King Tiger

[McIvan]

I was interested to learn that the IS-II is in fact only the same weight as a Panther, more or less. Thinking of it as a "heavy" tank akin to the Tiger II is not really correct.

Rate of fire was a real problem, so the Russians used "scoot n shoot" tactics....one shot, retire & reload, move forward again. German heavies died in time. The kinetic effect of a 122mm round was considerable, even if it didn't penetrate the armour.

The Panther's gun could penetrate the IS-II turret for a fair range, if it ht at a reasonable angle, but not the front glacis. The IS-II was designed to defeat rounds from the 75mm L48, if I recall correctly, not the 75mm L70 or 88mm, although it could often defeat those as well.

I don't know enough about the breakthrough doctrine to comment on that.