How to Counter German Heavy Tanks as USA (Tiger, Panther, Ferdinand)

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How I Deal With German Heavy Tanks as USA (Tiger, Panther, Ferdinand)

Introduction

A lot of U.S. players struggle when fighting German heavy tanks, especially Tigers and Panthers.
At first I had the same problem — I used to lose most head-on fights. After a lot of games and testing different tactics, I found a few simple ways that really improved my results. This post shares what actually works for me.

Why German Tanks Are Hard

German tanks have strong frontal armor and very powerful guns.
If you try to fight them directly, you usually lose — especially in Sherman and light U.S. vehicles.

So the biggest rule I learned is:

Never fight them from the front unless you have no other choice.

What Actually Works

Tiger I

From my experience, shooting the Tiger’s lower front plate or turret cheeks works best.
But the safest way is still flanking — even a simple side shot usually destroys it in one hit.

Panther

The Panther is hard to penetrate from the front.
I always try to get a side angle. Once you hit its side armor, it goes down very quickly.

Ferdinand / Elefant

These are slow and scary from the front, but very weak from the sides and rear.
I usually wait in cover and let them pass, then attack from behind.

Best U.S. Tanks to Use

Tank Why I Like It
M18 Hellcat Fast flanking and surprise kills
M36 Jackson Strong 90mm gun for long-range
Sherman Series Stabilizer lets you shoot first

Common Mistakes I Made

• Trying to brawl frontally
• Using APCR all the time
• Staying in open areas too long

Final Advice

Once I stopped fighting German heavies head-on and started focusing on flanking and positioning, my win rate and survivability improved a lot.
U.S. tanks reward smart movement more than armor.

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In a 76 Sherman, ur best bet is the flat upper from plate as it will almost always knock out the tank in one hit. Hitting the lower front plate may result in the transmission absorbing the spall. I never go for the turret cheeks. In a 75 Sherman (most likely a jumbo), the cupola is ur only hope but is reliable as it usually takes out the gunner

Not really. Never shoot the front plate, that is quite well defended. However, the turret cheeks are relatively weak and can be easily penetrated by a 76 Sherman. Always shoot to ur right of the turret to ensure the gunner gets taken out. Similar to the tiger, it also has a weak cupola.

Definitely, although you can always track them, which nullifies them and makes them much easier to flank. My biggest problem was with the jadgtiger, against which you either track and flank or die.

A quick note about apcr, try to bring a few rounds, but never use it as ur main ammo round, it’s only good against flat armour and has almost no post pen. However, on the US 90mm guns such as the t26e5, apcr can be used to pen the turret of the tiger II when apcbc can’t, so whilst it is useless in most situations, it is vital in others

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You can do it in a jumbo. Especially one with a bus as they won’t be able to see ur machine gun port. The tigers cupola is a small target so u will have to get close to them, but the armour is reliable

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