Tiger 1

"When a man wants to murder a tiger, he calls it sport. When a tiger wants to murder him, he calls it ferocity."

– George Bernard Shaw.

"They'reeeeeeee wundervar!"

The Tiger I, aka the Panzerkampwagen VI Ausf. E was a German heavy tank during WWII. When most people hear about German Tanks during WWII, this beast is usually what comes to mind first. A 54-tonne brick shithouse packing a massive 88mm cannon, it could be a nightmare for allied tanks to face. It was also expensive, ponderous, and had a lot of mechanical issues, but its crews were the handpicked best of the German Army, making it by far one of the most feared and dangerous tanks of the war. Its reputation and numbers were both a bit overestimated at the time and since, but that hasn't stopped virtually every video game, film, or wargame that even mentions Nazi Germany from bringing the Tiger I out to wreak some havoc.

Mid War

TIGER UPPERCUT, TIGER SHOT.

This is where the Tiger I really stands out in all its glory. Developed because Hitler got pissed off that the Soviets were beating everything his forces had with the T-34, the Mid War Tiger I is able to play Godzilla pretty thoroughly. Few, if any wargamers will be looking to let you play Giant Lizard with impunity, however, and the Tiger I costs a ton of points and is kinda slow. It can fight extremely well, but it isn't invincible at all.

Late War

True Late War Tiger I tanks are distinguished by their Zimmerit anti-magnetic coating, giving the tank a rougher surface appearance. A different, lower-profile cupola was also used. By the Late War period the Axis was losing badly, so Tiger I tanks will be facing vastly more numerous forces that have tank designs getting better by the day and Allied air power racing all over the countryside. The Tiger I remains slow, expensive, and difficult to maneuver, meaning its chances of getting disabled by one problem or another are excellent, but that 88mm cannon can knock out anything the Allies can send.

Mid War-type Tiger I tanks still existed by 1944-1945, obviously, so a model of one of those can be fielded just the same. There is no real substantial difference between them, with both having the same major upsides and downsides. You see, there are two sides to every Panzer...

Tiger I's are available in Late War as part of the Heer (Army) or the Waffen-SS. One of the most famous Late War examples of this mighty beast is the one commanded by Michael Wittmann of the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion, one of only a few German armor units lucky enough to get the Tiger in significant quantity. Wittmann is one of the Tiger I's most famed commanders, best known for his Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords and his destruction of a British mechanized/armored column at Villers-Bocage in summer 1944. Battlefront Miniatures made a special-issue Tiger I/Schwimmwagen set (GBX16) to allow FoW players to field Wittmann's Tiger, but any Late War-type Tiger I will do for players looking to put Wittmann into the battle.

IRL

The Tiger I was developed after the Battle of France after the Germans were forced to acknowledge that their early war Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs had insufficient performance against their heavier enemies, the French Char 1B and the British Matilda. Flashback to 1937, where several German arms firms were working on ideas for a heavy tank. This is the earliest origins of the Tiger I. Still, with France folding like wet cardboard and Operation Seelöwe nothing but a fevered dream, not much was done until one year later.

Speed forward to Operation Barbarossa, where the German High Command learned that their master race tanks were pretty much useless against the Russian T-34s and KV-1s. Thus the Henschel design that would become the Tiger I was pushed forward at breakneck speed, chosen in preference to Porsche's shitty Ferdinand design.

On the battlefield in late 1942 and early 1943, the Tiger was an absolute beast: sporting an 88mm KwK 36 gun which could kill most operational tanks during the war at ranges far outside them being a threat, and several MG-34s as effective deterrents to infantry rushes. It was the uncontested master of long-range engagements and a very serious threat in brawls. Despite weighing over 50 tons mobility was okay-ish: a Tiger could keep up with the smaller Pz. IIIs and IVs when a big push was needed. Due to its strong armor it was all but immune to enemy return fire, except either at point-blank range or from the most powerful AT weapons. Early on, close air support and artillery bombardment were the most 'efficient' way to kill them, especially if they hung back and could take advantage of their 'acht-acht's' impressive range to ravage the opposition with impunity.

It’s also worth noting that the Tiger I was only given to experienced crews who knew what they were doing, not to mention they had the Tigerfibel, a satirical instruction manual that told crews how to operate and handle the tank so it doesn’t break down. So generally, Tiger Is were only reserved for the best tank crews. Which goes to show why most German tank aces were driving Tigers.

In spite of all this, the Tiger had more than its fair share of flaws: 50 tons meant they were hard to move around by train, small bridges would collapse under them, and it put a massive strain on the engine, transmission and overly intricate drivetrain, making them prone to frequent mechanical breakdowns and requiring constant heavy maintenance. Add to that, the Maybach HL210 engine was underpowered for the Tiger's weight, meaning it didn't merely drink (hard to obtain) gas: it guzzled it like a Space Wolf with a barrel of mjod and made the logistics of keeping them supplied hell. Therefore, its greatest enemies were long distances, bridges, and breakdowns. It also had a massive profile, and was a metal box that failed to incorporate the advantages of sloped armor into its design (in spite of how Jerry had seen plenty of T-34s leading up to this point), which made it vulnerable to more advanced AT guns. Compounding this, its large size made it target practice for CAS aircraft and dedicated field artillery. It was also expensive, costing 250,000 Reichsmarks to build. In contrast, a Panzer IV cost 117,000 RM and a Panther cost 144,000 RM.

In spite of these terrible shortcomings, the Tiger earned a reputation as a terribly effective weapon if deployed in the right place. In one case, a single Tiger took on a fuckload of Shermans and knocked all of them out of action with minimal damage sustained. Even the simple rumour of a platoon of Tigers operating somewhere got both the Russians and Western allies to bomb the everloving shit out of the zone they were suspected to be in. Just in case.

Interestingly, the designers of the tank were acutely aware of the fact that it was too heavy. So as a possible solution, the vehicle was designed with the ability to ford relatively shallow waters in which the entire vehicle is submerged, with a snorkel system feeding air to the engine and the entire crew compartment being sealed. The complexity of this system meant that it was abandoned shortly after the first tanks rolled off the assembly lines in order to get them to the front faster, but it was incredibly interesting nonetheless.

Being in such high demand in the field, the Tiger 1 spawned only a single spinoff design: the Sturmtiger. A personal favorite of Hitler, it was functionally a Vindicator that shot big fuckoff rockets and had so much frontal armor that even a Baneblade would tip its hat to it. It was primarily used as a heavy siege vehicle against pesky defensive structures like pillboxes, or to cause collective existence failures to Communist IS-2s and KV-1s. However, investing resources into an offensive weapon when forced on the defensive was not a good idea; and ultimately the Sturmtiger was as impressive when seen in action as it was pretty much useless to the overall war effort.

By 1944, Tiger production was phased out in favor of its even bigger and more expensive brother, the Tiger II.