PzKpfw VI Tiger Guide

Real world history and the Tiger tank in World of tanks comparison

The real life Tiger tank still fuels the argument whether it was a useless piece of junk prone to mechanical breakdowns that lost WWII for Germany or a superweapon that could have stopped the tens of thousands of allied tanks. With this argument ever-present Wargaming had a tough choice to make. They could chose between pleasing the German tank fans by making it a Tier 10 tank with armor that cannot be damaged only by a much more modern tank or they could sink themselves in this argument and the historical data and try to find a place for the Tiger in their virtual fiction game. They chose the second option. They thought they did a great job , but they are accused of being wrong and Russian Biased ever since by the German tank fans who say that the Tiger ingame is a piece of Vietnamese bird flu infected sh*t . So what happened? World of tanks is not limited to WWII. Back in WWII Tiger tanks faced M4 Shermans, Churchills, T-34-85's etc. Only in the late war did they meet Russian IS-2 tanks that were designed to destroy Tiger tanks with ease. In World of tanks similar tanks are matched together so the Tiger will never get "historically" accurate matchmaking facing only tier 5 tanks...Yes, with the current matchmaking the Tiger is just a regular tank not an overpowered beast some want it to be. In my personal opinion, the Tiger in World of tank is still a fantastic machine even with its severe limitations.



Main characteristics with best possible modules equipped

Tier: VII
Price: 1 390 000 Credits
Experience needed: 45 050 Xp
Hitpoints: 1,450
Weight: 59.9 tones
View range: 370 Meters
Radio signal range: 710 meters
Tank hull traverse: 24 deg/second
Tank turret traverse: 23deg/second

Crew

1. Commander
2. Gunner
3. Radio Operator
4. Driver
5. Loader

Mobility

Engine Power of 870 hp with a top speed Limit 30 km/h. The tank accelerates fairly well with its 14.77 hp/t power to weight ratio, but its hull traverse speed of 24 deg/second leaves much to be desired. As a rule, when engaging highly mobile lone enemy tanks, always turn with your tanks hull too not just the turret only otherwise you will be outflanked and killed without effort from the enemy. With the turret traverse added to your hull traverse your overall traverse speed to follow your enemy is doubled to 47 degrees/ second.

Armor with best turret

Hull Armor 100/82/82 mm
Turret Armor 100/82/65 mm

Very weak armor for a heavy tank, but when slightly angled in a sidescraping maneuver, the side of the tank can bounce shots from much higher foes or your tracks eat up the damage that your crew can repair over time. Having repair skill on all your crew members can save your life in this situation. If you are able try to hide the front of your tank including your lower front plate behind an obstacle because "Belly" shots from the front will set you on fire.

Armor Scheme



Armament with the best available gun (8,8 cm KwK 43 L/71 gun)

Damage: 240 hp
Average Penetration: 203 mm
Rate of Fire: 8.22 r/m
Accuracy: 0.34m
Aim time: 2.9s
Turret Traverse: 23deg/second

My personal opinion of the Tiger and how I use it

I evaded this tank like the Plague for almost 2 years since game launch. I found it fairly easy to kill if it came by as an enemy tank, and I read and heard so much bad about the Tiger that I didnt want to have anything to do with it. Then when I was bored and saw that it was on sale for 50% credits plus it had a +70% credit bonus, I bought it. I had a fairly good crew on my VK 3601, that I retrained for the Tiger. I already had some guns and engines researched on the VK 3601, so I had a head start in getting the Tiger to Elite. After mounting the Short 88 (8,8 cm KwK 36 L/56) gun even with its very low penetration, I had 7 fantastic games with the Tiger. It was LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT...Er I mean play. I faced elite T29's in platoons with 3 of them attacking me at once, and I was still able to kill one before they killed me. Every game I did very high damage and I managed to bounce a lot of shots.

I watched a lot of youtube videos about sidescraping, to learn the art of bouncing enemy shots. With that knowledge, I instantly had an Ace tanker battle where I did 3300 damage with 4 kills and 6 assists while I was outnumbered 3 to 1 at the end of the battle. The Tiger is a huge surprise for me because its my new best Tier 7 tank on par with my other favorite T29.
The Tiger shines at range where enemy cannot hit you reliably while almost all your shots can hit and do damage, but when you have no choice and you get rushed dont worry. Just angle your tank and wiggle it left to right so the enemy gets confused where to shoot you (weak front or the even weaker side). If you are lucky, you can bounce shots like this multiple times like in this case described below:
I was once engaged by 2 tier 8 heavy tanks at CLOSE range with my Tiger, and I killed them alone. It was a Tiger II (with 600 HP) and a Caernervon (Full HP) that attacked me at the same time. I can only do the same with a T29, because the other tier 7 heavy tanks are just not good enough. I just kept wiggling my tank and turret left and right and they both only managed to hit my tracks over and over again instead of my weak as butter side, while I just shot them up.

I would recommend the Tiger tank to anybody who is willing to watch 1-2 hours of youtube videos to learn how to use it. After that you can show the enemy their mistake for ignoring you for a crap tank.

It is important that you aim for weak spots with your superior accuracy to cripple enemy tank that have high damage guns. Learn the weak spots and shoot enemy tanks in the ammo rack or engine to blow them up or set them on fire. No other tier 7 heavy has the accuracy and reload speed to do this. If multiple enemy tanks are speeding to you and you still have distance, you can try to aim for their tracks to detrack them with your first shot, then damaging them with the next shot. This way you can survive being overrun. After you have fired a shot ALWAYS pull back to cover while you reload, because the return fire from any enemy Tier 7 heavy tank is going to hurt you more than your shot hurt the enemy. Try to taunt them into shooting the corner you are behind while you slowly expose your angled side to them. If they are impatient, they will shoot their slow gun, and you can shoot them without any harm, then just repeat if you can.

How to engage a single enemy?

1) Its simple. Just angle your hull a bit like this, so you dont face your foe directly:



2) Stop to aim but move backward and forward a little while you are reloading to make it hard for your foe, to shoot your week spots (Machine gun turret & drivers hatch).

3) Always try to shoot flat surfaces facing you for example: If you face an enemy tank head on, dont shoot its angled turret if you can shoot his hull that is fully facing you. The hull shots have much higher chance to penetrate and do critical damage than shots to the turret at higher range

4) Only use your repair kit to repair your broken tracks if a very fast enemy is trying to get into your side, and you need the added traverse of your hull to follow him with your gun. Otherwise ONLY use repair kit to repair your Ammo Rack in short range fights or your Gun in long range fights.

How to engage multiple enemy tanks simultaneously?

1) Always face the most dangerous Tank in a group (using sidescraping) that deal the most ammount of damage to you (Example Russian tanks with the long 122 MM Super Death Star gun)...BUT*

2) * Dont ignore small tanks with low hitpoints that you can one shot if you have a chance to catch them.

3) ALWAYS keep moving after you shot and you are waiting for your gun to reload

4) ALWAYS try to move behind the closest enemy tank so you can use him as a shield against the other enemy tanks. This tactic is like a huge cheat if the enemy tanks facing you are stupid...Basically the enemy tanks will keep shooting their own teammate and might end up killing him for you...

5) Point 4) does not work if the enemy players are smart, because they will just rush you and kill you in seconds

6) In case of Point 5) when smart enemy players rush you, NEVER panic. Always stick to your training and follow the basics above, and you can make your death so costly for the enemy team, that they will end up losing the game.

Game replay showing most of the basics and lots of errors I made. Try to find them:

http://mwreplays.com/replay/7EGIIIXUOW7B/

Sidescaping explained with a simple picture:


Advantages of the Tiger

- Very cheap ammo cost compared to other heavy tanks
- Very easy to play the Tiger if you have experience with US and Russian heavy tanks
- High view range
- Ability to pivot in place
- Very high hit point pool
- Very high rate of fire (offset by a low damage gun)
- Most accurate tier 7 heavy tank gun when fully researched
- Decent Aiming speed (All available guns)
- High acceleration when fully researched
- This tank is built for sidescraping
- The Hull of the tank is very bouncy if angled correctly
- The front part of the best Turret is very bouncy if angled correctly

Disadvantages of the Tiger

- Very hard to play the Tiger if you are a new player with no experience with heavy tanks of other nations in Wot.
- Low damage gun ( offset by very high rate of fire)
- Ammo rack gets hit a lot so Repair kit is a MUST to repair it!
- The crew gets hit often so First aid kit is a MUST to heal your Gunner!
- The tank can be set on fire very easily so Fire Extinguisher is a MUST!
- If not angled correctly, even low penetration enemy guns can penetrate and damage the hull and turrets
- Very low turret traverse speed
- Very bad gun depression
- Huge size of the tank makes it very easy to hit even from long range.
- The repair costs are high because you always sustain critical hits to modules and/or crew

Suggested crew skills (Warning1 : These are not in the order of research but how they will be set up once I have reset the
skills to finalise them. Warning2 : This is my personal preference that suits my play style, and my results with the Tiger tell me that Im on the right track)

1. Commander: Repair , Sixth sense , Brother in Arms, Jack of All Trades

2. Gunner: Repair , Snap shot , Brothers in Arms , Deadeye , Camouflage

3. Radio Operator: Repair , Situational Awareness , Brothers in Arms

4. Driver: Repair , Clutch breaking , Brothers in Arms , Controlled impact

5. Loader: Repair , Safe Stowage , Brothers in Arms , Camouflage

Equipment I recommend

- Improved Ventillation Class 3


- Large Calliber Tank Gun Rammer


- Binoculars for long range combat OR Enhanced Gun Laying Drive if you prefer short range firefights

Or


Consumables that are a MUST for the Tiger
- Small repair kit to repair Ammo rack or Gun

- First Aid Kit to heal knocked out Gunner, Commander, or Loader

- Manual Fire Extinguisher to stop engine fire


Originally written by Tyutyu