Even the most casual tank enthusiast is familiar with the fearsome reputation of the German Tiger, lending its tech tree to be a popular choice for new entrants to World of Tanks. But while its real-life contemporary could boast a 10.0-19.0 KDR (that's Kill-Death-Ratio for those who don't understand gamer-bro speak), this will be a difficult statistic to replicate in-game thanks to the vagaries of game balance. Tiger I sits at Tier VII on the German tech tree headed towards Panzerkampfwagen E-100, which tier-for-tier pits this vehicle designed between 1938-1941 against vehicles that the British, American and Soviet armies fielded in response many years later. As fun as it might be to beat down on its chronological contemporaries at Tier IV-V, the game dictates that commanders of Tiger I park its reputation and play in line with its relative strength and weaknesses within the game's mechanics.
Survivability
Ironically the term "paper tiger" could not be truer of this tank, with the only armour of note found at the turret facing/mantlet combination and the sides. Although fashionable in 1941, the frontal armour profile comprising flat 100mm plate does not stand up to most forms of incoming fire and requires considerable angling to defeat incoming shells from sub-tier vehicles. The commanders cupola presents a weakspot of 80-100mm, and the 25mm thick roof plate can be easily overmatched by guns exceeding 75mm calibre (Note: The 3x Calibres rule means hitting a 25mm plate with a 76mm gun will result in an automatic penetration regardless of effective thickness encountered) and leaves the tank highly susceptible to damage from plunging fire or artillery.
The 80mm side armour makes Tiger I quite survivable when angling off hard cover, however its boxy construction means that bringing gun to bear exposes the rather wide and penetrable upper frontal plate. This can be adapted to in your playstyle, which we will detail further on in this article. Do beware of the plate above and parallel to your track however. At just 20mm thick it is easily overmatched especially when fighting from an elevated position.
Hull-down fighting is somewhat forgivable in the right situation thanks to the ~210mm protection offered by the gun mantlet. When the full 7° of gun depression can be utilised, the cupola and roof plates are hidden, and most same-tiered (and a few over-tiered) opponents will be forced to reach for the gold to have a chance of penetrating you.
Firepower
Although never actually fielded on Tiger I, World of Tanks provides the vehicle with the 8,8cm KwK 43 L/71 mod.Vlt which was historically mounted on Tiger II. Fortunately a game can conveniently ignore factors of geometry and weight distribution in order to ensure Tiger I's lacklustre armour is balanced out by a redeeming feature in firepower.
Hitting for 280HP every 7.48 seconds yields a base damage output of 2,246HP/min, which is the highest DPM (Damage per Minute) available to a Tier VII Heavy Tank. Shell penetration is on par with its contemporaries in the ~88-100mm calibre range, with Standard AP penetrating 203mm and Premium APCR penetrating 237mm.
Tiger I also carries the highest hit probability of a Tier VII Heavy Tank thanks to just 0.33m/100m dispersion when fully aimed, although the base aim time of 2.40s and base dynamic dispersion factors of moving, steering and turret traverse (0.20/0.20/0.12) will demand patience with shots taken at medium ranges and beyond.
Mobility
Despite weighing in at 55 tonnes, Tiger I is actually faster than most Tier VII Heavy Tanks, maintaining a sprightly 40km/hr top speed and the power-to-weight ratio to realise it under most battlefield conditions. Players fortunate enough to enjoy a top-tier advantage could use their combined DPM, HP and mobility to be the spearhead of a crushing breakthrough of enemy lines.
In most cases however, players will be operating in support and will need to leverage their mobility to follow up and keep their gun in the game as the team advances. There are other aspects to mobility that impacts Tiger I's performance however, with a slow traverse rate of both hull and turret limiting its effectiveness when engaged with even a relatively narrow crossfire.
Playstyles
As always, players should position to avoid being subjected to crossfire and endeavour to engage along one line of fire at a time. In Tiger I's case, this is due to the fairly weak hull armour as well as the relatively slow rate of turn of hull and turret that will impact your ability to rapidly lay gun on a new target.
In the early-mid game, Commanders would do well to wear the enemy down by using the 80mm side armour to bait incoming shells to bounce before engaging with the punchy 8,8cm. As demonstrated in the survivability section, baiting is very important because the flat and penetrable upper frontal plate will be exposed when Tiger I brings its gun to bear in most situations. Enemy vehicles on the reload are obviously much less of a threat, but don't expect them to hang around waiting for return fire. Accordingly when playing the game of "Bait, Bounce, Boom" you may not even be able to return fire immediately thanks to residual bloom from reversing into the firing line, however you can still sieze the initiative by pre-aiming the accurate KwK 43 where the assailants weakspots are likely to present. After a number of successful penetrations, Tiger I commanders can then make the call as to whether they leverage the Mobility and HP to break through a worn-down and out-DPMable enemy or whether the situation on-map demands a more reserved play.
History fans may be predisposed to using Tiger I to engage enemy vehicles at range, which the KwK 43 certainly facilitates, with the added benefit of using distance and concealment to supplement the poor hull armour. As discussed in the Survivability section, a shallow reverse slope will also greatly assist in the suppression of weakspots. This kind of playstyle also has the advantage of reserving your massive HP pool until the endgame, where you may be able to trade it down against damaged opponents that break through your team-mates and possibly generate a late-game carry. Don't expect to make friends when playing the redline camper, but when bottom-tiered or in an absence of hard cover you might have little choice in the matter. When top-tiered or same-tiered however, this kind of playstyle can waste the tank and leave your team-mates high and dry.
Stock Grind
Both the stock and intermediate guns carry over from VK 30.01 (H) and VK 36.01(H) respectively although there's really only one choice. While the 7,5cm KwK 42 L/70 has slightly better penetration and accuracy, its 135HP alpha is grossly inadequate for a Tier VII Heavy Tank. The 8,8cm KwK 38 L/56 hits for 220HP, and yields 18.5% more DPM for a marginal loss of precision and standard penetration. The 10,5cm KwK L/28 does not rate a mention as applied to Tiger I.
The 100mm facing of VK 36.01(H)'s turret was inadequate for Tier VI, so its utility deteriorates further when uptiered and presented as the stock turret on Tiger I. Aside from denying you the KwK 43 and the ability to play hull-down, the stock turret will force players to get used to the "Bait, Bounce, Boom" support playstyle characteristic of many German Heavies since it's the only way to leverage any useful armour on the stock tank. The poor accuracy of the KwK 36 and low punch of the KwK 42 are unsuitable for redline play, so you might as well get stuck in and at the very least force the enemy to waste a few shells on your well-angled side armour and try to gather some of that much-needed EXP in the process.
Improved Hardening is an essential piece of equipment in both the stock and peak configuration, and will enable players to mount both the Tiger Ausf. E turret and KwK 36 without upgrading the undercarriage. You'll still need to upgrade the undercarriage to access the KwK 43, but the stronger turret will give you the option to play hull-down as well as a welcome boost to resilience when shot in the face. (Bonus option for tankers who have already unlocked the top engine through a prior dalliance in G.W. Tiger on the German SPG line can also exercise some creative accounting by downgrading the radio to the lightweight FuG 5, which will free up enough weight to provide a helpful boost to engine power. You will have an extremely short radio range of 315m as a result however). Once the Tiger Ausf. E turret is unlocked and mounted, stock grinders should otherwise focus on unlocking the undercarriage so that they can progress to the top gun as quickly as possible. The true potential of Tiger I is not unleashed until the KwK 43 is unlocked.
Crew / Equipment
At the time of writing, I carried the following equipment: - Improved Hardening - Enhances the massive base 1,500HP by a further 10% for 1,650HP
- Gun Rammer - 10% improvement on excellent DPM (currently 2,609HP/min)
- Ventilation - Improvements to DPM, Aim Time and Base Dispersion
Opinions on the above may vary, therefore I note the following also make sensible choices: - Rotation Mechanism - Improves gun handling and enhances the slow hull/turret traverse
- Turbocharger - Enhanced mobility facilitates breakthrough or redeployment to hard cover
These alternatives would typically be taken in lieu of Ventilation, given that the Hardening and Rammer serve greatly in enabling you to out-DPM your opponents
With the essential 6th Sense skill now coming as standard, your choice of first skill mainly depends on how essential you feel Brothers in Arms is. If you don't want to stump up for skill resets, it's often best to play through BiA as your first skill due to having the lowest EXP requirement to grind through. If you'd rather make real improvements with every game, then the following skill progression would likely be more beneficial: - Commander - Recon > BiA > Repairs
- Gunner - Snap Shot > BiA > Repairs
- Driver - Smooth Ride > BiA > Clutch Braking
- Radioman - Sit.Awareness > BiA > Repairs - Loader - Intuition > BiA > Repairs
Gameplay
Our very first foray into YouTube featured Tiger I, coming away with an Ace Mastery thanks to 5K Combined Damage/Block/Assist while using the intermediate 8,8cm KwK 36 L/56
Five months later in its peak configuration, we managed another Ace Mastery while bottom-tiered against Tier VIII's with 5.5K Combined Damage/Block/Assist and 1,408 Base EXP
See Also
For an overview of other vehicles on the PanzerKampfwagen E 100 tech tree, please visit:
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