Flames of War -Konigstiger Platoon

The Tiger II promised to return the German heavy panzer to the early days of 1943. It too could dominate the battlefield by destroying enemy armour at long range and assaulting its way through fortified enemy defences. The Tiger II’s increased armour once again placed it ahead of its adversaries. Though capable of fulfilling its role as Königstiger (King Tiger), the Tiger II followed in the footsteps of previous German panzers rushed to the front. Mechanical and maintenance problems plagued its combat debut just as it had for the Tiger I in Tunisia and the Panther at Kursk. Final-drive failures left only eight operational tanks out of 45 to participate in its first combat engagement. In addition, ammunition stored in the turrets caused fatal explosions and three of the new Tiger II tanks were destroyed in the first engagement. A company, or better yet a full Tiger II battalion, was quite capable of steamrolling its way through enemy lines and driving a wedge to be exploited. But this would be one local break through, and with front lines extending over a thousand kilometres, the few Tiger II available could hardly have the impact needed to reverse the Allies in their assault on Germany in 1944. As one of Hitler’s wonder weapons designed to change the course of the war, the Tiger II had the potential but not the numbers. It too, like the Tiger I, was a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield but small numbers, high maintenance, and vulnerability to aircraft and artillery kept it from achieving its promise of turning the war in Germany’s favour. In Flames Of War You can now field the Königstiger in a company of its own in River Of Heroes. 501. schwere Panzerabteilung featured in the fighting on the Vistula River and was the first Tiger battalion fully equipped with the new Henschel turreted Tiger II. The Königstiger (Henschel) is Fully-tracked and has Front Armour 15, Side 8 and Top 2. It has a Co-ax MG, and a Hull MG. However it is Overloaded, a Slow tank and its turret has Slow traverse. It is armed with the 8.8cm KwK43 gun with a range of 40”/100cm, ROF 2, AT 16 and FP 3+.