So really trying to wrap my head around why the Ferdinand is 6.7
The Tiger 2 h has an actual turret, better speed and mobility, better optics, and better armour layout. The Ferdinand has like 15mm thicker armour but the casemate cheeks are absolutely massive and can be penned with anything at all that has APCR. And unlike the Tiger 2 you can’t angle at all because you have rounded corners that if you try to angle can be penned by a 75mm Sherman from 500 metres. And if you are penned there it will disable your engine and make you completely useless.
Generally having a tank with a turret is a BR bracket higher than a casemate with the same gun and similar armour layout. So how on earth in a casemate TD with the same gun but significantly worse features in virtually every other aspect the same BR?
Honourable mention to the Jagdpanther which another useless TD because while on paper it’s not bad, it uptiers your whole 6.0 lineup (which usually faces 6.7 or under) to 90% 7.3 full uptiers.
Oh and I forgot to mention that the Tiger 2 gets TWO machine guns, while the Ferdinand gets NONE. And not to mention one of the worst shell storage layouts in the game, with even a small load having your crew decorating both sides of the superstructure with shells like it’s some sort of additional armour or something.
These casematte TDs had their time in WT. I remember Jagdtigers and the likes very, very powerful at their time. As WT Ground Forces were kind of new.
These tanks just aged badly. New tank additions with more powerful ammo. Vehicles with ALOT more speed than at the the dawn of Ground Forces… all these made them obsolete. Also alot more cas planes with powerful loadouts were added. While small vehicles were less visible from air, your massive WW2 TD is doomed to eat bombs, anti ship rockets, Zunis or FFARs.
There is no point to play them actually. Either vehicles are moving at ludicrous speed, so casematte designs can’t deal with them…or super shells just rip through your heavy WW2 era armor as if you’re made of paper…
The Ferdinand and Elefant have a more reliable armor profile than Tiger 2 H, also the interior is the size of a mansion which makes post-penetration less lethal (you will often find the T34 has trouble killing you with one hit and the post-pen damage only takes out a few crews, where Tiger 2 in the same situation will 100% die), adding the reverse speed and much quicker reload timer increase the overall survivability by a large margin, when used properly as a hull down sniper you will find a lot of enemies at that br has trouble getting through your turret cheek. The only thing I didn’t like about it is the shitty optic.
The thing is that other German casemates are good. Yes the Jagdtiger is very situational but in its niche it is very good, even against HEATFS tanks which can lolpen it, it can often soak up lots of damage since it has so many crew, distracting the enemy and giving your team time to take them out. It’s has a very fun and unique playstyle.
Meanwhile the Panzer IV/70, the Hetzer, Jagdpanzer and Stug line are all excellent vehicles.
Yes the earlier ones at lower BRs don’t face that much toxic, high speed yolocars and less heatfs, APDS slingers. Just the high BR ones suffer the grim fate of beeing dinosaurs…literally beeing out of their age, confronted with threats they weren’t designed for.
I kinda of like the Ferdinand/Elefant actually, I can do a lot of things that I couldn’t do with the Tiger 2, you can drive towards the enemies as bail and not worry about getting OHKO with the Ferdinand, if I do the same risky things with Tiger 2 they will effortlessly put a bullet through my turret cheek and send my beloved heavy tank back to the hangar. With Ferdinant you will often find yourself not getting taxed from being aggressive in engaging targets via hull-down position, unlike Tiger 2 a lot of things can pen your turret cheek if you are not careful, you will move towards a playstyle where you will engage an enemy that already looking at your direction and not worrying about getting penned because the chance is low.
It may be situationally useful but it should still be 6.3 instead of 6.7, so it is a more survivable but slower alternative to the Jagdpanther. It would hardly be OP at 6.3, you barely can get 3 kills without being bombed anyway. This would also be more historically accurate, since the Ferdinand was introduced relatively early on in the war, used in the Battle of Kursk. And Germany has way too many 6.7 tanks but no viable 6.3 lineup (even though 6.3 is uptier hell)
It is a victim of the BR system. A bit too strong at 6.3, weaker than the alternatives at 6.7.
The short answer is that it’s pointless to spawn in it if you just want to do well. You’ll always have a better tool in the 6.7 toolbox for anything you might be trying to accomplish.
If you like the challenge, or want to play it just for fun, obviously the calculus changes.
Unlike the Ferdinand, the Jagdtiger very much has a place in the game. In fact, its presence at 6.7 is one of the reasons why the Ferdinand is useless.
I have gotten enough nukes in the JT to know that people who claim it’s obsolete are doing it a disservice.