German heavy tanks often embody might and strength.
The E 75 TS, the new German Premium Tier VIII tank, looks the part.
The iconic shape, rounded turret and screens on the side
create an inexplicable combination of precision, style, and strong armor.
This brawler looks like the ideal German heavy.
Beautiful, formidable, and with an exhaust pipe on the rear!
Maximum valor! Maximum protection!
But… is that really so?
The E 75 TS is an imposing vehicle.
It's big, it's grey, and three E 25s can easily fit inside it.
With such specs, it must have as much armor as a Maus.
Let's take it for a test drive!
We'll start out by checking the hull's sides.
At first glance, it can withstand ANY hit.
However, the cold, hard numbers say different—
80 mm of armor won't allow the vehicle to block reliably.
In such cases, one's best hope is a ricochet.
However, to do this,
the tank's side must be positioned at an extremely sharp angle.
The 5 mm side-screen doesn't provide much help.
But it can still protect the tank from stray HEAT shells.
Things get more interesting when we proceed to the frontal armor.
The effective armor of the lower glacis plate when struck head-on
is 174 mm thick, while the upper plate is 256 mm.
If the hull is at an angle, the effective armor increases even more
and can bounce standard shells from vehicles of the same tier.
However, such positioning opens up the vulnerable side of the hull.
This leads us to a harsh conclusion regarding the armor of the E 75 TS.
But what if we get creative
and look at its armor from a different perspective?
Driving up a hill, we increase the effective armor to 300 mm
while keeping the hull's sides safe.
Much better already.
Yet, it only makes sense if the turret is great…
Well… The gun mantlet makes a good impression.
The effective armor of the turret's front is like this.
Opponents of the same tier will find it hard to penetrate.
The bad news is that one can target the commander's cupola
or the balls on the sides.
As a result, compared to other Tier VIII heavies,
both experience and statistics show that the E 75 TS
is right between "I've got the armor" and "Close range is a no-go".
The tank has armor and performs well if you use the terrain to your advantage
and hide the hull from enemy fire.
Nevertheless, the turret's weak spots will remain an issue.
However! We all know that some heavy tanks are…
not quite heavy, in fact!
That means we need to check another parameter—vehicle dynamics.
This tank has a top speed of 45 km/h.
Its specific power is 16 horsepower per ton.
The tank drives forward very fast, but turns very lethargically.
Playing the E 75 TS as a medium tank won't be possible.
At the same time, it shares some similarities with mediums.
Its top reverse speed is 18 km/h.
If its less-armored counterparts
use their good reverse speed to quickly hide after firing a shot,
this German can simply make it hard for opponents to take aim at weak spots.
This is nice.
As a result, we have these symbolic graphs of protection and mobility.
Add a lack of concealment due to its huge size to the formula,
and the conclusion is here: it is quite clear that nothing is clear…
Thankfully, this equation has one more variable
that will help identify the tank—its gun.
And that's where things get interesting.
Damage per shot is 360 hit points.
Reloading takes about 11 seconds,
but with a bit of tuning, it drops to 9 seconds,
resulting in a respectable damage per minute.
Aiming time and accuracy are both quite good.
The gun is well-stabilized, and the shells have nice velocity.
Even penetration is good. No, that's not right…
The penetration of the standard shell is good.
The penetration of the special shell is amazing! 282 mm!
The sum of these factors is very attractive.
None of the gun's parameters are disappointing.
It may be strange, but it's a fact.
Wherever one looks, the tank's gun is either good or pretty darn good!
Firing in the E 75 TS is really a pleasure,
especially if you add a gun depression angle of minus 8 degrees,
a decent turret, a good reverse speed, and… a hill.
The only thing that's left unclear is the role of the E 75 TS in battle…
Classic heavies arrive and do battle, fight over ridges,
carry out side-scrapping, and deal damage.
Classic mediums use their maneuverability
to constantly hit-and-run opponents from various directions,
firing from the flanks and quickly hiding.
The E 75 TS is… different.
With these stats, this tank is neither a heavy nor a medium!
Or is it?
Let's take a look at two vehicles.
They both represent the E series: the E 75 and the E 50.
Each has a set of moves that they can employ in combat.
And if we check which of these moves the E 75 TS can use,
the result is a hybrid tank.
Yes, this big guy will never be as heavy as the E 75.
Nor will it perform like the medium E 50.
But! It can fulfill both roles.
And which role it should play at a given moment depends on the opposition.
Now we take the most popular Tier VIII heavy tank—the IS-3—
and let's try to find a way to take it down with the E 75 TS.
The first tactic that comes to mind is to get up close and personal.
But that's not an option.
Going into short-range combat in this vehicle
is as sound as dancing naked in a serpentarium.
In this case, any opponent will easily hit your range finders.
Let's try to increase the distance. For instance, up to 150 meters.
Now aiming at the balls and commander's cupola becomes much harder.
Only stray shots will hit them.
At 200 meters, this becomes even more apparent.
Now the turret of the E 75 TS doesn't yield.
The correlation is clear. The greater the distance,
the harder it is for opponents to hit the vulnerable areas of this German.
At a distance of 250 meters,
even the most accurate Tier IX tanks can't penetrate the armor consistently.
Meanwhile, the E 75 TS still can return fire quite effectively.
Its gun delivers accurate shots at the weak spots of many opponents
who will make mistakes and expose their pike nose or sprocket.
Hence, the conclusion is plain to see:
a combination of the right distance and a good position
will help you emerge victorious from many firefights.
And if something veers off-course,
the tank has enough speed to reposition itself.
Always keep this in mind.
However, playing this vehicle is not as monotonous as it may seem.
At the start of the battle,
the German can use its speed to reach its position first
and fire at opponents who are still getting into position.
Then there are a number of options.
Which vehicles do we face in this area?
Are they heavily armored Tier IXs and Xs?
The E 75 TS can provide fire support!
Let those with better armor lead the charge
while you maintain your position, track the time, and shoot when possible.
The gun is good enough to hit and penetrate,
the armor can block some shots,
and the tank is dynamic enough to do everything quite quickly.
If things get hairy, the E 75 TS can simply drive and flank the big guys.
It has enough speed to do that.
If your tank is needed on another flank to push forward,
you can get there and turn the tide of battle.
Why lose hit points fighting heavies
if one can deal damage with medium tanks?
And if the E 75 TS climbs to the top of the team roster,
it can play as a genuine, robust assault vehicle.
The way to play the E 75 TS depends on the situation.
Sometimes, it can act aggressively,
while at other times, it should restrain its impulse to attack.
The player's goal is to understand which of the options
is preferable at a given moment.
Try to combine playing at medium and short distances.
Try to survive using the tank's armor and pool of hit points.
Try to affect the course of the battle late in the game
using its dynamics and gun. Try to think all the time.
And before the battle starts, try to look inside the barrel.
Because why not?
Good luck on the battlefield!