To be fair, the Germans had remembered their Clausewitz and concentrated their tanks in mobile units instead of dispersing them amongst the infantry like the French did. Tank warfare was still in its infancy back then so some incompetence may be forgiven, but the French leadership was way too stubborn and conservative. Oh, and of course the Germans had radios in their tanks, that's another important bit. The real problem with German tanks was their obsession with making their tanks the best; bespoke artisanal designs that are constantly being tweaked don't really work in the context of industrial warfare against mass-produced designs that are merely 'good enough'. Especially when you add on another 18 tons of guns and armor on a drivetrain originally designed for 30 tons.
To be fair, the Germans had remembered their Clausewitz and concentrated their tanks in mobile units instead of dispersing them amongst the infantry like the French did. Tank warfare was still in its infancy back then so some incompetence may be forgiven, but the French leadership was way too stubborn and conservative. Oh, and of course the Germans had radios in their tanks, that's another important bit. The real problem with German tanks was their obsession with making their tanks the best; bespoke artisanal designs that are constantly being tweaked don't really work in the context of industrial warfare against mass-produced designs that are merely 'good enough'. Especially when you add on another 18 tons of guns and armor on a drivetrain originally designed for 30 tons.
well to be brutally honest, even if the germans focused on mass production type tanks there was still no way they would be able to compete with the industrial might of the allies
Even in France the Germans has to become creative to defeat the French very well armored tanks, as the Panzer III's guns were not good enough yet, and the Panzer IV had the anti-infantry guns (which did work sometimes at very close range). Which leads to the use of 88mm AA batteries in Anti-tank operations.
I think the trouble was the air forces, Germans good quality tanks wins almost every combat against tanks, they lost the war when luftwaffe fall.
German tanks are only good quality when viewed from a purely-tactical prism of the armor/gun strength/maneuverability table. Once one starts to look at features that more important at the operational-strategic level, such as reliability, ease of maintenance, ease of production, and so-on... they start looking an awful lot more like shit-heaps.
Even accepting that, however, there are many instances of Anglo-American and Soviet tanks beating their German counterparts in pure land engagements.
I think the trouble was the air forces, Germans good quality tanks wins almost every combat against tanks, they lost the war when luftwaffe fall.
The Panzer I was no match for it's peers, and that was well understood by the Germans as it was meant to be a training vehicle. It still saw service because that's what they had, but it's still inferior to other tanks of the same period.
The Panzer II was about as good as contemporaries, all things considered. Particularly vs the french it was 'tis for tat' tradeoffs.
The Panzer III was arguably above it's peers when first introduced, but it wasn't available in bulk. By the time it was it was already on it's way out due to it being outclassed by a newer generation of tanks, and it couldn't keep up with the upgunning contest.
The Panzer IV was arguably the most effective and well balanced of the german tanks (proper tanks), but by '45 it was already on it's last legs, with all the possible upgunning/uparmor upgrades having been done to it, while the Sherman in particular would still be able to see further upgrades even well past WW2.
Anything past IV was an overengineered mess. And this doesn't include the decline on manufacturing quality as the war went on, which directly detracts from your ''good quality tanks'' statement. Like, seriously. If your Panther's armor is getting chipped off by an M4's HE shells, then it's being made out of shit steel. No way around that fact.
The real problem with German tanks was their obsession with making their tanks the best;
And what choice did they have? Sure, German Industrial Might of the time would be able to build tens of thousands of "good" panzers, but then what? Last time I checked there isn't that much oil in Germany, and sure there're some oil fields in Romania, for example, but not nearly enough to sustain such fuel-consuming army. I think Germans had really big problem with fuel as far as 42, so moving from "good" to "Sekai Ichi!" is kinda understandable.
German tanks are only good quality when viewed from a purely-tactical prism of the armor/gun strength/maneuverability table. Once one starts to look at features that more important at the operational-strategic level, such as reliability, ease of maintenance, ease of production, and so-on... they start looking an awful lot more like shit-heaps.
Even accepting that, however, there are many instances of Anglo-American and Soviet tanks beating their German counterparts in pure land engagements.
The Tiger I is famous for having more losses to drivetrain problems than enemy action. The best German tank in my opinion was the Panzer IV because of its "growth potential".
It's the Wermacht Tank Zone!Oooh...!Akitsu Maru headGet outside.My, what a lineup of clunky tanks, non?To call them clunky is plain rude!They're big, tough, heavy and strong!What?
Tagged along, did you?If we have you being the guide, then it's a foregone conclusion that the commentary will be biased, ja?Tell me, which country was it that got utterly trounced by a blitzkrieg of these clunksters of tanks again?Dear me.Ach, that Maginot was quite the toughie!That's right!
These very Panzerkampfwagens II and III here were the ones that broke through the Ardennes, weren't they~Our tank roars there in the storm's wind.
From the first stanza of the Panzerlied, which was banned from being included in Bundeswehr songbooks in 2017Bismarck-dono!?Right, battletater.And Prinz-dono!Would it not be better if we didn't peruse this area?Are you perhaps looking for a fight?Hold it right there!German tanks are the spirit of ambition!
