Panzer VI Ausf. E "Tiger" User's Guide

The Tiger

Even today the word "Tiger" brings back memories of fear for veterans of the European theater.  Conceived as a heavy breakthrough tank with roots dating back to Henschel experiments of 1937, an order for such a vehicle was made in late May 1941.  Both Porsche and Henschel supplied designs, while Krupp was charged with the armament.  Although Porsche had a head start, the Henschel design proved to be the better of the two and was ordered into production in July 1942.  So emphatic was Hitler about the new tank that it was rushed into service and saw combat for the first time in August 1942, where do to mechanical problems and poor terrain the Tigers were a failure.  It wasn't until December 1942 in North Africa that the Tiger legend was born, with its crew fully trained and mechanical issues mostly solved.

During the mid-war period when it was first deployed the Tiger dominated every single battlefield, able to kill any Allied tank at great range and with armor proof against most Allied weapons.  Despite its potency the Tiger was constantly upgraded, enough so that there are three distinct batches.  The one used in WWII Online comes from the earliest batch, because it is the one most likely found in Tunisia and Sicily where the next battles will be fought.

For more information about the Tiger tank and other WWII equipment, please visit the main portion of my website and search for them under the appropriate heading.

Crew Positions

Position 1 is the Driver.

Position 2 is the Commander.

Position 3 is the Gunner.

Position 4 is the Radio Operator

Position 5 is the Loader

 Armor Protection

Front View

Rear View

Position 1 - The Driver

The driver starts the Tiger's engines by hitting the e key on the keyboard.  After they've been started the transmission is set in the forward gear position by default, but can be changed by hitting the r key.  To change gears the player must use the [ and ] keys.  To increase or decrease your engine's horsepower use your joystick's y-axis (forwards and backwards).  To steer left and right, use your joystick's x-axis (side-to-side).  Use your number pad on your keyboard to look around in a 300 degree arc.  Hitting the del key on your number pad will switch to the periscope view, but only if you've already his the o key to deploy the periscope and close the vision slit.  The Ins key on your keyboard's number pad will show you your instruments. 

 You'll find these same basic operations for all land vehicles in World War II Online.

Driver's View (Open Vision Slit)

Driver's View (Closed Vision Slit / Deployed Periscope)

Driver's Periscope View (Minimum Magnification)

Driver's Guages

Position 2 - The Commander

The Tiger's commander is similar to those of other vehicles.  He begins "buttoned up" (all hatches closed) and with a view of the inside of the tank.  To see outside he can be deployed/un-deployed using the o key on your keyboard.  Once the commander is deployed he is vulnerable to enemy fire, but he can also hear and see things around the tank much better.  To use his binoculars, press the del key to toggle between levels of magnification.  Unlike the commanders of most other vehicles, the Tiger's commander has the ability to determine range - an extremely powerful and useful advantage.  To do this he must be in his binocular view and align the desired target with the crosshairs, then press the r key on the keyboard.  In eight seconds the targets estimated range will appear in the text box at the bottom of your screen.

Commander's View (Un-deployed)

Commander's View (Deployed)

Binocular View (With the crosshairs aligned on the target and range determined.)

Position 3 - The Gunner

The 88mm KwK 36 L / 56 main gun is at the front of the tank, placed directly in the middle. You can fire the main gun by hitting your joystick's primary fire button or the f key on your keyboard.  This gun can be traversed 360° from the center of the tank in either direction, although beware that it takes 60 seconds to complete a full traversing.  The player can switch to the gun-sight view by hitting the del key on your keyboard's number pad, and there are 2 levels of magnification. The sight's range can be adjusted by using the page-up and page-down key.  The sight is initially set to its minimum range of 0 meters with a maximum of  maximum is 3900 meters.  There is no text range indicator as in the StuG and other vehicles, but the range is easily marked on the sight itself and is very easy to use.

You'll notice a circular series of bubbles with numbers on top of every other one.  Each number represents a range setting in hundreds of meters, so if you adjust your range so that the arrow located at the top of the sight is at the tenth bubble, you are ranged in for 1000 meters.  If you were to set it at the bubble between ten and eight, the range would be 900 meters.  For proper aiming make sure the target is at the top of the center triangle at the point.  This is where you round will land.  

Example

That being said, the gunsight is offset to the left of the main gun, so at close ranges you might find it necessary to adjust your aim so that targets are to the right of the triangle's point.  This is especially true of the coaxial machinegun, which is offset to the right of the main gun. Also, the ballistics for HE and AP ammunition is different, and small adjustments to the sight maybe be needed to insure accuracy when switching between the two.

The Tiger Ausf. E carries 46 armor-piercing, and 46 high-explosive rounds.  In addition, the Tiger has a coaxial MG-34 machinegun offset to the right of the main gun with 15 belts of 150 rounds each.  Penetration data in WWII Online is a closely guarded secret since a lot of research has been done at the expense of CRS.  However, the most common accepted information for gamers in recent history has been "WWII Ballistics - Armor and Gunnery" by Lorrin Rexford Bird and Robert D. Livingston.  They list the following data for the 88mm KwK 36 L / 56 gun firing against rolled homogenous armor plate:

Gunner's Internal View

Gunner's Gun-sight View (Minimum Magnification)

Gunner's Gun-sight View (Maximum Magnification)

Position 4 - Radio Operator

To augment the Tiger's anti-infantry capability the radio operator has a MG-34 at his position in a ball mounting with a 30 degree forward traverse.  This weapon is generally of limited use since you'll want to keep your Tiger well back from any close infantry fighting, but when multi-crewed the driver can use this weapon to guard the tank against forward infantry assaults.

The Radio Operator's View

Radio Operator's Gun-sight View

Position 5 - Loader

This position currently has no player function in this game.  He can be killed, although it does not affect the reload functions of the main gun.

The Loader's View

The Tiger in WWII Online Combat

The Tiger is the best tank the Axis will get in the early to mid war period, and will only be supplanted by the Panther in the mid to late war period (although the Panther will be superior in almost every respect).  It can easily deal with most Allied tanks at ranges up 1500 meters, and can still kill many at 2000 meters and beyond.  The heavy British Churchill tanks, particularly the Mk.VII, will probably be invulnerable from the front due to their 152mm of front armor.  The best bet for dealing with these beasts is to track them at extremely long range, leaving them in a field to rust, then getting out of their line of sight so they cannot do the same to you.

Based on CS&R the biggest ground-based killer of Tigers is sappers, but a smart Tiger player will stay well out of range of infantry combat.  Regardless, it still makes good sense to have friendly infantry around you, and you'll find that Axis players tend to gravitate towards the Tiger anyway.  Your second biggest threat comes from the M10 Wolverine, which is capable of knocking out a Tiger from the front at up to 800 meters, although they themselves can be easily destroyed by the Tiger's potent 88mm main gun at 1500 meters or greater.  Even the Tiger's side hull of 80mm is proof against many Allied weapons, but most 2nd generation anti-tank guns can kill you from any direction at close range as well.  The bottom line is that the Tiger needs to be far away from the fighting to be really effective, using its long range killing power as a sort of additional protection.  The Tiger is not invincible, but can be extremely powerful if well played.

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