There are now three German Tier X heavy tanks coming off two lines. Let's have a look at one of the oldest and possibly one of the most popular ones - the E-100 via the Tiger line.
We'll skip Tier I through III because these tanks are, for the most part, OK. There is a natural progression from through the various lines and the tanks themselves are reasonably accurate. We'll also be going via the Durchbruchswagen 2; we'll visit the Panzer IV line another time.
Tier IV - DW2/VK30.01H
Currently, a single tier separates these two tanks that have the same armour profile, similar visual appearance, and similar tier-for-tier mobility. Really the only difference between the two is the turret and gun choice. Why is that?
A quick root around reveals
this excellent article by SilentStalker that answers it quite clearly: they're the same tank at different stages of development.
This isn't the only instance of a single tank being split to two tiers...
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| Oh look, a T28! |
...but it's hardly an
ideal solution. Nor would the gun selection of the Waffe 0725 really make a lot of sense, as this gun was designed for a later tank.
Solution: merge these into one tank. At Tier IV, the armour is sufficient to introduce the heavy-tank playstyle. We'll keep the mobility of the DW2 as it is closer to "accurate" and allows for a play style similar to higher-tier German heavies. We can introduce the 75 mm L/43 gun to give the tank some much-needed firepower and give it a bit more chance against Tier VI opponents.
Tier V - VK36.01H
I actually really enjoyed playing this tank; it's very competitive at Tier VI especially using the Waffe 0725. The problem is in this tank's mobility...a top speed of 50.5 KPH is silly and seems to be a holdover from the days this was a medium tank. Fully upgraded, this tank is better overall in most parameters than Tiger 131 or HT No. VI, the "historical" tigers. That doesn't make sense for a prototype
that was barely developed..
Solution: The first and most notable nerf we'd need to bring this to Tier V is a downgrade on the top speed to around 30 to 40 KPH. Adjustments to its terrain resistances can be used to further reduce the mobility performance. The 100 mm of frontal armour is very strong for this tier but is very flat and riddled with weak spots meaning that most opponents will have a chance if they can get close enough. The gun selection can be brought down to three: the 75 mm l/24, the 105 mm L/28 and the Waffe 0725. What you now have is either a Tier V KV-2 playing peek-a-boom derp, or a Tier V Tiger playing the mid-range battled depending on the gun you mount.
Tier VI - Tiger
It says a lot that the "historical" setups of the Tiger were both introduced at Tier VI, where the armour and 88mm L/56 both have a bit of relevance. The current Tier VII Tiger meanwhile is outclassed by most equal and higher-tier opponents, and is overall has a fairly high skill ceiling in order to maximise the powerful gun against the lackluster armour and mediocre mobility.
It's also worth mentioning that the Tiger was developed as a response to the T-34 and KV-1, and that the IS in turn was a response to the Tiger. Logically, shouldn't the Tiger sit at a tier between the Soviet tanks?
Solution: The issue here is one of gun selection more than anything else. Simply bringing the tech tree Tiger in line with its historical counterparts will be a huge boost for those playing this line. Remove the 88mm L/71 - it was only ever a planned upgrade that never happened.
Incidentally, Tiger I mit 88mm L/71 fits our criteria for a premium tank.
Tier VII - Tiger II
The 10.5 cm L/68 is one of those "what-if" guns that never really happened. It was planned and proposed, but never mounted in the Königstiger. See above what I think about paper guns on real tanks.
What a lot of people don't realise is that there is a more historical Tiger II in the game...the
VK45.03. Yes, Wargaming has for whatever reason called it a "Tiger III" prototype when in actuality it was the Tiger II prototype
Solution: Pretty straightforward, really. WG already have an accurate Tiger II in game to model off of. Make the Tiger II 105 a Tier VIII premium if you really must.
Tier VIII - Löwe
Here is where things get a bit tricky. Between the Tiger II and the E100/Maus, German heavy tank design descends into a swamp of paper tanks and prototypes. In a sense this is a blessing for a game designer - it allows for a bit more "creativity" when it comes to balancing. From a historical point of view? Ugh.
The proposed Panzer VII actually sits in three places in WoT at the moment - there's the Tier VIII premium we all know and love, and the two variants of the rear-mounted VK72 project at Tier X. We actually have a good branch-off possibility here to go to/from the rear-mounted turret Heavy Tank line.
Solution: Introduce two Löwe variants at Tier 8, a mid-turreted version to replace the current Tiger II and a rear-turreted version to replace the VK45.02A (we'll come back to this one another day). To differentiate from the current premium Löwe the tech tree version can trade armour protection for mobility. Or a more historically accurate solution would be to replace the premium Löwe with the above mentioned Tiger II 105, though from a business/profit standpoint WG would stand to lose out on that trade.
Tier IX & Tier X - E 75 & E 100
We are now entirely in the realm of pure paper projects, which is a real problem for any sort of historical accuracy. Things like mobility and armour protection are completely theoretical, and determining firepower is a question of "what
couldn't it mount"?
With these tanks we know they were meant to be better than their production equivalents (the Tiger II and Maus) but also simplified to use the same parts. Applying that logic we could argue that weapons planned for the Tiger II could be mounted on the E 75, and the Maus turret could be slapped on the E 100. For the E 75 this poses a serious restriction - we're talking what is at best Tier 8 firepower on a Tier 9 heavy tank.
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| Stock gun problems |
Solution: The E 75 will have to lose the top 128mm gun. An argument can be made, however, for keeping the 105mm L/68. While the alpha is a bit low for a Tier 9 heavy, this can easily be compensated for via gun handling. After all, the E 75 was more efficient design than the Tiger II, surely that translated into better crew ergonomics?
The E 100 is "fine" enough. The only possible change would be to add the option of the Maus turret, which would give the option of two distinct playstyles at Tier X
In Conclusion
The main issue with this branch is unhistorical uptiering; tanks are placed at the wrong tier to begin with meaning they then have to be buffed to unhistorical/paper levels to make them competitive. I propose a general "nerf" of sorts instead - after all, if you keep balancing stuff by only buffing it, all you get is unmitigated power creep (I'm looking at you, current Maus and Type 5 Heavy).
