Age of Tanks “Netflix”

[Story]

Meanwhile
Germany unveils Panther main battle tank named after famed WWII-era vehicle (rmx.news)

 

[DakTo]

Germany should have worked on product improvement for the Tiger 1 and the Panther to make them more reliable.

All those other heavy tanks like them the Elephant and the Ferdinand were not needed.

Faster, more mobile tanks with the 88mm gun would have got the job done.

Those, combined with a bunch of Sturmgeschutz 3, Jagdpanthers and other low profile tank destroyers
would have given the Russians a tough time.

The initial issue with the Panther D and the Tiger I was they were rushed into service and experienced break downs in the Russian front. The Panther A, G & F were vast improvements, I have yet to find why Panther model D was the first production and the second was A. The Tiger I A also had teething issues and Tiger I E was a greater improvement. Both panzers could defeat anything the allies fielded against them and form a distance. Keep in mind to mount heaver guns meant slower panzer models.
The 88mm assault gun Panzerjager Elephant (Ferdinand named after it designer) was built on unused Porsche Tiger I chassis which competed with the selected production Henschel Tiger I model. The Porsche Elephant lacked a machine gun for close fighting and was first seen during the battle of Kursk. It also served in Italy with a machine gun installed for the radio operator.

The Sturmgeschutz III & IV were built in the respective former tank chassis kept in production as tank hunters in separate units and were also replacements for Panzer IV units lost in combat. The Panzer IV Jagdpanzer was a pure tank hunter and both models had effective 75 mm cannon. The Czech Skoda built Hetzer with a 75 mm cannon was also a PITA for the American Sherman tank as it small profile and size could easily ambush allies tanks.
There were many other German variations of tank hunters like the Hunting Panther and Hunting Tiger II and smaller Martins series mounting 75 & captured 76 mm guns. Not much went to waste in the German Army.

 

[moonbat60]

The initial issue with the Panther D and the Tiger I was they were rushed into service and experienced break downs in the Russian front. The Panther A, G & F were vast improvements, I have yet to find why Panther model D was the first production and the second was A. The Tiger I A also had teething issues and Tiger I E was a greater improvement. Both panzers could defeat anything the allies fielded against them and form a distance. Keep in mind to mount heaver guns meant slower panzer models.
The 88mm assault gun Panzerjager Elephant (Ferdinand named after it designer) was built on unused Porsche Tiger I chassis which competed with the selected production Henschel Tiger I model. The Porsche Elephant lacked a machine gun for close fighting and was first seen during the battle of Kursk. It also served in Italy with a machine gun installed for the radio operator.

The Sturmgeschutz III & IV were built in the respective former tank chassis kept in production as tank hunters in separate units and were also replacements for Panzer IV units lost in combat. The Panzer IV Jagdpanzer was a pure tank hunter and both models had effective 75 mm cannon. The Czech Skoda built Hetzer with a 75 mm cannon was also a PITA for the American Sherman tank as it small profile and size could easily ambush allies tanks.
There were many other German variations of tank hunters like the Hunting Panther and Hunting Tiger II and smaller Martins series mounting 75 & captured 76 mm guns. Not much went to waste in the German Army.

You are right.

The Germans back then made a bunch of mistakes..........one being relying too much on heavy or superheavy tanks and tank destroyers.

First, technology back then was not up to power such monsters effectively, and I'm speaking of engines, clutches, transmissions and suspensions.
For those reasons the Germans could not win the tank battles, especially not on the Eastern Front against masses of Russian T-34's.

The Germans would have been best off working on the Panther and Tiger I instead of trying to develop superheavy tanks like the Maus.

An upgraded Tiger I would have been a solution for many more years to come, turned out in quantities 10 more times what was in production.

Make the Tiger I faster, more reliable and more in quantity.

Not much else needed, besides close air support by the Luftwaffe. Goering was a failure, they should have retired him after the Battle of Britain.

 

[DakTo]

Entering 1944 the Germans were in the defensive and much of their new armor was defensive in nature and the Panther and Tigers I & II stayed in production as both offensive and defensive weapons. The Panzers I, II. III. IV (30 ton) and 34 & 38(T) Skoda's rolled themselves across the eastern front for two years. In 1943 the new Panthers V and Tigers VI had to be transported to the battlefield and the Tigers outer track cleats had to be removed for the Tiger to properly fit on the rail flat cars. The later Tiger II and Hunting Tiger II (120 mm cannon) top speed was 25 mph. I think the Panther was a better tank than the Tigers as it was faster and could maneuver better and could equally knock out any allied armor. The Tiger was up armored better than the Panther and received much of the accolades from the US Army as its first appearance scared the shit out of them in Tunisia.
The German thought process with armor in 1943 was to up gun armor and at the same time increase the thickness of the protective armor which led to less mobility. The theory played the same role with the BF109 Messerschmitt as when they up gunned and up armored the model G series it was a wonder it could even fly properly in a dogfight. .