Today we’re showing you the main reward for the new season of the upcoming Battle Pass, which we’ve suitably named Northern King! Meet the famous King Tiger that was obtained by Sweden: an amazing tank with an amazing fate!
Kungstiger: A Premium Heavy Tank for Sweden at Rank IV
Features:
- Excellent upper plate front armor!
- Long-barreled 88 mm gun.
- Decent mobility.
Vehicle History
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After the end of World War II, a special delegation in the Swedish Armed Forces dealt with the delivery of surviving German tanks from liberated France to the country. They were particularly interested in the delivery of the Tiger II tank to study and test at Swedish testing grounds, but attempts to find a relatively intact one were unsuccessful, as most of the hulls were heavily damaged by explosions and fire. This was until August 1947, when the French reported that they had found a suitable vehicle in Gien, south of Paris.
At the end of November, the found tank arrived by sea to Stockholm, where it was placed in the yard of a repair facility which was entrusted with restoring the vehicle. Finally in 1948, a year after a long layover, work on the tank begun. The first thing that mechanics saw when they opened the engine-transmission compartment lid was a cocked hand grenade in the engine compartment. Apparently the crew intended to destroy the King Tiger’s engine before abandoning it. After the grenade was dispatched of, the tank was prepared for testing.
Due to the large mass of the tank and the unprepared Swedish road infrastructure for driving a 69 ton tank on, the delivery of the Tiger II between the test sites in Skövde and Karlsborg became a real test, in which railway, automobile equipment and even a Sherman tank took part in. The last stage was fire tests, where the tank was fired at by different types of artillery shells and hand-held anti-tank weapons. Finally in 1951, the tank’s hull was scrapped, and the turret was used for some time as a target for the new Strv 81 (Centurion) tank.
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Meet the Kungstiger!
The Kungstiger is a German Tiger II heavy tank that will be part of the Swedish ground research tree! This beast is the main reward for the upcoming Northern King Battle Pass season, starting on 24th April. Let’s take a closer look!
All-in-all, the Tiger II can be rightfully considered one of the best heavy tanks at its rank, with this reward also coming with the added benefits of having premium bonuses too. First off, let’s take a look at its armor. The upper front hull provides good enough protection against several types of shells, where the only ones that have a chance to penetrate are APDS or HEAT rounds. In terms of turret armor, the mantlet is that of the earlier production models, meaning it’s not as good as the later Tiger II variant. The most vulnerable areas are considered to be the weakly protected lower front full, where hits here usually lead to internal damage, the turret cheeks that can lead to a ricochet into the hull, as well as the rear part of the turret. Shells stored in this area are susceptible to being easily hit, leading to the entire tank exploding!
A gun that many of you are familiar with is the formidable 88 mm KwK43 cannon, which can be considered one of the best at its rank. Huge shell casings and a long barrel ensure shells have a higher velocity, making it relatively easy to hit targets at longer distances. Traditionally, the most effective shell to use with this gun is the PzGr 39/43 APCBC round as it has excellent armor penetration and good post-pen explosive effects. Also available is a HE shell, good for use against light vehicles wherever needed.
When it arrives to the game, the Kungstiger will be the first rank IV premium ground vehicle in the Swedish tree, where it’ll also help to add some diversity to vehicle lineups at this rank. Plus, it’ll also be a great vehicle to start researching this tree in general.
That’s it for today, be sure to keep an eye out for the general Battle Pass news article with the rest of the details that we’re planning to publish on April 22nd. See you soon!
