Tiger 1

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 that the German Army and Waffen-SS had to offer, making it by far one of the most feared and dangerous tanks of the war, and one of the most famous tanks of all time. 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.

The Tiger I was also the source of the mechanical catastrophe that was the Ferdinand/Elefant tank destroyer, an ill-conceived machine born when Ferdinand Porsche's prototype design for the Tiger got rejected in favor of Henschel's.

Mid War

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 pretty damn 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 were 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's 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 it was found that the Panzer III had insufficient performance against the French Char 1B battle tanks 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.

Speed forward to Operation Barbarossa, where the German high command learned that their master race tanks were worthless against the T-34 and the KV-1. Thus, the Tiger I was rushed into service, chosen in preference to Porsche's shitty Ferdinand design. The Tiger was rushed into service, both in Africa and on the Eastern front. The Tiger earned fame in both theaters, resulting in the western allies throwing better guns into their existing vehicles, and the Soviets logically deciding to try to just build their own bigger and better tanks.

The Tiger was an absolute unit, being immune to all but the most powerful AT weapons, with close air support and artillery being the most efficient way to kill them save hoping a bigger tank or weapon is nearby. It had an 88mm KWK 36 at gun, which could kill most operational tanks during the war, and the addition of several MG 34s were effective deterrents to infantry rushes.

In spite of all this, the Tiger had its flaws. It was super heavy, prone to mechanical problems, and guzzled gas. Therefore, its greatest enemies were long distances, bridges, and breakdowns. It also had a massive profile, and failed to incorporate the advantages of sloped armor into its design. This made it vulnerable to more advanced AT guns. Compounding this, its large size made it target practice for Ground attack aircraft and dedicated field artillery. It was also expensive, costing 250,000 Reichmarks to build. In contrast, a Panzer IV cost 117,000 and a Panther cost 144,000.

In spite of these terrible shortcomings, the Tiger earned it's 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. For this reason they were kept on until the end of the war.

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.

It spawned a spinoff design, the Sturmtiger, which is 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.

Also, it’s 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.

Because it was such a high-priority target for the Allies and its builders lost the war, very few Tiger I tanks survived and many more models of it exist than were ever actually produced. Two Tiger I's were captured by the Free French and actually used against their makers, and they survived the war to live out their days at a French armored museum. The last Tiger I that still runs is a Mid War-type with turret number 131. It was captured by the Allies in North Africa and taken to Britain for evaluation. Today it is owned and maintained by the Bovington Tank Museum, and appeared in the 2014 American war film Fury, albeit with a Waffen-SS crew in 1945 Germany, instead of the Heer crew that actually used it in 1942 North Africa.