Most of the time when you have all of the tier 3 german tanks loaded up, you get to see IS-2's, T-34 85s and sometimes even SU-152s

An easy way to identify a filthy communist tank is by it's ugly light green colouring and their overcompensating guns. Most of the tanks you get to see have about the same armor as you with extreme angling, and they don't need to angle the tank to use it because if anything it makes it worse.

Only one of these tanks should you worry about angling against, and it is the terror of tier three, the KV-2.



This monster is viciously slow, like a Tiger yet the gun on this beast will pretty much 1 hit K-O anything unlucky enough to even be looked by it. The only weakness this tank has is its armor, 75 and 70mm only everywhere, it's speed and turret rotation and the painfully slow reload. When this thing fires it will have just under a minute to reload, if you are in a Tiger you have two or three shots before it can fire again.

The ammo for this is insane as well, Anti Concrete shells that have godlike penetration with almost no drop at range and High Explosive with roughly 88mm of pen, insane drop but it doesn't even need to hit the tank. It can hit your tracks with HE and kill you.

Now that's the filthy russian invaders done, aside from the T-34 85 which is just a T-34 with a new turret and gun.

The Tiger Tank is the first Heavy Tank you get for the Germans at Tier Three and the first thing you notice about the tank is that it is slow and loud. This is not a harasser, a flanker or particularly good with hills. This tank from my experience excels in the Poland map because of all the corners on streets.

The armor on this tank is very thick, but isn't angled at all by the front, and it doesn't need to especially when you are at a corner that covers your side, because you can angle your tank instead of the armor.

The ideal angling for the front armor is just like the screenshot here. If it was angled even more, the effective armor thickness would be roughly 150+ on the flat armor plate with the driver hatch and MG port. The only point you can be hit is near the gun and the tracks and if they have enough armor penetration, the armor you angle.

The Tiger does not have the best gun of the Tier Three Germans, if anything, it is the worst. That doesn't mean it is bad however. I found it to load faster than the Panther yet have less gun depression, slightly less turret rotation speed and less penetration. If your turret is too slow, remember that turning the tank helps speed it up but can screw you over since the tank doesn't have the best depression on the gun.

A great asset for this tank is one of its ammo types, HEAT. Now you may wonder "88mm? its useless!" Yeah sure, it's pretty bad. But when you come across IS-2s and T-44s who have extreme angling and even King Tigers and Tier 4 Panthers HEAT can sometimes penetrate them. If you do come across King Tigers and the Tier 4 Panthers, try to shoot their side.

If you are on a map that doesn't have a lot of cover such as Jungle, try to look for cover. There will be miniature hills on the beach in the north that could at least cover your hull.


The Pros of the Tiger:

• Good Armor
  
• Rounds do high damage compared to Panther. (Thanks JerichoEffect + WolfsFang!)
  
• Great reload speed for a Heavy Tank
  
• HEAT ammo for filthy angled Soviets
  
• Common ammo used is good enough to fight tanks in its tier.

The Cons of the Tiger:

• Very slow, only goes fast downhill.
  
• Hitting something when moving slows it even more.
  
• Armor requires angling to be effective.
  
• Not as high penetration as the Panther / Panzer IV / 70 (Thanks JerichoEffect + Wolfsfang!)
  
• Ammo racks are everywhere in the turret and below it, easy kill if penetrated.
  
• Turret is very slow, weak to mediums circling you.
  
• Side and rear armor not that good.

You may see it has a lot of negative points, just imagine the Tiger as a woman. Very demanding yet is perfect when played well.

The Panther is the most maneuverable of the three, it is a tank that trades its armor for even more angling and speed, while still not all that fast it beats the Panzer IV/70 and Tiger by miles. The armor on this is so weak that even an early tier two can pen it if they get your side. This tank excels both on Poland and offroad and can be played as a sniper, flanker and sometimes a heavy tank.

When I say "sometimes a heavy tank", the angling on the front armor is extreme that when you angle it like a Tiger, the armor can go up to 150 and even higher. Though it is not very dependable you can get lucky with it especially with the turret since it is so small yet the gun is large. If your hull is hidden and the turret is the only target, moving the gun around can act as a shield since if it gets hit, it won't damage anything else.

The speed in a straight line is exceptionally fast. This thing can rival T-34's if used right. Since the gun has high penetration as well, you can take on heavy tanks if you are flanking them making this tank perfect in Realistic + Simulator.

The turret is still slow, only a bit faster than the Tiger but the guns reload speed is slow as well, making this a tank that you'd take a shot, go back into cover and maybe change cover and pop out again.

Inside the tank, it is very compact. If you get hit once expect to have everyone go unconcious and have your ammo burn you alive. This is when the maneuverability and speed comes into play. If you can still drive the tank, angling it should be the priority. Try to make that upper glacis the only thing they can hit.

Pros of the Panther:

• Can go +30mph / kmph.
  
• High Penetration.
  
• Turns like a charm, perfect when being flanked.
  
• Can use more cover due to size.
  
• Excellent on all terrain.
  
• Can play multiple roles.

Cons of the Panther:

• Does not do as much damage as the Tiger (Thanks JerichoEffect & WolfsFang!)
  
• Not dependable in small range fights.
  
• Weak armor.
  
• Slow turret.
  
• Small size makes an easy kill.
  
• Slower reload than other tanks.
  
• Requires quick thinking to use well.

If you look at the Panther and put it next to the Tiger, you'd see opposites. The patch that made medium tanks have one life just like heavy tanks nerfed the Panther greatly. The Panther needs a lot more skill to use well than the Tiger in my opinion so if you are aiming to drive the Panther, take notes.

The Panzer IV / 70 is the last tier three tank destroyer for the Germans. It is very similar to the Jagdpanzer 4, the tank destroyer before it although it can be used for killing heavily armored tanks at range.

The Panzer IV / 70 is about half the size of the Tiger and Panther, making it really easy to hide behind cover. It is like the Stug 3 F except it has slightly more armor, angling, some spaced armor and a far better gun.

It is by no means able to take on even tier two medium tanks. It does have good angling on the two angled plates on the front but if it gets hit by the side or rear it's just overkill. It can be fast in a straight line and is acceptable with maneuverability. It can only play as a sniper and using it otherwise can be tricky unless you are going against bots.

The Pros of the Panzer IV / 70:

• Small, easy to hide.
  
• Good gun can easily take out tanks in its tier.
  
• Armor can sometimes deflect shots if lucky.
  
• Fast in a straight line.
  
• Spaced armor on the side covering tracks.

The Cons of the Panzer IV / 70:

• Easily killed.
  
• Size makes you think it is thin. It is not.
  
• Armor bounces shots only if lucky, not able to count on it.
  
• Gun turret does not have much room as the Jagdpanzer 4, riskier to take shots.

There is not much to say about the Panzer IV / 70 sadly because it is a great tank but you do not see many people driving it because it is outclassed by other tank destroyers or people want a turret on their tanks. That does not mean this tank should be taken lightly, it is just as good as your average SU-85.

This guide was made for all the players driving Tier 3 Germans and not doing well, complaining about it in the discussions and never play them again. It is a shame to see people do poorly in good tanks because they couldn't be bothered to find a way to drive it. The simple thing everyone needs to learn about these tanks now is that they NEED to be angled. If you do not angle your tier 3 german tank against tier 3 Russians and other tier 3 germans, you will die. If you don't, there will be not a lot of trial but a ton of error.

Got anything to say about this guide? Feel free to share thoughts about the tips, people need to know that these tanks are on par with the USSR tanks.

If you found this guide to be helpful, be sure to share it with others and remember, never stay in front of KV-2s.