In tank games aiming for a weak spot in armor, and angling armor to make it effectively thicker are common practice. Were tank crews of the past trained in these techniques, or was battle too hectic to employ these methods?

by roguemerc96
the_howling_cow

Not to discourage further responses, but you may be interested in this older answer from u/The_Chieftain_WG. In short, it sometimes was theoretically taught or figured out on the fly, but combat was often too hectic to put these tactics into practice; it was proven that the tanks that fired first usually were victorious in tank-versus-tank engagements, and most crews would probably not be keen on putting themselves into a position where the enemy even had the time to think about a chance to shoot back. The Tigerfibel, the crew training manual for the Tiger I, instructed crews on angling their tank to increase the effective armor thickness, as well as teaching them the best positions to approach dangerous enemies at an angle and not letting them inside the "cloverleaf," the distances inside which the Tiger was vulnerable to the enemy fire. Humor, analogies, and ribald comics were used to help soldiers understand concepts and keep them interested. My annotations are in brackets.

Daily Meals

Motto: Not just the soldier is kept alive, but also the Panzer

Your tank['s armor] is

12 cm thick at the turret plate

10 cm thick at the front plate

8 cm thick at the side and rear plates

No-one else['s tank] is!

But you yourself can make it even thicker!

When mother cuts the sausage straight, then that will yield one slice just as wide as the sausage is thick. But if she cuts at an angle, then the slice gets twice as wide!

We want more sausage now!

If you let someone fire at your tank['s armor] straight on, then it is 10 cm thick and will sustain [hits from] all calibers up to and including 75 mm. But if you stand at an angle, then it is 13 cm thick.

A shot that hits at an angle penetrates much less, than one that hits head on. Therefore 13 cm thick plates [that are] hit at an angle gives the equivalent protection of armor that is 18 cm thick against a shot fired head on (if you want to cut the sausage at an angle you need a sharper knife). Your armor placed at an angle is therefore in reality as strong as 18 cm and withstands [hits from] all calibers up to and including 152 mm.

Then you cannot be penetrated at all!

You see, just turning your tank from 12 to 1 o'clock makes it [the armor] thicker by 2 cm. In order to penetrate these 2 cm, your adversary has to come 1,000 m closer.

1 cm of armor weighs the same as a firing range of 500 m! [i.e., angling the Tiger's armor enough to make the equivalent thickness 1 cm more is equivalent to increasing the distance within which the enemy would be unable to penetrate by an additional 500 m]

If you stand at an angle this has the effect of placing your adversary 4 km farther distant, in one fell swoop. From there, he can fire all he wants [and won't penetrate].

Here you can read all the positions and corresponding armor strength...and this shows your effective armor protection.

The best positions toward the enemy are at

10 1/2, 1 1/2, 4 1/2, and 7 1/2 o'clock

According to their respective hours they are called meals.

Source:

Tiger I Official Wartime Crew Manual (The Tigerfibel). Edited by Bob Carruthers. Translated by Bob Carruthers. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books, 2013.