What is the point of German tanks?

[Ragnarok]

Im playing realistic battles and im noticing alot.

Every tank in the game can snipe. Accuracy stats are non existant as everything can snipe and generally, everything is very easy to pen, minus the kv-1 and jumbo.

Im playing the 8.8 flak truck im extremely immobile, everything pens me((Thats fine)), my gun still bounces off of jumbos despite being supposedly good in matches with tigers, the gun depression is generally crap.

Yet im watching the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ fire fly sit behind a rock with its amazing gun and depression and annihlate my team. Yet I cant do much of anything without dying.

Then we have the t-34 tanks with their amazing low profile and the ability to blend into the environment. I had a t-34 as green as the grass and bushes and I missed over in the binocs cause it looked like part of the environment when sitting still. And while this happens, my bright grey tall ass water tower german tanks are seen a mile away while I struggle to see someone poking out with their amazing profiles and im annihlated.

Im honestly having a hard time trying to figure why im playing a german tank. Maybe its cause im not playing with the Tiger/Panther, but its glaring right now how weak I feel with German tanks.

Oh and heres a kicker. I bought the Churchill 3((The german one)) and its a beast.

[kamikazi21358]

Rank 1-3, Germany’s main advantage is just firepower — as for example the Pz IV F2 has average armor, but it’s armor is ignored in return for ignoring armor.

Some exceptions would be the Panzer III line, perhaps you should try that as you may like it. To a similar point in the case mate tank destroyer line — average mobility, but both good armor and good gun, in return for not having a turret.

Any tank can snipe, but German tanks can do it better. Their shell drop is lower, their APCBC retains better range penetration (or HEAT if using 7.5cm L/24s), etc.

German tanks are poor to the newer and lesser skilled, extremely good to those who get used to them and/or know how to use them.


As for the Jumbo, it’s probably the most debated tank in the game — don’t feel bad, it’s overpowered.

[DrDaft]

see german tanks as glass cannons, average speed ♥♥♥♥ armor but amazing guns and ammo,

Pz IV/F2 you should be able to pen all T-34 in the front easily now KV-1 just aim for hatch or under ring turret which is easy cause of the long neck but i do see your point and i do feel it as well

but then i started playing british tanks and FML they have it worse off trust me

[kamikazi21358]

I love British Rank 1-3
;(

[kamikazi21358]

Originally posted by kymsheba:

if this game was anywhere near accurate NOTHING should bounce an 88mm Flak Gun shell.

Not necessarily true, this isn’t the history channel. But most WW2 vehicles should be weak to it.

[Dakota]

If you're talking about the flak truck, that thing gives up its mobility and armor (though not quite its durability unless someone fires big HE or HEAT at you) but gets a rapid fire 88 at 4.0, though that said it has less pen than the Tiger I yet also more filler. If you want gun depression on it that's good you have to aim to your sides or rear, the cab of the truck gets in the way otherwise. The trick to playing it is to have your cab behind a wall or other cover while only sticking the rear portion of the vehicle out so you can still shoot everything but they can't kill you in one shot aside from hullbreak.

Main advantage of it tends to be its reload that is the same as a Sherman firing a short 75 except its an 88.


Also, while accuracy stats aren't some thing that artificially nerfs a tank, velocity stats are a thing. Guns with lower velocity tend to be harder to aim with in general due to higher velocity guns having a higher margin of error when firing in which you can still hit your opponent.

EDIT: also the german Churchill is a hidden monster at its BR, very good armor when angled up and the gun is decent though not as likely to oneshot everything like one of the Panzer IVs. It seems as if you just would prefer a more armored tank, if that's the case then you'll like germany as you go up the tiers. Early tiers for armored german tanks you should go for the tank destroyers on the right hand side of the tree, starting at 4.7 they are pretty well armored for their BRs, after that go on up to 5.7 and have the Tiger I and Panther, Tiger I is great if you angle it, Panther has great frontal armor, both have exceptional guns. Once you get up to 6.7 you have a Tiger II H which is absolutely dominant at its own BR, though many people will complain about uptiers in them since they go from invulnerable to easy to pen with a full 1.0 uptiering.

[The Bone Zone]

Originally posted by kymsheba:

this game is so buggy, weird mechanics etc....

if this game was anywhere near accurate NOTHING should bounce an 88mm Flak Gun shell.

exactly, not like the jumbo was made with the 88 gun in mind(not the long 88) or something like that....

[Kay]

Originally posted by kymsheba:

this game is so buggy, weird mechanics etc....

if this game was anywhere near accurate NOTHING should bounce an 88mm Flak Gun shell.

The Churchill Mk.VII should be (and is) frontally immune to it.

Same with the Jumbo, historically those could resist fire from Tigers (which use the KwK 36, a better gun than the Flak 88)

[Izpak]

Small nitpick in regards to the Firefly's "amazing gun and depression"
Sure it may have 10 degrees of depression but it's on a sherman hull which is quite tall. Making the depression handle like you only have about 5 degrees. Unlike the lower chassis of the Pz IVs with their 10 degrees of depression.

[kamikazi21358]

I thought the Firefly only had 8 degreees?

Anyways, not to skip that the Cromwell has 12...

[Izpak]

Originally posted by kamikazi21358:

I thought the Firefly only had 8 degreees?

Anyways, not to skip that the Cromwell has 12...

I couldn't remember off the top of my head so I looked at the wiki, could still be wrong though. Shame they dont share the depression of the Matilda with 20 degrees

[acepilotbuck25]

Originally posted by Barneys Had Enough Of You.:

Im playing realistic battles and im noticing alot.

Every tank in the game can snipe. Accuracy stats are non existant as everything can snipe and generally, everything is very easy to pen, minus the kv-1 and jumbo.

Im playing the 8.8 flak truck im extremely immobile, everything pens me((Thats fine)), my gun still bounces off of jumbos despite being supposedly good in matches with tigers, the gun depression is generally crap.

Yet im watching the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ fire fly sit behind a rock with its amazing gun and depression and annihlate my team. Yet I cant do much of anything without dying.

Then we have the t-34 tanks with their amazing low profile and the ability to blend into the environment. I had a t-34 as green as the grass and bushes and I missed over in the binocs cause it looked like part of the environment when sitting still. And while this happens, my bright grey tall♥♥♥♥♥water tower german tanks are seen a mile away while I struggle to see someone poking out with their amazing profiles and im annihlated.

Im honestly having a hard time trying to figure why im playing a german tank. Maybe its cause im not playing with the Tiger/Panther, but its glaring right now how weak I feel with German tanks.

Oh and heres a kicker. I bought the Churchill 3((The german one)) and its a beast.

I found Germany far better than bad to useless USA.
Guns are far better and shoot far more straight.
Try shooting a T20 or Jumbo gun it's like lobbing a softball!
Then you swith to a T34 and it shoots all the way across the map perfectly straight.
Panzer and Panther guns too. They're fantastic compared to what USA gets.

IMO Germany is not the best, Russia is the best by pretty far, but Germany is close second, and USA is deinitely last, after Brittain and France.

[kamikazi21358]

I THINK it’s 8 degrees, however the comet, Cromwell, and all the Cromwell/Centaur based tanks I believe are 12 degrees.


Since we’re talking about the F2, I personally think the Cromwell Mk.V is actually the best 3.3.

-Fast, fastest 3.3.
-75mm gun that kills most everything except for very heavy tanks, the 7.5cm L/43 is overkill.
-solid shot does more pinpoint sledgehammer like damage, in return for not exploding.
-like 60-70 some mm of armour, better than F2.
-12 degrees of depression.

Meanwhile the F2:
-average speed,
-special ability is it ignores armour, in return for having it’s armour ignored.

Which in a 1v1 with a Cromwell, I will take the Cromwell, since it is way faster, better rate of fire, 75mm is 1-2 hit kill regardless of solid shot, meanwhile the F2 ignores it’s armour, which wasn’t much to begin with, and it gets slapped by the 75mm easily.

[acepilotbuck25]

I find the Panzer 4 F2 by far the best tank for it's BR.
Good mobility and guaranteed one shot kill on anything you face from any angle.
No aim required.

[Dakota]

Just want to point out that with the Churchill its only 12 degrees of depression when looking forward, if you're angled like you should be it can't aim down that far because the tracks get in the way, at which point the gun depression is terrible.

[DarkFenix]

Originally posted by kymsheba:

Originally posted by Ki'agh:

The Churchill Mk.VII should be (and is) frontally immune to it.

Same with the Jumbo, historically those could resist fire from Tigers (which use the KwK 36, a better gun than the Flak 88)

there is NOT one single battle report saying they survived an 88mm FLAK shell they were all destroyed.

The 88mm of the tigers is a MODIFIED version of the FLAK gun, not as deadly as the FLAK gun but still extremely formidable the 88mm tiger guns were BASED on the FLAK gun but not the same, You could NOT fit a 88mm FLAK gun into a tank without heavily modifying it.

What people are forgetting or don't know is that a 88mm FLAK GUN was unstoppable it is NOT the same gun as that on the Tiger it is bigger and more powerful than the tank version 88mm.

So once again NO TANK was able to resisit an 88mm FLAK GUN shell.

You seem to have the typical Wehraboo's understanding of history. That is to say none whatsoever.

The KwK 36 was modified from the Flak 36 only in how bulky it was, the KwK was redesigned specifically to fit into the turret of a tank. The two guns shared identical ammunition and ballistic characteristics. And from tests they were both capable of (with APHE) penetrating 120mm sloped 30 from vertical at 100m, 110mm at 500m, 100mm at 1km. Quite self evidently, from normal engagement ranges that's never going to go through the front of a Jumbo, even at 100m it's going to be iffy as the Jumbo has 101mm sloped at 56 degrees from vertical.

Or to summarise for you, the Flak 36 was not some kind of God-cannon, it was in practical terms no different to the KwK 36, and was not even especially difficult to protect against.