IS-2 vs Tiger II: Fair Fight?

[Cocoflash]

I have personally grinded for an IS-2, and 80% of my games are against Tiger II's. The Tiger I fares like the Pershing, fairly balanced with weak spots for the trained eye or the un-angled tank. Now for the comparison of the IS-2 and the Tiger II on the other hand...(these stats are based purely on experience,no looking into the game files etc, this is simply the result of practical application):

122mm vs Tiger II Armor:
The Tiger II is virtually impenetrable from the front. Its front sloped armor is impregnable in most circumstances to the default 122mm ammunition, with the rare exception of a well placed round into badly angled armor (on am uphill/downhill slope). When facing head on, the sloped armor is almost never penetrated. Of the dozen major tank battles I've faced against Tiger II's, around the same number have managed to penetrate the front armor of the Tiger.

122mm vs Tiger II Turret:
In theory 122mm rounds could penetrate the front turret armor of the Tiger II, with a penetrating value and armor both resting at 150mm. However, in application, almost never have circumstances allowed the 122mm round to pierce. If either turret faces each other at even the slightest angle, the 122mm round cannot pierce. If the Tiger II is smart, it faces the tank slightly away as it reloads, making it completely impenetrable from the front.

88mm vs Tiger II:
The main gun of the Tiger II, surprisingly, fires slightly slower than the Tiger II (A fact I learned from a stolen Tiger) the 88mm gun is able to do what the IS-2 cannot, penetrate the front armor of the Tiger II. Upon stealing the Tiger II I was attacked by its original owner, wher I began to target the usual weak spots of the tank. We were both able to penetrate each other, with the number of glancing shots equivalent to those faced in Medium Tank battles.


IS-2 Engine vs Tiger II Engine:
The IS-2 has spectacular acceleration for a heavy tank in H&G, being able to quickly reverse or drive away from AT infantry trying to place a sticky grenade on your tank, only to quickly swap to the rear gunner seat and shoot him. The Tiger II on the other hand has sluggish performance, with reverse speed being almost non-existant and acceleration being average at best.

Overall Experience & Conclusion:
In a comparison between the Tiger II and the IS-2 the Tiger II is simply... a heavier tank. It fires slower, moves sluggishly and has a below average top speed. However, it has superior penetration (With both guns fired at the same armor with different effects) and heavier armor (Impenetrable by all practical applications from the front).
The IS-2 on the other hand has the advantage of superior acceleration, superior rate of fire, rear facing machine gun and an average top speed. However, being able to fire faster doesn't mean anything if the shots don't mean anything either. The rate of fire is only slightly faster, a fraction of a second so, and the acceleration cannot save you from an infantryman if he is right next to your tank, H3 in hand.

But as all tankers know. Every. Single. Tank is trumped by infantry, even the Tiger II. If ANY tank is left unprotected or isn't wary of infantry, 99% of the time a player is going to ram a jeep into his side and blow him up. Despite all of the Tiger II's superiority over the IS-2, it is a write off if found within 20m of an enemy with AT grenades.

Overall, based on my experience of Tiger II's and IS-2s (Feel free to add your own), I beleive the frontal armor of the Tiger II must be made, even if only slightly, weaker. Just make it realisticly possible to penetrate its front and I'm happy, I'm up for a challange. As well as an overhaul and balance to the Tank vs Infantry system, with Tiger II's skiddadling away from an infantryman in a jeep using a hand held grenade.

[OstWind]

IS2 weak spot from front is cheeks it got literally no armor

[TwinuX]

KT's 88mm has a base reload time of 5.5s, base damage of 1500-1700 with AP and 142-162mm pen.
IS2's 122mm has a base reload time of 6s, base damage of 1955-2300 with AP and 158-178mm pen.

KT APCR deals the same damage as AP at close range, and 228-248mm pen, but has harsher damage and pen falloff, so the practical damage is lower than AP after 10m, and the practical pen is lower than AP after about 500m.

IS2 APHE deals reduced short-range damage, at 1837-2089, but increases pen to 195-212mm, and has the same falloff values as basic AP, so it ends up penetrating more than KT at medium/long range.

Despite the rate of fire disadvantage, IS2 has significantly better DPM than Tiger at any range, when using either ammo. With good position and angling, IS2 has the advantage in most fights.

[Furor Teutonicus]

IS2 has just the best dmg ratio. Ur doing something completly wrong.

[Cocoflash]

In my defence, I posted this back in 2015 bruvs. My original post got necro'd
These were the stat's before the major armour overhall when they added modules

[TwinuX]

didn't even notice, lmao.
Yeah, 2015 KT vs IS2 balance is a bit different from 2022

[TLM.Hades]

I'll close this topic to avoid confusion. Feel free to create a new one about the same topic.