2 (using steel shot) had to come within 1300 m and 200 m respectively. The chassis was also the basis for the Jagdtiger turretless tank destroyer.
History
Initially two designs were provided, one by Henschel and one by Porsche. Both used a turret design from Krupp; the main differences were in the hull design, transmission and suspension.
The Henschel version used a conventional hull design with sloped armor resembling the layout of the Panther tank. It had a rear mounted engine and used nine overlapping road wheels per side, mounted on transverse torsion bars, in a similar manner to the original Tiger. To simplify maintenance, however, the wheels were overlapping rather than interleaved as in the Tiger I.
The Porsche hull design had a rear-mounted turret and a mid mounted engine. The suspension was the same as on the Jagdpanzer Elefant. This suspension had six road wheels per side mounted in paired bogies sprung with short longitudinal torsion bars that were integral to the wheel pair; this saved internal space and facilitated repairs. The Porsche version had a series-hybrid power system where the gasoline engines powered electrical generators which in turn powered electric motors which turned the sprockets. This method of propulsion had been attempted before on the Tiger (P) (later Elefant prototypes) and in some U.S. designs, but had never been put into production. The Porsche suspension would later be used on a few of the later Jagdtiger tank hunters. A Tiger II of the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion in Normandy, 1944, carrying the early (so-called "Porsche") turret
Henschel won the contract, and all Tiger IIs were produced by the firm. Two turret designs were used in production vehicles. The initial design is sometimes misleadingly called the "Porsche turret" due to the belief that it was designed by Porsche for their prototype. In fact this turret was simply the initial Krupp design for both prototypes. This turret had a rounded front and steeply sloped sides, with a difficult-to-manufacture curved bulge on the turret's left side, to accommodate the commander's cupola. Fifty early turrets were mounted to Henschel's hull and used in action. The more common "production" turret, sometimes called the "Henschel" turret, was simplified with a flat face, no shot trap (created by the curved face of the initial-type turret), less-steeply sloped sides, and no bulge for the commander's cupola.
The track system used on the Tiger II chassis was a unique one, which used alternating "contact shoe" and "connector" links—the contact shoe link had a pair of transverse metal bars that contacted the ground, while the connector links had no contact with the ground.
The Tiger II was developed late in the war and made in relatively small numbers. Like all German tanks, it had a gasoline engine. However, this same engine powered the much lighter Panther and Tiger I tanks. The Tiger II was under-powered, like many other heavy tanks of World War II, and consumed a lot of fuel, which was in short supply.
The Tiger II would serve as a basis for one production variant, the Jagdtiger, and a proposed Grille 17/21/30/42 self-propelled mount for heavy guns that never reached production.
As a result of the abandonment of post-production testing and preliminary trials, the tanks had numerous technical issues. Notably, the steering control would often break down under the stress of the vehicle's weight. In addition, not only were the engines prone to overheating and failure, but they also consumed large amounts of fuel, attributed to the use of the 690 hp Maybach engine from the far smaller Panther tank. The engine had to constantly run at full power just to get the tank moving. Henschel & Son's chief designer, Erwin Aders, explained that "The breakdowns can be attributed to the fact that the Tiger II had to go straight into series production without the benefit of test results." The engine and drive train was overburdened by the weight and would have required more testing to work out problems, a common dilemma among heavy tanks that pushed the limits of power plants and transmissions.
A version of the Maybach HL230 engine with fuel injection was designed that would have increased the power to about 1,000 PS (986 hp, 736 kW). Henschel proposed using it for future production and retrofitting existing Tiger IIs, but the deteriorating situation meant the upgrade never left the drawing board. Other suggested improvements included a new main weapon, possibly of 105 mm calibre, but again this never got beyond the proposal stage.
Overall, the Tiger II was a formidable tank in spite of its problems. Its 88 mm armament could destroy all Allied armour at a range far outside the effective range of its enemy's armament. Also, notwithstanding its reliability problems, the Tiger II was remarkably agile for such a heavy vehicle. Contemporary German records indicate that it had a lower ground pressure and was as maneuverable as the much lighter Panzer IV. Also, like the Tiger I, its sophisticated suspension design provided excellent flotation, giving the tank a very smooth ride and making it an excellent gun platform.
Statistics from March 1945 compare the availability of Tigers with respect to other tanks: 62% of the Panzer IVs, 59% of the Tigers and 48% of the Panthers were available by this period of the war.
1,500 Tiger II were ordered, but the production was more than halved by Allied bombing and only 487 units were produced: 3 in 1943, 377 in 1944, and 107 in 1945. Full production ran from early-1944 to the end of the war.
Tactics & Tips
- The King Tiger can only be used with the Wehrmacht Terror Doctrine.
- It's expensive. Don't waste it.
- It's main weakness is its speed. It is incredibly slow.
- The King Tiger is nearly immune to the feared British artillery. Most if not all shots will simply glance off its formidable armor, barely scratching the paint.
- This behemoth has the highest base health in the game, and is one of the most powerful anti tank guns in the game, the King Tiger is nearly unstoppable with support.
- The King Tiger should form the spearhead of any assault as it is too slow to flank. Defensively, think of this tank as the 300 Spartans: simply park it where you don't want the enemy to go (preferably a choke point) and watch the fireworks.
- While the King Tiger is very well suited for heavy anti tank duty, the Tiger of Blitzkrieg Doctrine is still the more efficient anti-infantry unit.
See Also
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