"Heavyweights — The Monster Super Tanks of World War Two" Topic

"To understand how unprepared the armies of the Second World War were for the scope and nature of the coming conflict, one need look no further than the tanks that rolled into battle in 1939. Small, thinly armoured and under-gunned, the first tanks of World War Two were light-weights when compared to the lumbering beasts that would lurch off production lines within a few short years. Consider the Panzer II – the backbone of Germany's tank corps for the invasions of Poland and France. The 16-foot long light tank carried a paltry 20 mm main gun and weighed in at a measly 9 tons. Within four years, Germany would be developing tanks like the Panzer VII aka the Tiger II – a comparative monster that weighed nearly 70 tons — more than seven times as heavy as a Panzer II. Also known as the King Tiger, the Panzer VII carried a 88mm main gun, had a crew of five and was protected by up to 18 cm (more than half a foot) of armour plating in places. A true giant, the Tiger II would have been dwarfed by even larger tanks had the war lasted long enough. Here are a few of the super tanks that were in the works…"
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Amicalement
Armand

The KT was about the limit of WW2 tech really. Look at the Jagdtiger for example, it couldn't turn in place for fear of stripping its tracks, which is a big disadvantage for a limited traverse tank destroyer.
Overstressed engines and transmissions would have made these thinsg dead in the water.

Ridiculous that they wasted time, money and materials on what were essentially slightly mobile jabo targets.

I agree with Mr. Melvin, and will only add that German designs at the end of the war were even more absurdly grandiose, culminating in this leviathan:

link

And of course someone (Forged in Battle) makes it in 15mm:

Who has not designed similar tanks when we were 10 years old?

the first time i remember getting a note book of graf paper i came up with a tank like the ratt. i think i was 6…

The Tiger II was not the 'Panzer VII'.

The Tiger II was not the 'Panzer VII'.

Entirely correct. The Panzer VII was one of the paper-panzers (the Lowe I believe). Tiger II was technically VIB but I don't recall it ever being refered to as such.

Yes, the Panzer VII would have been the Lowe[Lion]

… Combat Group Dynamix makes one in 1/144 – link Go to the Wehrmacht '46 link … Would love to see a 6mm Maus. Not from Shapeways – too expensive ! Some one here says his company is going to make one … still waiting … GHQ also makes a bunch of proposed tanks in 1/285th in their Wehrmacht '47 line … but no Lowe or Maus – link

DOH !!!! Got my animals confused … I'd like to see a 6mm RATTE. And GHQ has a Maus … but no RATTE …

I've never understood why the Germans kept designing these things even after they decisively lost air superiority. Wasn't it obvious that all it would take would be one air attack and the giant would be junk?

I've never understood why the Germans kept designing these things even after they decisively lost air superiority. Wasn't it obvious that all it would take would be one air attack and the giant would be junk?,/q>

You are making the classic mistake of trying to apply logic to German designs. Take a look at the Ratte – do you see anything about it to suggest that any sort of rational thought was involved? Winston Smith has it right – these are the fantasies of a 10-year old boy. It's one thing to draw something "cool" on a piece of paper, it's something totally different to make it work in the real world.

And forget about the air strike – how would you get that thing across a river? Or through a town? It's just a boys' fantasy.

Yes, the RATTE would suffer from being too big a CAS target … no to mention, it would have a hard time maneuvering across most terrain features. Like as noted, rivers and marshes are everywhere in most of Europe …