Matrix Games Forums

Hi !

I'm no vet tanker and this might not be the right place but I'll try anyway:

Where did the weight on german tanks went into?
Whenever I take a look at SPWaW-stats or historical data on the net I get fairly confused.
Just to give an example. Please don't hit me for partly incorrect data - weight fluctuates depending on the source (may be some just don't know that 1lb isn't .5 but .453kg).

A KV-1e is rated 47.5tons and has 120mm all around except rear hull. It has 600HP engine and 76mm ZIS5L gun. Sources on the net say it just has 75+35 and not 120mm.
An Easy Eight is 31.5tons (metric), has a 76mm M1A1 gun and is rated 64/103 turret- and 51/79mm hull armor.
Compared to that the Panther is just a laught. O.K., it has the far better (and heavier) 75L70 gun but that's it. Only 2 (light) MGs, only 100HP more than a KV-1, but with 45tons only very little more front armor than even E8 and side/rear armor is even lower that E8. 40% less ammo than KV-1 and only 25% more than E8.

I can't believe allied tanks are overrated by SPWaW-Designers to change odds (even if some description says "unarmored" and SPWaW rates the vehicles like Weasel or DUKW up to 10mm), so what's it?
Russian & US-steel being so much better? German engine, suspension and "accessories" so inefficient compared to US(SR)? To many gadgets? Fuel-tanks?

A good question for all the Tread Heads and OOB Gurus. I try not to question their judgement for two reasons:

1) They generally know more about tanks than I will ever know, and

2) They will sit and argue this data until the cows come home. [>:]

Since this is their area of expertise, I will defer to my informed collegues that make a living making sense of all the technical SPWAW data. [&o]

Recon
Semper Fi

One thing you can't really see from spwaw stats is that Panther is bigger than E8. Actually it is even bigger than a KV-1 [X(]

KV-1: 6,1 x 3,3 x 2,7 meters (length, width, height)
E8: 6,3 x 3 x 3 m
Panther-D: 6,9 x 3,4 x 3 m

Also the E8 armour thickness feels kinda odd... [;)] I'm wondering about the 51mm sides when I've been encountering 38mm from couple web sources...and if you think it is a small thing. Well, it means about 2 tons difference in weight.

Voriax

Yah, 38mm side armor on the M4A3 (including E8) is what I've seen too.

Otherwise, just looking at data won't make for a very accurate comparison. There's much difference in steel quality (Russians having a disadvantage), gearboxes (a German prohlem with the heavy tanks), suspension etc. etc...

The KV-1 had a 600bhp diesel engine, while the Panther used a 700bhp gasoline engine. That gives the KV more torque (probably), while the Panther is faster and more reliable.