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May 27, 2013

"Buff my tank!" - VK 30.01 (P)

By Zarax

Hello and welcome to "Buff my tank!"

The "Buff my tank!" articles are meant as an historical way to look at some tanks considered underpowered in game and ways to improve their combat abilities discussed by the original german engineers.
Beware that while being sometimes ironic in tone, the article treats about both costs and benefits of every choice and it most likely will never be listened by WG as suggestion.

Today we will tackle on a somewhat unpopular tank, the VK 30.01 (P).

Historically, the VK 30.01(P) was the test bed for many of the innovations that went into many of Dr. Porsche's designs , sharing both their strengths and weaknesses.
Although it never left the prototype stage, it's direct evolution was the Tiger (P) which saw limited production and battle in one example, with most being reconverted in the Ferdinand/Elefant.

In WOT it's seen as a middle ground tank between the VK 36.01 (H) and the other, more agile lines.
In terms of game-play it's indeed pretty average and there have been many buff requests in the past, however let's look at what german engineers imagined for this tank, using "Panzerkampfwagen VI P (Sd.Kfz.181) The history of the Porsche Typ 100 and 101 also known as the Leopard and Tiger" as historical source:

 Protection:

As only one prototype was ever built and its development was superseded by Tiger (P) no plans were ever made to up-armor the VK 30.01 (P).
However, given that its successor was not a radically different tank and itself was up-armored with bolt-on plates, it wouldn't be impossible to imagine the same treatment, possibly with an easy to produce 30 or 50mm add-on plate.

Mobility:

The prototype twin 210 HP engines were sufficient to obtain a top speed of 60 kilometers per hour on optimal terrain, although with very high fuel consumption.
Again, as Tiger (P) mounted basically an uprated version of the 30.01 engines, upgrading to twin 310 HP for a very respectable power to weight ratio of  17/18 HP/ton.

Firepower: 

First of all, WOT stock 75mm L/48 cannon is an historical mistake and introduce purely to prolong the grind on the tank and "encourage" the player to use gold for free XP:


Krupp showed some extremely interesting proposals for the VK 30.01 (P).
The standard issue cannon was supposed to be the 8.8cm K.W.K. L/56 just like Henschel's Tiger, but more options were discussed:




A proposal for a 10.5 cm K.W.K. L/47 was competed on April 10, which would likely have been a redesigned 105mm L/52 for tank use with slightly lower penetration, but the most interesting one was the proposal for an higher velocity version of the 8.8cm K.W.K. L/56 on April 18 using fatter shells.

Both options would have given more than outstanding firepower, especially considering how deadly the FLAK 36 already proved to be on the battlefield but unfortunately both were discarded as one used a non-standard army caliber (not that this stopped Krupp from trying it again later on) and the other would likely have depended on the use of always scarce Tungsten due to the shell shatter effect at such high velocities.

It is also likely that both options would have meant reduced ammo capacity and in case for the 105mm also lower rate of fire, especially if the two piece ammunition was retained.
Mobility would also be adversely affected by an heavier gun, something that made the normally adventurous Dr. Porsche refuse the idea of an 88mm L/71 on Tiger (P) later on.

Conclusion:

In WOT terms the tank is fairly balanced, although personally I wouldn't mind a little more agility.
Historically the tank design was rejected because it was too complex to maintain for the battlefield conditions, used precious copper and was seen as generally unreliable, with the electric motors often developing a tendency to overheat, although the VK 30.01 (P) prototype served as an excellent test bed for such an advanced drive train for its time.

Its direct evolution, the VK 45.01 (P) was also marred by the same faults and rejected because of them and thus lost to the more standard Henschel counterpart.
Still, as many other Porsche designs it sprung many innovations and although most of them never reached production stage it is still a monument to tank engineering ingenuity.

All in all, I'd say Balanced for WOT, most upgrades are already in place and the ones missing would be more fitting for one tier higher or a tank destroyer.

Thank you for reading and see you in the next article!

25 comments:

  1. Thanks for the nice article Zarax, was a nice read.

    Regards

    ReplyDelete
  2. Excellent read. Cant wait for more.

    NEMO.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 105mm would be quite interesting on tier 6. We already have SU-100Y and KV-1S...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And the Dicker Max.

      Delete
    2. ARL 44 and V39 already have 105mm gun

      Aside from that, I really liked this tank but I like Porsche tanks in general!

      Delete
  4. I think this tank in wot should be more agile in comparision to 3601. And 88 l56 has lol pen.

    ReplyDelete
  5. When u compare it to Kv1s, u will see one of them is not balanced.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Replies
    1. E-100 article has already been done: http://zxhistory.blogspot.it/2013/04/buff-my-tank-e-100.html

      Delete
  7. Nice read, Zarax!

    DJplumo

    ReplyDelete
  8. "balanced for wot" my ass...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fully upgraded its quite decent tank. And that's the problem - without sinking plenty of free exp or grinding your teeth to the ground its just sad Panzer.

      -Panocek

      Delete
    2. And that's the main issue.
      Fully upgraded with a decent crew is just enough agile for proper flanking given the poor penetration of the short 88.

      This doesn't exactly make the tank noob friendly and hampers proper gameplay.
      I'm always almost tempted to propose the tank as tier V medium but then it would be OP.

      IMHO a small terrain resistance buff would solve many issues, especially on stock status.

      Delete
  9. The main problem with this tank is that it does not offer any more armour or armament over the VK3601H and does not offer more speed than the VK3001H.

    It's a compromise that pleases no one. Not enough armour and not enough speed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What he said. I still keep a 3001H and have fond memories of the 3601. But this thing was sold immediately upon researching the Tiger P.

      Delete
  10. Grinding this bastard when MM was +3 and the tier 8 premiums were released almost made me quit for good. Then I got the VK30.02 and all was well. My stats still suffer though.

    Goblin_5

    ReplyDelete
  11. they should buff the vk 3002 db..
    horrible gun for its tier (7)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The VK DB unfortunately is already at the historical limits, the tank had difficulties in mounting the 75mm L/70 already.

      Delete
    2. 7,5 cm KwK 42 L/70 With second turret and BIA shoot at 3.3 sec, not so bad.

      Shun_Tzu

      Delete
  12. Make at least the 105mm gun available with stok turret, WG!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Well written.
    I had fun with this tank and reaching Tiger P i enjoyed it. 3001 H i didnt liked much (looks horrible) and 3601 was my first Tier 6 Med, so it cant be compared without playing with actually abilities. 3002 DB was okay, too.

    At all, while these T6-T7 Meds are totally average i had not the same bad feelings playing them like i had with Tier7 Panther. This tank i hated very long time. Only the last 30k Exp to Panther 2 were funny to play.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This tank was one of the LEAST enjoyable tank In my gameplay history. Grinding takes forever, it is huge and has week guns, But when you fully upgrade it, it is not bad at all especially if you consider how fast this tank is, I even got Ace Tanker on it and for a sec didn't wanted to say byebye and sell it, but I did anyway. They should make it easier for non premium, new players to grind on this tank. First 30-50 battles will be nightmare, unless you're lucky and put in top or with good team.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I think the biggest issue with that tank really is the impossible grinding.
    I had to waste around 3000 Free XP because I just couldn't bear anymore having all the guns unlocked but not being able to mount them because I didn't have the upgraded tracks that would allow me to mount the second turret. And that's "only" around 10k XP to grind for the tank to be remotely usable, having already unlocked the other guns on a VK3001H (another painful grind, by the way, even if not as much thanks to the at least upgraded engine).

    ReplyDelete
  16. VK 30.01 (P)

    I am an avid TD driver (German line including the Ferdinand).
    Of the Russian tree, I tried the TD's but without satisfacory results.
    I switchted to the German tanks. (have a fully upgraded IS-3 aswell)
    Worked my way up to the Panther and Tiger II.
    Some of my friends are still in the lower tiers (almost tier 6) so bought the VK 30.01 (P) yesterday to be able to play with them.
    I find it an good flanker with a good enough firefower to get a "crack" on the enemies rear and flanks. (took out a T-29 and 36.01(H) in quick succesion yesterday).
    Not as lightfooted as the VK30.01(D) or the Cromwell, but its OK with clutchbreaking active.
    I'm really fond of the VK30.01(P)!

    ReplyDelete
  17. underrated when fully equipped

    very underrated

    ReplyDelete

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