PzKpfw VI Tiger Guide 2

The Tiger I H in WoT.

The Tiger I H is a Tier 7 Heavy Tank in the German Tech Tree. It is similar in format to the other German Tier 7 Heavy; the Tiger P. Of the two, the H version has less armour but is more mobile. The ‘H’ also has a slightly faster rate of fire. Where personal opinions are offered – (e.g. my personal experience or preferences) this will be in italics.

Price: 1,390,000
Crew: 5 (Commander, Gunner, Driver, Radio Operator, Loader)
Weight: 55 Tonnes (Stock)
Max Speed: 30 kph
View Range: 370m

At-a-Glance Advantages
· Good armour-penetrating power on the 88 L/71.
· Good rate of fire and damage output.
· Excellent Accuracy at all but the longest ranges.
· Relative Agility for it’s class.
· Affordable Heavy Tank – cheap repair and shell costs.

At-a-Glance Disadvantages
· Armour is un-sloped; lacks effectiveness against enemy T7 heavy weaponry.
· Lacks stopping power – 240 damage isn’t ideal for peek-and-shoot tactics.
· Requires tank to be exposed to utilise it’s rate of fire to maximum effect.
· Occasional Issues with module damage.
· Gains no benefits from hull-down tactics due to relatively weak turret.

Research

Assuming you’re progressing up the German line for the first time; the Tiger H is an excellent tank for unlocking all those modules which come in handy for the other German lines. A few examples are below.

Tiger P - Gun
Tiger II – Engines + Gun
Panther – Engines
Panther II – Engines + Gun
Jagdpanther - Engines
Jagdpanther II - Engines
Indien Panzer - Gun
Not to mention any SPGs which use the higher tier Maybach engine modules.

It isn’t compulsory to unlock everything on the Tiger H (you can miss out the tracks if determined to get the Tiger II quicker – however it is highly recommended that you get the top engine since this is also useable on the King Tiger). The tracks give the Tiger a noticeable boost to it’s turning ability – if you intend to keep the Tiger H for any length of time the suspension upgrade will be worth it.

The VK 3601 gives you the 8.8cm L/56 gun and HL 230 P45 engine (assuming you unlocked them!). As weight capacity allows; fit these immediately. Hopefully by now you have at some point unlocked the FuG 12 radio – this should be fitted as and when you have the weight to spare and funds.

The Tiger H grind is forgiving in that you don’t need to unlock the better suspension to mount the second turret. I would urge you to focus on unlocking the turret as soon as possible; then work your way to the 8.8cm L/71 – then you can unlock the top engine and tracks if aiming to fully upgrade the Tiger (highly recommended).


Some people prefer using the 7.5cm L/70 instead of the 8.8cm L/56 to grind. Others still prefer to use the 10.5cm L/28 boom-stick. There is no right or wrong answer – my personal belief is that the short 88 offers greater damage potential. Damage equates to XP – which enables you to unlock that long 88 quicker!

Mobility

The Tiger has the advantage of having a powerful set of engines to choose from. Admittedly, when you upgrade from the VK 3601 you will find that the power-to-weight ratio of the Tiger is less than that of the VK. However; once your crew is skilled up to 100% and you have the best engine – you will find that the Tiger H can be reasonably agile for a heavy tank.
Note also that the Tiger H has better mobility in terms of acceleration, deceleration and turning ability than it’s cousin, the Tiger P. It is also more agile than the American T29, the British Black Prince and the Soviet KV-3. Only the IS, IS-2 and AMX M4 1945 are more light-footed.

Across most forms of terrain the Tiger H will be relatively mobile. Often overlooked is the fact that it can pivot-turn on the spot; if turning your turret at the same time you can quickly swing your gun round within seconds to face a threat from behind or to engage a circling light or medium.

Having played both the Tiger P and Tiger H – I found that the increased mobility of the H version enabled me to get out of trouble quickly and to react to changing situations. The Tiger P is rather more cumbersome if you find yourself circled by lights or trying to move quickly during a brawl!

Armour

The armour ranges from 100 on the frontal hull plating; to 82 on the sides and rear. The turret is the same; with 100 frontally and 82 on the side and rear faces. However; this is all in the form of un-sloped, flat, vertical surfaces. This means than in terms of armoured protection the Tiger glances less shots then the IS series of tanks, it doesn’t have the incredible turret armour of the T29 or the sheer armoured thickness afforded by the Black Prince.

The turret has a large thick gun-mantlet – however it is not as thick as the same mantlet on the Tiger P. It will sometimes protect you from shots to the turret front; sometimes not. As a rule; Tier 7 heavy weapons will generally penetrate most of the time.

The hull armour’s effectiveness can be improved by angling. Depending on how exposed your sides are you can angle from 10-45 degrees to improve your effective frontal armour. However, be aware of your thinner side armour.

Notable armour weak-spots consist of the MG and Driver vision ports on the front plate. The turret has a large commander’s hatch/cupola – this will be shot at more often than not if your opponent is having trouble penetrating your hull.

Your armour does give you a relative immunity to American 76mm and Soviet 57mm rounds from the front and sides if angling. Don’t show a flat armour plate to them if you can help it.
At Tier 7 you should not rely on the armour to protect you; since most opponents will have guns able to penetrate your frontal armour from most ranges.

Firepower

If the mobility is above average and the armour below average – then the Tiger’s best gun is exceptionally good for it’s Tier. Again, as with the engines you do not have access to the 8.8cm L/71 immediately (unless you unlocked it via the Tiger P, Indien Panzer or the Panther II). This is a weapon which can damage most if not all of the opponents you encounter and is in my opinion one of the most user-friendly guns in the game. I’ll outline the reasons why below.

1) Low shell cost. This is an affordable weapon; since the shells cost 250 each and do 240 damage a shot. Compare this with the Soviet 122mm or American 105mm – which cost 1000 per shell. The end result of this is lower running costs on average per battle – meaning you won’t generally need to support your grind through the Tiger with another money-making tank. For non-premium and premium players alike; this is a significant advantage.

2) Accuracy. Not matter what tank you are in; you can aim for enemy weak-spots; cupolas, crew hatches, etc. The difference is that with the 8.8cm L/71 – you can often hit such spots from a longer distance away and with greater reliability. Don’t underestimate the usefulness of being able to track that enemy Tier 9 heavy from 400m away; or hitting the top hatch of a hull-down American heavy.

3) Rate of Fire. 240 damage is not as good as the 390 dished out by the Soviet/Chinese 122mm class weapons, nor as good as the 320 for the American 105mm. However; you can fire off more shots per minute. In situations where there are multiple targets; or where you are firing at long range on an approaching enemy – the rate of fire can be a life-saver. Unlike a larger calibre weapon; if you miss or bounce; it’s no great wait until you can fire another one!

Learn to fire on the move when targets are 150m or closer. By using the ‘cruise-control’ function you can keep the tank moving at 1/3rd or 2/3rd speed – while still having a relatively small aiming circle. This is useful if you find yourself in a brawl or you’ve been spotted and are under fire. A moving Tiger is harder to hit than a stationary one!

Tactics and Gunnery

The Tiger H is a sniper. This means that the closer you are to your opponent – the less of an advantage you have. The further away you are – the greater advantage you have from your rate-of-fire and accuracy. Longer ranges mean that you are a smaller (and technically harder to hit) target; it also means that some enemy shells such as the Black Prince’s 17-pdr or IS-2’s 122mm lose a fair percentage of their armour penetration – and so are less likely to penetrate your frontal armour if angled.

Position yourself behind the main front-line. You never want to lead a attack; but you don’t want to be so far back as to be unable to assist your team. This will take some judgement to get right – but acting as a consistent, accurate, supporting sniper gives your team maximum benefit and your enemy maximum detriment!



If I can help it; I try to ensure that I am at least 200 -300m away from the action. Close enough to hit target weak spots but not too close to be an easy target for 122mm guns. Also avoid being drawn into a close-range brawl – your armour is not good enough!

Against heavier opponents it is worth learning common weak-spots of Tier 8s and Tier 9s – so that you are not completely at a loss at where to hurt them. A few common examples for tier 8 HTs;

· King Tiger – lower front-plate or MG ball mount. Failing that; the turret commander’s cupola.
· VK 4502 A – see King Tiger above.
· Lowe – Lower hull, turret hatch/cupola.
· IS-3 – Lower front-plate or if he is angled – the side of his ‘nose’ armour which appears ‘bigger’ or flatter to you.
· KV-4 – Lower hull, driver’s ‘letterbox’ vision port, the small ‘mini-turret’ on the main turret roof.
· IS-6 – Lower hull, Upper hull driver’s hatch, turret hatches.
· 110 – See IS-3 above.
· KV-5 – either of the two small mini-turrets on the front hull – the left one is easier to hit. The cupola on the main turret roof.
· T32 – Lower hull, upper hull, hull MG mount, turret cupola if all else fails.
· T34 – See T32 above.
· Caernarvon – Lower Hull, Commander’s Hatch on Turret,

Remember that the L/71 can be used to damage ANY enemy you encounter – learn those weak-spots and make use of your tank’s accuracy!

Defensively, you should not camp. This may seem to be a contradiction; but sniping doesn’t mean camping or visa-versa. If defending from a good position (behind an arty-proof rock, a building or just in the middle of a bush-filled woodland) – be aware of other alternative positions to which you can retreat – even if this next spot is only a few metres away.


Concealment is your friend - ridges and buildings offer physical cover - bushes give you visual cover. Better still - on maps like sacred valley try to get to a ridge WITH bushes.

Limit firing to 2-3 shots – then relocate. Even if you just roll back behind a ridge and then roll up a few metres further along. Relocating after firing is very important for three reasons.

1) It gives you a few seconds to reload. An elite Tiger (with Vents + BIA for the crew) reloads every 7.8 seconds – that’s enough to time to shift position.

2) It reduces the likelihood of being hit by arty. A sitting duck is a very easy target for all but the most slow-witted of SPG drivers – don’t make it easy for them!

3) It keeps the enemy guessing. If you are firing from a different spot every few shots – then the enemy cannot just keep his aim on one point of ground. He has to shift aim each time (reducing accuracy).

In armoured warfare this is known as ‘fire-and-manoeuvre’. The basic premise is that a static tank is a dead tank – this is particularly applicable to our game with the constant threat of arty.

Remember that the Tiger H’s main advantages are it’s firepower and mobility. Stay mobile; look for good spots to shoot from – then relocate once the enemy works out where you are. Keep the enemy at range and try to avoid letting them close the gap.

Improvements to the Tiger I H



You may want to shy away from using visual camouflage - this is for two combat-related reasons. A) the cost doesn't justify the 5% camo increase B) You want to be unnoticed; understated and generally underestimated - a Tiger in a bright yellow colour scheme gets noticed! Of course; if you just like to make your tank look good then spend away.

If you are planning to simply grind to the Tiger II – then I would suggest sticking to the following equipment load-out.

1) Camo Net
2) Binocs
3) Toolbox

All this equipment is demountable at no cost – meaning you can simply take it off at the end of the grind and sell the tank.
You may be like me and decide to keep the Tiger I H. In which case; I suggest the following.

1) Gun Rammer (more shells flying through the air at any one time)
2) Ventilation (gives your crew a marginal edge in reloading, aiming and spotting)
3) Camo Net (pre 8.6 – this made the Tiger quite stealthy – not quite so sure now).

You could replace the Camo Net with an Enhanced Gun Laying Drive – this enables you to shift aim and get an accurate shot off quickly.

Med Kit, Repair Kit and Fire Extinguishers are all useful and should be a standard load-out by this Tier.



With the recent 50% off premium consumables I’ve fitted an Auto Fire Extinguisher to my Tiger – I’ve yet to catch on fire and see if it’s worth it though! (The 10% reduction to Fire Chance given by the Auto Ext. may be having something to do with this though)

Shells

I load 12x premium shells for ‘special occasions’. 6x HE shells are handy for de-capping, damaging enemy guns (e.g. T32 hull-down) or tagging arty. The rest of the loadout is standard AP (50 shells give or take) - more than enough to snipe with over the course of a random game which rarely lasts the full 15 mins. If you do find you are running out of ammo - may I suggest shooting more carefully?

Premium ammo occasions may take the form of a pesky E-75 who decides to pick on a Tiger H only to get a whack back through his lower plate; or for when my platoon mate Vasilek decides to click on a Tier 9 instead of a Tier 7 when readying up before I notice the mistake….

Crew skills

Could be down to personal preference. My Tiger crew is up to four skills – bear in mind that I’ve been playing the Tiger I H every day since late 2011 so the crew are a fair bit better than average (it’ll be a fair while until they get skill no. 5!). Brothers in Arms are the first skill for all crew - followed by various perks such as preventative maintenance, dead-eye, call for vengeance etc.

A few points worth noting;

Sixth Sense is VERY useful. If you know you’ve been spotted; then you can move out of harm’s way. It’s also useful for telling you if your hiding spot is not a very good one.

Preventative Maintenance and Safe Stowage have reduced my cases of Fire and Ammo Rack damage noticeably. Any shots which do penetrate your frontal armour can sometimes set you on fire by means of the front-mounted transmission – hence the maintenance skill may be worth it. Ammo rack damage happens less often; and thus your rate of fire is not affected as much by this type of module damage.

Eagle Eye is overlooked by many; but it can tell you if that IS-2 you just traded shots with has got a damaged ammo rack. You can then chase him down and use your rate of fire to take him apart. It can also inform you of what exactly it was that you just ‘critical hit’ – sometimes this makes those 0% hits a bit easier to swallow.

Repair is useful – even if only on one or two crew members. It may be worth setting all your crew to repair skills WHILE you are training them up. Once they get to 100 percent (plus part-way on the next skill) you can retrain them to the perks you are after. This way you get the benefit of repairs rather than a perk which doesn’t help one jot until it’s fully trained.

Camo is not so useful. I only chose them on the Radioman and Loader because I thought it would be better than the not-so-often used fire-fighting skill.

Review Summary

The Tiger I H by no means hits the hardest, goes the fastest or indeed is the best Tier 7. It does however reward players who learn how to play it; and is excellent training for the King Tiger and other German Heavies further up the line.
I would recommend this tank to anyone who fancies a challenge; who is willing to learn from their mistakes and who doesn’t mind getting a few bumps along the way. The Elite Tiger is well worth it.
My credentials:
I have a 60% WR in the Tiger over close to 1400 battles. It is my most enjoyable tank in the garage on account of the fact that no one expects a veteran player to go seal-clubbing at T7; and no one expects them to do it in a Tiger!


Originally written by Gvozdika