Do you think Germany would've been more successful on the Eastern and Western fronts if they had halted production of the Tiger and instead mass-produced Panthers?
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The tanks were superior to American models. There only real fault lay in the fact that they lacked mobility and Hitler wouldn't let Rommel command, instead opting to micro-manage and completely ignore strategic advice from his council. So, they were misused by Hitler, and then pummeled by American artillery.
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Halting production on the Tiger would have been a terrible mistake. The Panther's side and rear armor were terrible weak so the Panther was built more as an offensive tank. Also, the Tiger more or less filled in the role of the "superior German tank" from 1942 to the end of 1943. The Tiger tank also contributed greatly on static areas such as by Leningrad. Not to mention that the Panther was plagued with technical problems until 1944. Hell, one could say that the Panther cost the Germans the entire war as it delayed the operation of Operation Zitadelle and gave the Soviets plenty of time to construct the strongest defensive lines in history.
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Edited by Raptor: 11/7/2013 2:10:32 AMWell the Panther and Tigers strengths were pretty much negated in the bocage of Normandy while it was multiplied completely on the open steppes and fields of the eastern front. While there were many famous moments told throughout the Normandy campaign with German tanks kicking some serious butt, they were out of there prefferred environment with such close engagement ranges and limited manueverability in the dense terrain. Now a product of the Tiger was its psychological factor known as "Tiger terror" to allied crews and infantry, any tank allied soldiers spotted it was always assumed a Tiger and it took quite a toll on those who had to fight them, it was very demoralizing knowing your equipment was technically worse than the bad guys. HOWEVER they still were superior to allied armor on the western front, so no I do not think they should have stopped producing either, because honestly they were made in different factories and different materials. At the end of the day the result would have been the same no matter what they produced. They both shared there mechanical failings, most serious, hell the Panthers engine blew into flames sometiems on steep inclines and that was happening during Kursk! It wasn't until the Panther G Late that it was becoming trusted by its crews in terms of mechanical prowess (Not firepower or armor). They could not out produce the allied powers at that stage in the war and the result wass inevitable with the allies successfully landing in the west and the Russian steam rolled in the east coming off its amazing victory at Kursk.
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Maybe. Winter clothing would've worked better though.
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the tiger was a beast. It took like 10 normal tanks to take one down.
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Germany was done for when Hitler forgot to pack winter clothes.
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All Hitler had to do was use a bomb, but since a Jew invented it he was too stubborn and lost. [spoiler]Thankfully[/spoiler]
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Might I recommend reading Stephen E. Ambrose's Citizen Soldier? It goes in depth about German motorized might in some chapters.
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Maybe if they didn't attack rus
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Nah. Just more Panthers for Hellcat platoons to eat.
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Edited by CND AAA Beef: 11/7/2013 1:43:01 AMAt the very least, they would have held out longer on the Eastern Front. The Tiger II was the king of the hill in tank vs tank combat, but for every one Tiger, the Allies could produce multiple lighter and cheaper designs. Plus, the thing had horrendous fuel efficiency. Maybe the war would have gone on a bit longer. But more advanced Allied designs, like the Centurion tank, would have spelled doom for the Panzers eventually. Especially after it was upgraded with the 20 pounder gun. (I've been playing too much Wargame ALB)
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Figures, threads that actually have discussion value get buried under the stream of shitposts.