It is my personal opinion that the the Pzkpfw V (Panther with a 75mm L/70 gun) would easily beat the Pzkpfw VI (Tiger with a 88mm L/56 gun) in a 1000 meter dual. Although both guns can penetrate almost the same armor at 1000 meters (100 to 110mm approx with standard APC rounds) the Panther had the benefit of sloping armor, unlike the slab sided, boxy Tiger (don't get me wrong, both of these machines look totally bad-ass.) The Panther had roughly 110mm of effective frontal armor, taking into account the slope of the armor. The Tiger had to rely on sheer thickness, in this case, roughly 100mm of frontal armor with almost no sloping at all. Sloping of the armor also helped to deflect a shot due to the fact that the round was hitting at an angle instead of square on.
The Panther's gun also had a higher muzzle velocity, 925m/sec with standard APCBC (Armor Piercing Capped, Ballistic Capped, and could penetrate roughly 111mm of armor at 1000 meters) and 1,120m/sec with APCR (Armor Piercing Composite Rigid, which could penetrate 149mm of armor at 1000 meters.)
The Tiger's main gun could achieve 773m/sec with standard APCBC (and also penetrate roughly 100mm of armor at 1000 meters) and 930m/sec with APCR (which could penetrate 138mm of armor at 1000 meters). Which brings another point to my post. What kind of ammo are we gonna use?
All of these figures are penetration of a target with approx. 30 degrees of slope in the armor surface. Due to the longer barrel of the 75mm L/70 gun, it achieved much higher muzzle velocity than the 88mm L/56 gun. More muzzle velocity=more penetration overall.
Mobility is also a big factor here. The Panther could achieve 55KPH on the road (30 off-road) while the Tiger could manage 42KPH on the road (15 off-road, due to being woefully underpowered for its weight.) The Panther also had an overall advantage when it came to ground pressure (.88 kg/cm2) with its wide tracks (not to mention it weighed almost 13 tons less!) compared to the 1.05 kg/cm2 for the Tiger and its wide tracks. What does all this mean? Less ground pressure means more mobility in snow, mud, and other adverse battlefield conditions. With all that said, and it is a breathfull, the Panther can count on getting into a better firing position faster than the Tiger can.
All of these figures come from 3 game manuals (I do cite other peoples work where its applicable) Panzer Elite, Panzer Commander, and Across the Rhine. These are the Historical Documents, mind you, not the gameplay manuals.
There is also quite a difference between the 85mm and 90mm weapons (or even the 122mm gun employed on the IS/2) the allies employed compared to the 75mm and 88mm weapons the Germans employed. Generally speaking, the German guns were more effective, because they were higher quality. At first glance, anyone could say the 122mm gun could take an 88mm eqipped tank, but studies actually showed that due to higher quality achieved by the Germans in 88mm gun, it was a much more effective weapon than the 122mm gun.
So there's the facts and there's my opinion. Panthers ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!
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Meine Schwester hat keine kartoffel salat! Du bist eine lustige Buba!!!
[This message has been edited by Mattibaby80 (edited 08-16-2000).]
