How Bad Was The Tiger II?

I've often used the German Tiger II heavy tank as a point of comparison in this series, so it's about time I talked about it in earnest. Much like its predecessor, the Tiger I, online communities either see the Tiger II as the best or worst tank ever. That's an exaggeration of course, but opinions are very polarized. With that in mind, let's delve into the history of this famous World War II heavy tank.

Check the channel "About" section for the link to the creator of my profile picture.

Sources:
Tigers I and II and their Variants by Walter Spielberger
Panther & Its Variants by Walter Spielberger
Germany's Tiger Tanks - VK45.02 to Tiger II by Hilary Doyle and Thomas Jentz
WO 291-1003 - Motion Studies of German Tanks
Tiger Tanks at War by Michael Green and James Brown
CAMD RF 38-11377-12, Kubinka Tests of the Tiger II
Tiger I and Tiger II by Anthony Tucker-Jones

Songs used (in order from first to last):
Subnautica - Into the Unknown
Halo 3: ODST - Rain (Deference for Darkness)

Sound mods:
Epic Thunder (Pre-release)
Armored Warfare Crew Voices

Reddit: /u/spookston
Discord: See my Patreon page.

#warthunder​​​​​​​​​​​​ #tanks​​​​​​​​​​​​ #tankhistory

[Spookston]

Please watch the entire video before leaving a "Porsche didn't design the turret" comment

[mrbloodmuffins]

The Germans loved fixed fortifications:
-the Atlantic wall
-the sigfried line
And the technological apex of fixed fortifications, the Tiger II which drives for a bit and then sets up as a fixed fortification by either getting stuck or breaking down.

[KenMochii]

I love the Tiger 2 with the "H" turret aesthetically speaking, such a good looking tank.

[Conraf]

4:00 F to that poor John who took 88mm shot to the chest

[hammer]

I get the feeling that the Germans didn't really know what they wanted to do with the tiger II. Tiger I was a breakthrough tank, using relatively decent speed combined with heavy armour and firepower to break through enemy lines and force a break. The Tiger II couldn't do that because of its weight and sheer armour

[jacobszymczak]

The Tiger II has to be one of the best looking tanks of all time

[drain]

Hans the engine has exploded FOR THE 5th TIME

[blackfacts]

"Not great not Terrible"

Anatoly Dyatlov

[TheArklyte]

To quote Chieftain from his Elbonia Q&A video on topic of IS-3: "It was abysmal unreliable design. Problem is, it was quite a scary tank when one could make it work."

[HelpMein]

HANS! WHERE ARE ZE SPARE TIGER PARTS?



Hans: starts sweating profusely

[pavelslama]

Honestly, by the time the Germans could introduce Tiger II, they were already totally fcked. Not only was the source of Molybdenum (Scandinavia) out of the reach of their merchant navy, the face hardening of their steel plates required a bigass induction furnace, which consumes enormous amount of electricity (which Germans by that time already lacked, their dams and coal powered plants were leveled). And even if they had both of that, there is no certainty that the plate would be able to hold against the soviet guns, which used huge shells of calibers typically used by howitzer, but they used it in high muzzle velocity guns, thus creating enormous amount of kinetic energy which would be transfered into the plate anyway.
They would likely need a modern defectoscopy (ultrasound) to find out what is the problem and how to solve it.

[calessel]

Interestingly, when the Soviets first encountered the Tiger-2, they thought it was a replacement for the Panther. I believe, for a short time before they had better intel, they even referred to in reports as the "Panther-2."

[Oxide-Actual]

I'm really enjoying this historical series, keep it up!

[Soundwave]

So, to summarize:
Pros:
1: powerful and far-reaching gun
2: thick, tough armor, if perhaps -too- tough.
3: a definite improvement over the Tiger 1, which any "successor" should be.
4: Suspension is less of a maintenance headache than the Tiger 1

Cons:
1: Power-to-weight ratio is poor, which is common on the "big cats"
2: underpowered and temperamental engine, again, a common problem.
3: fuel-thirsty, which in late war Germany is a definite liability.
4: gobbled up strategic resources better used elsewhere.... again, a common problem with late war German tanks.

[dukeoftoast]

From my opinion, Tiger 2 is one of many tanks following the quote "too much, too late". Production started late, when all the german industries was getting bombed by the allies and to make it worse, it was a complicated design, which led to a small amount of tanks. It entered combat late in the war which led to it not making as much impact as expected in the war effort. By that point, the war was over.

[snazzydazzy]

3:57 "Crew Knocked out" as decimates ONE American crew member.

[cillianfox]

If the tiger 2 is played correctly in war thunder it is one of the best tanks in the game, if it is played by someone who heard legends about it from ww2 and think it’s invulnerable it’s crap

[smoldoggy]

The comments defending the king tiger are gonna be the best part about this video

[PASTLIF]

"Hans we need better transmission"
"More armour you say?"
"Nein hans Better transmission"
"Bigger Kanon eh?"
"hans better👏trans👏mission👏"
"Oh BOTTLE SHIP KANON?"
".... Ja

-last Recording of Hans And Kerts before they Got clapped

[Raven-vlvy]

I really do like the Tigers in general, have them all except the Striped Event one. However at the BR it is currently, constantly getting uptiered to 7.3-7.7 with CAS constantly ruining things and then being wrecked by ATGMs and GOOD heat rounds; makes them not really enjoyable. I enjoy using the Tiger 1's more so, since they have a more fair competition against the Jumbos and IS-1/2's. The Tiger II's speed is alright, it's armor does not hold up well anymore and is far too large of a target; to really be considered an 'Effective' heavy tank. It does have a decent gun though, but 6.3 - 6.7 feels like the hardest part of climbing it. At those BR's though, I'd rather use the German Bulldogs at that point; the ones with the remarkably shitty suspension and stability. (Which says a lot.)