REVIEW: THE DEADLY "CARRIAGE" OF GERMAN

VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. B

 

The VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. B is a German tier 9 heavy tank.

It has a thicker frontal armor than its brother, the E-75. It carries the same gun ordnance, but the VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. B has a slightly better gun reload and handling accuracy (but worse gun depression). Even though the wiki said that, in fact, there is no difference between those 2 German beast. It's certainly slower than a fully upgraded E-75, mostly due an overwhelmed 875 hp engine". Slower yes, it's even worse since it's top engine is 840 hp & not 875 hp... In fact, VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. B IS the SLOWEST T9 heavy tank.

The armor on this beast is really good on the front but the sides are too weak  & the rear hull armor is more thick than the sides, because of the (small) slope.

 

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Respectable front armor allows bouncing even against tier 10 guns
• Ability to pivot in place
• Best sidescraping ability 2nd only to the Maus
• Good training for using the Maus
• Harder to ignite transmission
• Gun selection same as E-75 

 

 

Cons:

• Large profile makes an easy target for artillery
• Weak side armor
• Lacks mobility
• Very weak stock gun that must be used before obtaining the top gun.
• Rear-mounted turret
• Without the top engine, the VK 4502 (P) Ausf. B might as well be a fixed fortification

Comparison :

Let's start with ST-1 :
Top speed : 40 Km/h
Traverse speed : 26 d/s
HP/ton : 11.475 for a full ST-1 without equipment.
E-75 :
Top speed : 30 Km/h
Traverse speed : 21 d/s
HP/ton : 13.114 for a full E-75 without equipment.
VK 45.02 Ausf. B :
Top speed : 30 Km/h
Traverse speed : 20 d/s
HP/ton : 10,714 for a full VK 45.02 B without equipment.
ST-1 beats VK everywhere & E-75 have more Hp/ton than ST-1 & VK, thanks, to this wonderful 1200 hp engine ! (which is also a gasoline engine)

 

To sum up :
ST-1 have the best top speed & traverse speed.
E-75 have the best Hp/ton
VK is the worse in term of mobility.

Let's talk about the guns :
VK & E-75 share the same gun, same turret & same gun characteristics, like I said above.
It's a 128mm gun, with an average damage of 490HP per shot. It's a lot for a T9 heavy. Damages can go up to 613HP if you are lucky. Accuracy, aim time, pen & RoF is decent for this power.
ST-1 the best 122mm of Russian heavies, have an average damage of 440HP per shot. Combined with the high pen, this gun is also powerful. The accuracy is like the 128mm gun & it's still decent for a Russian HT. The aim time is bad, 3.4 seconds is bad !
DPM with 100% crew & not equipment :
E-75/VK : 1955.1 DPM
ST-1 : 2068 DPM
The ST-1 have around 100 DPM more, but it don't inflict 490HP per hit.

 

For combat tactics :
VK suck at Peek a Boom, due to rear mounted turret. It also suck at hull down, thanks to the -5° of gun depression.
ST-1 & E-75 are good at Peek a Boom & hull down.
VK beat them in sidescraping. (FINALLY, it is better somewhere !) Only, if angle it like a boss, because of this 100mm side armor, if a shot pen, you can lose virtually anything if you get penned ! I've finished a battle with engine & gun damaged, without forgetting the damaged ammorack repaired earlier in the battle !
Here, thanks to the rear mounted turret, you can sidescrap without showing your front armor and so your LFP, whereas both E-75 & ST-1 will have trouble doing this.

Conclusion:

VK 45.02 (P) Ausf. B need :

• A T9 engine.
• A better gun depression (it's possible !).
• More side armor, because all bunker-like tank have nice side armor.

 Sources : WoT Wiki + Forum