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Originally Posted by Charge_7 You should also list the bad features of German armor. Such as that it constantly broke down, was too heavy for long distance high speed manouver, and most simple of all - was so complicted it couldn't be produced fast enough. All of what you say it true, but was eventually negated by what I just listed. The T-34 wins because although in quality it was not a match to the Tiger I and Tiger II, it was far superior in reliability, speed of manouver, and mass production. The Germans would've been better served to have kept to a modification of the Panzer IV - give it sloped armor and perhaps wider tracks for Russian steppes and they would've been able to make many more tanks that worked well and ran fast. |
Guderian, when he was Inspector General of Panzertruppen, recommended that German factories cease production of Panthers and Tigers and instead focus on the long barrelled Panzer IV, because many more could be made, they were very reliable, and they could be repaired in their sleep by the tank crews. Of course, Hitler would have none of this but Guderian had excellent reasons for recommending this course of action.
When you think about it, Germany's greatest victories came about when neither the Panther or Tiger were in service with the Wehrmacht. Germany would have been better served to scrap the development of the Tiger II and instead focus on making the Panther and Tiger I more reliable and easier to build.
Just to add, that I don't believe the negative factors you listed outweighed the positive factors when it came to the Panther or Tiger. Both were able to dominate the battlefield and it was only the greater application of air power and the eventual lack of fuel supplies that prevented either tank from having a greater influence over events than they did.