This forum is desgined to discuss potentially useful changes to the beloved and ever so rare Panther II. To get things started I acknowledge the tank we have in game is nearly completely fictional. I believe the hull was the only thing about the vehicle that was constructed. The turret is a complete mystery as to what was planned.
The first change for the Panther 2 I would like to bring forward is the option, not removal, to remove the NV gear for the commander and driver. It made sense to have this gear non-removable when night battles at rank 4 and 5 were common, but seeing as there aren’t any anymore, we should have to option to remove these scopes as they provide no benefit and slightly weigh the tank down and the driver’s mounted scope and light get in the way of the gun depression. The Commanders scope and light also make your profile taller and more likely to be spotted. We already have modules on existing vehicles like the VFW, Zerstörer 45, T-80B/BVM, T-64B/BV, M1 KVT, M1A1 HC, M46, IS-2 (1944), Challenger 2, Challenger 2 (2F), T-90M, T-72B3, and many more that get access to various pieces of equipment whether its ERA, cage armor, fuel tanks, dozer blades, etc; that can optionally be removed based on the discretion of the user. Adding this option would not introduce a mechanic that doesnt already exist in game and would go a decent way at making the Panther II a more sneaky and slightly faster medium tank.
The second change I would like to see, but fully understand if you dont want to introduce it is a mild increase in the turret traverse speed. Currently on an aced and maxed out crew the Panther II is capable of turning the turret at 12º/sec. Its not the slowest turret traverse i have seen but its definitely not good either especially at battlerating 7.0. I would suggest at a minimum bringing the horizontal turret traverse to the same speed as the Panther F, which has a maximum speed of 15.0º/sec. I know that to 88mm KwK43 gun is heavier than the 75mm on the Panther II, but the KwK43 was made smaller to fit inside that turret.
Once again these changes would not drastically change the Panther II’s performance at 7.0, but I think it would make it feel less awkward, which it sometimes feels to play.
Feel free to discuss this below, as always be respectful to one another and have a wonderful day!
ah what a trip down memory lane when night battles were low tier and didnt have flares…
dont know about the turret traverse speed being buffed (its never been an issue for myself) but you have to remember the Panther II is already ‘basically’ a 7.0 MBT as it is. anymore buffs to it would basically be giving those of us that were fortunate enough to get it a massive advantage at 7.0.
Personally I don’t think Gaijin should touch the current Panther II, it’s completely fake in it’s current implementation. They should rename it to Panther II Gaijin and just periodically release it for players to grind like the Maus.
I’d much rather see the effort go towards making a historical Panther II around 6.3. It fills all the requirements for the partial prototype category, we have sketches of the intended turret so just use that.
Yeah, it could provide an advantage over newer players, but tbh i think they should be offering it as an event tank on a special holiday. I have people ik that are jealous they dont have it. But i would support at least the module removal change. The turret traverse speed isnt a big issue, just weird its slower than the panther F.
Here you go. The Panther II. Cause Gaijin is not going to bring it back in any form with a non-existent turret that does not exist and the Panther F doesn’t use the same turret design, it uses a similar design but not the exact one.
Afaic, the hull is fine, the turret was just 50 shades of vulgarly wrong.
Don’t get your hopes up, but the KRV was passed to devs, and it was without a turret, but the KRV is very circumstantial, as Sweden has a total of 0 heavies and 0 tanks like it.
